in july 2004, queensrÿche announced its plans to record a follow-up to 1988's "". to generate fan interest in the upcoming album, the band hit the road in the fall of 2004 with the "an evening with queensrÿche" tour. the tour opened with a shortened greatest hits set, followed by a revised production of "operation: mindcrime" with live actors and video; pamela moore reprised her role as sister mary. the band played a pre-recorded version of "hostage," a track from the upcoming album, through the pa as an encore after the end of their set. the second leg of the tour began in early 2005. before embarking on a third leg in the fall of 2005, queensrÿche toured with judas priest across north america, playing an hour-long set consisting mostly of the band's older works and one song from the soon-to-be released sequel, entitled "i'm american".