The setlist so far... (DT-Side Tour Thread)

[Zyzzyva17]

Only 4 songs from my top ~25 DT tracks (2 of which I saw them play on the last tour)

I feel you. The set has exactly two of my top 20 songs (BAI and IT).
I guess it's my fault for not liking Awake as much as everyone else. 

[krands85]

Only 4 songs from my top ~25 DT tracks (2 of which I saw them play on the last tour)

I feel you. The set has exactly two of my top 20 songs (BAI and IT).
I guess it's my fault for not liking Awake as much as everyone else. 

They are 2 of the 4 I mentioned from my top 20  (The other 2 being Trial of Tears and OtBoA). But even when it comes to the Awake and Scenes songs, they aren't playing my favourite track from each of those albums - Voices and Beyond This Life 

But it seems like we're in the minority - from what I've read so far, the song choices seem to be getting a lot of praise, so I guess the guys will be pleased with the set they chose.

[Thierry]

Just missing Outcry this time, it was awesome last tour.

I'm kinda regretting that I got tickets for 2 shows. Don't need to see the same show twice. Was looking forward to some mixing up.

[Marion Crane]

I'm not a fan of the non-rotation at all.  And I'm fairly happy with the setlist, except for the the 5 Awake songs in a row

[Juular]

I'd love to see Behind The Veil live but other than that I am pretty happy with the setlist. Looking forward to seeing them on Sunday.

[ErHaO]

Only for OTBOA I would prefer another song from a different album that is not presented as of now. But aside from that, it is a very good setlist for me personally. Especially the second act and encore  So I don't mind the lack of rotation at all.

[Shadow2222]

I'm fine with the entire setlist now except for BAI. It's an okay song, but it was played almost every single night of the ADTOE tour.

[SystematicThought]

I will say when I go to DT concerts, I go with my brother and dad who aren't DT fans. They always point out how JLB seems disinterested in engaging the crowd and overall not giving energy to the show. I guess it's nice to get an outsider's perspective because they don't see the band the same way a fan does.

[bosk1]

I'm fine with the entire setlist now except for BAI. It's an okay song, but it was played almost every single night of the ADTOE tour.

To me, that's the only real head-scratcher.  I mean, there's certainly nothing wrong with it.  But given that they wanted to do big chunks of Awake, SFAM, and the new album, that left limited space for other songs, and given that they already have another song from ADTOE, and the fact that it was played a lot last tour and captured on LALP, it seems odd that they would have included it.  I'm guessing that it was basically a case of some of the guys just really liking the song and wanting to play it some more.

[theseoafs]

I like the setlist -- the big chunks of SFAM, Awake, and the self-titled make for a really interesting, unique set, and it's cool that every city's going to get to hear the same songs, especially considering how long it's been since a lot of these tunes have been played.  I've found the order of the songs kind of weird -- TSF second?  ToT in the middle of the first set?  Finishing the entire show with the down note of Finally Free?  It all just kind of strikes me as odd, though I haven't seen the show in its entirety yet so I'm not sure how the flow will be.

A couple of the song choices leave something to be desired.  I understand TSF has never been played, and all that, but I could seriously do without it.  I could also take or leave Lifting Shadows.  If I ruled the world, I would drop those two and replace them with the unplayed DT12 songs.

[Anguyen92]

I like a little rotation to setlists at times.  I'm not saying to swap out the Awake and the SFAM songs, but I would like it if they can rotate Enigma Machine and The Looking Glass for Behind the Veil, The Bigger Picture, Surrender to Reason.  Also, it is nice to keep some of the ADTOE songs though I would swap out Breaking All Illusions, at times, for something shorter like Beneath the Surface just to get more songs in.

[RodrigoAltaf]

 To be fair, he has improved significantly since the ADTOE Tour. Maybe it has to do with Mike Portnoy leaving? At the show in Rio in 2012, I was quite positively surprised at his energy on stage and how he was always feeding from the crowd.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

A vocalist has a pretty harsh role for a big tour like this. They're one of the centres of attention and it can be very physically demanding. I've seen some iffy and flat moments, but I've also seen some absolutely stunning moments, so I wouldn't worry in the least. I have to agree with the consensus that he tends to improve as the tour progresses, naturally with more practice it'll become easier to settle into the songs. JLB keep rockin'! 

Actually, I think he has the leash harsh role in this whole thing. This is a band in which the vocalist leaves the stage for extended periods of time because there is no vocal line. If anything, it's grueling on the instrumentalists. Those guys have to pretty much be perfect since all eyes are on THEM. They are the feature of this band. Obviously, everyone makes errors-- especially during a three hour show-- but the instrumentalists And you and I both know that if any of those guys were to have a flat out bad performance for an entire show, chaos would ensue.

Anyway, I don't see any decline in JLB's ability this tour. If you liked his performance last tour, I would think you'd be just as satisfied this one.

You make a really good point actually. The pressure on instrumentalists is pretty heavy. But I was sorta coming from the perspective that it's a harsh role because of the physical demands and, being the singer, a large percentage of people will be focusing and analysing his performance, I sorta meant like it's a harsh role to maintain, especially when your instrument is an internal component of yourself. I mean if JP/JMX/MM/JR are having a bad day, their instruments will still be working properly (assuming they are able to operate them as I realise other things can go wrong for them), JLB having a bad day kinda puts him in a worse spot than the other guys because he can't exactly channel his performance (so to speak), through an electronic medium, it's all him.

That is of course unique to the voice but would only be an issue if something were structurally wrong with his instrument. It's possible if someone is sick or has bodily damage and maybe that is the case; but we don't have any reason to believe that. Even so, the same thing applies to the other guys on some level. Mangini had the flu on the ADToE, which saps your energy and causes body pains. These guys are still professionals at the end of the day and they have the experience and expertise to get through those things.

I will give this concession though: JLB's stage presence will be judged more harshly than that of the others'. Maybe MM's will also be given that everyone keeps comparing him to MP's as if MP's were the pinnacle of stage presence. But the frontman of any band will always get noticed for what he does or does not do. That is no more true than in a band like this in which the other guys are usually rocks trying to nail their billions of parts. I think the stage presence aspects of his performances have been good for the most part.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

The large blocks of Awake and SFAM are overkill. I happen to dig most of the songs they're playing, but I think it's too much at once. It would feel better spread out.

In general, I don't think they should have played more than 1 song from the last tour either. Either OTBOA or BAI should have been replaced with something new; and I love those songs.

[Setlist Scotty]

Tied into JL's mannerisms, here's a question for those who've already seen some of the shows or at least watched all the videos from the current tour (I haven't):
Something I noticed in listening to a number of the bootlegs from the 2011-2012 tour is JL's tendency to identify some songs or mention what album it's on *after* the band has began playing the song - like 30 seconds or 1 minute into the song, which I find highly annoying an rather redundant. Is he doing the same thing on this tour?

[bl5150]

I think he's gradually improving and working his way into a tour like he always would.

The one thing I'm really missing is hearing him scream  "BWANA ZARAS" 

[TAC]

Do you know what I like though? He doesn't swear when speaking to the crowd anymore.

[rumborak]

Yeah, that is nice.

[Sycsa]

Do you know what I like though? He doesn't swear when speaking to the crowd anymore.

Yeah, nothing worse than casual fucks, "fucking good to be here", "fucking great crowd". Which reminds me, MP sort of called JLB a hypocrite in Lifting Shadows because he wouldn't sing "I don't need your mercy fuck" in ACOS, like it was originally written, saying he doesn't want to be labeled as a guy who swears on a record, yet he had no problem swearing live or in BMS, AIA.

[fadetoblackdude7]

I like the setlist -- the big chunks of SFAM, Awake, and the self-titled make for a really interesting, unique set, and it's cool that every city's going to get to hear the same songs, especially considering how long it's been since a lot of these tunes have been played.  I've found the order of the songs kind of weird -- TSF second?  ToT in the middle of the first set?  Finishing the entire show with the down note of Finally Free?  It all just kind of strikes me as odd, though I haven't seen the show in its entirety yet so I'm not sure how the flow will be.

I can agree with this, the placement does seem a bit odd....but it's probably something we'll have to see and it'll probably make sense.

I like the setlist, it's very ballsy, although I do have a lot of the same concerns as other people such as the TBP missing because the band seemed rather eager to play that one live.

The Awake/Scenes chunks are interesting but I don't like how half of their albums are completely ignored.

All that being said I am EXTREMELY happy that I'll finally have the chance to hear Trial of Tears and Lifting Shadows....been waiting for those for a while! 

[Rodni Demental]

Train of Thought, Six Degrees, possibly Systematic Chaos. They'll probably get attention next tour.

Honestly, I think the set is a slam dunk win so any of my 'concerns' about rotation or unplayed songs are completely relatively not worth complaining about because I'd rather encourage these sorta ballsy sets in the future. 

I wouldn't rule out The Bigger Picture/Behind the Veil/Surrender to Reason either, it's still possible for minor alteration over the different legs.

[bosk1]

Just going from what they've said about how they come up with the set lists now in terms of each of the members throwing in what they want to play, and putting that together with the constraints they came up with for this tour, it's pretty interesting to think about how the set came together.

They were going to play about 5 songs from the new album, plus False Awakening Suite (any less would under-represent the album, and any more would probably eat up too much time, given how much Awake and SFAM material they wanted to include).  I think four of those were no-brainers:  The Enemy Inside (first single, grammy nom.), Enigma Machine (of course they are going to play their new instrumental), Along For The Ride (they named their tour after it; obvious candidate), and Illumination Theory (new mega-epic; obvious).  The only one up in the air is Through The Looking Glass.  Not sure if that was a conscious choice for any particular reason, or if it was simply the default as the shortest remaining song in an already packed set list.

On The Backs Of Angels was going to get played.  It's their first grammy nominated song.  No brainer.

Awake "suite":  I'm guessing they just went with what has been represented the least in recent history.  I'm glad I finally get to see The Mirror/Lie.  Just the way things have fallen, I've never seen those performed, and they are 2 of my top 3 from the album. LSOAD and Space Dye Vest are great choices.  Scarred is a bit of an oddball choice to me since (1) it has been played fairly recently, (2) JP has said he doesn't think it gets a good crowd response, and (3) it is long and takes up a lot of set time.  Either somebody in the band really likes it, or they felt the flow of having it in there really worked.

SFAM:  Good picks.  The album has been well represnted through the years, so I think anything they would have picked would have worked.  I'm kind of glad they didn't just go with the "usual" pick of The Spirit Carries On.  TDOE was probably a no-brainer since the "evening with" format kind of requires that they give James as much rest as possible.

That really only leaves The Shattered Fortress, Trial of Tears, and Breaking All Illusions as the only songs filling the remainder of the set time.  So they were pretty much left with only 3 albums that were "off limits," and only 3-4 songs (depending on length) that they could choose from.  I'd love to hear the stories about why each of those were chosen.  But I have to say, I can't really argue with any of their choices.

[JayOctavarium]

Swap BAI with INTOG and maybe Looking Glass with Behind The Veil (honestly I'm not too into DT12 and BTV is really the only song other than the single and the epic that I really go back to) and it would be a perfect set IMO.

[TAC]

Do you know what I like though? He doesn't swear when speaking to the crowd anymore.

Yeah, nothing worse than casual fucks, "fucking good to be here", "fucking great crowd". Which reminds me, MP sort of called JLB a hypocrite in Lifting Shadows because he wouldn't sing "I don't need your mercy fuck" in ACOS, like it was originally written, saying he doesn't want to be labeled as a guy who swears on a record, yet he had no problem swearing live or in BMS, AIA.

Without opening a huge can of worms here, it seems to have coincided with the lineup change. James appears so much more relaxed.

[As I Am]

The setlist itself is not bad at all, but I'd like to see more variety from the catalog.

[Shadow2222]

Swap BAI with INTOG and maybe Looking Glass with Behind The Veil (honestly I'm not too into DT12 and BTV is really the only song other than the single and the epic that I really go back to) and it would be a perfect set IMO.

I agree with both. ITNOG would have closed the first set out perfectly still, and Behind the Veil is actually my favorite from DT12.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Not a fan of In The Name Of God, but Behind The Veil would be fantastic.

[Evermind]

I don't mind TLG, but I'd rather see STR instead. BAI and ITNOG are both in my top10, so I'm happy either way. I also like how they're playing the second half of Awake, it's much better then first one for me.

My only problem with the tour is that IT does almost nothing for me and eats up too much time. I look forward to see how JLB will sing The Pursuit of Truth, but it's like 5 minutes, not 20. Of course I knew they'll play it in full, but still.

Oh, and maybe change TSF for something like Blind Faith.

[Sacul]

I realize that the tour is only 4 shows old but in all of the videos I've seen so far JLB looks either mad or frustrated or just plain out of it. Instead of doing his usual running around stage and great mannerisms hes just pacing back and forth and rarely looks at the crowd. Am I crazy? Or does it look like something is bothering him? Any thoughts?

I only noticed that on Trial of Tears, he either didn't seem to like the song or was remembering the lyrics.

[BlobVanDam]

only 4 songs from my top ~25 DT tracks (2 of which I saw them play on the last tour)

The setlist only has 1 of my top 20 (ToT), and 5 of my bottom 10. Personally, this would be the weakest DT Evening With setlist I've seen, so I'd love to see a lot of rotation if they make it here.   

[SystematicThought]

Without opening a huge can of worms here, it seems to have coincided with the lineup change. James appears so much more relaxed.

Yeah, that does seem to be the case. Although the one that sticks out in my mind for being memorable and kinda funny in a way with the way he said it: At Download 2009 right before A Rite of Passage:
"Great to be here on a great fucking day!" Although it more of came out sounding like: "Great to be here, great fucking day."

[KevShmev]

I figured The Looking Glass was a lock, as it has "next single" written all over it.  Plus, it is rocking and catchy as hell, and should be a great live tune.

If they were gonna bring back one of the longer songs from ADTOE, I would rather have seen Bridges in the Sky, but I love Breaking All Illusions, too, so I am fine with its inclusion.

As for so many albums not being represented, I don't see what the big deal is.  There is no rule that says they have to cover as many albums as possible.  Plus, with having 12 albums now, and playing so much of the new album, worrying about putting a song from nearly album would have been a restrictive attitude when writing the set list.  Just write the best set list possible for what you want to do and let the chips fall where they may. 

Going back to Breaking All Illusions, I agree that replacing it with In the Name of God would have been awesome.  That could have been the encore, and the Scenes run of songs could have moved to the first set, with my original idea of playing Home instead of both TDOE and Finally Free, and then including one more song from the new record.  Think of this:

False Awakening Suite (intro tape)
1. The Enemy Inside
2. The Shattered Fortress
3. On the Backs of Angels
4. The Looking Glass
5. Overture 1928
6. Strange Deja Vu
7. Home
8. Enigma Machine (w/ drum solo)
9. Along for the Ride
10. Trial of Tears
====================
11. The Mirror
12. Lie
13. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
14. Scarred
15. Space-Dye Vest
16. The Bigger Picture
17. Illumination Theory
----------------------------------------
18. In the Name of God

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Going back to Breaking All Illusions, I agree that replacing it with In the Name of God would have been awesome. 

ಠ_ಠ

[adastra]

I realize that the tour is only 4 shows old but in all of the videos I've seen so far JLB looks either mad or frustrated or just plain out of it. Instead of doing his usual running around stage and great mannerisms hes just pacing back and forth and rarely looks at the crowd. Am I crazy? Or does it look like something is bothering him? Any thoughts?

I only noticed that on Trial of Tears, he either didn't seem to like the song or was remembering the lyrics.

Is there something wrong with our precious JLB  !?

This is the beginning of the end...  it must be....
Dt will cancel the europe tour on the second half of february.
Week later Labrie will make and announcement via Blabbermouth stating that he won't be continuing as the frontman of Dream Theater.
USA dates will be cancelled too.....
Lots  of accusing and blaming will be made on both sides (via blabbermouth)
It all concludes that JLB and DT can't continue working together because of the growing tension between Myung and Labrie.


Maybe I'm over-analyzing

[The Curious Orange]

I wonder whether OTBOA and BII are "placeholder songs" and will be switched for the remaining DT12 material once the band has rehersed them a bit more.