Imma get the setlist so I can make sure to know the songs.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Lampwick 43
Barstool Warrior
My show is only 9 days away so I'm going to resist the urge to look at the setlist and go into this one blind.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
You already know that they're playing all of 'Scenes From A Memory'.
Lampwick 43
Barstool Warrior
That's true. And obviously they'll play a few songs from the new album, but I plan on keeping the rest a complete surprise.
stvn1974
Educated Fool
The encore is Alexander The Great.
MW564
Ancient Mariner
Honestly DT are probably more likely to play it than Maiden.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
Fuck, I need to see this live.
terrell39
Ancient Mariner
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2019/balboa-theatre-san-diego-ca-139265e5.html
ANTR!! Been wanting to see this song live! Only leg of the BCASL tour I saw was when they opened for Maiden. This means A Rite of Passage is the only song I have seen live from the cd.
UA was the expected opener. Knew they would play Pale Blue Dot & Paralyzed, but I am surprised Fall Into the Light was not included. Probably due to the length of ANTR & ITPOE. Barstool Warrior I expected. I know many of you will be upset that At Wit's End is not played. Considering that the previous tour included PMU every night, I was surprised it is the encore. For quite a while, they were doing what Maiden does with Run To the Hills and only playing PMU every other tour, but this about breaks that pattern. Still I am happy with the setlist, but I do hope they alternate between Paralyzed and FIRL
UA was the expected opener. Knew they would play Pale Blue Dot & Paralyzed, but I am surprised Fall Into the Light was not included. Probably due to the length of ANTR & ITPOE. Barstool Warrior I expected. I know many of you will be upset that At Wit's End is not played. Considering that the previous tour included PMU every night, I was surprised it is the encore. For quite a while, they were doing what Maiden does with Run To the Hills and only playing PMU every other tour, but this about breaks that pattern. Still I am happy with the setlist, but I do hope they alternate between Paralyzed and FIRL
So 4 songs from the new album, a classic, a couple returning, and then an entire classic album...wow, way to believe in the new material.
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
I'm shocked they didn't play Fall Into The Light. It's a single and easily the most popular with the fanbase. It would have easily worked for the encore. I'm hoping for a rotating setlist. Hopefully something like this tonight...
1. S2n
2. A Nightmare to Remember
3. Room 137
4. Fall Into The Light
5. In the Presence of Enemies Part 1
6. At Wit's End
Speaking of the encore... Pull Me Under?? Really? They just played all of I&W. They could have done something cool here but decided to play it safe. Whatever though, I'm not seeing this tour anyways.
1. S2n
2. A Nightmare to Remember
3. Room 137
4. Fall Into The Light
5. In the Presence of Enemies Part 1
6. At Wit's End
Speaking of the encore... Pull Me Under?? Really? They just played all of I&W. They could have done something cool here but decided to play it safe. Whatever though, I'm not seeing this tour anyways.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
I’m fine with the choices for the new album. At Wit’s End could be thrown in but my other favourites are there and I don’t care much for Fall Into the Light. The encore seems to be the only letdown. A Nightmare to Remember and In the Presence, though...that’s a spectacle.
Stardust
Rainmaker
A Change of Seasons (1995)
So, I won’t be going over those live cover songs, since they’re obviously not proper DT material. Let’s just focus on the main event here; the 23-minute opus itself.
Now, technically, the song doesn’t belong in 1995 as much as it does in 1992. That was when it was originally written - it was meant to be on Images and Words actually. But their record label wouldn’t allow it, so henceforth it didn’t happen. Later, with new keyboardist Derek Sherinian in tow (replacing Moore), they decided to rework the song into its current state.
There’s a little context for you.
So, what do I actually think of this song? Well, you might have expected it - I think it’s one of their all-time greats and easily a top three favourite. A 10/10 is obvious, but let’s go into the reasons why.
First off, the main reason why is that...well, I think this is the perfect DT composition if you want to introduce someone to the band and let them see all the different facets of their music in an instant. I know Metropolis Pt. 1 also works pretty much just as well, but that one is a lot more complex. See, A Change of Seasons is fairly restrained, meaning that the instrumental sections aren’t too complex and certainly don’t go veering off into wanking territory. For being 23 minutes, that’s quite the feat.
Now, sure, a 23 minute song is probably daunting as a introduction but I instead think it’s rather prudent to let someone know that, yes, DT makes really lengthy songs sometimes so that they’re prepared for any kind of length DT will throw at them. Plus, it helps that the song is indeed amazing.
Onto the actual song itself, we have of course the three-minute instrumental overture in section one; The Crimson Sunrise. It introduces us to some of the main motifs we’re going to hear throughout the song, plus it’s also a way to get people hooked on the song from the get go. That sort of thing is important for when you have a song over 20 minutes, y’know? And yeah, it does the job very well, starting off with a calm, mysterious acoustic guitar riff, like Pull Me Under did. Soon enough, it turns into a much heavier version of the same riff. We then get the first appearance of those motifs I was talking about earlier and I should mention that it’s all pulled off very naturally. Everything flows seamlessly and the transitions between bits and parts aren’t jarring. It’s abundantly clear that DT put a lot of time and care into it and that will show everywhere in this song.
Anyway, after that, we go into section two; Innocence. Oh, and this is the point where I’ll bring up something very important to remember about this song and pretty much the rest of their career - James LaBrie had his infamous food poisoning incident between Awake and this, something he hasn’t quite recovered from and probably never will. It’s a very unfortunate shame that it happened but we’ll have to live with it now. Still, even with that said, LaBrie puts in a magnificent performance on this song. Innocence proves that immediately, although you can clearly hear how the incident has directly affected his vocals. His voice is a bit thinner than before, but it works well regardless. All in all, it’s a good enough section.
But section three; Carpe Diem, is where things really start happening. This is my favourite section of the song, because it’s so haunting and dynamic. The atmosphere is thick but subtle, that deriving mostly from the personal matters this section covers. I love basically everything here and it tells its own musical journey across approximately three minutes. That is, I don’t have too much to say about it.
Carpe Diem then more or less explosively implodes straight into section four; The Darkest of Winters, the second instrumental section of the song. Now, this is where some fans like to complain about the restrained nature of the song, because it’s not very flashy. Honestly, if it were that, it would take away some of the power of it all, so I’m glad DT remained true to the spirit of the song, instead of going crazy. There’s still some of that, of course, with a classic unison and teeny-tiny cute breaks in between the more dramatic parts, in which I can’t help but miss the When The Water Breaks ragtime piano quote not present in the studio version. But really, the entire section is just a really neat transition into the next one.
...and that would be section five; Another World. LaBrie’s vocals are truly soaring here and makes this section really freaking powerful, along with the amazing instrumentation supplementing him. This is the song’s emotional content at its crux as the story finds itself at crossroads, and it really nails what it sets out to do. Tons of people will say this section is their very favourite part of the song and while it’s not mine, it’s a very close second. If the song was already incredible before, this is where A Change of Seasons shoots into the stratosphere.
Section six; The Inevitable Summer, is next. The third and last instrumental section of the song. It starts reflecting back on those motifs we heard in The Crimson Sunrise, it’s beginning to wrap itself up. And again, this means this is still just a transitional part, so there’s not much else to say here.
So, after everything else, section seven; The Crimson Sunset, ends us off on a suitably grandiose finale. All the loose ends are properly tied up and with a resounding bang, the song comes to a close, returning to the acoustic guitar melody again, starting up a new cycle - life goes on, the same as it’s always been.
And that’s the song. A Change of Seasons is a masterpiece in every sense of the word and dare I say it, I think this is the greatest song they’ve ever made. Not my favourite, mind you, there is indeed a distinction between the two. Dream Theater never surpassed it, the magic of the song couldn’t ever be replicated and I think they realized that too, as we’ll see later. It remains in its own league and is then unique.
Now...through a stream of consciousness, things slowly begin falling into infinity from here on out. And for the band, the next album would be quite the trial of tears...
So, I won’t be going over those live cover songs, since they’re obviously not proper DT material. Let’s just focus on the main event here; the 23-minute opus itself.
Now, technically, the song doesn’t belong in 1995 as much as it does in 1992. That was when it was originally written - it was meant to be on Images and Words actually. But their record label wouldn’t allow it, so henceforth it didn’t happen. Later, with new keyboardist Derek Sherinian in tow (replacing Moore), they decided to rework the song into its current state.
There’s a little context for you.
So, what do I actually think of this song? Well, you might have expected it - I think it’s one of their all-time greats and easily a top three favourite. A 10/10 is obvious, but let’s go into the reasons why.
First off, the main reason why is that...well, I think this is the perfect DT composition if you want to introduce someone to the band and let them see all the different facets of their music in an instant. I know Metropolis Pt. 1 also works pretty much just as well, but that one is a lot more complex. See, A Change of Seasons is fairly restrained, meaning that the instrumental sections aren’t too complex and certainly don’t go veering off into wanking territory. For being 23 minutes, that’s quite the feat.
Now, sure, a 23 minute song is probably daunting as a introduction but I instead think it’s rather prudent to let someone know that, yes, DT makes really lengthy songs sometimes so that they’re prepared for any kind of length DT will throw at them. Plus, it helps that the song is indeed amazing.
Onto the actual song itself, we have of course the three-minute instrumental overture in section one; The Crimson Sunrise. It introduces us to some of the main motifs we’re going to hear throughout the song, plus it’s also a way to get people hooked on the song from the get go. That sort of thing is important for when you have a song over 20 minutes, y’know? And yeah, it does the job very well, starting off with a calm, mysterious acoustic guitar riff, like Pull Me Under did. Soon enough, it turns into a much heavier version of the same riff. We then get the first appearance of those motifs I was talking about earlier and I should mention that it’s all pulled off very naturally. Everything flows seamlessly and the transitions between bits and parts aren’t jarring. It’s abundantly clear that DT put a lot of time and care into it and that will show everywhere in this song.
Anyway, after that, we go into section two; Innocence. Oh, and this is the point where I’ll bring up something very important to remember about this song and pretty much the rest of their career - James LaBrie had his infamous food poisoning incident between Awake and this, something he hasn’t quite recovered from and probably never will. It’s a very unfortunate shame that it happened but we’ll have to live with it now. Still, even with that said, LaBrie puts in a magnificent performance on this song. Innocence proves that immediately, although you can clearly hear how the incident has directly affected his vocals. His voice is a bit thinner than before, but it works well regardless. All in all, it’s a good enough section.
But section three; Carpe Diem, is where things really start happening. This is my favourite section of the song, because it’s so haunting and dynamic. The atmosphere is thick but subtle, that deriving mostly from the personal matters this section covers. I love basically everything here and it tells its own musical journey across approximately three minutes. That is, I don’t have too much to say about it.
Carpe Diem then more or less explosively implodes straight into section four; The Darkest of Winters, the second instrumental section of the song. Now, this is where some fans like to complain about the restrained nature of the song, because it’s not very flashy. Honestly, if it were that, it would take away some of the power of it all, so I’m glad DT remained true to the spirit of the song, instead of going crazy. There’s still some of that, of course, with a classic unison and teeny-tiny cute breaks in between the more dramatic parts, in which I can’t help but miss the When The Water Breaks ragtime piano quote not present in the studio version. But really, the entire section is just a really neat transition into the next one.
...and that would be section five; Another World. LaBrie’s vocals are truly soaring here and makes this section really freaking powerful, along with the amazing instrumentation supplementing him. This is the song’s emotional content at its crux as the story finds itself at crossroads, and it really nails what it sets out to do. Tons of people will say this section is their very favourite part of the song and while it’s not mine, it’s a very close second. If the song was already incredible before, this is where A Change of Seasons shoots into the stratosphere.
Section six; The Inevitable Summer, is next. The third and last instrumental section of the song. It starts reflecting back on those motifs we heard in The Crimson Sunrise, it’s beginning to wrap itself up. And again, this means this is still just a transitional part, so there’s not much else to say here.
So, after everything else, section seven; The Crimson Sunset, ends us off on a suitably grandiose finale. All the loose ends are properly tied up and with a resounding bang, the song comes to a close, returning to the acoustic guitar melody again, starting up a new cycle - life goes on, the same as it’s always been.
And that’s the song. A Change of Seasons is a masterpiece in every sense of the word and dare I say it, I think this is the greatest song they’ve ever made. Not my favourite, mind you, there is indeed a distinction between the two. Dream Theater never surpassed it, the magic of the song couldn’t ever be replicated and I think they realized that too, as we’ll see later. It remains in its own league and is then unique.
Now...through a stream of consciousness, things slowly begin falling into infinity from here on out. And for the band, the next album would be quite the trial of tears...
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
Last night the band replaced Paralyzed with Fall Into the Light. No other changes were made.
