Tate to auction stage backdrop for injured fan

Geoff Tate is to auction the stage backdrop from his Queensryche farewell tour to raise funds for a severely injured fan's treatment.

Tate will auction the backdrop on eBay, with proceeds going towards treatment for Bryan Stow who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was beaten by two men outside a baseball stadium in Los Angeles.

Stow is a huge Queensryche fan and when the band heard about his plight, they visited him in hospital, where he remained for two years following the attack in 2011.

Tate has since been sacked by Queensryche, leading to a long-running battle that means he will no longer be able to use the name once his current tour comes to an end.

After the final show of his Queensryche Starring Geoff Tate - The Farewell Tour on Sunday, the backdrop will go up for auction. Fans can find it by searching for ‘Queensryche stage backdrop’ from 10pm GMT on Sunday. The banner has featured on a number of Queensryche tours.

Tate says: “It’s truly a special part of our musical history and we’d like to raise some much-needed funds for Bryan so he can continue his progress.

“We were incredibly inspired by his love for life, his love for his family and his love for our music. We’re honoured and thankful to have fans like Bryan in our life and would like to present him with a cheque just prior to Thanksgiving.

“Every little bit helps at this point and we hope to continue our efforts for Bryan and his family down the road.”

Tate will also be donating profits from a song he sings with tour buddies The Voodoos. Facing My Demons can be downloaded here.

Bryan sports a Queensryche tattoo on his left arm and he watched Tate’s version of the band in concert in California this month.

Meanwhile, Tate says he will take some time off after the farewell tour, during which he will write new music to be recorded under the new name Operation: Mindcrime.

He tells Daytime@Nine: “We finally settled our differences with the former band. And they get to keep the name and I get to keep the large amount of money they paid me for it. Which is nice, so that’s why I’m taking a year off.

“I’m gonna make a new record. I’m going in the studio in the winter to record a trilogy project all at the same time, and then we’ll release them over time. But it’s a very involved story, in conceptual format, which is what I like to do.”