Still a HUGE DT fan but...............

[King Postwhore]

You know with the setlist thing.  I think DT fans have been spoiled.  Most bands I have seen in my life for multiple tours maybe change a few songs on the second leg of the tour.   That's it.  DT was a rare bird when it came to setlist changes.

[BlobVanDam]

You know with the setlist thing.  I think DT fans have been spoiled.  Most bands I have seen in my life for multiple tours maybe change a few songs on the second leg of the tour.   That's it.  DT was a rare bird when it came to setlist changes.

Even with their current setlists, I think they mix it up more than most bands. With most bands I go to see live, I can look up any setlist of the current tour, and you can bet that's the setlist I'll be seeing too, with the exception of maybe one or two songs they might alternate.
DT have still gone through quite a few songs this tour when you think about it, and have a decent amount of variety even with the 3 or so setlists they cycle through each leg. And this is still their first world tour with MM, so it's a fair assumption that if anything, it's only getting better from here.

Of all the things I miss with MP in the band, setlist rotation isn't very high on my list.

[King Postwhore]

I think we all didn't want MP to leave.  But now that it's happened I think of it like VH.  I got to listen to very good albums from DLR solo and VH  and for DLR's first two albums at least they were right up there with VH.  So I'll go with the flow!

[BlobVanDam]

I think we all didn't want MP to leave.  But now that it's happened I think of it like VH.  I got to listen to very good albums from DLR solo and VH  and for DLR's first two albums at least they were right up there with VH.  So I'll go with the flow!

So were his 3rd and 5th.     [/off topic]
Although I can't say a drummer is as much of a drawcard to a new band as a vocalist for me, unfortunately. And that goes for any drummer, even MP. So at this stage, it's DT I care about.

[King Postwhore]

I get you blob and DT is still my primary focus but I do get a tingle between my legs for Flying Colors.

[BlobVanDam]

Unfortunately DT are the anomaly of their entire genre for me, and the one MP project I was interested in basically fell through, so DT is all I gots dangit!

[KevShmev]

I hear ya.  I guess I just don't get pledging such loyalty to one man to where you almost give up on the band when that one guy leaves.

I agree, but there's certainly none of that going on with me.  Hell, I was glad that he left.  In many ways I still am.  Like I've said, the studio side is somewhat improved in my book.  The live side took a pretty big hit.

Okay, IF that is true, I am fine with it.  The studio stuff is what I always listen to, and DT hasn't been to St. Louis since 2004, so I'll take an improved studio side any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

I just don't get the hatred for him here. Did he have faults? Sure. Was what went down the result of Mike's will? Sure. But that should NOT take away everything he did for the band and most importantly FANS OF THE BAND!

Not everyone here "hates" Mike, but if you can't understand why some do, then really, you're just not trying very hard.

He lied to everyone about his motives behind wanting the band to go on hiatus.  He lied about who said what, and when.  Statements from literally everyone else involved (members of both Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold) have borne this out.  Nobody likes being lied to.

He chose to leave, the band begged him to reconsider, but he left anyway.  Then, after the band had moved on, he asked to come back, and he has painted them as the villains for not them letting him come back.  Nobody likes a whiner, especially after it's clear what really happened.

He repeatedly made statements forcing fans to either side with him or with DT regarding the split, and repeatedly made statements designed to make DT look bad while he of course is an innocent victim.  Anyone who sides with him is a fan.  Anyone who sides with DT is a "fan".  Nobody likes being marginalized.

On his own forums, anything resembling fair and balanced discussion regarding the split was squelched.  Comments praising Mike remained, anything criticizing him or suggesting that the band was actually right were deleted.  Nobody likes watching what they consider to be well-constructed positions simply deleted without any explanation.  That represents time and effort spent on something with literally nothing to show.

Yes, he did a lot for the band in the past.  Yes, he is a very talented drummer and musician.  But he was one of five, and when he chose to leave, it's simple mathematics that, if forced to choose between him and the band, most would stick with the band.  At least here on a site dedicated to the band, not the former drummer.  Since the split, the band has tried their damnedest to take the high road and not trash him in the press.  He clearly has no problem slamming his former bandmates for how they handled a shitty situation that he alone brought about.

Do you still not understand?

Well said. *golf clap*

You know with the setlist thing.  I think DT fans have been spoiled.  Most bands I have seen in my life for multiple tours maybe change a few songs on the second leg of the tour.   That's it.  DT was a rare bird when it came to setlist changes.

Radiohead, Phish and Dave Matthews Band are just as good as Dream Theater have ever been at mixing up the set lists and throwing in rare surprises and whatnot (for those of you who act like DT is the only band that ever does it...guess what? They aren't!), but I generally agree what with you said.  DT might not be rotating set lists to the extent that they did years ago, but they are still mixing it up more than most bands do.  Certain DT fans are definitely spoiled.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

The "minor variations" in the past were mostly due MP not being the most consistent drummer tempo-wise.

Or JP extending a solo.  Or maybe the intro. Or JLB engaging the audience for a bit in the middle.  Or a 30 second burn out ending rather than an abrupt stop.  Or JR coming up front to dick around with that keytar thing.  Granted, these sorts of things didn't happen every night, but it happened enough on every tour that it was always a possibility each night.  Now it's ruled out. 

When such occurrences are a very real possibility each night, even the standard setlist becomes a surprise.

And even though they plan an improv jam in advance, it's still a freaking improv jam.  It's something different, and it's something exciting.

Why is the constant set-list a problem? You realize it's not actually constant right? The a couple songs changed in the US and in EU more of them changed. Please enlighten me as to why the constant set-list is a problem if they've, in your words, "gotten better."

I honestly have no clue what people are complaining about with respect to MM and stage presence. He has fantastic stage presence and he's a fantastic performer. He's just not trying to elevate himself above the other instrumentalists.

It's not necessarily a problem (though it is in my book), but it's certainly a downgrade.  As the OP pointed out, there was always an element of surprise when you went to see DT.  Hell,  I'm in Dallas where they rarely bother to play, and I've seen a couple of oddballs down here.  There's absolutely nothing surprising about the current shows.  You know what songs they're going to play, and you even know how long the songs will be down to the second.  BMU/BMD is 5:33 long, each night, every night. 

Something I don't think Hef and others are getting about the setlist thing is that I don't expect them to play a different set each and every night.  I'd just like for their to be the possibility that the show I go to see might be unique in some sort of way.  They're not anymore.  They're cookie cutter concerts. And more problematic in my book, they're cookie cutter concerts from a band that's spent 20 years demonstrating that they're much better than that.

lol but they did change songs some of the nights. You can characterize it as "cookie cutter" and then say they're better than that. but you're being completely arbitrary. I could just as easily call their shows standardized and polished. Keeping most of 1 setlist does not imply a downgrade in quality; quite the contrary for DT actually. If you go to more than 1 show, yes I could see how something would be missing, but the way you're characterizing the shows is ridiculous. I watched every drum solo from the NA tour and it was different each night. JP's solos were different each night. Some of the songs were different too. So yeah, I realize that's not the same thing as a rotating set list but it's not, in the way you're suggesting, something that is intrinsically worse (than a rotating set list) and something that DT is above; there is nothing to be above.

By the way, it's also a possibility that more songs would change in the future. MM just joined. Maybe next time he would have had the time to play and practice more DT songs with the guys and they'd change more songs. But even still, a lot of you guys saw songs that I did not see on this tour. The set list is not static. It's just not rotating to the same degree.

[King Postwhore]

Oh yeah Kev.  I know there are bands out there that do it too.  Uphrees Mcgee is another that comes to mind but they are far afew between and in my youth. OLD MAN RANT , band never really rotated sets.  Well, Bruce did.

[Ben_Jamin]

You know with the setlist thing.  I think DT fans have been spoiled.  Most bands I have seen in my life for multiple tours maybe change a few songs on the second leg of the tour.   That's it.  DT was a rare bird when it came to setlist changes.

This.

Also, MP knew the songs. MN is still fresh and it's the first tour, granted he knows the songs but they as a band haven't rehearsed them with MM. so of course theirs not going to be any extended  parts, solos, covers etc. I also don't see why people were expecting that from DT.

DT now sound way better and it feels more energetic, from what i've heard and seen. The one thing I enjoy hearing is JLB. you can sense he isn't worried about posing off MP. He's at ease and is doing things he has never done. Experimenting with Vivaldi melodies.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

You know with the setlist thing.  I think DT fans have been spoiled.  Most bands I have seen in my life for multiple tours maybe change a few songs on the second leg of the tour.   That's it.  DT was a rare bird when it came to setlist changes.

This.

Also, MP knew the songs. MN is still fresh and it's the first tour, granted he knows the songs but they as a band haven't rehearsed them with MM. so of course theirs not going to be any extended  parts, solos, covers etc. I also don't see why people were expecting that from DT.

DT now sound way better and it feels more energetic, from what i've heard and seen. The one thing I enjoy hearing is JLB. you can sense he isn't worried about posing off MP. He's at ease and is doing things he has never done. Experimenting with Vivaldi melodies.

I don't comprehend. He was way off pitch when I saw them in other shows. In the one I went to he was alright. 

[El Barto]

You know with the setlist thing.  I think DT fans have been spoiled.  Most bands I have seen in my life for multiple tours maybe change a few songs on the second leg of the tour.   That's it.  DT was a rare bird when it came to setlist changes.

This.

Also, MP knew the songs. MN is still fresh and it's the first tour, granted he knows the songs but they as a band haven't rehearsed them with MM. so of course theirs not going to be any extended  parts, solos, covers etc. I also don't see why people were expecting that from DT.

DT now sound way better and it feels more energetic, from what i've heard and seen. The one thing I enjoy hearing is JLB. you can sense he isn't worried about posing off MP. He's at ease and is doing things he has never done. Experimenting with Vivaldi melodies.

I don't comprehend. He was way off pitch when I saw them in other shows. In the one I went to he was alright.

It's a crapshoot.  I watched two different videos of BAI last night, and in one he never hit anything on pitch, and the other was a fantastic performance.  What I've noticed is that when you're actually there he always sounds better, since it's much harder to discern subtle changes in pitch at those sound levels.  I've left Dallas shows thinking he sounded great, only to hear him on a video from the show really singing poorly. 

And after watching a couple of those videos last night, it occurs to me that I've probably been a bit harsh on them as a live act.  I get off on talent, and those guys are still a very good band.  I stand one hundred percent behind my position that their live show has taken a severe hit without Portnoy, for all the reasons I've mentioned,  but if I implied that they're not a good live act anymore it was a mistake on my part.

[VioletS16]

I just don't get the hatred for him here. Did he have faults? Sure. Was what went down the result of Mike's will? Sure. But that should NOT take away everything he did for the band and most importantly FANS OF THE BAND!

Not everyone here "hates" Mike, but if you can't understand why some do, then really, you're just not trying very hard.

He lied to everyone about his motives behind wanting the band to go on hiatus.  He lied about who said what, and when.  Statements from literally everyone else involved (members of both Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold) have borne this out.  Nobody likes being lied to.

He chose to leave, the band begged him to reconsider, but he left anyway.  Then, after the band had moved on, he asked to come back, and he has painted them as the villains for not them letting him come back.  Nobody likes a whiner, especially after it's clear what really happened.

He repeatedly made statements forcing fans to either side with him or with DT regarding the split, and repeatedly made statements designed to make DT look bad while he of course is an innocent victim.  Anyone who sides with him is a fan.  Anyone who sides with DT is a "fan".  Nobody likes being marginalized.

On his own forums, anything resembling fair and balanced discussion regarding the split was squelched.  Comments praising Mike remained, anything criticizing him or suggesting that the band was actually right were deleted.  Nobody likes watching what they consider to be well-constructed positions simply deleted without any explanation.  That represents time and effort spent on something with literally nothing to show.

Yes, he did a lot for the band in the past.  Yes, he is a very talented drummer and musician.  But he was one of five, and when he chose to leave, it's simple mathematics that, if forced to choose between him and the band, most would stick with the band.  At least here on a site dedicated to the band, not the former drummer.  Since the split, the band has tried their damnedest to take the high road and not trash him in the press.  He clearly has no problem slamming his former bandmates for how they handled a  @#!*%  situation that he alone brought about.

Do you still not understand?

Applause. 

[Jaq]

I keep hearing that losing the rotating set lists is a bad thing, and here's my take on it:

1. Of course they lost them, MM would have to learn 20 years of music in hardly any time. This has already been said, but it bears repeating.

2. Of course they lost them, that was MP's baby and if they had somehow managed to keep doing it on the first tours with MM, people would be slamming them just as hard for doing something MP did as they are for NOT doing it.

3. I'm going to try to be delicate here, but rotating setlists, to me at least, are a jam band thing. And it always felt like, when you added the rotating setlists to the covering entire albums thing, that this was just another symptom of MP doing his level best to make DT like other bands. In this case Phish. There's nothing wrong with jam bands. I love Phish, and I can spend a good half hour listening to classic versions of the Dead doing Dark Star, and I think the Allman Brothers jamming on Whipping Post for 23 minutes is sheer bliss. But Dream Theater isn't a jam band anymore than they're Muse or Metallica or Opeth, yet curiously this criticism of the band gets missed while we're all piling on Prophets of War.

While I'm sure I'm probably the only one with that last point, I'm gonna stand by it. The more I look back, the more I see a band being molded into the shapes of other bands, rather than being Dream Theater.

[KevShmev]

I get why many would like the crazy rotating set lists, as it is cool going to a concert and not knowing what they will play or what surprise they might pull out, but like I have said before, it sucks when your city is not the one to get certain rarely played songs or certain surprises.  Now, when DT pulls out songs that haven't been played regularly in a while - like 6:00, Ytse Jam or The Great Debate - they play them at every show on a leg.

And let's face it, certain big surprises were almost always saved for certain cities, so unless you lived in one of those cities, or chose to spend a lot of money to travel to them, you were SOL when it came to seeing the really big surprises. 

[Bertielee]

I get why many would like the crazy rotating set lists, as it is cool going to a concert and not knowing what they will play or what surprise they might pull out, but like I have said before, it sucks when your city is not the one to get certain rarely played songs or certain surprises.  Now, when DT pulls out songs that haven't been played regularly in a while - like 6:00, Ytse Jam or The Great Debate - they play them at every show on a leg.

And let's face it, certain big surprises were almost always saved for certain cities, so unless you lived in one of those cities, or chose to spend a lot of money to travel to them, you were SOL when it came to seeing the really big surprises.

Just like when they played a Yes song and A Change of Seasons as an encore in Paris back in January 2004. What a treat! (Sorry to have derailed the thread).

B.Lee

[johncal]

Personally, I'd be pissed if I spent my hard earned money to hear DT music and they decided to play 1/2 a nights worth of cover tunes..... but maybe that's just me. I like the new set up.

[El Barto]

When they played half a night of cover tunes, it was half of the 4th set over two nights.  I think people still get their money worth. Personally,  I'd have been absolutely fucking thrilled to have caught the DSotM show.  A: it's always cool to hear how bands treat other people's music.  B: it's always cool to see bands step outside of their comfort zones and do something oddball (which is what I've been lamenting for 4 pages now).  C: quite frankly, it's much better music than what they would have most likely played (IMO, of course).

People in this thread act as if the rotating sets are all or nothing.  Half of the shows stayed constant, and they augmented the other half. Rarities. Covers. Change of pace. They aren't Phish, nor was MP trying to make them so.  He was merely trying to infuse some of that dynamic nature into their shows, and I think it was a fine thing. 

[Ben_Jamin]

I have to say, I enjoy LNF, but JP's solo sounds to much exactly like UAGM, it begins the same and has the same exact notes. It just bugs me they did that

[Zook]

The whole song is that way.

[lyfeternl]

I have to say, I enjoy LNF, but JP's solo sounds to much exactly like UAGM, it begins the same and has the same exact notes. It just bugs me they did that

The whole song is that way.

It's a note-for-note plagiarism of UAGM!

[Orion1967]

And for the OP.  YOu may want to try the MP.com forum for a little more sympathy to your cause...   
I also have to wonder if you have actually SEEN them on tour in person for ADToE or are you basing your opinions on YouTubage? 

Yep. Three times...NJ, NY & Philadelphia! Any other questions?

Nope, you obviously don't know a good show when you see it then if you saw them live 3 times this tour and still feel that way .  But from MY standpoint at the show in Atlanta (front row standing, less than 10 feet from JLB) I thought MM was extremely animated, conveyed a lot of perfromance energy and felt that it was pretty much the best DT show I had seen in many many years.  The entire band seemed relaxed and like they were having a blast (JMx actually smiled...    ...sorta    ....once) which translated into the energy and stage presence they projected.  But to each his own I suppose...

[lyfeternl]

And for the OP.  YOu may want to try the MP.com forum for a little more sympathy to your cause...   
I also have to wonder if you have actually SEEN them on tour in person for ADToE or are you basing your opinions on YouTubage? 

Yep. Three times...NJ, NY & Philadelphia! Any other questions?

Nope, you obviously don't know a good show when you see it then if you saw them live 3 times this tour and still feel that way .  But from MY standpoint at the show in Atlanta (front row standing, less than 10 feet from JLB) I thought MM was extremely animated, conveyed a lot of perfromance energy and felt that it was pretty much the best DT show I had seen in many many years.  The entire band seemed relaxed and like they were having a blast (JMx actually smiled...    ...sorta    ....once) which translated into the energy and stage presence they projected.  But to each his own I suppose...

If you're referring to last October's show at The Tabernacle, we were literally right next to each other. Nice.

[Orion1967]

And for the OP.  YOu may want to try the MP.com forum for a little more sympathy to your cause...   
I also have to wonder if you have actually SEEN them on tour in person for ADToE or are you basing your opinions on YouTubage? 

Yep. Three times...NJ, NY & Philadelphia! Any other questions?

Nope, you obviously don't know a good show when you see it then if you saw them live 3 times this tour and still feel that way .  But from MY standpoint at the show in Atlanta (front row standing, less than 10 feet from JLB) I thought MM was extremely animated, conveyed a lot of perfromance energy and felt that it was pretty much the best DT show I had seen in many many years.  The entire band seemed relaxed and like they were having a blast (JMx actually smiled...    ...sorta    ....once) which translated into the energy and stage presence they projected.  But to each his own I suppose...

If you're referring to last October's show at The Tabernacle, we were literally right next to each other. Nice.

Yep, thats the show 

[Ben_Jamin]

The whole song is that way.

Not really, it's not as bad as the solo though

[theseoafs]

I don't see what's so similar about those two solos, other than that they both rely on a blues scale. Plenty of JP's solos do that though.

[robwebster]

I get why many would like the crazy rotating set lists, as it is cool going to a concert and not knowing what they will play or what surprise they might pull out, but like I have said before, it sucks when your city is not the one to get certain rarely played songs or certain surprises.  Now, when DT pulls out songs that haven't been played regularly in a while - like 6:00, Ytse Jam or The Great Debate - they play them at every show on a leg.

And let's face it, certain big surprises were almost always saved for certain cities, so unless you lived in one of those cities, or chose to spend a lot of money to travel to them, you were SOL when it came to seeing the really big surprises.

Don't get me wrong, I do pretty much entirely agree - but I'd argue that the Score setlist, for instance, was a lot worse than the one I got at a fairly regular show in London, or the setlist they played at the South American show that got YJRed. You're right, though, that is a huge disadvantage to the random grab-bag format, and after seeing As I Am at 3/4 gigs I'm about ready for the guarantee of a rare song or two, rather than running the risk of a setlist-of-classics just 'cos Wales is nominally different to England and the band hadn't played that particular part of the UK in ten years.

Yep - rubbish setlist five years ago, still a little grumpy! Only on the internet. But that's precisely the point of a constant setlist - if you go random then for every grand setlist full of classics, (London 2005, Leeds 2009) you're probably going to get an iffy one. (Newport 2007) The stable setlist eliminates that, which is good. Every gig is equally brilliant - or equally mundane, as the case may be, but if it's one setlist (or two, or even three!) for a whole tour, they're inevitably gonna try that little bit harder to make sure each one's gonna rock every venue.

Mind you, the thrill when you do get a song you know hasn't been played since the start of the decade (Hello, Misunderstood!) on the random-order setlists is unmatchable. But there's an easy way to keep that thrill going, and that's to just not look at the setlists. (Which I managed this tour, but then proceeded to miss every gig in a thousand mile radius, rendering the entire effort pointless. Whoops.)

Also, to Mike Portnoy's credit, they'd started to stabilise the setlist a hell of a lot from certainly the Systematic Chaos tour onwards - they became a lot less diverse following the 20th anniversary. Seem to remember that Constant Motion, The Dark Eternal Night, Surrounded (weirdly!) and In the Presence of Enemies were all guaranteed picks, with the closing-track medley just as inevitable. 20th Anniversary tour had The Root of All Evil, Sacrificed Sons and Octavarium guaranteed, despite twice the number of sets. Can't work out if the SC approach better or worse than the totally predictable one. I guess the tentpoles are more mundane than in a completely-static set, so you could argue the toss either way. Endless Sacrifice suddenly cuts a lot more flavour out of the set than it would out of either extreme.

[Nekov]

About rotating setlists, I get the point most of you are making regarding why it's good for it to stay stable but i think that works pretty well in the US and Europe where you have the chance to see DT more than one time a year. In other parts of the world we only get to see DT once every 2/3 years if we are lucky and when they had rotating setlists they would do two consecutive shows and i would go both times cause I knew I would have to wait a long time to see them again. Now I won't get that but to be very honest I'm still not sure if I would go see DT now that MP is gone. He was the main reason I went to see them live. I'd spend more than half the concert looking at him play and the I always dedicated less time to the other members and I don't dislike MM but he doesn't move me either so I don't know.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

About rotating setlists, I get the point most of you are making regarding why it's good for it to stay stable but i think that works pretty well in the US and Europe where you have the chance to see DT more than one time a year. In other parts of the world we only get to see DT once every 2/3 years if we are lucky and when they had rotating setlists they would do two consecutive shows and i would go both times cause I knew I would have to wait a long time to see them again. Now I won't get that but to be very honest I'm still not sure if I would go see DT now that MP is gone. He was the main reason I went to see them live. I'd spend more than half the concert looking at him play and the I always dedicated less time to the other members and I don't dislike MM but he doesn't move me either so I don't know.

That's OK. I think JP said in an interview they calculated how many of you guys were out there (ie- how many people would refuse to fully accept the new DT) and it's 3% or something. To some, it's more about the personality of the old drummer than the musicianship of the new one, and I can appreciate that I suppose.

I'm just telling you, you have no idea what you're missing. The new production is amazingly good and MM is a ridiculously good drummer.

[lyfeternl]

About rotating setlists, I get the point most of you are making regarding why it's good for it to stay stable but i think that works pretty well in the US and Europe where you have the chance to see DT more than one time a year. In other parts of the world we only get to see DT once every 2/3 years if we are lucky and when they had rotating setlists they would do two consecutive shows and i would go both times cause I knew I would have to wait a long time to see them again. Now I won't get that but to be very honest I'm still not sure if I would go see DT now that MP is gone. He was the main reason I went to see them live. I'd spend more than half the concert looking at him play and the I always dedicated less time to the other members and I don't dislike MM but he doesn't move me either so I don't know.

That's OK. I think JP said in an interview they calculated how many of you guys were out there (ie- how many people would refuse to fully accept the new DT) and it's 3% or something. To some, it's more about the personality of the old drummer than the musicianship of the new one, and I can appreciate that I suppose.

I'm just telling you, you have no idea what you're missing. The new production is amazingly good and MM is a ridiculously good drummer.

Seconded for authenticity 

[Nekov]

I'm not saying he's not good, I actually think he is a beast behind the drums but the way he plays just ends up being boring to me. He leans to much into the technical side and also to speed which I can appreciate but for a limited amount of time

[Tis BOOLsheet]

I'm not saying he's not good, I actually think he is a beast behind the drums but the way he plays just ends up being boring to me. He leans to much into the technical side and also to speed which I can appreciate but for a limited amount of time

Well, some friendly advice would be to get more into drums, because his drum solos (which is what I think you're referring to) are far more musically interesting than MPs. He actually went out of his way to explain some of what's going on in one of his drum solos on his Facebook page. It's worth checking out.

[Orbert]

I'm not saying he's not good, I actually think he is a beast behind the drums but the way he plays just ends up being boring to me. He leans to much into the technical side and also to speed which I can appreciate but for a limited amount of time

I suspect that he will loosen up as time goes on.  This first album and tour, he had some big shoes to fill and I'd think he would concentrate first and foremost on maintaining a level of technical excellence.  At the very least, it would help deflect a lot of comments to the effect that he simply doesn't have the chops that MP does.  Choice of riffs and fills are more subjective, so there will always be those who prefer one over the other for those reasons.

I honestly expect that he'll be more relaxed this time round, and maybe even throw in a few "fun" things.

[KevShmev]

Who cares about drum solos most of the time anyway?  I am aware how awesome Mangini is, but even the one drum solo of his that was posted here a while back, I turned it off about halfway through.  Not many drummers can hold my attention for a whole drum solo.  Peart and Carl Palmer are the only two that immediately come to mind.

[bosk1]

Who cares about drum solos most of the time anyway?  I am aware how awesome Mangini is, but even the one drum solo of his that was posted here a while back, I turned it off about halfway through.  Not many drummers can hold my attention for a whole drum solo.  Peart and Carl Palmer are the only two that immediately come to mind.

I mostly agree.  With a few rare exceptions, I barely paid attention to drummers most of the time until Portnoy really began to capture my attention.  At a DT show, I found myself watching and listening to him more than the other instruments.  That carried over to Mangini as well.  I enjoyed Mangini's solo very much.  And given that this is basically his "coming out" tour with DT, I think it is entirely appropriate for him to have a full solo section.  I'm glad I got to witness it.  But, yeah, going forward, I would much rather focus on listening to him and watching him within the context of the songs than during a solo.