2012-07-18/19 - Paramount Theater - Huntington, NY

[chrisbDTM]

i kinda wish they played far from heaven before BAI. just so i can say ive seen every song off the new album live

[ResultsMayVary]

not all the backing vocals, just a couple parts of songs (grotesque creatures battle etc. in TDEN, and War Inside My Head sounded eerily like MP) i heard MP's voice and there were times when JP was late to get to the mic. i could careless either way, i just know JP's singing voice and he does actually sing for other songs, just those parts were different

I don't remember hearing MP's vocals at all when i saw them in Columbus and Cleveland, although I could have missed them being as excited as I was seeing them play. JP definitely did sing his parts, though. I could hear his voice clear as day, and he has improved his backing vocals tremendously.

[Mebert78]

And I don't know who has a better shirt, Mebert, you or Mangini. 

Yeah, I was the only one at the show with a Clockwork Angels shirt!  Mangini is awesome, except he wouldn't shake my hand.  He prefers fist bumps to deter contracting germs from fans and getting sick.  Can't blame him for that.

[chrisbDTM]

just sounded different to me. again i dont care. JP sang all of it then! he was very good on BITS in the backing vocal area.

so setlist?:

1. Bridges in the Sky
2. 6:00
3. The Dark Eternal Night
4. This is the Life
5. Paradigm Shift (w/ Tony Levin)
6. Lost Not Forgotten
7. To Live Forever
8. Surrounded
9. On the Backs of Angels
10. War Inside My Head
11. The Test that Stumped Them All
12. The Spirit Carries On
13. Breaking All Illusions
----------------------------------
14. 21st Century Schizoid Man (w/ members of The Crimson Projeckt)

[jonny108]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbWKjJSVME 21st Century Schizoid Man...missing the first verse but hell, it's awesome!

[Major Thirteenth]

Well the show was fantastic as expected. I decided to watch the show from the worst seats in the house. Back row center. It turned out these were far better seats than the mezzanine seats in the boxes overlooking the stage. Also, there were a million guests and I really wanted to concentrate on the music rather than talking and listening to commentary.

So I basically watched the show alone and loved it. You really get a sense of the entire performance, including the light show, when you sit at the back. Also, the volume is slightly less, basically to what I consider normal Dream Theater levels: loud, but not insane.

Loved the surprises, loved Paradigm Shift (which they played a bit up tempo if you can believe it), loved the finale. Everybody was playing with extra energy, probably because they were anticipating the surprises. Very fun.

The aftershow started in catering, and many guests filed in, along with the band after they cooled down a bit. Anybody a Yankee fan? Bernie Williams strolled in and he is a huge DT fan and a huge John Petrucci fan. I also happen to be a Yankee fan and was a very avid fan during all of Bernie's career. He hung out with John mostly and I got to shake his hand and say hello. John asked him how his music thing was going and he answered rather philosophically, and at one point added "Well, there are no shortcuts in the music business", hinting at how difficult it is to have music as a career. Mike Mangini stopped by and joined the conversation. He was as gracious and cheerful as could be expected (he hates the Yankees of course!).

The aftershow than got moved from catering to the Founders Room, as it is called. Basically a beautiful lounge with couches and coffee tables and a bar and room to mill about. Unfortunately due to the number of guests, it was packed. But still, a very nice space. This whole club is fantastic. I would be happy to see any band here in the future. Really nice. It was apparently an Imax theater in its last iteration. I spoke to two of the club owners and they were so stoked to have Dream Theater playing their club. They were really happy about the turnout and the fans and how it all went down. One of the owners said he got involved and built the club specifically to attract and book quality musical acts like Dream Theater.

Bernie hung out for awhile but left after a short time, as he was getting a bit hounded by fanboys wanting photo ops. He was very gracious though despite obviously not being super thrilled.

All in all a great show and a great night!

[chrisbDTM]

damn Bernie was there too? Yankee's Dynasty in the house.

i may be young but there were points when i wish DT was louder  . from the reviews of last night i thought i was in for an ear-bleeder

[ZeppelinDT]

It was apparently an Imax theater in its last iteration.

It was actually a concert venue called IMAC (Inter-Media Arts Center).  They had lots of jazz type bands playing there.  I saw Al DiMeola there a few years ago.  It was totally different though... it was a fully seated venue.  They basically completely gutted it then re-did it.

And before that I think it was a movie theater back in the 70's.

[bosk1]

Bernie Williams strolled in and he is a huge DT fan and a huge John Petrucci fan. . . . Mike Mangini stopped by and joined the conversation. He was as gracious and cheerful as could be expected (he hates the Yankees of course!).

He got into a pretty in-depth baseball conversation at S.F. as well. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't sound like an aftershow in NY would be much fun.  I mean, the atmosphere would be great since it's the home town and all.  But in terms of just getting to hang out and chat with the band, it seems like it would be difficult just because of the sheer amount of people who would be there, and the band wanting to try to get around and talk to most of them. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbWKjJSVME 21st Century Schizoid Man...missing the first verse but hell, it's awesome!

That's terrific.    Thanks for posting.

[tjanuranus]

Ok here is my review... Coming from the seeing them saturday to this was very disappointing. Their performance was fantastic of course and i loved that they add LTE and TLF. Was a real treat. But the venue's acoustic were really bad. It kind of ruined the show for me. I mean i can enjoy it because i know all the music and notes in my head but my friend doesn't and he said he couldn't make it about 70 percent of the music due to poor acoustics. i did notice myself "filling in the blanks" mentally with the music. I'll never understand why people make venues out of brick and concrete with no acoustical treatment. During the heavier songs it was REALLY difficult to hear the band clearly. I wad dead center about 50 feet from the stage, so i should have had excellent sound.

Saturday night was the exact opposite. At PNC the sound was fantastic and that was one of the best DT shows i've been to in a while. I will not be going back to that venue again.

[ZeppelinDT]

Saturday night was the exact opposite. At PNC the sound was fantastic and that was one of the best DT shows i've been to in a while. I will not be going back to that venue again.

Where in the venue were you?  The sound on Wednesday night wasn't so great, but I thought the sound last night was decent.  Although, in my experience, the sound at that venue is generally much better than it was for these DT shows.  I've seen at least 5 or 6 shows there since it opened last year. I'm not really sure what caused the sound to be bad, but I don't think it was the venue acoustics.

[tjanuranus]

I was dead center right behind the seats standing up. I had optimal position for sound. The acoustics are very bad there. Brick and concrete and no treatment is a recipe for bad sound.

[ZeppelinDT]

I guess.  All I know is that I've seen a bunch of shows there, and the sound for DT was significantly worse than the sound at any other show I've seen there.  No idea why that was.

[Zydar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbWKjJSVME 21st Century Schizoid Man...missing the first verse but hell, it's awesome!

Wow, thanks! That was very cool

[TAC]

And I don't know who has a better shirt, Mebert, you or Mangini. 

Yeah, I was the only one at the show with a Clockwork Angels shirt!  Mangini is awesome, except he wouldn't shake my hand.  He prefers fist bumps to deter contracting germs from fans and getting sick.  Can't blame him for that.

He shook MY hand! 

[wkiml]

And I don't know who has a better shirt, Mebert, you or Mangini. 

Yeah, I was the only one at the show with a Clockwork Angels shirt!  Mangini is awesome, except he wouldn't shake my hand.  He prefers fist bumps to deter contracting germs from fans and getting sick.  Can't blame him for that.

He shook MY hand! 

Thats only because you threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't

[Major Thirteenth]

Bernie Williams strolled in and he is a huge DT fan and a huge John Petrucci fan. . . . Mike Mangini stopped by and joined the conversation. He was as gracious and cheerful as could be expected (he hates the Yankees of course!).

He got into a pretty in-depth baseball conversation at S.F. as well. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't sound like an aftershow in NY would be much fun.  I mean, the atmosphere would be great since it's the home town and all.  But in terms of just getting to hang out and chat with the band, it seems like it would be difficult just because of the sheer amount of people who would be there, and the band wanting to try to get around and talk to most of them. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbWKjJSVME 21st Century Schizoid Man...missing the first verse but hell, it's awesome!

That's terrific.    Thanks for posting.

Absolutely correct. If you are a fan and want to meet the boys and chat and actually have them listen to you and interact, choose an out of the way venue where there is no family and no record labels or management. NY shows are very hectic, just due to the sheer numbers. The aftershow was festive and all but for me it dragged and I decided an interesting diversion would be to get the car (I drove family members in and dropped them off at the front and parked far far away) and park it closer for our eventual exit. I figured I could kill 20 minutes doing that. Then I went back to the aftershow and found a nice leather couch to sit on and basically I almost fell asleep until someone gave me orange sections to eat. Man I haven't had oranges in quite a while. Very tasty. That woke me up long enough to make it to the end of the aftershow and the drive home.

Also had the pleasure of talking to Tony Levin for awhile. Very engaging and thoughtful guy, and a quintessential musician. Their booking agent just stuck in a last minute gig in Syracuse on to their itinerary, so it's up to Syracuse then back down to NJ for the Ceasar's show. Ouch! Adrian Belew is also a fun person to hang around with. Very infecting sense of humor, much like Mike Mangini.

[Major Thirteenth]

Ok here is my review... Coming from the seeing them saturday to this was very disappointing. Their performance was fantastic of course and i loved that they add LTE and TLF. Was a real treat. But the venue's acoustic were really bad. It kind of ruined the show for me. I mean i can enjoy it because i know all the music and notes in my head but my friend doesn't and he said he couldn't make it about 70 percent of the music due to poor acoustics. i did notice myself "filling in the blanks" mentally with the music. I'll never understand why people make venues out of brick and concrete with no acoustical treatment. During the heavier songs it was REALLY difficult to hear the band clearly. I wad dead center about 50 feet from the stage, so i should have had excellent sound.

Saturday night was the exact opposite. At PNC the sound was fantastic and that was one of the best DT shows i've been to in a while. I will not be going back to that venue again.

I got used to it, and you can find a spot that sounds good if you shop. However you are correct. The walls were exposed brick and the ceiling was concrete. So there were probably standing waves all over the place. They need some bass traps on the wall and some other room treatments. I am going to bring this to the attention of the club owners. They do want to perfect the hall, and feedback like this will probably help them. They've got the basics down, they just need to tune the room a bit. It still wasn't that bad, but I can "fill in the blanks" cause i know the songs. A first timer could get lost in the maze...

At one point I was standing next to JP as he discussed the acoustics with one of the club owners and he said he was getting some bounce back from the PA system that was able to overwhelm his IEMs and made playing a little challenging until he got used to it. Mike Mangini made a similar comment.

[DebraKadabra]

Oh holy moly!  I'm so jelly of you peeps who were able to behold such awesomeness!

Thanks to jonny and Frostbite for posting those videos up - amazing stuff!!

[Progmetty]

Paradigm shift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=undV7qWiBGc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbWKjJSVME 21st Century Schizoid Man...missing the first verse but hell, it's awesome!

So cool, thank you for sharing guys 

[MetropolisWatches]

just sounded different to me. again i dont care. JP sang all of it then! he was very good on BITS in the backing vocal area.

so setlist?:

1. Bridges in the Sky
2. 6:00
3. The Dark Eternal Night
4. This is the Life
5. Paradigm Shift (w/ Tony Levin)
6. Lost Not Forgotten
7. To Live Forever
8. Surrounded
9. On the Backs of Angels
10. War Inside My Head
11. The Test that Stumped Them All
12. The Spirit Carries On
13. Breaking All Illusions
----------------------------------
14. 21st Century Schizoid Man (w/ members of The Crimson Projeckt)

That's it.

[?]

To Live Forever? And while I haven't really listened to KC, it's a great idea to play some song by them if you're touring with members of that band.

[wasteland]

A friend of mine found a bit disrespectful towards MP that the band decided to stage Paradigm Shift song with Mangini, as if it was implicit that he had been "kicked out" of LTE too. I didn't get this impression at all, did any of you? 

[Progmetty]

No but I figured some soap opera fans would.

[Mladen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snbWKjJSVME 21st Century Schizoid Man...missing the first verse but hell, it's awesome!

Wonderful.

[TAC]

Paradigm shift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=undV7qWiBGc

Awesome. It's like the shirts vs the skins!

A friend of mine found a bit disrespectful towards MP that the band decided to stage Paradigm Shift song with Mangini, as if it was implicit that he had been "kicked out" of LTE too. I didn't get this impression at all, did any of you? 

Not at all. It's actually very cool with Mangini. He does a great job and he looks so happy doing it.

[phentalmyst]

DT has played LTE stuff in the past with JM instead of Levin, so i don't get the issue.

[Mladen]

DT has played LTE stuff in the past with JM instead of Levin, so i don't get the issue.

Great point.

[wasteland]

DT has played LTE stuff in the past with JM instead of Levin, so i don't get the issue.

Great point.

That's the first thing I thought, too. Another Dimension was even played fairly regularly in the first leg of the SDOIT tour.

[mrjazzguitar]

The Thursday show was amazing. I just love seeing the guys play live.

Was in in the 7th row right in front of Myung -- didn't see any DTFers but apparently I was spotted

Anyone over there see the super hot girl dancing front left? Looked like a porn star. I was surprised by how many females were at the show -- never seen so many at a DT show.

[wasteland]

I was surprised by how many females were at the show -- never seen so many at a DT show.

Petrucci/Myung/Rudess families? 

[KevShmev]

DT has played LTE stuff in the past with JM instead of Levin, so i don't get the issue.

Exactly.

[Mladen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_v-TrRZsAo

The entire Schizoid man! 

[kevinpwrs]

Not a fan of the Crimson stuff I heard on this tour. I watched their set in Richmond, but the next night in DC, I stayed out in the lobby and drank a beer during their set. Good musicians though.

[MoraWintersoul]

THEY PLAYED TO LIVE FOREVER? 

Why do I live in the middle of nowhere, again?