The Astonishing Tour, listen to the album or wait for the concert?

[nassar]

Hey guys, this is my first post and am glad to have joined this forum  ,
I was looking for some opinions on this one and am surprised no one have posted it yet, would it be awesome if we heard the album the first time live or will it be not as enjoyable since we are not familiar with them.
This will be my first DT concert, Amsterdam coming all the way from UAE, Dubai for it, looking forward to meeting more DT fans  :

[mike099]

I am considering this myself.  most folks will want to be somewhat familiar with the music and lyrics before the show.  I also considered reading the lyrics but not hearing the music until the concert.  My show is April 29th and that is a long time to wait. 

[Tunnel Vision]

I'm going to listen to the album before the concert but I will try my damndest to not overlisten (like I've done with every other DT release) 

[Evermind]

I'd say listen to the album.

I'm judging by my and my friends experience of The Theater Equation, Ayreon's theatrical performance of their concept rock opera album called The Human Equation. All of my friends who I was visiting the show with (two of them, to be precise ) said they enjoyed the show immensely, but they wished they knew the album beforehand, the music, the lyrics, all of that so it would've been easier to process. There's also a factor of language, if you're a native English speaker it might be easier for you to understand the concept from only one listen to the opera live, but if you're not (and seeing how you're coming from Dubai you're probably not), I definitely suggest to get familiar with the album first. I mean, more than two hours of music is a lot to take in, and in case of a concept album experience you'll also want to be able to discern the lyrics, which may be a bit difficult to do in live setting. When you're already familiar with the album - you don't need to know every note and every single word, just to be generally familiar - it'll also be much easier to see what the musicians are doing on stage, the video for the songs, the theatrical aspects of the performance, this kind of stuff. You won't need to be focusing solely on music and lyrics in fear you'll miss something pivotal to the concept.

[Krissi91]

I will be at the show in Nürnberg and will certainly listen to the album beforehand. As was already said, it's difficult for us non-native English speakers to understand the lyrics if we don't get familiar with them first. In addition, the sound at a show is almost never as crystal clear as on the album itself. Particularly keyboard/guitar solos sometimes get buried in the mix live, so if you have already listened to them multiple times in advance it will be much easier to discern the notes being played.
Also, I usually need some time until I really "get" an album and The Astonishing seems to be an especially complex piece of music

[Enigmachine]

I will definitely listen to the album first, more due to impatience and hype than anything else.

[bosk1]

I'd say listen to the album.

I'm judging by my and my friends experience of The Theater Equation, Ayreon's theatrical performance of their concept rock opera album called The Human Equation. All of my friends who I was visiting the show with (two of them, to be precise ) said they enjoyed the show immensely, but they wished they knew the album beforehand, the music, the lyrics, all of that so it would've been easier to process. There's also a factor of language, if you're a native English speaker it might be easier for you to understand the concept from only one listen to the opera live, but if you're not (and seeing how you're coming from Dubai you're probably not), I definitely suggest to get familiar with the album first. I mean, more than two hours of music is a lot to take in, and in case of a concept album experience you'll also want to be able to discern the lyrics, which may be a bit difficult to do in live setting. When you're already familiar with the album - you don't need to know every note and every single word, just to be generally familiar - it'll also be much easier to see what the musicians are doing on stage, the video for the songs, the theatrical aspects of the performance, this kind of stuff. You won't need to be focusing solely on music and lyrics in fear you'll miss something pivotal to the concept.

^This.  I mean, it would be a cool and interesting experience to hear all the songs live for the first time.  But to me, there are some VERY good reasons to know the songs somewhat beforehand.  To put it simply:
1.  An entire double album worth of material is a LONG concert to go into not knowing ANY of the songs beforehand.  Would you honestly prefer to sit through almost an entire show not knowing ANY of the songs?
2.  Sing-along value is nonexistent if you cannot sing along.
3.  Since there is a story and concept, I think it is likely that the show will be presented in a way that tells the story.  By not knowing the album beforehand, I think you will miss a lot of what is going on if you are trying to figure it all out on the fly.

[SwedishGoose]

While one of my favorite concerts ever was when Pain of Salvation played BE live before it was even recorded there is one big difference now, the album will be out. It will be reviewed and talked about.

I don't think I could abstain from listening to it even if I thought the show would be better for me if I did. I don't by the way...

Would have been interresting though if DT had played the shows before releasing the album just like PoS did.

[BlobVanDam]

I'd say listen to the album.

I'm judging by my and my friends experience of The Theater Equation, Ayreon's theatrical performance of their concept rock opera album called The Human Equation. All of my friends who I was visiting the show with (two of them, to be precise ) said they enjoyed the show immensely, but they wished they knew the album beforehand, the music, the lyrics, all of that so it would've been easier to process. There's also a factor of language, if you're a native English speaker it might be easier for you to understand the concept from only one listen to the opera live, but if you're not (and seeing how you're coming from Dubai you're probably not), I definitely suggest to get familiar with the album first. I mean, more than two hours of music is a lot to take in, and in case of a concept album experience you'll also want to be able to discern the lyrics, which may be a bit difficult to do in live setting. When you're already familiar with the album - you don't need to know every note and every single word, just to be generally familiar - it'll also be much easier to see what the musicians are doing on stage, the video for the songs, the theatrical aspects of the performance, this kind of stuff. You won't need to be focusing solely on music and lyrics in fear you'll miss something pivotal to the concept.

^This.  I mean, it would be a cool and interesting experience to hear all the songs live for the first time.  But to me, there are some VERY good reasons to know the songs somewhat beforehand.  To put it simply:
1.  An entire double album worth of material is a LONG concert to go into not knowing ANY of the songs beforehand.  Would you honestly prefer to sit through almost an entire show not knowing ANY of the songs?
2.  Sing-along value is nonexistent if you cannot sing along.
3.  Since there is a story and concept, I think it is likely that the show will be presented in a way that tells the story.  By not knowing the album beforehand, I think you will miss a lot of what is going on if you are trying to figure it all out on the fly.

These are great points.
I think it would be best to familiarize yourself with the album, and then appreciate the additions the live show brings to embellish the album such as the video show, rather than having too much to focus on and not being able to take it all in. It might be overload for a "rock opera" concept album.
And I would never go to a live show if I didn't know any of the material, no matter how sure I was that the music would be great.

[Cyclopssss]

Well, we do know ONE song. But it would be a long wait until TGOM comes on to sing along to and to have to sit out the rest of the album....so yeah, I'll listen to it beforehand. 

[BlobVanDam]

We do know one song, but I assume that anyone contemplating not listening to the album before the tour has probably either abstained from listening to TGOM, or has only listened to it a few times, not enough to be super familiar with it by the time of the show.
I'd much rather my first listen to be the pristine studio album, rather than take my chances with the sound quality of a live show though.

[Tick]

I'm going to drown in the album prior to the show. I can't wrap my brain around someone not wanting to be as familiar as possible before seeing it. It makes it so much better, imo.

[Chino]

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. When I saw DT for my first time (Oakdale 2004), I had just heard Metropolis for the first time about three hours prior. I went and saw DT having only heard one of their songs once. It was awesome. It might be fun doing that again.

I've only listened to The Gift of Music twice so far.

[Prog Snob]

I will undoubtedly be listening to the new CDs constantly to take in all that is Astonishing. I'm sure I'll have some bootlegs before I even see the show, so I'll see how the performance improves as the tour rolls on.

[MirrorMask]

Jumping on the "Absolutely listen to the album before" bandwagon as well.

Not knowing the album beforehand, at the live show you would miss everything that is either enhanced (videos, James becoming more theatrical and "forcing" the way a line is sung, with either more rage, more sorrow, or an octave higher etc) or improved / expanded upon.

[nassar]

Thanks guys for all the feedback and stories,

I do see a few who enjoyed this experience of not hearing it but most do state it would be better to hear it first,
as its my first DT concert maybe am trying too much to make it a special one, but it is already .
Yea logic says get familiar with the album first, should make it a more enjoyable experience.
I have already listened to TGOM +20 times and it just gets sweeter, now am that more excited for the album.
Can't wait!!