Just got back from the Prog Nation show in D.C.....
Unfortunately we missed 3 ( really wanted to see them too). We showed up right after Between the Buried and Me's first song. I really really can't stand a thing I've heard of theirs (not even Colors, which has gotten rave reviews all over the place), but they were better than I expected. I'll at least give them a second chance. Those bitching in the other thread about DT's stage presence would HATE seeing these guys live BTW.
Opeth was pretty good. I expected a bit more. There seemed to be an overall lack of energy. Mikael evidently had a cold (he praised how lucky the first row was, and pointed out that if they were extra lucky, he might sneeze on them). He was pretty funny...he said that he was very impressed by our obelisk (washington monument...which is only about 100-150 yards from the venue) and the white house made him feel like he was in a movie. He also played some Tom Petty for us. I don't remember all of the songs, but included in them were:
-wreath
-to rid the disease
-the drapery falls
-the baying of the hounds
-demon of the fall
(not in that order)
-Heir Apparent
Dream Theater was killer. Of all the times I've seen them play, this might have been the best setlist I've seen and it was probably the best I've seen them perform. Petrucci's tone was way better than it's ever been. I was also pleased that Labrie tended to work around the things he couldn't pull off live rather than push himself to try to do them as recorded and come short. The encore medley was good, but I think they could've cut things shorter to fit a wider variety of stuff into it. Their set was something like:
-In the Presence of Enemies pt. 1
-strange deja vu
-through my words
-fatal tragedy
-never enough
-misunderstood
-as I am
-The Ministry of Lost Souls
-Take the Time
-The Dark Eternal Night (only played on that screen...it was that youtube video of Super mario bros. reprogrammed with the DT members as characters synched to the song)
-Medley:metropolis pt 1, learning to live, the crimson sunset
Complaints:
Sound wasn't that great, which I really blame more on the venue than the sound crew. Vocals weren't loud enough, mics were feeding back, and leads weren't always as loud as they should've been. Also, the lighting was just bad in general. They rarely bother me at most shows, but they were very distracting (during each bands' set). During DT's set, they had bright white strobes going off during a few songs that literally forced me to sit down and look at the ground for a few minutes at a time. It seemed like my section would inevitably get the lights right in our eyes anytime they were really active. I've got the worst headache right now because of it. I'm laying down as I type this because even sitting upright is painful. The venue was also really uncomfortable. The seats were too small and it was hard to even be able to stand up. I'm definitely anti-moshing, but I at least like to be able to stand up for the show and get into it to some extent, which was all but impossible. Then again, those lights probably would've put me right back down on my ass so maybe it was a good thing.
Good show overall
