2017 Jan. 30 - Rome, Italy -- SPOILERS

[gzarruk]

As I Am with an excerpt from Enter Sandman  leading to Breaking All Illusions

They probably thought they were playing Peruvian Skies instead 

[the keyboard wizard]

Right, as it is the end of the first set and as we know what the second set will be about, I'm gonna stop posting things. Octavarious will update if there are any changes in the song, any soli or excerpts and I hope he will post some pics of the merchandising. See you for the encore!

[gzarruk]

Right, as it is the end of the first set and as we know what the second set will be about, I'm gonna stop posting things. Octavarious will update if there are any changes in the song, any soli or excerpts and I hope he will post some pics of the merchandising. See you for the encore!

Could you please ask him if JP used the NOMAC Majesty for the TA tracks? 

[Setlist Scotty]

I'm assuming BAI will end set 1

I thought this too, but, no A New Beginning? 

Definitely surprised that this one didn't make it, or Moment of Betrayal for that matter. Bosk, what was the song you were commenting earlier that lended itself to be perfect for a guitar solo? TSCO?

I like both songs much more than A Life Left Behind and Our New World 

You and me both, altho I do like ALLB more than the rest of the album, especially the intro.

BAI is a top 5 DT song for me, the rest are like "okay,cool I guess". Still excited to go though!

I'd rather they had done something else other than BAI since it's already been played extensively on the Dramatic and AftR tours, and most other tracks haven't.

My buddy said the first set looks like someone put DT on shuffle,  and then just jotted down what played.  "yup.  That's gonna be the set!"

Aside from the first few tracks, I agree that the first set is underwhelming, altho I'm glad to see that they were willing to throw in a bit of Enter Sandman - gives me hope that maybe they've changed some more stuff up that Octavarious hasn't relayed to the keyboard wizard when giving him the setlist.

[cramx3]

Yea besides the opening tracks, it seems DT went DT by the numbers afterwards.  It's OK though, there's lots of goodies in the set and they can't do a whole set without including some staples (AIA, TSCO, BAI).

[ReinoudW]

Aside from the first few tracks, I agree that the first set is underwhelming, altho I'm glad to see that they were willing to throw in a bit of Enter Sandman - gives me hope that maybe they've changed some more stuff up that Octavarious hasn't relayed to the keyboard wizard when giving him the setlist.
[/quote]
I must say I am very pleased with this so far. Yes, some songs have been played quite often on recent tours, but I do not mind so much as these are great songs! BAI is my all time favorite song, so cannot hear that enough. And some nice surprises with TBP and HK. Now, let's hope for that encore!!

[mikeyd23]

Yea besides the opening tracks, it seems DT went DT by the numbers afterwards.  It's OK though, there's lots of goodies in the set and they can't do a whole set without including some staples (AIA, TSCO, BAI).

Agreed. Good stuff so far for the most part.

Also - someone mentioned a Enter Sandman jam at the end of As I Am?! Maybe this signals a willingness to throw some jams in here and there?

[cramx3]

Yea, the Enter Sandman part makes me hopeful that they add little extras like that in the future 

[?]

A couple of short clips are online already, namely the ending of TBP and the first verse of Spirit: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/dreamtheater/

[As I Am]

Yea besides the opening tracks, it seems DT went DT by the numbers afterwards.  It's OK though, there's lots of goodies in the set and they can't do a whole set without including some staples (AIA, TSCO, BAI).

Understood, but I RESPECTFULLY disagree. I'd feel it would have been better to play:
ANYTHING from TOT instead of AIA (especially SOC)
How about a rarely played "Through Her Eyes" instead of the played out TSCO
&
How about "Lost Not Forgotten" instead of BAI?

I'm not saying these are better or worse than the ones played, but just not OVERPLAYED!

[bosk1]

Yea besides the opening tracks, it seems DT went DT by the numbers afterwards. 

I have no idea what this means, since "DT by the numbers" is...anything but "by the numbers."    That phrase just doesn't really hold any meaning to me, try as I might to understand it.

[genome]

Just thinking about that transition from TBP to Hell's Kitchen (same key, right?) The big chord fading out into the synth. That's gonna be epic.

[SkiFiX]

James is out of tune in the final verse of tgb... not a good sign

[TAC]

What is their fixation with AIA?? What a waste of 7 minutes in a set.
And TSCO...again??

Those are my complaints. Other than that..all good.

[gzarruk]

What is their fixation with AIA?? What a waste of 7 minutes in a set.
And TSCO...again??

Those are my complaints. Other than that..all good.

Both are overplayed songs indeed. Hope they change them in the future legs of the tour.

[bosk1]

Yea besides the opening tracks, it seems DT went DT by the numbers afterwards.  It's OK though, there's lots of goodies in the set and they can't do a whole set without including some staples (AIA, TSCO, BAI).

Understood, but I RESPECTFULLY disagree. I'd feel it would have been better to play:
ANYTHING from TOT instead of AIA (especially SOC)
How about a rarely played "Through Her Eyes" instead of the played out TSCO
&
How about "Lost Not Forgotten" instead of BAI?

I'm not saying these are better or worse than the ones played, but just not OVERPLAYED!

Given the stated intent of relying heavily on fan favorites, with a couple of rarities (which we got in HK and TBP), none of your choices make sense over the ones that actually were played.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

That first set is...weird, I dunno. TDEN as an opener isn't something I would've pictured in a thousand years, and they really should give The Spirit Carries On a rest.

So happy to see Hell's Kitchen and The Bigger Picture there, tho.

[DreamerTV]

Robwester!!!

Great first set btw. Tsco has been played to death and beyond but hey that's the point of the song

[genome]

That first set is...weird, I dunno. TDEN as an opener isn't something I would've pictured in a thousand years

Not sure why you feel that way. It thunders in with a big heavy riff, has a long enough intro for James to come out a bit later than the band like he often does - high energy, crowd-pleasing song. Ticks the boxes for me.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Yeah, I didn't mean it was bad, just stated it was weird given they have so many songs that can open up a concert so nicely (in that album you have ITPOE Pt.1, which is still the best song SC has to offer IMO) and they still went after TDEN.

[As I Am]

Yea besides the opening tracks, it seems DT went DT by the numbers afterwards.  It's OK though, there's lots of goodies in the set and they can't do a whole set without including some staples (AIA, TSCO, BAI).

Understood, but I RESPECTFULLY disagree. I'd feel it would have been better to play:
ANYTHING from TOT instead of AIA (especially SOC)
How about a rarely played "Through Her Eyes" instead of the played out TSCO
&
How about "Lost Not Forgotten" instead of BAI?

I'm not saying these are better or worse than the ones played, but just not OVERPLAYED!

Given the stated intent of relying heavily on fan favorites, with a couple of rarities (which we got in HK and TBP), none of your choices make sense over the ones that actually were played.

I guess that's true. I guess then I have an issue with their "stated intent"

[Setlist Scotty]

Yea besides the opening tracks, it seems DT went DT by the numbers afterwards.  It's OK though, there's lots of goodies in the set and they can't do a whole set without including some staples (AIA, TSCO, BAI).

Understood, but I RESPECTFULLY disagree. I'd feel it would have been better to play:
ANYTHING from TOT instead of AIA (especially SOC)
How about a rarely played "Through Her Eyes" instead of the played out TSCO
&
How about "Lost Not Forgotten" instead of BAI?

I'm not saying these are better or worse than the ones played, but just not OVERPLAYED!

Given the stated intent of relying heavily on fan favorites, with a couple of rarities (which we got in HK and TBP), none of your choices make sense over the ones that actually were played.

It's true that there would be a focus on fan favorites, but certainly Endless Sacrifice could have been used to represent ToT this time around, which is something MM already knew. And for the European audiences, it would've been nice for them to finally get LNF or TiTL (both of which were never played there) instead of BAI for the third time around. And I'd wager Home is as much of a fan favorite as TSCO is, which IMO would be a much better choice and could have closed out the set, seeing as neither LNF or TiTL would be a good way to end the first set.

[TAC]

It's true that there would be a focus on fan favorites, but certainly Endless Sacrifice could have been used to represent ToT this time around, which is something MM already knew. And for the European audiences, it would've been nice for them to finally get LNF or TiTL (both of which were never played there) instead of BAI for the third time around. And I'd wager Home is as much of a fan favorite as TSCO is, which IMO would be a much better choice and could have closed out the set, seeing as neither LNF or TiTL would be a good way to end the first set.

Agreed.

[wasteland]

Yeah, I didn't mean it was bad, just stated it was weird given they have so many songs that can open up a concert so nicely (in that album you have ITPOE Pt.1, which is still the best song SC has to offer IMO) and they still went after TDEN.

ITPOE-1 would be quite a weird opener, I'd say. The introduction of JLB after 6 minutes or so, and in a quieter moment of the song, would feel absolutely anti-climatic.

[As I Am]

I guess I've just always had the idea that DT fans aren't your regular "play me the popular songs" kind of crowd. I've been going to DT shows since '96 and I can't remember a "non fan favorite" getting any less of a reaction that say "PMU". Times change obviously, and they just want to play it safe I guess. Damn shame. So many great songs in their catalog.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Yeah, I didn't mean it was bad, just stated it was weird given they have so many songs that can open up a concert so nicely (in that album you have ITPOE Pt.1, which is still the best song SC has to offer IMO) and they still went after TDEN.

ITPOE-1 would be quite a weird opener, I'd say. The introduction of JLB after 6 minutes or so, and in a quieter moment of the song, would feel absolutely anti-climatic.

They opened a couple of concerts back in 2009 with that one and I thought it was amazing, but yeah you kinda have a point.

[genome]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP50GcbhV4R/

Cool lighting rig above that wasn't too clear from the other photos.

[cramx3]

AIA, TSCO, and PMU were all played at the end of TA tour so maybe since those songs were recently rehearsed, it allowed the guys to focus on other songs they haven't been playing.

I'm surprised they didn't play A New Beginning though.  I thought for sure that would be set 1's closer.

[robwebster]

Yeah, I didn't mean it was bad, just stated it was weird given they have so many songs that can open up a concert so nicely (in that album you have ITPOE Pt.1, which is still the best song SC has to offer IMO) and they still went after TDEN.

ITPOE-1 would be quite a weird opener, I'd say. The introduction of JLB after 6 minutes or so, and in a quieter moment of the song, would feel absolutely anti-climatic.

Leeds 2009. ItPoE1 was a supreme opener.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKbTb-eB3Q4&t=2m30s

No footage of James emerging, but the cheer was no quieter than any of the others...

Nothing against The Dark Eternal Night - it and ItPoE1 are the two perfect tens on that album, in my book - but man!

[wasteland]

So, it looks like there is no background video this tour! I wasn't expecting this, to say the least.

[hefdaddy42]

So, it looks like there is no background video this tour! I wasn't expecting this, to say the least.

Good, they don't have to worry about that lining up with a click track and they can just play.

[As I Am]

Have a feeling it's a "money making" tour, to make back the potential profits lost on TA tours. That's probably why it's pretty bare bones. I like it better this way anyway. I want to watch the guys, and all the video stuff distracts from them.

[bosk1]

They didn't lose money on the TA tour.

[DreamerTV]

So, it looks like there is no background video this tour! I wasn't expecting this, to say the least.

Quite disappointing considering how high is the average ticket's price

[robwebster]

I think it's an unexpected change of plans, too. The videos for and stage show for The Astonishing must have been incredibly costly, and I think they were expecting to get a little more use out of them than they eventually did. The last thing they need to do right now is commission another expensive stage show in the middle of the same tour cycle.