Dream Theater

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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I saw DT for the first time yesterday. First some non-setlist-specific comments:

  • Mike Mangini: He is a great drummer, and he also seems to enjoy playing. He seemed to be having a great time on stage.
  • James LaBrie: I was told he can be hit-and-miss live, but that he seems to be on a good run of "hit" on the current tour. Yesterday I think he sounded really good. No complaints about him.
  • Sound-wise the venue was quite good. I heard all solos clearly and the drum sound was immense.The vocals came through clearer where I was standing at the beginning of the show (I moved closer to the stage during the intermission), so it seems the "sweet spot" for sound was near the mixing desk.
  • The crowd was probably 5-6000, meaning the venue (Oslo Spektrum) was not completely full, but full enough to create a good atmosphere inside.
Now to the setlist-specific comments:

It started off with The Enemy Inside, a good choice in my opinion. Got some movement in the crowd right away. Then a couple of albums back, and The Shattered Fortress followed, with some singalong to the riffs referencing Glass Prison. Then some more songs from the newer albums, before a 15m intermission with some funny stuff going on on the big screen.

After the intermission, a series of songs from Awake, starting out with The Mirror. Really enjoyed this! Afterwards Illumination Theory, also pretty cool. Then the encore, which consisted of four songs from Scenes From A Memory: Overture 1928, Strange Deja Vu, The Dance of Eternity(!) and then finally Finally Free.

All in all a really enjoyable show. Those who feared that Portnoy's departure would kill the band can now relax, the band is doing fine :)

Link to the setlist
 
Glad you had a good time! I'm looking forward to the show, even if I not super thrilled about some of the songs they've chosen.

Nice to know that you had a good mix, too. From my experience, DT usually has pretty good sound. Now if only LaBrie can stay on that "good" run of vocals until April...
 
Sounds like a great show! Very excited to see this in April.

JLB also had a good run on the ADTOE tour too, it seemed to last the whole tour since he sounded great on LALP.

Setlist looks great. I'm really excited for the Awake centered 2nd set, mostly for Scarred which is my 2nd favorite DT song. And of course Space Dye Vest and Illumination Theory should be immense live. The SFAM encore should be cool too.
 
I think as long as JP is in the band they'll be fine. Any other member could leave and they'd survive. But if JP left that would be it for them.
 
While John Myung is a key member, him leaving wouldn't have that much of an effect. John Petrucci's sound is the sound of the band, he writes most of the riffs, lyrics and produces the albums.
 
There's a lot of times when I can't even hear Myung. He's awesome but he can be replaced.
 
Sadly, it's true for all the musicians. Rudess needs to go already, great drummers are great drummers, and Myung could be anybody (provided they are somehow as talented).

As much as LaBrie is not my favorite vocalist, I think nearly 25 years with a band qualifies him as part of their integral sound.
 
Saw DT live on Monday (Red Bank, NJ) with free tickets. It was a relatively small crowd because the venue was an indoor theatre (pictured below).LaBrie was just pure sex to my ears, I was surprised what good condition his voice is in now because he hit high notes so freaking effortessly DX. But literally everyone was top notch that night. Though to be honest I didn't recognize the majority of the songs on the setlist, but I don't care because I know them know and they sounded amazing at the time especially with JP ripping out solo after solo.

Also I don't know this talk of Myung having no presence, because I could feel his bass thumping like a maniac and this was the first time I could hear the bassist so clearly at a heavy concert. I guess it had something to do with the small venue so the sound was more easily heard, but I don't really know.

Other Highlights:
-Ruddess Keytar Solo
-Space Dye Vest (favorite out of the songs I previously didn't know)
-Mangini Drum solo

11581264-large.jpg
 
Check out Awake. If you liked what you heard at the concert you'll love my album. It's tied with Six Degrees as my #1.
 
Eric Wright said:
this was the first time I could hear the bassist so clearly at a heavy concert.
Click to expand...
Did you ever attend a Maiden gig ? :D
Seriously, I think that Myung basslines suck on the last album, but I'm glad to know he can be clearly heard. Some fans told me that he used to have difficult times with Portnoy, who tended to put him low in the mix, and that he was completely overshadowed. Don't know if this is true, but his technical skills are clearly underused.
 
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Just saw DT last night in Chicago. The concert was simply amazing. I have seen them at least six times now, as both a casual observer, moderate fan, and big fan. Up until last night, the best I'd ever heard them was on the Train of Thought tour (though much of that was due to setlist as well as performance).

Last night's show was spectacular on all fronts. You could definitely hear Myung. The mix was fantastic, although LaBrie's lower range did get drowned out. Speaking of LaBrie, he has never sounded this good. He struggles with high notes at every show I've ever seen, until now. The highs were flawless. He seemed vocally free and was even improvising vocal runs and changing some melodies at random, and they all sounded awesome. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of LaBrie's voice, but he absolutely slayed every song. The ballads were especially delicious (mostly Space Dye Vest and Lifting Shadows). I was glad to hear a lot of the newer songs as I feel that the last two albums are drastically improved from their sound over the last ten years.

Oh, and we rounded out the night by visiting a 4AM karaoke bar at which one of my friends sang, "The Spirit Carries On." So it was a good night.
 
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