If prog-metal giants Queensrÿche show up at a gig, and Geoff Tate isn't there to sing "Silent Lucidity," will there be anyone there to hear it?

Or something like that.

Indeed, though Queensrÿche fired founding and iconic vocalist Tate last year, the band has soldiered on and will appear Saturday in a free show at the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den.

Let's be clear about this, though. Tate didn't take the dismissal gently. He fought for the rights to use the Queensrÿche name and, apparently, a judge has decided both Tate AND the surviving original 'rÿche members can use the name until a court date in November.

Weird.

No confusion on this gig, though: the Queensrÿche doing the Wolf Den date is NOT the Tate version; instead, it's the other dudes with a new vocalist, ex-Crimson Glory frontman Todd La Torre. Oh, and just for curiosity's sake, it's good to know that this is the 25th anniversary of the band's epic "Operation: Mindcrime" album.

- RICK KOSTER

Queensrÿche, 8 p.m. Saturday, Mohegan Sun Wolf Den; free; 1-888-664-3426, mohegansun.com.