QUEENSRYCHE and DREAM THEATER will team up for a 50/50 co-headlining tour of North America beginning in June, according to a posting on www.queensryche.com. "And if you think the pairing up of these two bands was good enough, just wait till you find out who they're to get to open up," continues the message. "Tour dates will be announced shortly. So stay tuned, there's a lot more to come, just you wait!"

A pairing between QUEENSRYCHE and DREAM THEATER has been a long time coming, with the two progressive hard rock giants having originally intended to join forces for a package tour in 2002, a plan that failed to materialize after QUEENSRYCHE decided to take the middle slot on IRON MAIDEN's "Brave New World" tour instead. This move infuriated DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy, who told Metal Sludge several months later, " I have a bone to pick with [QUEENSRYCHE]... We had a summer tour in the works being booked with them which I think would have been cool for the fans and they backed out in the 11th hour which fucked us over....I think maybe they realized that having to play after us would make their fans realize how much they suck now!"

QUEENSRYCHE, who were recently rejoined by original guitarist Chris DeGarmo, are currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming album, due in early summer through Sanctuary Records. The as-yet-untitled disc follows their Sanctuary Records debut, "Live Evolution", which was released in 2001. The "Live Evolution" DVD debuted at # 11 on Billboard's top music video sales chart. DREAM THEATER entered the studio on two weeks ago to begin writing and recording the follow-up to 2002's "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence", due later in the year through Elektra Records.

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