Dream Theater

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I have a soft spot for Octavarium. I like the atmosphere, even if there are weaker, less inspired songs among the rest.

And since The Dark Eternal Night was mentioned, that’s a kick-ass song. It’s so pleasantly heavy and catchy.
 
The Dark Eternal Night is a nice, heavy track. Far from my favorite though. Also thank heavens there aren't any death growls in it.
 
TDEN is so ruined by the vocals, more than any other DT song. Worse than "DAAYYYY AFTER DAAYYYY". It's an ok song other than that... I like the Chaos in Motion version more.
 
Mosh said:
I like Octavarium a lot and I have even come around a bit on Systematic Chaos recently (I may have posted about it on here even). While I think it contains some of their worst material, the best songs (In the Presence of Enemies, Constant Motion, Dark Eternal Night) have become top DT songs for me.

Distance Over Time is probably my least favorite DT album.
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Systematic Chaos was the first DT album I waited for. I will always like it for that reason.
 
Dream Theater played The Best of Times at Radio City Music Hall tonight. Now every studio album song (and most b sides) up to 2013 has been played live.

Still missing:
Surrender to Reason
Room 137
S2N
Out of Reach
Transcending Time

Plus a bunch of Parasomnia, but they’ve already said they will play the whole album live soon.

DT has to have one of the strongest ratios of songs played live to songs never played live in rock history.
 
Surrender to Reason would be my top choice as well. It’s tricky though because other than that I’m not really itching to hear the other songs, but I also want them to maintain their record. Room 137 might be the worst DT song, and it’s also a Mangini lyric, so it seems like it wouldn’t be a top choice for Portnoy but who knows. I also feel like the band got to this point partially because Portnoy had a fixation with making sure the whole catalog was represented live, I assume he still feels that way but not sure if he feels invested in Mangini era material, idk.

I guess the other problem is that when Space Dye Vest was the only song DT didn’t play live, a mythology around it built up. Then something similar developed with The Best of Times as MP’s “swan song” and the only song from that era never to be performed. I don’t see that same mythology building around any of the songs in that list. It’s kind of a bunch of nothing songs, and very filler-y.
 
Mosh said:
Dream Theater played The Best of Times at Radio City Music Hall tonight. Now every studio album song (and most b sides) up to 2013 has been played live.
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I wasn’t expecting that. And the crowd looked as if they’re playing that every night. :bigsmile:
 
Dream Theater - Live in Zagreb (CRO), 29.10.2024.​


Since Dream Theater wrapped their 40th anniversary tour last week in New York (and I expect setlist on their upcoming tour dates will be different) I'm gonna write this without spoiler tags.

To be honest, I almost didn’t attend this show and I would’ve regretted that decision. When the tour was announced, I had a few reservations: First, it was technically their 39th anniversary when I saw them (not their 40th), the venues seemed to have undergone a major upgrade in terms of capacity, which brought with it a significant price hike. Just 2.5 years ago, I saw them in the same city for 33 euros (standing tickets). This time, the price had shot up to 80 euros.

I couldn’t justify paying nearly 150% more for a show with Portnoy, though the "A Night With..." concept did intrigue me. The tour seemed like it could either be a victory lap or a total flop. Fortunately, it turned out to be the former. Other venues were quickly selling out, some of them having tripled in size since their 2022 European tour. And when the setlist from their London opening night dropped, the responses were overwhelmingly positive.

As luck would have it, my friend (who already had a ticket) won some extra tickets, so I was able to go. Since it was a contest, I ended up with a seated ticket, which turned out to be a blessing. The show was close to three hours long, and from my vantage point, the visuals were far more impressive from the seated section than they would’ve been in the standing area (which I had experienced firsthand two years ago in the first row).

I was impressed when I came at the venue – lines for the drinks, lines for the merch stands, and of course – lines for the toilet. Once we got to our seats, I was surprised to see that the venue was crowded, with over half of the standing area packed. (For reference, this was the same venue where Maiden kicked off their Legacy of the Beast tour in May 2022.) What was even more surprising was how engaged the crowd was from the get-go. As soon as the huge drape fell, lasers lit up the venue, and Metropolis started, the crowd responded with a thunderous roar.

I’m not going to go through the setlist song-by-song (here's a LINK.) Instead, I’ll point out that, comparing this show to their 2022 performance, not a single song was repeated. Admittedly, the 2022 setlist was just 10 songs long, whereas this show boasted 18 tracks - but still, that’s quite an achievement. The 18 songs featured tracks from nearly every album, except When Dream and Day Unite, S/T, The Astonishing, and (for some reason) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. They even included Night Terror from Parasomnia (which hadn’t been released at the time), and I have to say, it sounded even better live.

The night flew by in a blur. The setlist was perfectly crafted, with an excellent flow between songs, split into two main parts and an encore. The band was clearly in their element, especially Portnoy, who seemed to be having the time of his life (more on that later). Myung was withdrawn (as usual), Petrucci was The Muad Dai'b, The Boy Who Lived, The One Who Brought the Balance to the Force, (as usual), Rudess had this cool screen around his keys which showed what he played and La Brie was… LaBrie.

Up until this point, I’d always been one to defend LaBrie. It seemed unfair to criticize his vocals given the natural limitations of his instrument. However, on this night, I can’t even describe what I heard.

I wish I could point to some pattern, for example: Oh, he sounds good on old songs and bad on new ones or vice versa. Or: he nails the lower parts but can't hit the highs (or the other way around). But every time he came on stage (he didn't really spent much time there) it was a coin-toss. He would either leave me in awe (or doubting did his time has really passed long ago) or I would make a face like I was trying to swallow a lemon (wondering how can a professional singer do this without ounce of shame). His singing was… memorable, for better and worse.

The visuals and stage production were a great addition for the most part, though I will admit they took things a bit too far with the Majesty logo. At times, it felt like I was being bombarded by the animation, which seemed to hide that logo in nearly every frame. Some of the visuals were tasteful and fit the vibe of the song, but others, like the two Game of Thrones dragons during As I Am (which I’m pretty sure also had the logo plastered on them), were a bit much.

The best part of the set for me was Vacant-Stream of Consciousnesses-Octavarium-Home combo. Ending the second set and going into encore (the pause was really short between those two) those 51 minute of music was worth the ticket price (even if I did pay 80 euros, seeing/hearing these four songs live justified the price). More so, James dramatic absence after Vacant, great visuals during solos on Stream of Conciousness, full Octavarium with extended intro and crowd going wild on Home was great a experience.

Then came the shock. Before announcing Spirit Carries On, LaBrie informed us that just hours before the show, Portnoy had received the news that his sister had passed away. Now, I’ve always known that some of Portnoy’s on-stage antics are part of the act, while others are genuinely childish and playful. But I never imagined he could perform like that, giving everything on stage, knowing what he was going through. Having followed him on social media, my opinion of him has swung back and forth over the years, but I’ll never ever question his professionalism. LaBrie asked us to light up our phones, and the entire arena complied, creating what was probably the most bittersweet rendition of Spirit Carries On.

The gig could only end with their biggest hit „Pull Me Under“ where, under emotional effect from previous song, every throat belched that chorus. The band thanked the crowd, took their bows, and we gave them a standing ovation that continued long after the lights came up.

As I walked away from the venue, I felt grateful that I had attended the gig, but the bus ride home was filled with thoughts about Portnoy. Although it can seem glamorous at times, there are moments like this that show the harsh reality. You’re away from your loved ones, dealing with tragedy from the other side of the world, unable to attend the funeral or the aftermath. And yet, you still have to put on your game face and perform, not just for one night, but for the following month and a half - all while dealing with (slightly drunk) fans yelling things like "OWEN WILSON!" from the stands. And all that in your late 50s.

They’ve got more shows lined up in Europe this summer, but sadly, I won’t be able to attend (my schedule’s already full and my wallet is empty). I just hope this isn’t the victory lap for Dream Theater, because I’d love to see more from them, especially after hearing Parasomnia which James promised they will do live in full on the forthcoming tour. Speaking of the album, it finally sat with me, but I'll write about it in another post.

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Wow, I didn't realize you were at that gig where Portnoy learned about his sister dying. I've watched videos of the Spirit Carries On from that performance and the emotional heaviness is palpable, I can't imagine experiencing that in person.

I don't think I posted a review of the gig I went to but I had a lot of the same thoughts. I thought the show was amazing and seeing MP on stage with them again had more of an emotional impact on me than I expected. Seeing them jam during Metropolis was just such a great thing to witness.

I agree on LaBrie. The thing I was able to pinpoint is that he just belts everything. Even on softer moments/ballads it feels like he is throwing all of his breath into the song. I'm not a singer so I can't really speak to technique, but it just feels like he is overexerting himself at the expense of tone and ability to stay on pitch. Starting with Metropolis was certainly not a great move for first impressions vocally, but there were moments throughout the song where it felt like he was struggling more than you would expect. This Is the Life for example.

Really looking forward to what the band has cooking next leg. I would love to hear the new album live and I hope they go nuts on rotating songs/deep cuts now that the greatest hits stuff is out of the way. I do think this is a victory lap in the sense that this will probably be the last large scale tour they do, so I hope going forward they are focused more on just pleasing the hardcore fans than trying to play bigger venues.

I saw DT open for Maiden in 2010 with Portnoy and every Mangini era tour save for ADTOE (it didn't come near my city). So despite seeing several "Evening With" sets and this being something like my 8th DT concert, I had never heard the following songs live before:

Hollow Years
Night Terror
Midnight Messiah
This Is the Life
Vacant
Stream of Consciousness
Octavarium

Not bad for a greatest hits set!
 
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