Songs They've Never Played Live

[Tony From Long Island]

Are there any?    I once made a list of songs from official albums that have not been on an official live album (though I don't have it in front of me).

Have they ever played The Great Debate  (which is actually one of my least favorite DT songs)

[RoeDent]

The Child Boards in the Concerts & Set Lists section of the forum should be of help to you. 

For many years, Space-Dye Vest was the go-to reference for songs they've never played live. Also, it was assumed upon release that The Shattered Fortress would only ever be played live as part of a complete Twelve-Step Suite performance, but then MP left and they played TSF alone during the DT12 tour.

[Evermind]

The Great Debate was played at pre-ADTOE Europe tour. Not sure about the actual ADTOE tour and too lazy to check.

[mikeyd23]

This would probably be helpful to you:

https://www.setlist.fm/stats/dream-theater-bd6a102.html

[hefdaddy42]

The Great Debate has been played plenty of times.

As far as official releases, I believe the only pieces the band hasn't played live are now:

the SDOIT Overture (always an intro track - or an orchestra)
The Best of Times
Raw Dog
The Bigger Picture
Behind the Veil
Surrender to Reason

Other than that, the great white whale of unperformed DT songs is Don't Look Past Me.

[King Postwhore]

Surrender to Reason is a big one for me.  I thought that would be killer live.  I was shocked they didn't play it last tour.

[Prog Snob]

Hef already mentioned it. I've been waiting for Don't Look Past Me to be played since forever. Without MP in the band, it'll never get played - at least I don't think so.

[cramx3]

Hef already mentioned it. I've been waiting for Don't Look Past Me to be played since forever. Without MP in the band, it'll never get played - at least I don't think so.

Same with The Best of Times.  But who knows, we thought we'd never get the Shattered Fortresss without MP and we did.  Although I'd say DLPM is likely never to be played since it isn't even on an album.  Same with Raw Dog.

[Prog Snob]

True, true. I forgot about TBoT and Raw Dog.

[MirrorMask]

Hef already mentioned it. I've been waiting for Don't Look Past Me to be played since forever. Without MP in the band, it'll never get played - at least I don't think so.

I think as well that Portnoy was the only one that one day could wake up and go "Hell, we have to play Don't Look Past Me", can't see it happening now...

[TheCountOfNYC]

The Best of Times will never happen without MP. It's his goodbye to his father and far too personal to play without him.

[Grizz]

You Not Me was only played four times, and never after January 1998, and Where are you Now? was only played three times in late December 1998.
Not quite zero, but pretty close.

[Mladen]

Behind the Veil

This one was actually played on the European summer tour last year.

[MirrorMask]

The Best of Times will never happen without MP. It's his goodbye to his father and far too personal to play without him.

Indeed. They never went back again to Take Away My Pain, which was about Petrucci's father, can't see them doing The Best of Times (whose lyrics are not generic but very specific) just to leave no song unplayed and face the absolutely certain backslash they would hear from Mike.

[OpenYourEyes311]

Behind the Veil

This one was actually played on the European summer tour last year.

Yes, and they have not played False Awakening Suite, as well. That should be added to the list.

[Setlist Scotty]

A great and easy way to see what DT has played over the years can be found here:
https://www.setlist.fm/stats/dream-theater-bd6a102.html

Whatever songs aren't listed are the ones they haven't played. That said, the other posts have pretty much discussed the handful of original songs that the band has never performed live.

[425]

Surrender to Reason is a big one for me.  I thought that would be killer live.  I was shocked they didn't play it last tour.

This is how I feel about The Bigger Picture. I think it's an absolute crime that they skipped it. I mean, I already think you should play your whole new album live on the supporting tour so long as your set is long enough for it, no matter what, but The Bigger Picture (and Surrender to Reason) were really glaring omissions.

[?]

Behind the Veil

This one was actually played on the European summer tour last year.

Yes, and they have not played False Awakening Suite, as well. That should be added to the list.

They've used it as an intro tape like Six Degrees Overture so I don't think it counts.

[Tony From Long Island]

OK - here's that list I compiled. I am counting only official live albums (including chaos in motion). I am not counting snippets in the Instrumedley.  It has to be pretty much the whole song.  These are the songs (chronologically) that have never been on a Live Album. Have any of these never been played?

Dream and Day :  Status Seeker (I know they have played this)
                           Light Fuse (obviously these were on Re-Unite DVD)
                           Ones who help to set the sun

Falling into:          You Not Me  (already mentioned in this thread)
                           Burning My Soul (I heard this on the Fix for 96 show at Mulcahy's)
                           Hell's Kitchen
                           Anna Lee

Six Degrees:         Glass Prison (I'm sure they've played this)
                            Misunderstood
                            The Great Debate

Train of Thought:  Honor They Father

Octavarium:          Never Enough

Systematic:          Repentence
                           Prophets of War
                             
Black Clouds:        Nightmare to Remember
                           Wither
                           Best of Times
                           The Count of Tuscany

DT:                      False Awakening
                           The Bigger Picture
                           Behind the Veil
                           Surrender to Reason

[SebastianPratesi]

These are the songs (chronologically) that have never been on a Live Album. Have any of these never been played?

I'm not sure about the WDADU songs and a few others, but:

-"Burning My Soul", "Wither" and "Behind The Veil" were played last year during the 30th anniversary tour.
-"The Glass Prison" was indeed played in 2002. I'm sure about it because for a long time it was my favourite song and I watched live videos on YouTube.
-"The Great Debate" was most recently played during the 2011/2012 tour (and appears in the Happy Holidays recording).
-"Repentance" was played once, I believe, with Mikael Akerfeldt on vocals, in 2008 (but yeah, it hasn't been played much really).
-"ANTR" was played as the opener in 2009/2010.
-"TCOT" was also played in 2009/2010, and again in 2011 (it appears in Happy Holidays as well).

I'm not sure they wrote/recorded "False Awakening Suite" with the intention of playing it, but only as the opening music to their shows, so I don't think it should count as 'not played'.

[Setlist Scotty]

Dream and Day :  Status Seeker - aside from the WDaDR show, hasn't been played since 1993
                           Light Fuse - played a couple times in 2004, twice in 1993, and at some shows in the late 80s
                           Ones who help to set the sun - last played throughout the 2004 tour

Falling into:          You Not Me - played 4 times on Touring Into Infinity; hasn't been played since January 1998
                           Burning My Soul - regularly featured on Touring Into Infinity and the 2015 tour in studio form; 1996-1997 and 2002 in demo form
                           Hell's Kitchen - not including the excerpt in the Instrumedley or the demo form of BMS, it was played 5 times in total at the Dec 1998 shows
                           Anna Lee - played somewhat regularly in 1998

Six Degrees:         Glass Prison - opened almost all shows in 2002 and was played at some shows in 2003, 2004 and 2005-2006
                            Misunderstood - regularly played in 2002 and 2003, periodically in 2007; somewhat regularly in 2008 and summer 2009
                            The Great Debate - regularly played in 2002, 2003 and summer 2011; sporadically in 2004

Train of Thought:  Honor They Father - regularly played in 2004 and Gigantour (2005), a few times summer 2007

Octavarium:          Never Enough - periodically played throughout 2005-2006 and 2007-2008

Systematic:          Repentence - played once in 2008 (altho partially played by MP's band Flying Colors in 2012 too)
                           Prophets of War - regularly played 2009-2010
                             
Black Clouds:        Nightmare to Remember - opened many shows 2009-2010
                           Wither - played regularly from fall 2009-2010, also in 2015
                           Best of Times - never
                           The Count of Tuscany - closed out most shows 2009-2010; also played at most shows summer 2011

DT:                      False Awakening - never played live, only recording (altho the orchestra, non-band version)
                           The Bigger Picture - never
                           Behind the Veil - closed out all shows 2015
                           Surrender to Reason - never

[Setlist Scotty]

Tony, another thing to consider are the official bootlegs available thru Ytsejam Records. They're not proper live albums like Once in a LIVEtime and Live at Budokan, but they do fill in a number of the blanks.

As you cited, the When Dream and Day Reunite release gives a live rendition of the entire WDaDU album.

Burning My Soul can be found in demo form on the 12/14/96 Old Bridge, NJ bootleg, and in studio form on the 5/18/98 Los Angeles bootleg. Anna Lee can also be found on the LA bootleg.

The 7/4/02 Bucharest, Romania DVD bootleg contains The Glass Prison, The Great Debate and the demo form of Burning My Soul.

Also, don't forget that the Score DVD has Honor Thy Father as a bonus track on the second DVD.

While not for sale, you can find Misunderstood and Repentance on the 2008 Fan Club CD. And Never Enough was on the 2006 Fan Club DVD Romavarium. And as SebastianPratesi said, the 2013 Fan Club release (which was distributed freely and you still can find online) had The Count of Tuscany and The Great Debate on it.

[Tomislav95]

Wow, I didn't know they played Wither in 2015. Thought they completely skipped Black Clouds (it looks like they cut it out on some shorter shows).

[cramx3]

While not for sale, you can find Misunderstood and Repentance on the 2008 Fan Club CD. And Never Enough was on the 2006 Fan Club DVD Romavarium. And as SebastianPratesi said, the 2013 Fan Club release (which was distributed freely and you still can find online) had The Count of Tuscany and The Great Debate on it.

There is a full version of Repentance on a fan club CD?  I was lucky to be at that concert so I saw it with my own eyes, but Mikael's mic was off for his verse so they kept playing so he could sign it for us all to hear, I wonder if that made it onto the CD then?  At least on the Chaos in Motion DVD they showed just him singing and not the whole song.

[Tomislav95]

While not for sale, you can find Misunderstood and Repentance on the 2008 Fan Club CD. And Never Enough was on the 2006 Fan Club DVD Romavarium. And as SebastianPratesi said, the 2013 Fan Club release (which was distributed freely and you still can find online) had The Count of Tuscany and The Great Debate on it.

There is a full version of Repentance on a fan club CD?  I was lucky to be at that concert so I saw it with my own eyes, but Mikael's mic was off for his verse so they kept playing so he could sign it for us all to hear, I wonder if that made it onto the CD then?  At least on the Chaos in Motion DVD they showed just him singing and not the whole song.

That "you're saved" line was sick thing. I bet everyone in the audience creamed their pants.

[Setlist Scotty]

There is a full version of Repentance on a fan club CD?  I was lucky to be at that concert so I saw it with my own eyes, but Mikael's mic was off for his verse so they kept playing so he could sign it for us all to hear, I wonder if that made it onto the CD then?  At least on the Chaos in Motion DVD they showed just him singing and not the whole song.

Yeah there's the full version. You can find extra info about it here:
https://dreamtheater.club/discography/fan-club-releases/progressive-nation-2008/

Regarding whether that mistake was on there, it's been a long time since I've listened to that CD, so I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure that it was edited out.

[cramx3]

There is a full version of Repentance on a fan club CD?  I was lucky to be at that concert so I saw it with my own eyes, but Mikael's mic was off for his verse so they kept playing so he could sign it for us all to hear, I wonder if that made it onto the CD then?  At least on the Chaos in Motion DVD they showed just him singing and not the whole song.

Yeah there's the full version. You can find extra info about it here:
https://dreamtheater.club/discography/fan-club-releases/progressive-nation-2008/

Regarding whether that mistake was on there, it's been a long time since I've listened to that CD, so I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure that it was edited out.

Wow, never knew they made a fan club CD mixing both those shows which were both very memorable for me.  I could have sworn though that JLB did sing the first verse and Mikael only sang the second verse.  Also surprised they didn't include the group drum solo from the first night.

Of note is the only live rendition of Repentance to date – not even sung by James LaBrie, but sung by Mikael Åkerfeldt who was second bill on the Progressive Nation tour.

[Setlist Scotty]

There is a full version of Repentance on a fan club CD?  I was lucky to be at that concert so I saw it with my own eyes, but Mikael's mic was off for his verse so they kept playing so he could sign it for us all to hear, I wonder if that made it onto the CD then?  At least on the Chaos in Motion DVD they showed just him singing and not the whole song.

Yeah there's the full version. You can find extra info about it here:
https://dreamtheater.club/discography/fan-club-releases/progressive-nation-2008/

Regarding whether that mistake was on there, it's been a long time since I've listened to that CD, so I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure that it was edited out.

Wow, never knew they made a fan club CD mixing both those shows which were both very memorable for me.  I could have sworn though that JLB did sing the first verse and Mikael only sang the second verse.  Also surprised they didn't include the group drum solo from the first night.

Of note is the only live rendition of Repentance to date – not even sung by James LaBrie, but sung by Mikael Åkerfeldt who was second bill on the Progressive Nation tour.

Actually, that's not true - JL did sing the first part of the song, and then Mikael took over.

As for why Percussive Nation 2008 wasn't included, it was something that we proposed including, but MP opted not to include it. I believe there were a couple reasons for this - because it would've been gratuitous and it wouldn't get much play time from most people, and also because it would've probably taken up too much space, requiring another song to be cut from the CD. Of course, there still is room for another shorter song that could've been included (either TMW/FT or AIA) but weren't for whatever reason. But I'm still glad for what we have - it's a nice compliment to Chaos in Motion.

[cramx3]

Sure is a nice complement, I want it now that I know about it  Oh well, met some of the fan club guys from Norway at the NYC show this weekend, good group of people.

[SebastianPratesi]

Wow, I didn't know they played Wither in 2015. Thought they completely skipped Black Clouds (it looks like they cut it out on some shorter shows).

Yeah, they did cut their shows short for some festivals, but the full setlist (played many times) consisted of one song from each album - which, in my opinion, is the coolest thing a band can do set-list wise.

[RaiseTheKnife]

Raw DAAWWG!!  Git along doggie.

[Architeuthis]

Surrender to Reason is a big one for me.  I thought that would be killer live.  I was shocked they didn't play it last tour.

This is how I feel about The Bigger Picture. I think it's an absolute crime that they skipped it. I mean, I already think you should play your whole new album live on the supporting tour so long as your set is long enough for it, no matter what, but The Bigger Picture (and Surrender to Reason) were really glaring omissions.

This!  The Bigger Picture should have been a staple live, and Behind the Veil..

[SebastianPratesi]

Surrender to Reason is a big one for me.  I thought that would be killer live.  I was shocked they didn't play it last tour.

This is how I feel about The Bigger Picture. I think it's an absolute crime that they skipped it. I mean, I already think you should play your whole new album live on the supporting tour so long as your set is long enough for it, no matter what, but The Bigger Picture (and Surrender to Reason) were really glaring omissions.

This!  The Bigger Picture should have been a staple live, and Behind the Veil..

Maybe they tried to leave stuff un-played, to save it for future tours (in case they don't want to overplay/repeat many songs). I guess that's what they did with "Behind The Veil". Since I first listened to that song, I always thought it would be a great closer for a show. Maybe they agreed with me, and saved it for their 2015 tour with that purpose. So, it seems obvious to me that they'll play "The Bigger Picture" and/or "Surrender To Reason" in 2017/2018.

Having said that, I know they played all of ADTOE on its tour, and they are playing all of the new album right now. Still, I think those are special situations: The Astonishing having been written with that purpose, and ADTOE having been their first album with MM (so maybe they wanted to expose every song to signify a new beginning).

[axeman90210]

I just opened this thread and was reminded that Raw Dog exists... that's a bummer

I'd really like to see them play Behind the Veil on the next North America tour.

[425]

Maybe they tried to leave stuff un-played, to save it for future tours (in case they don't want to overplay/repeat many songs). I guess that's what they did with "Behind The Veil". Since I first listened to that song, I always thought it would be a great closer for a show. Maybe they agreed with me, and saved it for their 2015 tour with that purpose. So, it seems obvious to me that they'll play "The Bigger Picture" and/or "Surrender To Reason" in 2017/2018.

I suppose I understand this, I just tend to think there's no time like the present for playing new material. I mean, you're advertising it as the tour supporting a particular album, people are expecting it, why not play that whole album, especially when it's not a double album like The Astonishing and therefore more or less just half of your set. I understand leaving stuff out under certain circumstances, like Space Dye Vest, but I think you should make an effort to do the whole thing, just because if you don't play something, it's so easy for it to lapse. Like if the band didn't play Build Me Up, Break Me Down or Outcry or Beneath the Surface on the ADTOE tour, they might have never made it to the stage. They may not ever get played live again. Because in the future, when they want to pick a song from ADTOE to have in the setlist, it's going to be On the Backs of Angels, or Breaking All Illusions, or Bridges in the Sky, or This is the Life for a ballad—the other ones are unlikely to make it. Now, I think The Bigger Picture will indeed make the stage, but I think it's better to bring the whole thing out at once and not risk leaving them in the dark forever. This is especially a risk when you have a static setlist—probably wouldn't have been a big deal during the MP rotating setlist era.

Now, of course, I know why some bands don't. Iron Maiden played their whole A Matter of Life and Death album in 2006 and 2007, but the problem was that it was their 14th studio album, so a lot of fans didn't know or care about the new release and just wanted the band to play classics. But Dream Theater shouldn't have that problem for the most part, because their fanbase is much less classics-inclined (since DT never had a big hit) and more likely to care about the new album, so I think they should always play the whole thing, as they are doing right now with an album twice as long as DT12. I just really hope that all the songs they missed get played on the DT14 tour (along with the whole DT14).c