WINNIPEG - There was a time when metal bands used to wear their own T-shirts on stage.

Those days were known as the 1980s.

Today there are still bands wearing their own merch on stage.

They are bands who formed in the 1980s and had their biggest successes in that decade of excess before music tastes changed and new material by the old guard didn't seem to hold up to their earlier work.

One of those bands were Queensryche and when the Seattle quintet played the Burton Cummings Theatre last night, it was almost comforting to see bassist Eddie Jackson wearing a Queensryche shirt while performing a greatest-hits set in front of 800 nostalgic fans.

Queensryche occupied a unique position in the 1980s musical history books. They weren't as glammy as the L.A. crowd, weren't fast enough for the speed and thrash metal fans and weren't as intricate as their British contemporaries.

Their greatest weapon was frontman Geoff Tate, whose powerful voice is still as strong as ever, although he seems to sound more like Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson as the years progress.

The twin guitar attack of guitarists Michael Wilton and Mike Stone -- the only non-original member -- was another thing they have in common with Iron Maiden.

Unfortunately, Queensryche's operatic prog-metal material isn't anywhere near as strong. Most of their songs fall into a mid-tempo groove and, with the exceptions of numbers like Empire and Take Hold of the Flame, lack the anthems most successful '80s groups had.

At least they're doing something different from most groups still around from that era.

Last night's show was divided into two parts, with a greatest-hits set in the first half, followed by a theatrical production of their 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime, featuring videos, props and actors.

The first set featured crowd-pleasing oldies like Walk in the Shadows and Last Time in Paris, concluding with their 1990 Pink Floydian ballad, Silent Lucidity.

The Operation: Mindcrime portion got off to a roaring start with an animated intro video of protagonist Nikki being sedated by a nurse before scenes of world events and politicians filled the screen, while the band performed Revolution Calling.

The hour-long album was scheduled to conclude with the first tracks from the forthcoming sequel Operation: Mindcrime II.