My short review from last night (I just posted it on the MP forum)
Well...the Denver show last night was probably the 2nd best DT concert I've ever witnessed (RCMH being the 1st). I didn't like TA completely until last night. You guys even say my playlist where I trimmed out some tracks. Well, on my flight back, I listened to TA completely and enjoyed every second of it after witnessing it live.I think the cd production took away some of the details on TA. The Astonishing is full of "Dream Theaterisms" but I guess I didn't notice them until I finally saw them last night...There's crazy playing, solos, unisons, throughout the album. Now I can say TA is a Dream Theater album (I just didn't see it when I first heard TA). This show made me appreciate and fully grasp The Astonishing and I can honestly place it in my Top 5 DT albums (Images, Scenes, Awake, Six Degrees, TA).
The show was superb. The sound was amazing, although a tad loud, but you could hear every single instrument clearly. James sounded great and he did a hell of a job. Must have been overwhelming to memorize all the lyrics and sing those parts. Mangini, wow...I think his nickname should be Mike "Holy Fuck'n" Mangini. His kit sounded a lot better than the studio version and not that it should matter to me, but his kit really looked very clean without those extra bass drums on the sides (he only had 2 instead of 4). There were no formal band introductions, but at one point JP started pointing at the band members, and JM pointed to JP in a very excited way. Never seen him like that. The animations, the live projections, the stage design, even the lighting ...out of this world in my opinion. Not sure why some people don't like it. I thought it fit very well and complemented the narration of the story appropriately. It's hard to see screen and to see the band playing at the same time just because the guys' playing is always interesting to see.
Hope you guys don't miss it.