Author Topic: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?  (Read 4837 times)

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Offline PwnsomeWin

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How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« on: March 30, 2015, 02:44:15 PM »
What the title says, so albums, show tickets, anything with their name.

Being a jobless 17-year-old, I've only spent money on their albums. Here's what I've spent:
$4 on WDaDU CD
$2 on IaW CD (Princeton record exchange wewt)
$8 on Train of Thought digital
$14 on Octavarium
$5 on Systematic Chaos (PRE again)
$10 (too much) on BCaSL
$12 on DT12 deluxe
$2 on Hell's Kitchen and TEI digital

So, about $57.
« Last Edit: March 30, 2015, 03:48:40 PM by PwnsomeWin »

Offline YtseJamittaja

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2015, 03:13:16 PM »
That's impossible question but let's say something like 400€ at total. Concerts, shirts, cds, dvds and stuff.
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Offline Anguyen92

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2015, 03:19:34 PM »
Well.  Only $20ish so far after buying the Breaking the Fourth Wall DVD.  Probably will spend another $12-15 on DT13.

Offline Setlist Scotty

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2015, 03:22:58 PM »
I don't have the time to dig up all the specifics, and of course there's the question of what would you include in money spent? For instance, there was one time that I flew out to NYC and caught a DT show before flying to Europe. I was going to have to fly to NYC anyway to meet up with my tour group, tho I purposefully went a few days early for the show and other things I wanted to do in NYC. Or the taping rig that I had, which wasn't just for taping DT shows, but was definitely the primary motivation for getting into taping.

Suffice to say, I'm sure I've spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years, keeping in mind I've been a fan since 1989, purchased all their albums on CD, purchased some collectables (CD singles, promo CD singles, silver bootlegs, etc), seen them live 53 times (altho about half of these were comp'ed tickets), flew to another part of the country and roadtripped in most cases to see them on 5 different occasions (so the cost of airfare, car rental, hotel rooms, food), purchased T-shirts, posters, tourbooks (aside from the ones I designed). So it would be hard for me to guess a specific number, but in any case, a lot of money!   :omg:
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Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2015, 03:26:32 PM »
An exact figure is impossible to give, but roughly:

About £120 on the albums in their various forms

About £50 on the DVDs and, back in the day, videos

£70 for a tattoo of the Majesty symbol (I know, strictly speaking that's not exactly spending money 'on' DT, but I'm counting it)

£20 on a t-shirt

About £500 on concert tickets, not including travel, which in some cases involved long-haul flights.


So that's about £770 in total. In terms of expense, DT are 2nd behind Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler (who go well into 4 figures) for me. 

Offline Nihil-Morari

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2015, 03:27:13 PM »
I've done some quick calculations. I've been keeping stats on how much I've spent on each album I own. Adding up all Dream Theater albums (so no side projects or any other guest appearances, just Dream Theater releases) gives me rougly 840 euro's.

Add to that four shows, so rougly 200 euro's for those.
A couple of shirts, and posters bought at those shows, maybe again 200 euro's
A couple of books, guitar and keyboard transcriptions, Lifting Shadows etc. 100 euro's
I've been a member of the official fanclub for some time, and of Voices, the UK one, hell, I don't know, 75?

Again, that's only the stuff with Dream Theater on it. It all adds up to rougly 1400 euro's, so over 1500 dollars.

Now let's wait for the big collectors.

EDIT: I see Scott has already posted  :lol
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Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2015, 03:33:32 PM »
I've done some quick calculations. I've been keeping stats on how much I've spent on each album I own. Adding up all Dream Theater albums (so no side projects or any other guest appearances, just Dream Theater releases) gives me rougly 840 euro's.



Do you mind my asking - how did 12 albums and an EP add up to so much? Do you have them all on many different formats?

Offline PwnsomeWin

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2015, 03:43:30 PM »
I figured there'd be a lot of people who'd have more than just the 12 albums, so I'm not expecting exact calculations.  :P

Offline Nihil-Morari

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2015, 03:44:18 PM »
Well there's two special editions, both of those around 80 euro's, but here's the list:

The Majesty Demo's
InstruMENTAL
When Dream And Day Unite
Images And Words
Live In Long Island Part II
Live At The Marquee
Awake
A Change Of Seasons
Falling Into Infinity
Once In A Livetime
Scenes From A Memory
Through Her Eyes
Scenes From A World Tour
Live Scenes From New York
Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
Taste The Memories
Train Of Tought
Stream Of Consciousness
A Sort Of Homecoming
Live In Tokyo/5 Years In A Livetime
Live At Budokan CD
Live At Budokan DVD
Live At Budokan MP DVD
When Dream And Day Reunite
Dark Side Of The Moon
Octavarium
A Walk Beside The Band
Romavarium
Score CD
Score DVD
Systematic Chaos Single CD
Systematic Chaos Special Edition 2CD
Systematic Chaos Vinyl
Forsaken
Tokyo, Japan 1995
New York City 1993
Greatest Hit
Images And Words Fanclub CD
Chaos In Motion Box Set
Black Clouds And Silver Linings Deluxe Edition
A Dramatic Turn Of Events Double CD
Dream Theater Deluxe Edition
Live At Luna Park Blu Ray
Live From The Boston Opera House Blu Ray

So not even all special editions, just a lot of stuff.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2015, 04:05:56 PM »
I wouldn't even know where to begin to actually count it all up but easily in the thousands. We're talking CDs, DVDs, Blurays, Tshirts, Concert tickets, books, memorabilia, various bootlegs, etc. 

Offline Nick

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2015, 04:48:42 PM »
I don't want to know.

That said...

$150 on regular studio albums.
$200 on special editions
$600 or so on every YtseJam release
$300 on shirts
$500 easy on concert tickets
$250 on other rarities

That's 2k right there, and I'm sure there is more than that.
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Offline King Postwhore

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2015, 05:03:00 PM »
Enough to own my own Continuum Fingerboard. :lol
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Offline TheCountOfNYC

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2015, 06:52:52 PM »
Under 200 dollars. I have only ever spent money on their albums. I bought WDaDU, I&W, ACoS, SFaM, 8VM, SC, BC&SL, and DT12 as well as the box set to complete my collection and get newer copies of the CD's I already own as well as hard copies of the albums I got off of iTunes. My girlfriend has spent more money on DT than me since she bought me tickets to their NYC show last year for our anniversary.
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Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2015, 07:19:08 PM »
My girlfriend has spent more money on DT than me since she bought me tickets to their NYC show last year for our anniversary.

Marry her.

Offline chaossystem

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2015, 07:47:56 PM »
Enough to own my own Continuum Fingerboard. :lol

You're better off with the other merchandise.

That thing annoys the CRAP out of me!
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Offline Kotowboy

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #15 on: March 31, 2015, 05:06:27 AM »
Couldn't say as I no longer own every DT product i've purchased.

But several albums and a couple of DVDs.

Offline ariich

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #16 on: March 31, 2015, 06:27:28 AM »
I imagine Setlist Scotty and ZepDT will probably win this thread. :lol

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Online Chino

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #17 on: March 31, 2015, 06:35:09 AM »
Studio Albums = $112
Live DVDs = $120
Concert tickets = $700 ($250 for RCMH alone)
Merchandise = $150

Grand Total: $1082

Online Stadler

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #18 on: March 31, 2015, 07:03:57 AM »
$150 on regular studio albums
$125 on live releases (CDs/DVD/Bluray)
$225  on fan club disks, singles and whatnot
$600 on the Ytsejam releases (I have them all)
$40   on shirts
$100 on tickets
« Last Edit: March 31, 2015, 02:48:22 PM by Stadler »

Offline vtgrad

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #19 on: March 31, 2015, 10:00:25 AM »
Enough to own my own Continuum Fingerboard. :lol
:lol

And I'll second that... likely enough to own one or two of JP's new EB models.  Considering that I've seen DT seven times and four of the seven were meet and greet, that number would likely be only for concerts (and ancillary costs like travel, lodging, etc and the fact that I'm paying for two)  :biggrin:.  I live in Southwest Virginia and normally travel to DC or NYC for shows.

That doesn't even consider the "stuff".  However, I am, by no means, anywhere near Scotty's level (as I imagine that most of us aren't).

I consider myself blessed to have been able to follow DT.  Growing up listening to them (since '92), I honestly never thought I'd be able to attend a show because of travel expense.  I've been to plenty of other concerts, but nothing really compares to a DT show imo.
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Offline CharlesPL

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2015, 10:45:18 AM »
Cds, bootlegs, whole stuff,fan zines, posters, etc. Almost 30 show in many countries

Offline The Letter M

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #21 on: March 31, 2015, 11:48:28 AM »
I'm not even sure, nor do I want to know. I know I've spent a pretty penny or more on all of the DTIFC releases and singles that I got 2nd-hand on eBay.

I bought all the studio albums, live albums, one EP, one compilation, live DVDs and BRs, 3 deluxe special editions of studio albums, a few deluxe special edition live albums, all of the YJR stuff (including the LTE 2008 box set), a couple t-shirts, a poster, and other odds-and-ends.

I suspect it'd be close to $2000 if not over. I mean, between the deluxe editions of BC&SL, ADTOE, DT12 and LALP, that's about $500 right there, and I'd say I've spent that much on the DTIFC releases, so I'm already over $1000. Another $600+ for YRJ stuff, then we're at $1600 or more. Throw in the retail releases for another $300 so we're already at about $2000.

Let's just say $2200-2500.

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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #22 on: March 31, 2015, 02:02:53 PM »
I forgot about Fan Club costs.

Offline Setlist Scotty

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #23 on: March 31, 2015, 02:08:46 PM »
I imagine Setlist Scotty and ZepDT will probably win this thread. :lol
LOL! I'm sure that there's at least one other person that would exceed what I've spent, and that's Franz who's not only the biggest DT collector, but also has traveled to see many shows. I'm sure he's seen at least as many shows as me, and probably many more. ZepDT is another one, but I think Funky Gibbons might also be higher in the rankings (altho I know he's sold off a lot of his stuff).

And I don't know if he's still alive (I heard maybe he wasn't), but Matthias Karnhal probably has seen the most DT shows out of anyone that wasn't a part of DT or their road crew, so I can only imagine how much he spent on travel expenses alone, besides whatever collectables he had (the Poughkeepsie NY show on Dec. 30th, 1998 has MP commenting that that show was Matthias' 56th show - who knows how many he caught after that).
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Online jjrock88

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #24 on: March 31, 2015, 02:51:16 PM »
All the studio albums

Offline Madman Shepherd

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #25 on: March 31, 2015, 04:40:15 PM »
30-40 CDs & DVDs (2 box sets)
5-7 shirts
8 concerts  (1 M&G and buying an extra ticket for whatever girl I was with at the time)
Hotel Rooms and Gas

So I will say 3-4k



Offline Siddhartha

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #26 on: March 31, 2015, 09:30:22 PM »
0.0 $

 :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr :yarr













2500 $ more or less.

Offline RaiseTheKnife

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #27 on: March 31, 2015, 10:01:04 PM »
I'm curious to know my expenditures, so I'll do complete calculation shortly. 

Offline Sycsa

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #28 on: April 01, 2015, 04:01:33 AM »
0.0 $
 :yarr
I wonder for how many people would this be the true answer. Depends on where you live, too; I really doubt that many DT fans from Eastern Europe spent money on DT other than concerts and maybe a couple of CDs/T-shirts.


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Offline cfmoran13

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #29 on: April 01, 2015, 06:50:01 AM »
So, I just sat down and tried to come up with an accurate amount spent on DT.  Here's what I got...

$1,300 - Concert Tickets (22 shows, many with wife)
     550 - Official CD's, DVD's, BD's
     600 - YtseJam Records
     400 - Book, T-shirts, Tour Programs, various merch
     200 - Grateful Dreams Trading Releases
     200 - Fan Club Memberships (DTIFC & Voices UK)
 -------------------------------------------------------------
$3,250 - Total

Dang!  I know others have spent more.  But, I definitely wasn't expecting it to add up to that much.  That's just what I can remember.  Now, if I were to add all of MP's side projects and individual merch, that number is closer to $3,750.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2015, 09:15:10 PM by cfmoran13 »

Offline bobs23

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #30 on: April 01, 2015, 07:58:49 AM »
Even though I used to work for them, I would put it well north of 10,000 just on travel expenses. Most of the media, apparel and collectibles that I have were given to me. Some of those items are priceless to me.

Offline emtee

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #31 on: April 01, 2015, 08:08:58 AM »
Lots. And even more on MP with all his DVD's. I suppose I've paid a few of his heating bills  :laugh:

Offline Counselor of Prog

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #32 on: April 01, 2015, 07:29:33 PM »
I'm in the same boat.  I reacquired all of the basic DT catalog, most of the Neal Morse one, Transatlantic, Liquid Tension Experiment discs, et. al. (and other projects involving DT and/or Portnoy). 
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Offline Nearmyth

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #33 on: April 01, 2015, 09:06:23 PM »
Like, $45 for a shirt, $10 for an album, $100 ish on concert tickets. I remember my dad got all their studio music at some point so I never had to buy much. That's about it, I've never been super into collecting or merchandise.
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Offline Phoenix87x

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Re: How much money have you spent on Dream Theater?
« Reply #34 on: April 02, 2015, 06:36:13 PM »
Let's see,

All the studio albums so $120
Alot of the live albums/Live DVD's so $60

2 concerts $100 each

1 T-shirt- $19

So like $400. Maybe alittle more.