Dream Theater- US Tour

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Just wondering what everybody is thinking for DT on their latest tour. I just saw them in San Francisco for the 6th time ever and have mixed emotions. Their first set left me somewhat wanting-- I love Train of Thought, but they didn't seem to play it with the sam enthusiasm as some of the other tunes. They did finish the first set w/ the Trail of Tears medley from Falling into Infinity. The rest of the tunes from the first set were all TOT, one from SDIT, and Beyond this Life from SFOM. The second set was incredible- Voices, Finally Free, Silent Man, Only a Matter of Time, Another Day, Ytse and others. The mindblowing piece was Mother/Father from Journey Escape- this was totally lost on the Bay Area Crowd-- Sad....The encore was all TOT.
This was the most mixed set I have ever seen from the boys.. I don't think the TOT stuff really works well live, and either they were just warming up, or they weren't too cool doing it live.. BTW, Labrie's voice SHONE.. God, it was nice.. I wore my ProgPower IV shirt and enjoyed telling people around me where the REAL music is!!!! God, I love this board, these bands, and the booze!! Cheers to you all!!
 
I have tickets for the March 22 show in Detroit. It will be my 4th time seeing them but I am still very much looking forward to it. It's hard for me to imagine the ToT songs not working live. When I listen to the album it just begs to be played live. And that's good to hear that Labrie was on his game... I personally think he has improved with every album, but sometimes live he still struggles a little bit.
 
I guess after a nights sleep and 7 drinks not in me, the TOT stuff worked, but since it was at the first of the show, they seemed a bit sluggish-- Even Beyond this Life from SFAM had no punch.. I had never seen them off, so I guess the TOT stuff seemed flat. The encore was much better, as was Endless Sacrifice which was towards the end of the first set
 
Well I'm sure I'll piss off some DT fans ..but...whatever...Back in 1990/91 got a hold of this tape called When Dream and Day Unite, by Dream Theater. Being a huge music freak as well as musician, WDaDU quickly rose to ultimate status in my mind. Along came Images and Words, well we all know the status of this disc. I saw the Images and Words tour in Atlanta at Center Stage(which is now Earthlink Live). It remains today the baddest live performance I have seen.(Im guessing there were 150-200 people there) Note for note, word for word...it sounded as if they were playing the cd! With Awake,Live at the Marquee and Change of Seasons(with Sherinian) DT was #1 and no one could tell me anything different.( I did not see the Awake tour) The Infinity album came out, and unlike a lot of people, I really liked this album. I saw this tour in Tampa, and it had the most energy of all DT shows I have seen. 2nd best DT show I have seen.
So in comes Jordan, and I really dug the two Liquid Tension discs. Then comes Scenes From A Memory, and unlike a lot of people, this album is pretty weak to me. I know, I know...your all saying WTF! In reality, there are only about four songs I really dig on this disc. And as far as 'Concept Album', well, it ain't Operation MindCrime, and 'Concept Albums' are a dime a dozen now days. So I see this tour in Orlando,(I'm way in the back) so two days later, I see it in Tampa(front row) and well its dam good, but the matierial is just not what I want. Well here comes Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and well, I'm really disappointed. To be honest I like about 4 songs here too. Don't get me wrong, the playing on these two discs is spot on, its just the songs?/writing is not there in my opinion. So I go to Atlanta for this tour, and to make a long story short....halfway through the set, they start kicking a soccer ball around on stage!! WTF!! They all looked like they would have rather been somewhere else. Portnoy was so obsessed with throwing sticks here and there it was ridiculous. By far the weakest DT show I've seen. So weak, that I doubt I will even worry about this tour. When Train Of Thought came out, I was very excited. But after a couple months of listening...its funny...even with the track As I Am's great lyrics and message...this album is very commercial sounding(just because you play long, incredibly fast solos, does not make it not commercial) Anyway, this of course is just my opinion. Once my greatest favorite band, is now just run of the mill to me. DT has lost its luster.

Todd
 
glasscastle said:
Well I'm sure I'll piss off some DT fans ..but...whatever...
Click to expand...
I'm feelin ya. The last two discs have been pretty sorry excuses for DT albums, IMO.

But about the soccer ball thing, I thought that was pretty damned cool. They were just showing off. I like it when something neat happens during the performance to transform "guys playing in front of me" to an entertaining show. I'd never brag that "they stood there and played perfectly", but I have told people that they were jammin to some pretty complex stuff while playing soccer at the same time.

my 2 cents...
-matt
np: Ten - The Robe
 
dargormudshark said:
The thing i'm worried about is that when the 80's hit all the 70's prog bands started to get weak (Genesis, Yes, Rush,etc.)
I'm worried that it might happen to the bands these days, mainly dreamtheater.
Click to expand...
Dream Theater would be lucky to be as "weak" as Rush over their entire career, lol.
 
Wow! It is very interesting to read the comments of DT fans. I've always believed that everyone should have an opinion, judgement and speak their own mind. So with that in mind- I'm speaking my mind and with respect to other DT fans who are giving negative reviews- I choose not to address any of you.

I saw Dt two times in the TofT WT- LA and San Deigo and what I can I say- they were awesome and masters of musical presentation. Both shows were amazing and the new material was amazing!!! I believe they've acheived a new step in the carrer and like the saying goes- "You can't please everyone". Remember people- DT will always be DT and what can we all-the fans-expect? Excellent muscianship, crafty songs and excellent performances.. Dt has always been a special band to the fans. They are true, progressive, breaking new ground and most importantly- always setting the bar for other groups to follow. They are unique and will always be a special band to everyone who hears them. Perfect example: I spoke to two individuals, one in LA and the other- 14 old kid- San Deigo. The most profound thing that any one has ever told me about DT was from the fourteen year old kid when he said" After seeing DT- I will never hear music the same way- they were awesome".

To every DT fan who remebers their first DT experience/story I dedicate this long reply and remember- they can talk shit about our favorite band, they can downplay their music/performance but they can never make DT disappear because they've all misunderstood what DT is all about. I dedicate this to all true Dream Theater fans!!!
 
Hey dhatchell, I was there in San Francisco at the same Dream Theater concert and also wearing my progpower shirt...This was my 5th or 6th time that I saw them and I loved it!! I liked the intro were they showed images from all CDs while playing their best songs and when it got to 2004, they started the concert with "As I am".
 
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