Last night was an incredible show. Fates Warning opened and while many in the crowd were unfamiliar with them, they did get a good response from most. Ray Alder is a killer frontman live, and their set ended with Monument, one of my favorite songs of all time. The big surprise came during Life In Still Water, midway through, Mike Portnoy joined them onstage and they launched into the second half of OSI's Shutdown, with Ray and Nick, who did a commendable job filling in for Zonder, trading vocals.
FW set: one - apsog excerpt - point of view - pieces of me - life in still water/shutdown - monument
Queensryche followed and put on a great performance, divided into four parts: the obscure stuff (linked by the anti-technology theme), songs from Promised Land, Empire, and Mindcrime. The first few songs were a highlight (Including Open, which sounded much better than on the album), and Eyes Of A Stranger is always excellent live.
QR set: open - my global mind - NM 156 - screaming in digital - i am i - damaged - empire - jet city woman - silent lucidity - anarchy x/revolution calling - speak - eyes of a stranger - encore: desert dance - best I can
Dream Theater closed, and did a completely different setlist from the last time I saw them at Jones Beach, zero overlap except for the first half of the encore, and since this was shared with Queensryche, that doesn't count.
The band was in top form, even though Rudess' tone does clash with the earlier material a bit. And some huge surprises were featured, including yet another Rush cover, but hardly an obvious one...Glass Moon was great, and the full moon in the evening sky accompanied it well...
DT set: home - under a glass moon - peruvian skies - only a matter of time (!) - erotomania - voices - the silent man (electric version) - the necromancer/baba o'riley - metropolis pt. 1 - encore with QR: the spirit carries on - take hold of the flame
