Show Review: Dream Theater

[danbronson]

This one's thorough...

 

Openers were 3, Between the Buried and Me and Opeth. All played great, basically flawless sets (I guess when you're touring with Dream Theater, you make sure your {censored} is up to par!). I like the music of all three bands, so I enjoyed each set. 3 does some pretty cool stuff and I was happy to see that the crowd loved them. BTBAM's last song was like 20 minutes long or something and truly epic. Technical meets br00tal chugging, I'm not huge on the vocals. Opeth's lead singer is hilarious ("This next song is about our Dark Lord...just kidding, I just said that to sound cool"), and he has one of the best voices in metal in my opinion. They announced a song from the upcoming album and it was one of the heaviest things I've ever heard. Props.

 

On to Dream Theater...

 

I should start off by saying that I've been a fan of Scenes From A Memory since it came out. Around the same time I got into A Change of Seasons and stuff like the YTSE Jam. Later I got ahold of Six Degrees, Octavarium and now the new one and I gotta say it kinda bores me now. They're not doing what they do best anymore, but I digress...

 

The set was tight and had good energy. There were lots of 'extras' like incredibly lame ants flanking the stage and on Petrucci's cabs that looked like their kids had made them at school. Before the encore, they played a hilarious/genius video of their music mixed with the theme from the original Mario, with edited video game footage of Portnoy running around as Mario. I wasn't a huge fan of the set list, it was a lot of slower, lighter stuff. But there were more technical parts that were enjoyable and lots of 'solo' time, which is why anyone should listen to Dream Theater in the first place! Okay, here's my take on each member from most favorite to least favorite...

 

Jordan Rudess

...this man is a god. He can go from very tasteful piano stuff to all out shred to background texturing and do them all better than anyone I've seen or heard before. He stole the show in my opinion, the best part of the band! I have never seen anyone, guitarist or not, with fingers that fast. +1000 points for using a keytar that looks like a batleth (and using it next to John Petrucci at light speed in a perfectly harmonized solo)! -2 points for a gear malfunction during a solo. What are you gonna do though?

 

John Petrucci

As a guitarist, I was paying especially close attention to Petrucci. His tone was {censored}ing great (and I usually find it kinda lacking) and his playing was incredible. He tends to keep it tasteful in Dream Theater's songs, very occasionally displaying his skills. But in the show, he gets some good solo time and goes between tasteful/soulful stuff, to interesting jazzy stuff, to all-out shred. Some of the fastest playing I've ever seen. He missed 2 notes that I noticed (one not fretted during a ridiculously fast solo and one wrong note). Needless to say, he has more talent in his little finger than I do in my whole body. His backup vocals were decent.

 

John Myung

This guy is seriously underrated. He's smart, so he usually just plays what needs to be played to hold the band together and keep things sounding stable. But he can rip it up. Eight finger tapping, flawless execution - 'nuff said. His tone is great too, strong yet subtle. I guess that sums up his playing style too. I'd kill to play in a band with this guy. If I wasn't such a sucker for shredding, he might be above Rudess and Petrucci to me.

 

Mike Portnoy

Don't get me wrong, great drummer. He's got a fairly unique style and it works great for Dream Theater. I found his playing to be a bit sloppy though. I noticed him missing things and botching the groove a bit, not a lot, but enough that it detracted from the set. I gotta give him credit on his sense of humor though, he keeps things fun. I liked the punching bag he had mounted to the drum kit. The other drummers played better than he did, and they were playing faster, occasionally more difficult things (yes, that's right, more difficult - all the Portnoy fanboys need to pick up some new records). Pretty good vocals, I like his tone and he's improved a lot since the SFAM DVD!

 

James LaBrie

What a godawful performance, and the most awkward/"are-you-serious?" stage banter I've ever heard (example: "Is this a college or a university?" / crowd: "Univeristy!" / "Well it doesn't {censored}ing matter we're playing anyway!" ...wat). I can't believe this guy sings in DREAM THEATER of all bands. His tone is nasal and thin. He starts getting pretty flat when he's stretching for the higher 50% of what he sings (which honestly is not that high). His vibrato sounds forced and exaggerated. It's like he's imitating a skilled singer. And what's interesting is that so many people fail to see all this!

 

Here is an example of his performance, compared to someone like myself who is NOT a great singer. They played the Spirit Carries On (what a sweet guitar solo!). At the end of the song, LaBrie looked scared. The highest note he has to sing is a B (the one on the 7th fret of the high E for reference). He made it sound like the most difficult thing on earth. Since it's on SFAM, I knew the words and was singing along. When he hits the A at the end of the song (still making it sound painfully hard), I decided to harmonize with the D above it. That's stretching to the outer bounds of my range, but still within it and I can hold the note for a while with an even, full tone (my vibrato would probably sound as bad as his though, so I keep it steady). As I'm singing the note, some guy turns around and just stares at me, and I stop singing and smile awkwardly. And he goes "Dude, that was really impressive." I wanted to say "Actually, anyone with decent range can hit that note. LaBrie just makes it look difficult and every DT fan seems to be too ignorant to vocal skill to see that."

 

If anyone actually responds to this post, I'm fully expecting "Oh, he was just having an off night." which I've actually seen a few times regarding LaBrie. Good singers, with good technique, who practice and warm up and take care of their 'instrument' don't allow themselves to have nights this bad. Same thing goes for the "after a 2 hour performance, your voice would be tired too" retort. If you have good technique you can just keep singing. Truth is, he spends half the set behind Petrucci's cabs anyway, so he sings no more than the average singer and gets plenty of breaks. Even the guy from {censored}ing Default sang very well when I saw them, despite admitting he had a bad cold/apologizing for the performance (which is a no-no imo). And it wasn't the venue, since the other singers sang very well. In any case, LaBrie sings better on the albums...and so do Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

 

Anyway, sorry to rant about LaBrie (not my first time either on HC ) but he really killed what could have been one of the best shows of my life.

[Sixtonoize]

***Everything***

 

 

+1. Everyone in DT is so amazing at what they do...I just don't get why they let such a no-talent assclown ruin their songs by singing over them. It's a shame.

[danbronson]

no-talent assclown

 

Just wait, they'll fire him and hire Michael Bolton.

[noseminer]

how long did opeth play for

[JimAnsell]

i might go to that on wednesday.

i have a free ticket, but i might not be able to leave work early.

 

its funny, if you would have told me like 3 years ago that opeth and DT were touring together, i would have {censored} my pants.

but now, after a few not so great dream theater records, and knowing that opeth won't be doing their full set, i won't even care if i miss it.

it seems kinda true with alot of shows.

if you would have told me 3 or 4 years ago that megadeth, bodom, and in flames were touring together i would have went nuts, but after the last 3 in flames debacles, last 2 bodom debacles, and i don't really care about megadeth anymore, i just skipped it and didn't care.

[danbronson]

how long did opeth play for

 

 

I wasn't timing it but it seemed like about 45 minutes.

[camer138]

i think the 1st 2 bands played for about 30-45 minutes, opeth about an hour, then DT about 1 45 - 2 hours

[zygoat]

I can't wait for this show. Mainly for BTBAM and Opizzle, but I love DT too.

 

Yeah, LaBrie is a hack. He was pretty good back in the day but you put it perfectly when you said he's trying to imitate a talented singer. LOL.

[knope]

I thought most DT fans aren't that much of a fan of James LaBrie voice...

 

did it seem like every time he left the stage the crowed applauded? thats what the did when the came to PR for the first time... I thought it was funny as {censored}

[Jbird]

i might go to that on wednesday. i have a free ticket, but i might not be able to leave work early. its funny, if you would have told me like 3 years ago that opeth and DT were touring together, i would have {censored} my pants. but now, after a few not so great dream theater records, and knowing that opeth won't be doing their full set, i won't even care if i miss it. it seems kinda true with alot of shows. if you would have told me 3 or 4 years ago that megadeth, bodom, and in flames were touring together i would have went nuts, but after the last 3 in flames debacles, last 2 bodom debacles, and i don't really care about megadeth anymore, i just skipped it and didn't care.

If you go, I'll see you there. Look for a geeky older bald guy, glasses, with an Iced Earth t-shirt

I didnt see Megadeth/Flames/Bodom either ( ) because I went to Iced Earth in Chicago the night before



I've seen Dream Theater four times on four different tours, and they've been great shows all. I even think LaBrie did a great job all four times too, maybe you caught an 'off' night?
The time I caught them in Chicago w/Spock's Beard, Portnoy did mess up once on a really basic slower tempo 4/4 beat during a slow part of a song. Petrucci and Myung both turned and gave him that 'what the heck...???' look and someone from the crowd shouted loudly "Portnoy, you suck!"

The whole place, Dream Theater included, just started chuckling, Portnoy gave a little salute, and then proceeded to kick ass the rest of the night.


I guess I better look up BTBAM on youtube, I've been hearing good things, but no clue as to who/what they are.

[blargh]

damn, why cant Opeth do a proper headlining US tour
i don't mind BTBAM, but 3 and DT bore the hell out of me

[jaytee123]

This one's thorough... Openers were 3, Between the Buried and Me and Opeth. All played great, basically flawless sets (I guess when you're touring with Dream Theater, you make sure your {censored} is up to par!). I like the music of all three bands, so I enjoyed each set. 3 does some pretty cool stuff and I was happy to see that the crowd loved them. BTBAM's last song was like 20 minutes long or something and truly epic. Technical meets br00tal chugging, I'm not huge on the vocals. Opeth's lead singer is hilarious ("This next song is about our Dark Lord...just kidding, I just said that to sound cool"), and he has one of the best voices in metal in my opinion. They announced a song from the upcoming album and it was one of the heaviest things I've ever heard. Props. On to Dream Theater... I should start off by saying that I've been a fan of Scenes From A Memory since it came out. Around the same time I got into A Change of Seasons and stuff like the YTSE Jam. Later I got ahold of Six Degrees, Octavarium and now the new one and I gotta say it kinda bores me now. They're not doing what they do best anymore, but I digress... The set was tight and had good energy. There were lots of 'extras' like incredibly lame ants flanking the stage and on Petrucci's cabs that looked like their kids had made them at school. Before the encore, they played a hilarious/genius video of their music mixed with the theme from the original Mario, with edited video game footage of Portnoy running around as Mario. I wasn't a huge fan of the set list, it was a lot of slower, lighter stuff. But there were more technical parts that were enjoyable and lots of 'solo' time, which is why anyone should listen to Dream Theater in the first place! Okay, here's my take on each member from most favorite to least favorite... Jordan Rudess ...this man is a god. He can go from very tasteful piano stuff to all out shred to background texturing and do them all better than anyone I've seen or heard before. He stole the show in my opinion, the best part of the band! I have never seen anyone, guitarist or not, with fingers that fast. +1000 points for using a keytar that looks like a batleth (and using it next to John Petrucci at light speed in a perfectly harmonized solo)! -2 points for a gear malfunction during a solo. What are you gonna do though? John Petrucci As a guitarist, I was paying especially close attention to Petrucci. His tone was {censored}ing great (and I usually find it kinda lacking) and his playing was incredible. He tends to keep it tasteful in Dream Theater's songs, very occasionally displaying his skills. But in the show, he gets some good solo time and goes between tasteful/soulful stuff, to interesting jazzy stuff, to all-out shred. Some of the fastest playing I've ever seen. He missed 2 notes that I noticed (one not fretted during a ridiculously fast solo and one wrong note). Needless to say, he has more talent in his little finger than I do in my whole body. His backup vocals were decent. John Myung This guy is seriously underrated. He's smart, so he usually just plays what needs to be played to hold the band together and keep things sounding stable. But he can rip it up. Eight finger tapping, flawless execution - 'nuff said. His tone is great too, strong yet subtle. I guess that sums up his playing style too. I'd kill to play in a band with this guy. If I wasn't such a sucker for shredding, he might be above Rudess and Petrucci to me. Mike Portnoy Don't get me wrong, great drummer. He's got a fairly unique style and it works great for Dream Theater. I found his playing to be a bit sloppy though. I noticed him missing things and botching the groove a bit, not a lot, but enough that it detracted from the set. I gotta give him credit on his sense of humor though, he keeps things fun. I liked the punching bag he had mounted to the drum kit. The other drummers played better than he did, and they were playing faster, occasionally more difficult things (yes, that's right, more difficult - all the Portnoy fanboys need to pick up some new records). Pretty good vocals, I like his tone and he's improved a lot since the SFAM DVD! James LaBrie What a godawful performance, and the most awkward/"are-you-serious?" stage banter I've ever heard (example: "Is this a college or a university?" / crowd: "Univeristy!" / "Well it doesn't {censored}ing matter we're playing anyway!" ...wat). I can't believe this guy sings in DREAM THEATER of all bands. His tone is nasal and thin. He starts getting pretty flat when he's stretching for the higher 50% of what he sings (which honestly is not that high). His vibrato sounds forced and exaggerated. It's like he's imitating a skilled singer. And what's interesting is that so many people fail to see all this! Here is an example of his performance, compared to someone like myself who is NOT a great singer. They played the Spirit Carries On (what a sweet guitar solo!). At the end of the song, LaBrie looked scared. The highest note he has to sing is a B (the one on the 7th fret of the high E for reference). He made it sound like the most difficult thing on earth. Since it's on SFAM, I knew the words and was singing along. When he hits the A at the end of the song (still making it sound painfully hard), I decided to harmonize with the D above it. That's stretching to the outer bounds of my range, but still within it and I can hold the note for a while with an even, full tone (my vibrato would probably sound as bad as his though, so I keep it steady). As I'm singing the note, some guy turns around and just stares at me, and I stop singing and smile awkwardly. And he goes "Dude, that was really impressive." I wanted to say "Actually, anyone with decent range can hit that note. LaBrie just makes it look difficult and every DT fan seems to be too ignorant to vocal skill to see that." If anyone actually responds to this post, I'm fully expecting "Oh, he was just having an off night." which I've actually seen a few times regarding LaBrie. Good singers, with good technique, who practice and warm up and take care of their 'instrument' don't allow themselves to have nights this bad. Same thing goes for the "after a 2 hour performance, your voice would be tired too" retort. If you have good technique you can just keep singing. Truth is, he spends half the set behind Petrucci's cabs anyway, so he sings no more than the average singer and gets plenty of breaks. Even the guy from {censored}ing Default sang very well when I saw them, despite admitting he had a bad cold/apologizing for the performance (which is a no-no imo). And it wasn't the venue, since the other singers sang very well. In any case, LaBrie sings better on the albums...and so do Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Anyway, sorry to rant about LaBrie (not my first time either on HC ) but he really killed what could have been one of the best shows of my life.

Labries voice grates on me. The band is great, though.

[deadwrong666]

yA, I totally missed this show...talk about a talented group of bands. {censored}!

Hopefully Opeth will come back to Vancouver and do a 2 hour show.

[Phishmonkey]

If you go, I'll see you there. Look for a geeky older bald guy, glasses, with an Iced Earth t-shirt

You expect him to find a specific geeky older bald guy in a meteal shirt at a DT concert?

[deadwrong666]

i might go to that on wednesday. i have a free ticket, but i might not be able to leave work early. its funny, if you would have told me like 3 years ago that opeth and DT were touring together, i would have {censored} my pants. but now, after a few not so great dream theater records, and knowing that opeth won't be doing their full set, i won't even care if i miss it. it seems kinda true with alot of shows. if you would have told me 3 or 4 years ago that megadeth, bodom, and in flames were touring together i would have went nuts, but after the last 3 in flames debacles, last 2 bodom debacles, and i don't really care about megadeth anymore, i just skipped it and didn't care.

+1, I have a ticket to gigantour and the only reason I am going is to appease my wifes-cousins-husband who wanted to go. The only band i want to see is job for a cowboy but I might miss them due to work, {censored}

[noseminer]

i might go to that on wednesday. i have a free ticket, but i might not be able to leave work early. its funny, if you would have told me like 3 years ago that opeth and DT were touring together, i would have {censored} my pants. but now, after a few not so great dream theater records, and knowing that opeth won't be doing their full set, i won't even care if i miss it. it seems kinda true with alot of shows. if you would have told me 3 or 4 years ago that megadeth, bodom, and in flames were touring together i would have went nuts, but after the last 3 in flames debacles, last 2 bodom debacles, and i don't really care about megadeth anymore, i just skipped it and didn't care.

 

 

thats okay, but your still pumped about the miley cyrus tour right!?!!?!

[mparsons]

If I didn't dislike BTBAM and Dream Theater, and I had any idea who 3 is, I would have gone, but $50 to see Opeth is a little much.

[Jbird]

You expect him to find a specific geeky older bald guy in a meteal shirt at a DT concert?

No not really

I'll be looking at all the hot chicks, myself.


Or should that be ....the hot chick

[Phishmonkey]

No not really I'll be looking at all the hot chicks, myself. Or should that be ....the hot chick

Careful, her dad probably dragged her there

[SonOfGoldDigger]

I've seen them quite a few times over the years. They still can't find the roof the theater.

I'm going to nominate james for the most bashed metal singer ever in history.
I predicted you would say he sucked before I read your entire post.
He just cant catch a break.


abhahahah

[bob the dentist]

well i mean if you were that bad, people would make fun of you all the time too

 

It's one thing if you're talented but have a "unique" sounding voice people might think is annoying and bash from time to time (like Geddy from Rush)

Another one if maybe you aren't the most talented singer, but at least sound like you're giving it all you've got - people can at least give props for that, and see it in your performance

But when you combine having a boring ass voice that is completely untrained and unfocused with the fact that it actually sounds like it's coming out of someone who is literally bored with what he's singing (and who wouldn't be, his note choices = ...in addition to that, anyone else notice how when he sings live he has this look on his face that's like "hey audience, isn't this cool? No? Yeah, I don't think so either...{censored}...oh well, i'm on stage...whee!!"), you're just epic fail.

 

I have to give LaBrie mad props though.

 

He fails in every possible way a singer can.

 

[Harvest]

Opeth played for an hour both nights.A caught a couple of songs by BTBAM on Friday and they were ok... didn't really like the vocals.

The setlist was

Masters Apprentices (Friday)/Demon of the Fall (Saturday)
Baying of the Hounds
In My Time of Need
Heir Apparent (new song)
Wreath
The Drapery Falls

I thought Labrie was OK, but never listen to DT with vocals in mind anyways, so it's not my main focus. I was much too busy being blown away with Petrucci, Myung, Portnoy (despite the prior criticism, I've never heard live drumming like that before!) and Rudess

Dream Theater
Friday:
CONSTANT MOTION
PANIC ATTACK
BLIND FAITH
SURROUNDED '07
THE DARK ETERNAL NIGHT
EROTOMANIA
VOICES
THE SPIRIT CARRIES ON
AS I AM

Encore:
MEDLEY:
I. METROPOLIS
II. LEARNING TO LIVE
III. ACOS: THE CRIMSON SUNSET


Saturday:
In The Presence of Enemies Pt. 1
Strange Deja Vu
Through My Words
Fatal Tragedy
Never Enough
Forsaken
Endless Sacrifice
Take The Time

Encore:
Medley: Trial of Tears/Finally Free/Learning To Live/In The Name of God/Octavarium

[HKSblade1]

JL deserves some slack

Go listen to death metal, then some classics
N Young, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, most of the biggest rock artists can't sing worth {censored}! What other band in DT style would you compare JL among?

Ask a N Young fan or Stones fan and they'll tell you to stfu too!

[noseminer]

JL deserves some slack Go listen to death metal, then some classics N Young, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, most of the biggest rock artists can't sing worth {censored}! What other band in DT style would you compare JL among? Ask a N Young fan or Stones fan and they'll tell you to stfu too!

 

 

russell allen of symphony x sings circles around labrie

[InFlames235]

russell allen of symphony x sings circles around labrie

 

 

Exactly. Russell Allen is my favorite vocalist of all time and probably would have better fitted Dream Theater with the type of talent they deserve compared to what they got with Labrie. Before Labrie {censored}ed up his voice though he WAS an amazing singer but they shoulda got rid of him after he {censored}ed it up.