I like it when DT screws up

[rumborak]

This might be a weird topic, but stay with me.

My first DT concert was on February 11th 1995, Düsseldorf Philipshalle. Waking up the World tour. I was dragged there by a college friend of mine (god, what a bro) and we knew every fricking guitar, drum and vocal line down to a T. Knowing bass lines was already tough in those days.


So, we're watching the show like this:




And after the show, maybe the first thing we talked about was: how many mistakes did they make? This might sound weird, but to both of us the fact that they made mistakes meant one thing: This shit is so hard, even these demigods make mistakes. And they recover from it as if nothing happened.

Long story short, I personally *like* when live DVDs have flubs. Even albums! I have a Ben Folds album where in the middle of a solo he totally screw it up. He clearly could have rerecorded it, but he didn't, and trust me, I look forward to it every single time it comes.

I'm not even sure where this thread is going, but bottom line is: DT, don't try to be perfect. The hint of imperfection, at least to me, was a huge allure to your performances. It was like the beauty mark on Cindy Crawford's face; the existence of it emphasized the magnificence of the rest. And if '95 tour attendance didn't show my age, a reference to Cindy Crawford certainly did

EDIT: If nothing else, a thread with Kung Fu Panda in it is good, right?

[goo-goo]

I was at the Phoenix Aug 2000 show and they had a major train wreck during Metropolis Pt 1. They started the song 2 or 3 times if I recall correctly. The guys were all smiling. There's an awesome sounding boot of this show and it's called Train Wreck.

[rumborak]

You know, I seriously wish DT wrote a song that is too hard for them. They would record it perfectly on CD, and when they try to play it live, James would say "ok, there's a 30% chance we're making it through the song in one piece. Here it goes." If they screw it up, everybody has a good laugh. And when they make it through, everybody would be excited.

[Prog Snob]

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't that one of the reasons why they rarely play Blind Faith live. The solo was written for keyboard but John has trouble with doubling Jordan's part.

[red barchetta]

Sometimes there are technical problems during a show. But as for the acuracy of playing the music, it's impossible not making any mistakes for a musician. They all do but most of the time it does not show.

[Mosh]

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't that one of the reasons why they rarely play Blind Faith live. The solo was written for keyboard but John has trouble with doubling Jordan's part.

I think the tuning is a problem too. The recording is on a standard tuned guitar but JP has to transpose for the live performances (he plays it an octave lower I think).

Wasn't Dance of Eternity kind of one of those? IIRC they recorded it in pieces but never actually played it straight through until rehearsing for the tour and their ability to pull it off wasn't a sure thing yet.

[Siddhartha]

I have seen DT screwing live twice in Madrid during the DT12 tour.

It didn´t bother me at all, but I also didn´t found it very interesting, because DT music is very programed and mistakes resolved in them catching up and playing the next sections the way they are supposed to sound. After all they play to a click track.

Dream Theater is not a band like the Allman Brothers, were mistakes can take them to uncharted territory that they may feel like exploring in the moment.

[Architeuthis]

Heck yeah!  When they played in Seattle in 2008 PN tour, It was JLB's birthday. They paused halfway through "Take the Time", Mike Portnoy brought out a cake for James with blue and green icing to wish him a happy B-day. He held it up close so James could see it and he threw the cake in his face and ran back to his drum kit. They started back into the song and JP screwed up the first part of the solo because he was laughing so hard. James had blue and green streaks on his face for the rest of the night.
 My friend and I were in the fith row and he recorded it and put it on YouTube. It's called "James Labrie cakeface". I think it's still on there..

[MirrorMask]

It is, I just checked 

It's funny how he suddenly slams the cake in his face and then the video goes black ending, like when something actually more serious and tragic happens and whoever is filming stops in shock or fear 

[Architeuthis]

Ha!  I think he posted the rest of the song on a different clip somewhere. JLB was a good sport about it, as far as I could tell..

[MirrorMask]

After the Myung taclke I guess he anticipated everything.

[Architeuthis]

After the Myung taclke I guess he anticipated everything.

. I still haven't seen that one.

[Madman Shepherd]

On the ADTOE tour James's voice cracked during Caught in a Web and it was actually awesome.  When he sings "I bare all that I am made of now" his voice cracks but he pushes through and strains to stay on pitch.  He poured out so much emotion during that part that whenever I listen to that song I hear the same thing happening in my head.  That's a true professional. 

[pcs90]

There are quite a few videos floating around of DT screwing up...one during PMU immediately springs to mind. Pretty amusing when they are so obvious.

[AboutToCrash]

It amazes me how little they screw up, I consider myself advanced at guitar and can play most DT stuff (Train of thought/Systematic Chaos albums a bit too difficult) but playing them live I would completely turn to mush. Each technical section is its own little challenge and in the odd epic there is a 5 minute instrumental section where you may pull off one part superbly then are instantly thrown into another section. The complexity and musicianship amazes me constantly! Such a talented band that continues to push themselves technically even as most of them are in their 50's and Rudess is 60.. Most bands slow down at that point but the intensity has remained... seen them 5 times and haven't witnessed obvious cock ups over 14 or so hours of playing, very impressive!

[SystematicThought]

JLB fell offstage when I saw them on the ADTOE tour in Minnesota. Something else happened when I saw them on the DT12 tour too because he made reference to it after he did something else, but I can't remember what happened. I think it was a flubbed lyric or something.

[PetFish]

Great OP.

I'd much rather ANY musician play live and mess up than totally fake it to a recording.

But the fact that Dream Theater rarely mess up and considering how complex the music actually is it's astonishing (hehe) that they don't flub much, much, much more often.

[Lynxo]

I have seen DT screwing live twice in Madrid during the DT12 tour.

Man, their live shows sure have changed. Did Mangini still use a metronome to that?

[Siddhartha]

I have seen DT screwing live twice in Madrid during the DT12 tour.

Man, their live shows sure have changed. Did Mangini still use a metronome to that?

Yeah, they were using the click. And it was curious, because on that concert they had massive technical problems and decided to do it without the animations and usual light work that was used on the tour.

Just them playing, but the click remained.

[Peace and Love]

I have seen DT screwing live twice in Madrid during the DT12 tour.

Man, their live shows sure have changed. Did Mangini still use a metronome to that?

 

[hefdaddy42]

After the Myung taclke I guess he anticipated everything.

. I still haven't seen that one.

There is no video, only a still picture of the aftermath.

[Siddhartha]

Sorry double psot

[Shooters1221]

Well, this just happened at the Lakewood show 10/25/16. The beginning orchestra programmed part of "Act of Faythe" had concluded and JR stepped up to begin the piano intro and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! He had the wrong patch set up and the loudest most annoying sound came out. Mind you at this point the crowd is totally silent, so it was pretty brutal! He did recover quickly though and the crowd gave a cheer of approval, then as the band joined in, JR and MM were laughing about it through the rest of the piece. Pretty cool actually.

[hefdaddy42]

lol

[Prog Snob]

After the Myung taclke I guess he anticipated everything.

. I still haven't seen that one.

There is no video, only a still picture of the aftermath.

Portnoy must have a video of that somewhere.

[hefdaddy42]

Nah, that shit would have been on wikileaks by now.

[Blind Faythe]

When James Labrie fell tripped and landed on the floor when they were playing "Lost Not Forgotten" was very funny, yet they pulled it off well. Heck, even Petrucci joined him.

[rumborak]

Nah, that shit would have been on wikileaks by now.

Didn't Assange lose internet connection right after DT came though London? It's all coming together.

[Adami]

Nah, that shit would have been on wikileaks by now.

I heard Russia has a copy somewhere, they're waiting for the right time to release it.

[Pragmaticcircus]

Dream Theater is not a band like the Allman Brothers, were mistakes can take them to uncharted territory that they may feel like exploring in the moment.

I think this is one of the things that makes Frank Zappa so interesting too, because if a noticeable mistake is made, it is made apparent to the audience, making it part of the entertainment

[Kwyjibo]

I think it was on the Scenes Tour in Cologne (probably 11/14/99) where I witnessed them mess up Pull Me Under. I don't remember exactly what happend but the "Watch the sparrow falling" part was completely out of sync, the drums playing faster then the rest or something like that, but they recovered quickly and laughed about it.

As long as they don't begin to play sloppy almost all of the time, making mistakes makes them seem more human. And I'm sure there are a lot of small mistakes that no one besides themselves really notices. Who can tell if there are a couple of wrong notes in a high-speed guitar or keyboard run?

[King Postwhore]

Rumbo, have you ever heard the song "Hot Dog and A Shake by David Lee Roth?  During the guitar solo by Steve Vai, he messed up in the middle of it but continued playing.  The mistake sounded so cool they kept that solo in the recording.  I would have never known if I didn't read about it.

[rumborak]

Rumbo, have you ever heard the song "Hot Dog and A Shake by David Lee Roth?  During the guitar solo by Steve Vai, he messed up in the middle of it but continued playing.  The mistake sounded so cool they kept that solo in the recording.  I would have never known if I didn't read about it.

Just listened to that, that's awesome. Nice recovery for sure.

It reminded me of this:

https://youtu.be/FArZxLj6DLk?t=18

[King Postwhore]

 

[KevShmev]

I like when little mistakes like that on studio recordings. Adds character sometimes.  For Radiohead fans, if you listen to Black Star from the Bends, during the second chorus, there is a loud buzz in there that was guitar feedback or some crazy thing that happened in the studio, and they just left it in the song.  Sounds neat, almost like it should be there.