Author Topic: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show  (Read 3350 times)

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Offline mikeyd23

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11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« on: November 02, 2017, 10:31:05 AM »
Anyone else going to the show? I'm down for a meet-up before hand if anyone wants to  :metal

Offline smyke

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2017, 01:10:33 PM »
Ill be going, but will be driving in after work, so I wont get there until just before the show starts. I also have an unused ticket, left orchestra for sale if someone needs one (posted in the DT Bay thread).

Offline mikeyd23

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2017, 07:08:15 AM »
Report from the show last night in Pittsburgh -

PROS:

The band sounded great, including James, and they all seemed to be having a ton of fun on this tour. It was definitely a very different vibe from TA tour, which they played this same venue on. Everyone was standing, for the most part, the majority of the show, rocking out and having fun (also tons of people were filming and no one seemed to care).

JR was JR, literally perfect performance, his solo spot before Wait for Sleep was gorgeous. He should consider doing a solo piano tour, I'd pay money to watch that guy sit at a piano and just play for a couple hours, no questions.

JMX was fantastic as well, he was audible in the mix (more on the mix later) and seemed in good spirits.

James sounded great in the room, I'm sure if I watched a recording back there would be some shaky stuff, but in the room with sound bouncing around, he was great. Dude was giving it 110% and was engaging, funny, and charming.

MM was a joy to watch, didn't miss a beat, literally, and put his own stamp on the songs in a lot of places. I think this show was the perfect blend (for me) of him holding true to MP's original parts while also adding his own vibe to fills or patterns. From where I sat, he struck the perfect balance last night.

JP was the star of the show, no doubt. His playing was on fire, his outro on Take the Time was one of the best guitar moments I've seen live, period. After every solo he was getting a big pop from the crowd, as usual, I was blown away.

The mix was possibly the best of any DT show I've seen. Now this was at The Palace Theater, a venue known for incredibly inconsistent sound from seat to seat, row to row. So maybe I was just in a good spot, I intentionally got a seat dead center on the floor, right smack in the middle of the theater. The sound was great, each player was audible and the mix was powerful but not overly-harsh.

CONS:

DT has played this same venue the last three times I've seen them (AftR, TA, and last night) and last night probably was the worst attendance I've seen for a DT show at that venue. Surprised me to see that the venue was more empty for the band playing I&W than it was when they played TA last year. I was on the floor, so I have no clue how full the balcony was, but the floor was packed except for 2 rows in the dead center that were completely empty and probably about 10 rows in the back corner of the theater. The strange part is that I looked at the venue website a few days before the show to see how tickets were selling and they showed like only 5 seats left available on the floor. I suspect the promoter had these seats and folks didn't even know they were available. When I was shopping for tickets for this show, I checked the venue's website and was ready to buy from them before a poster here (thank you!) sent me a link to the promoters site, where much better seats were available. I'm guessing this had something to do with the empties, which was pretty disappointing because the show was pretty great.

Other random thoughts:

The setlist was awesome! Funny how DT fans freak out for "rare" songs then I look around and no one knows the words.

Maddie appears to be doing a lot of John's patch changes now. I remember a recent interview with Maddie where he goes over that he has a duplicate pedal board back by him, and if John isn't close to his board on stage, Maddie will switch sounds for him. They must have grown very comfortable doing that, I'd say last night Maddie changed John's sounds 50% of the time. A lot of times, going into his solos or out of his solos, JP wouldn't have to travel back and forth to his board to switch sounds, which honestly was great, he basically wasn't as tied to it. Shows how much John trusts Maddie, which is really cool especially since John's been doing his own effect changes for like 25 years +.

Overall great, great show! Go see this tour! If you are one of those fans that wishes DT would be more loose and jammy like they were previously, there is actually a lot of those moments built into the set, JP extended solos, JR spot, JMX spot, MM solo during Metropolis, etc... Great balance of fun, loose jamming and tight, well coordinated set list and show structure.

Offline zappafrank2112

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2017, 10:35:04 AM »
James sounded great in the room, I'm sure if I watched a recording back there would be some shaky stuff, but in the room with sound bouncing around, he was great. Dude was giving it 110% and was engaging, funny, and charming.

Wow, I had the exact opposite impression.  Both my friend and I felt he was dogging it about 75% of the show, meandering weird substitutions where higher notes should be, trailing off his lines, and all around acting really odd and babbling in between songs.
« Last Edit: November 09, 2017, 10:49:33 AM by zappafrank2112 »

Offline zappafrank2112

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2017, 10:42:15 AM »
DT has played this same venue the last three times I've seen them (AftR, TA, and last night) and last night probably was the worst attendance I've seen for a DT show at that venue. Surprised me to see that the venue was more empty for the band playing I&W than it was when they played TA last year. I was on the floor, so I have no clue how full the balcony was, but the floor was packed except for 2 rows in the dead center that were completely empty and probably about 10 rows in the back corner of the theater. The strange part is that I looked at the venue website a few days before the show to see how tickets were selling and they showed like only 5 seats left available on the floor. I suspect the promoter had these seats and folks didn't even know they were available. When I was shopping for tickets for this show, I checked the venue's website and was ready to buy from them before a poster here (thank you!) sent me a link to the promoters site, where much better seats were available. I'm guessing this had something to do with the empties, which was pretty disappointing because the show was pretty great.

10 rows?  I'm guessing it wasn't *that* empty back there.  The 2 rows in the middle, I can believe... I've often gotten those seats literally at the door before b/c guests/whoever never showed.  But the entire back corner empty?  10 rows is a lot.

I'm also not sure about the balcony.  I have a friend who was up there, so I'll need to check with him to see what it was like.

Not sure when you came in, but I got into the venue about 10 or 15 minutes before start, and as I waiting in the lobby for my friend, a LOT of people just starting appearing from out of nowhere, so depending on when you saw the empty rows (which I realize might have been throughout the show), those could just be stragglers.  Plus, it's possible a lot of people just assumed the show started at 8, instead of the 7:45 it actually was.

Did you go through Ticketfly for your seats?  I avoid that as much as possible given A) you can't choose your seats - only price level, and B) the exorbitant fees.  Venue website you can pick your seats with a much lower set of fees, even fewer if you order from the box office over the phone and choose will call (vs. mail).
« Last Edit: November 09, 2017, 10:49:53 AM by zappafrank2112 »

Offline zappafrank2112

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2017, 10:55:38 AM »

Overall great, great show! Go see this tour!

Different impressions of James and capacity aside, I wholeheartedly echo this sentiment.  During the tour for TA, the same friend and I were talking about how we felt the band needed to chill on releasing album after album, and just do "an evening with" format where they play a bunch of rarely played stuff, no ulterior motive of promoting an album.

Little did I know not only we'd get an AMAZING rendition of I&W (and I was one of those people who saw the debut of Pull Me Under on Headbangers Ball and rushed out to buy the album), but I'd FINALLY... after 25 years of following the band... 22 years of knowing the song... and 17 years/12 shows of actually getting to see them live... FINALLY hear A CHANGE OF SEASONS *(^)*^!@&*#^&*)^@&*)&^#))!#!!!!!!!

Offline mikeyd23

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2017, 12:48:10 PM »
Wow, I had the exact opposite impression.  Both my friend and I felt he was dogging it about 75% of the show, meandering weird substitutions where higher notes should be, trailing off his lines, and all around acting really odd and babbling in between songs.

Couple of things, (1) he definitely struggled in a couple spots but I never felt like he was "dogging it", (2) he certainly altered melodies for some lines, but he's been doing that this entire I&W tour cycle so I totally expected it and have no problem with it, and (3) James acting odd and babbling IS James, not sure why that's surprising at all, I find his awkward banter charming.

10 rows?  I'm guessing it wasn't *that* empty back there.  The 2 rows in the middle, I can believe... I've often gotten those seats literally at the door before b/c guests/whoever never showed.  But the entire back corner empty?  10 rows is a lot.

I'm also not sure about the balcony.  I have a friend who was up there, so I'll need to check with him to see what it was like.

Not sure when you came in, but I got into the venue about 10 or 15 minutes before start, and as I waiting in the lobby for my friend, a LOT of people just starting appearing from out of nowhere, so depending on when you saw the empty rows (which I realize might have been throughout the show), those could just be stragglers.  Plus, it's possible a lot of people just assumed the show started at 8, instead of the 7:45 it actually was.

Did you go through Ticketfly for your seats?  I avoid that as much as possible given A) you can't choose your seats - only price level, and B) the exorbitant fees.  Venue website you can pick your seats with a much lower set of fees, even fewer if you order from the box office over the phone and choose will call (vs. mail).

Yup, it was probably close to ten rows in the back on JP's side, and they were empty the whole show, not just near the beginning.

I got my tickets directly from the promoters site, I don't remember if it linked me to ticket fly or not. It did provide me a better seat than the venue was showing available at a comparable price.

Different impressions of James and capacity aside, I wholeheartedly echo this sentiment.  During the tour for TA, the same friend and I were talking about how we felt the band needed to chill on releasing album after album, and just do "an evening with" format where they play a bunch of rarely played stuff, no ulterior motive of promoting an album.

Little did I know not only we'd get an AMAZING rendition of I&W (and I was one of those people who saw the debut of Pull Me Under on Headbangers Ball and rushed out to buy the album), but I'd FINALLY... after 25 years of following the band... 22 years of knowing the song... and 17 years/12 shows of actually getting to see them live... FINALLY hear A CHANGE OF SEASONS *(^)*^!@&*#^&*)^@&*)&^#))!#!!!!!!!

Good stuff, glad you had fun!  :metal

Offline Shooters1221

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #7 on: November 15, 2017, 12:05:28 PM »
Had a great time at this show also. Great sound from row E, seat 1. Got a pick from JP and a fist bump from MM. I think you guys said the rest. :tup :tup :tup :tup


Offline efxf

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Re: 11/8/2017 - Greensburg (Pittsburgh), PA Show
« Reply #8 on: January 02, 2018, 01:40:10 AM »
If I recall correctly the balcony was pretty full.  I couldn't see the orchestra section from my spot.

Overall I thought the show was great!  Here's a few videos I took (more on my YouTube page)...

Metropolis Pt 2 - https://youtu.be/RwWIuEGKjQc
Wait for Sleep - https://youtu.be/Vo2TzOv2XF0
A Change of Seasons - https://youtu.be/p3AHDt2z8MM

-Stef