How would you rate Live at Luna Park?

[TAC]

Swap out The Root of All Evil for something else from Scenes or I&W, and the set list would have been even better, but I think it was pretty damn good as is.  It has a good mix of new songs (most of the new album in the main set), classics (The Spirit Carries On, Metropolis, Surrounded), newer live favorites (The Dark Eternal Night, War/Test) and deep cuts (A Fortune in Lies, 6:00).

I think JP (not sure why I assume he made the set list) did a great job on the set lists for this tour, including the Summer '11 shows.

Oddly, while I could absolutely do without, 6:00, TROAE, and War/Test, I left the show last summer thinking that could've been the best live DT performance I've ever seen.

[wolfking]

To be honest, after watching a little more of the DVD, I feel that DT have not lost anything in the studio without Portnoy, DT12 proved that, but live, IMO he is missed.  There's just something crucial missing with the whole perfromance, and I think it's him.

[TAC]

To be honest, after watching a little more of the DVD, I feel that DT have not lost anything in the studio without Portnoy, DT12 proved that, but live, IMO he is missed.  There's just something crucial missing with the whole perfromance, and I think it's him.

Watching MP perform live WAS my favorite part of my DT experience. So I understand exactly how you feel, Wolf.
But I really have to say that after seeing the band on the two legs through here, the live experience with MM was just as gratifying.

[King Postwhore]

Swap out The Root of All Evil for something else from Scenes or I&W, and the set list would have been even better, but I think it was pretty damn good as is.  It has a good mix of new songs (most of the new album in the main set), classics (The Spirit Carries On, Metropolis, Surrounded), newer live favorites (The Dark Eternal Night, War/Test) and deep cuts (A Fortune in Lies, 6:00).

I think JP (not sure why I assume he made the set list) did a great job on the set lists for this tour, including the Summer '11 shows.

Oddly, while I could absolutely do without, 6:00, TROAE, and War/Test, I left the show last summer thinking that could've been the best live DT performance I've ever seen.

Well I was siting not far from you and I felt the same way.  A magical night to say the least.

[TAC]

Swap out The Root of All Evil for something else from Scenes or I&W, and the set list would have been even better, but I think it was pretty damn good as is.  It has a good mix of new songs (most of the new album in the main set), classics (The Spirit Carries On, Metropolis, Surrounded), newer live favorites (The Dark Eternal Night, War/Test) and deep cuts (A Fortune in Lies, 6:00).

I think JP (not sure why I assume he made the set list) did a great job on the set lists for this tour, including the Summer '11 shows.

Oddly, while I could absolutely do without, 6:00, TROAE, and War/Test, I left the show last summer thinking that could've been the best live DT performance I've ever seen.

Well I was siting not far from you and I felt the same way.  A magical night to say the least.

That's what made it so magical!

[King Postwhore]

Ha!  If only we could have more than a minute or two to talk.  Busy lives and backstage passes.  Can't blame you thought!!  I am so looking forward to this tour.

[GasparXR]

Ha!  If only we could have more than a minute or two to talk.  Busy lives and backstage passes.  Can't blame you thought!!  I am so looking forward to this tour.

I am looking forward to it too! I just have to wait for them to announce NA dates.

[BlobVanDam]

To be honest, after watching a little more of the DVD, I feel that DT have not lost anything in the studio without Portnoy, DT12 proved that, but live, IMO he is missed.  There's just something crucial missing with the whole perfromance, and I think it's him.

For the most part, I think LALP is just perfect with MM, but I do miss MP's energy and vocals on a few of select songs. TSCO in particular wasn't the same without MP to me.

[1neeto]

On my second listen right now. I know this show will have tons of replay value in my place.

[KevShmev]

I think JP (not sure why I assume he made the set list) did a great job on the set lists for this tour, including the Summer '11 shows.

Agreed.  I am not sure why some thought writing set lists was so difficult, like it was gonna be impossible for anyone in the band to take over that task and do a good job, but the set lists in 2011 and 2012 were all really, really good (given the restriction of it not being an "Evening with..." tour).   I suspect the set lists on the upcoming tour will be even better!

[TheGreatPretender]

I think JP (not sure why I assume he made the set list) did a great job on the set lists for this tour, including the Summer '11 shows.

Agreed.  I am not sure why some thought writing set lists was so difficult, like it was gonna be impossible for anyone in the band to take over that task and do a good job, but the set lists in 2011 and 2012 were all really, really good (given the restriction of it not being an "Evening with..." tour).   I suspect the set lists on the upcoming tour will be even better!

Well, I'm sure if they did it MP's way, it would be difficult, different setlist every day, all the while trying to keep track of which songs they played the last few times so as not to repeat them. But yeah, writing a great setlist in itself is not that big of a deal. I mean, heck, people on this forum do it all the time.

[KevShmev]

Heck, I used to do it on occasion when I was bored in class when I was in college. That was one of my favorite past times when bored in a lecture hall during a lecture that was gonna all be posted on blackboard later anyway.

[sylvinception]

To be honest, after watching a little more of the DVD, I feel that DT have not lost anything in the studio without Portnoy, DT12 proved that, but live, IMO he is missed.  There's just something crucial missing with the whole perfromance, and I think it's him.

Welcome to the club!!

[wolfking]

To be honest, after watching a little more of the DVD, I feel that DT have not lost anything in the studio without Portnoy, DT12 proved that, but live, IMO he is missed.  There's just something crucial missing with the whole perfromance, and I think it's him.

Welcome to the club!!

What club?

[Sycsa]

To be honest, after watching a little more of the DVD, I feel that DT have not lost anything in the studio without Portnoy, DT12 proved that, but live, IMO he is missed.  There's just something crucial missing with the whole perfromance, and I think it's him.

Welcome to the club!!

What club?

[wolfking]

Oh okay, sweet.

Just watched Surrounded last night, and that's by far the best song so far in the set.  That one was an amazing performance.

It's weird, James seems more comfortable in the higher register now with less off notes than his normal range.

[ParagonCzerwony]

I put Disappointing/Bad. If I consider the performance itself, it's quite good, great even...but I think the production values are horrible. It sounds like there's constantly 5 Petruccis playing throughout the concert drowning out the rest of the band besides Labrie. Jordan is inaudible for me outside of his leads where JP isn't playing much of anything. Myung's audibility varies from acceptably-audible to only being able to hear the clicking of the strings against the frets. Mangini's tone is...kinda choppy to me, as someone said before it sounds often like there's just tapping against the bass or snares, bad tone. The cymbal sounds were O.K. to me I guess.

JP's tone just sounds to me like it's trying to damn hard to take up as much of the sonic space as possible - and succeeding. Which sucks because I think if they just mixed it into the back a bit more it would be quite pleasant.

I will say that James totally shined through for me. I don't think it was his strongest performance, not better than Score, but it was definitely strong and well delivered to me, I think he did really great.

So, to recapitulate...the concert performance isn't bad. It's actually pretty great. But I'd do anything(!) to hear a different mix of it, I can't bear to hear it in this way.

[ZirconBlue]

I seriously don't understand the issues some of you are having.  I've listened to the CDs through my car stereo, and the blu-ray through my TV speakers, and, while the guitar may be a little high in the mix, I have no trouble hearing the other parts.

I put Disappointing/Bad. If I consider the performance itself, it's quite good, great even...but I think the production values are horrible.

. . . Says the guy who thinks that WDaDU sounds good.

[TheAtliator]

WDADU actually does sound better than LALP come to think of it. I hate how much the production on that album is put down just because it was quick work and doesn't have a modern sound. You can hear EVERY instrument including the bass very clearly, and that's not even true for a lot of other DT releases. Sure it sounds kind of tinny and not overly perfected, but my god they could have sent ME the files from Luna Park and I would have made a better mix on Garage Band!

Not to mention I wouldn't have had James overdub some of what were his best notes of the night!

And this is coming from someone who voted the first option.

[ronrule]

The sound and mix is just OK. But does anyone else think it looks kinda terrible? To me, the lighting looks really bland, especially for performers near the front of the stage. Everything also looks small. I don't know if it's the cameras they used or the framing, but the stage almost looks cramped. And having it at a venue with seats is a big mistake. Feel like the band is performing for the cameras and not the mild-mannered DT fans evenly spaced and 20 feet away from them. And just the direction of the cameras and shots -- I feel like I spend most of my time staring down at the floor of the stage. Very strange.

Contrast all this with the Sky Arts UK High Voltage 2011 footage of Peruvian Skies.

They should've dropped OTE the minute they didn't get picked up as a reality show on VH1.

[TheGreatPretender]

WDADU actually does sound better than LALP come to think of it. I hate how much the production on that album is put down just because it was quick work and doesn't have a modern sound. You can hear EVERY instrument including the bass very clearly, and that's not even true for a lot of other DT releases. Sure it sounds kind of tinny and not overly perfected, but my god they could have sent ME the files from Luna Park and I would have made a better mix on Garage Band!

There's more to a good sound than just the mix. Sure, you can hear all the instruments well on WDADU, but the recording quality still wasn't that great. A really good mix, with the right use of sound processing could make a badly recorded album sound decent, but at the end of the day, it's still gonna be far from optimal. I don't think it's a big deal that certain instruments are a little too quiet on some DT albums, as long as the production quality is good. As long as everything was recorded clean and crisp it's gonna sound better than WDADU.

[Sycsa]

They should've dropped OTE the minute they didn't get picked up as a reality show on VH1.

Although I still think the drummer auditions video is among the best, most entertaining stuff DT ever put out. I must have watched it over a hundred times already.

Regarding Mangini's toooone, listening to the drum solo, I gotta say, it's one of the best drum sounds I ever heard. When the whole band plays, that's a different story: the snare becomes a bit thin, the bass is inconsistent, sometimes barely audible and the toms are way too quiet, thus lose their ring. I wish the whole kit was a hell of a lot louder, as well as the keys and bass. Petrucci tends to get suffocating at certain points.

[mikeyd23]

The sound and mix is just OK. But does anyone else think it looks kinda terrible? To me, the lighting looks really bland, especially for performers near the front of the stage.

See for me, I really enjoyed the visuals on this release for the most part.  I thought the picture quality itself was second to none, as far as other DT releases are concerned.  I will agree the lighting show overall wasn't especially eye catching to me,  but it also wasn't bad enough that it was a distraction either. 

Everything also looks small. I don't know if it's the cameras they used or the framing, but the stage almost looks cramped. And having it at a venue with seats is a big mistake. Feel like the band is performing for the cameras and not the mild-mannered DT fans evenly spaced and 20 feet away from them. And just the direction of the cameras and shots -- I feel like I spend most of my time staring down at the floor of the stage. Very strange.

Interesting point about the stage feeling small and cramped.  I actually thought that as well when the first trailer for the show hit YouTube, once again though, this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the concert, I just figured Luna Park stage dimensions weren't the biggest, shrugged it off and enjoyed!  I will disagree about the guys performing for the cameras though, I think JP and JLB had pretty strong crowd interaction throughout the show and even JR as well at certain moments (TDEN outro).

Regarding Mangini's toooone, listening to the drum solo, I gotta say, it's one of the best drum sounds I ever heard. When the whole band plays, that's a different story: the snare becomes a bit thin, the bass is inconsistent, sometimes barely audible and the toms are way too quiet, thus lose their ring.....

Totally agree, when the drum solo starts, the kit sounds great, IMO.... When everything is playing together the drums loose a little bit of that quality, not sure if its the mix or what.  But I completely agree his tone on the solo spot is great.

[TheAtliator]

I think the DVD looks GREAT. Really great angles for the most part but for a few things here and there it's like God The fre ijhadkjhe 123987@#&^%b3 WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THEY JUST SHOW THAT?!!? Just skip right over when the greatest singer of all time sings a G#5?!?!? Stupid things like that which just happen a few times in the entire DVD are inexcusable ESPECIALLY after taking over a year for it to come out, BUT the rest of the time it LOOKS really really good and each angle on it's own is done really well. Love the turning and spinning overhead shots.

[Lowdz]

Have Over The Edge done a concert dvd before? I agree that the camera angles are strange and offputting.

[wolfking]

Man, JP gets shown way too much in this.  You hardly see JR and JM at all.  And the JP solo spot I found was probably his most boring and least impressive solo spots from him, really didn't do anything for me.

[Tick]

Man, JP gets shown way too much in this.  You hardly see JR and JM at all.  And the JP solo spot I found was probably his most boring and least impressive solo spots from him, really didn't do anything for me.

I get the impression JM wants as little camera time as possible?

[BlobVanDam]

Man, JP gets shown way too much in this.  You hardly see JR and JM at all.  And the JP solo spot I found was probably his most boring and least impressive solo spots from him, really didn't do anything for me.

I was very happy with the amount of JR shown, and he's the one I wanted to see the most. I definitely felt JM didn't get much screen time, but with everything else going on on-stage, and JM's focus on playing over moving around, it's understandable.

[wolfking]

I finally got through the concert and I gotta say, things stepped up with BAI and Metropolis.  Man, BAI was great to watch and a great end to the concert.  I LOVE the interaction between JM and JP during the last instrumental section.  I think that's some of the best footage of Myung interacting with another member that we've seen.  So good.

And James seriously nails Metropolis.  It rivals the Score version.

[TAC]

Have Over The Edge done a concert dvd before? I agree that the camera angles are strange and offputting.

I don't know. I just hate the sweeping boom shots over the crowd. Makes me seasick. But the booms did get great overhead shots of Jordan and Mike.

I also love the camera shot over the center of the crowd dead on to Mike. That's a shot that's been missing in previous DVDs.

[wolfking]

Man, These Walls and Caught in A Web should have been on the main DVD instead of whatever songs were alternated with them.  These Walls is just so good and I can't believe how James nailed CIAW, impressive.  These two might be my fav performances.

[Sycsa]

Man, These Walls and Caught in A Web should have been on the main DVD instead of whatever songs were alternated with them.  These Walls is just so good and I can't believe how James nailed CIAW, impressive.  These two might be my fav performances.

I hate how low the keyboards are on These Walls, but otherwise they're great indeed.

[wolfking]

Man, These Walls and Caught in A Web should have been on the main DVD instead of whatever songs were alternated with them.  These Walls is just so good and I can't believe how James nailed CIAW, impressive.  These two might be my fav performances.

I hate how low the keyboards are on These Walls, but otherwise they're great indeed.

I did notice this actually, more so than most of the other tracks.

[BlobVanDam]

Man, These Walls and Caught in A Web should have been on the main DVD instead of whatever songs were alternated with them.  These Walls is just so good and I can't believe how James nailed CIAW, impressive.  These two might be my fav performances.

I hate how low the keyboards are on These Walls, but otherwise they're great indeed.

The almost lack of keyboards on such an important keyboard driven riff completely kills the song for me, so I found that song disappointing, which is unfortunate, because having a live version of that song was one of the things I was most looking forward to with this release.
But CIAW sounds killer, and has possibly a better mix than the songs on the main show, so it would have been great to see that in the main show. The bass is nice and loud in that one too!

[TheGreatPretender]

Upon listening to it again, Outcry is another song that has noticeably low keyboards, unfortunately.
What I don't understand is why they're so low on some songs, but sound great on others.