New Album “Distance Over Time’, First Set of 2019 Tour Dates announced!

[noxon]

Add into the fact that the majority of fans actually got into DT after the SFAM tour.

That can't be at all true, can it?  Anecdotally, everyone I know who's into DT picked them up either with I&W or Awake.  And by the time SFaM came out, it's wasn't a breakthrough (that would be I&W/Awake) as much as it was a solidification.  They were firmly entrenched by the time Jordan joined the band.

Not sure Awake qualifies as a breakthrough.

But hang around here a bit, and you'll see that most of this place got into DT after Scenes.

Yeah, but does this forum represent the DT fanbase as a whole? I'd say no. If you were to go to some of the other places, such as the FB groups, you'll see that there's plenty of old school fans still around. Is what Noxon saying the truth? Possibly - but "majority" can be 51%. So my point is, while more than half the fanbase may have come into the picture since 2000, that doesn't mean that a siginificant portion of the fanbase hasn't been around since before that time.

My statement is both a reflection of what I myself observe in the people I talk to in the fan communities across the globe, my observation of the people attending shows, and actual hard statistics gathered from social media.

Likes:


Reach:


While of course there are hard core fans that still are following DT - the vast majority of the people I knew as DT fans back in early 2000 do not follow the band anymore. Heck, most of the people who used to run fan clubs are barely even interested in what the band does.

Add in the fact that when DT played SFAM here, they played a venue which houses 1350 people, sold out. When DT played 8v, they played a venue which houses 9000 people, sold out.

[Podaar]

I notice I'm in the 0.702 percentile, where we have a less than zero chance of finding a woman our age...

[KevShmev]

Zero chance of me buying this show.  $100 is the CHEAPEST - 2nd balcony, last three rows - seat in Toronto.  Coupled with it being a 2 hour drive for me from where I'll be living in April.  Not to mention my severe disappointment the last time I went to a concert that went on sale before the album dropped.  Not going to go thru that again.  If seats become available the week of the show, I'll consider it (assuming the album is good).

Really not impressed with the band to do this to fans again - shell out this kind of money to listen to music we haven't even heard.  I'm not gonna get fooled again with that tactic.

That seems to be the common practice these days, putting concert tickets on sale before fans have had a chance to hear the new album that is forthcoming.  I'm not a fan of it either, but it just seems like it is the way it is now.

[TAC]

and actual hard statistics gathered from social media.

[hefdaddy42]

and actual hard statistics gathered from social media.

Laughing at that shows your age.

[Tick]

Zero chance of me buying this show.  $100 is the CHEAPEST - 2nd balcony, last three rows - seat in Toronto.  Coupled with it being a 2 hour drive for me from where I'll be living in April.  Not to mention my severe disappointment the last time I went to a concert that went on sale before the album dropped.  Not going to go thru that again.  If seats become available the week of the show, I'll consider it (assuming the album is good).

Really not impressed with the band to do this to fans again - shell out this kind of money to listen to music we haven't even heard.  I'm not gonna get fooled again with that tactic.

That seems to be the common practice these days, putting concert tickets on sale before fans have had a chance to hear the new album that is forthcoming.  I'm not a fan of it either, but it just seems like it is the way it is now.

I guess for me, I've never disliked any album since I've been a fan so its easy for me to take that leap of faith and get tickets before hearing the new album.
You know going in your going to get the polar opposite of The Astonishing so the haters of that record can rest easy I'd say.

[mike099]

I notice I'm in the 0.702 percentile, where we have a less than zero chance of finding a woman our age...

me to

I am set to buy my tickets this morning for the Nashville show.  I am going to shoot for the mezzanine dead center.

[Peter Mc]

Zero chance of me buying this show.  $100 is the CHEAPEST - 2nd balcony, last three rows - seat in Toronto.  Coupled with it being a 2 hour drive for me from where I'll be living in April.  Not to mention my severe disappointment the last time I went to a concert that went on sale before the album dropped.  Not going to go thru that again.  If seats become available the week of the show, I'll consider it (assuming the album is good).

Really not impressed with the band to do this to fans again - shell out this kind of money to listen to music we haven't even heard.  I'm not gonna get fooled again with that tactic.

That seems to be the common practice these days, putting concert tickets on sale before fans have had a chance to hear the new album that is forthcoming.  I'm not a fan of it either, but it just seems like it is the way it is now.

It's not really the same as The Astonishing tour though is it?  Then, the new album was the entire show so, if you hated it, you were screwed.  This time, assuming it's a 2.5 hour set, you'll probably get 45 min of the new album at the most and the remaining 1 hr 45 min will be stuff you already know.  Are they supposed to wait until everyone has heard the new record and decided if they like it or not before announcing the tour?

[zappafrank2112]

Got my Upper Darby (Tower Theater) tix

Center loge, first row, dead center.  Woo-hoo!

[TAC]

Got Boston tix! Not in love with the balcony seats. Seems the presales did indeed knock out the best seats.

[hefdaddy42]

Got orchestra seats for Charlotte.

[Zydar]

And for yourself?

[cramx3]

There's actually some cheap 25$ tickets for the NJ show.  I might just grab one of those, would be the cheapest I've ever paid for DT.  Looking to get a better seat though for the NYC show, that goes on sale in a half hour.

[zappafrank2112]

Looking at the seat map just to seat how things are going, and it looks like seats are actually still opening up?  Weird.

[Anguyen92]

There's actually some cheap 25$ tickets for the NJ show.  I might just grab one of those, would be the cheapest I've ever paid for DT.  Looking to get a better seat though for the NYC show, that goes on sale in a half hour.

What site are you finding those kinds of tickets at?  Ticketmaster?  If not.  Is it primarily associated with the venue's website or can we search for other shows? 

[cramx3]

There's actually some cheap 25$ tickets for the NJ show.  I might just grab one of those, would be the cheapest I've ever paid for DT.  Looking to get a better seat though for the NYC show, that goes on sale in a half hour.

What site are you finding those kinds of tickets at?  Ticketmaster?  If not.  Is it primarily associated with the venue's website or can we search for other shows?

Ticketmaster

Looks like no new seats opened up for the NYC show since the presale

[Ben_Jamin]

I'm actually amazed TSCO isn't being complained about, since they'll likely be playing it again.

Might wait for the VIP to end, if it doesn't sell out, for Denver. They'll likely release those unsold VIP seats then.

[vtgrad]

Got orchestra seats for Charlotte.

Where are you Hef?  I'm C 1&2.

I my wife and I get there early enough (and we should) we'll have to all find a spot for dinner before the show maybe... there are several 4-star + places around Ovens.

[Bertielee]

Got orchestra seats for Charlotte.

Where are you Hef?  I'm C 1&2.

I my wife and I get there early enough (and we should) we'll have to all find a spot for dinner before the show maybe... there are several 4-star + places around Ovens.

"I my wife and I" : with two "I"s, you can see better than with one "I" .

[CodyWanKenobi]

 

And for yourself?

[bosk1]

having seen almost all of it already through various shows

This... this is why I feel the way I do.  It's not like the album has been underrepresented since its release, and certainly not since the tour 5 years ago.  I get that some people might want to see all of it in order, but in terms of pure exposure, it's not that special.  It's the same reason Geoff Tate touring on the 30th anniversary of Operation: Mindcrime was a big ol' "meh, whatever" from me: I've seen it in its entirety already, and QR proper plays enough of it as is (as they did when Tate was still in the band).

Forgive me for not responding to your PM on the subject.  I was pretty slammed at work the day you sent it and felt it deserved a fairly detailed response.  I also felt myself coming down with flu symptoms that worsened through the day that left me with barely enough energy over the next few days to do much more than hit buttons on the tv remote.

In any case, this response is much more respectful and tactful than the other thread, which is why that one was locked.

And I get why you feel the way you do.  That's fair.  But to most of the fan base, it IS something special that they are recognizing the album by playing it in its entirety.  MOST of the fan base is going to be psyched for this.  And the timing is right for it because of the anniversary.  And unlike the European tour, they haven't revisited the entire album in North America since the tour cycle for that album.  So despite the suite a couple of tours back, the recognition this time around is actually pretty well calculated to make the vast majority of the fan base pretty happy.  The fact that you might not like it is unfortunate.  But, as the saying goes, you can't please everybody.

I also entirely get what you are saying about Tate.  I was burned out on Queensryche playing Mindcrime a long time ago.  They did a huge chunk of it on the Mindcrime tour.  They did all of it with probably THE definitive production of it on the Empire tour and released a live version for home video.  But unlike DT, they have toured on it a BUNCH of times since then, and Tate has done it solo after leaving QR.  It has been beaten into the ground.  DT hasn't done that with Scenes.  Again, a few people might not like that they are playing it on this upcoming tour.  But they haven't done nearly what QR did with Mindcrime, and most people can easily see the difference.  And on top of that, they have never played themselves as a nostalgia act touring primarily on past success.  EVERY tour of theirs, with the exception of this last tour for I&W and Beyond, has prominently featured whatever their newest album is, and this is no exception.  And even the I&WaB tour was in the same album cycle where they toured HEAVILY on The Astonishing before doing the I&WaB legs.  They have NEVER been a nostalgia act, and they aren't doing that here.

Samsara pretty much nailed it in this post:

To be frank, its not that Scenes is what is being promoted. The new album is PLUS Scenes. It appears the band's marketing is (rightly so) focused on the new album, and its "hey, you liked the whole album thing so much, we'll do Scenes considering it is the 20th anniversary of it."

It'd be different if the tour was billed as the 20th Anniversary Tour of Scenes From a Memory (plus new music and hits). That would be...weird for DT.

As I said in the locked thread, I don't particularly like this tour (and will not be attending), but I see why they are doing it, and I'm pleased for fans who never got to see SFAM in its entirety (of which there are many, since DT's popularity skyrocketed after Scenes).

Honestly, there are really only three albums in their catalog where you can really make a strong case for full-album treatment, in my opinion:

-WDADU:  This album is panned by a HUGE majority of the fan base.  That isn't really disputed.  But prior to WDADRU, the only existing version was with Charlie on vocals, and there had been a clamoring among the fan base for a version with James.  It made sense to do a one-off celebration with him on vocals since they couldn't do a remix of the studio album.  But because it is so universally disliked as an album overall, it would make zero sense to do anything further.  I get that you like it and would appreciate it being done.  But, respectfully, if you think billing a tour based around this album being played would draw in fans, you are not really well in touch with what the overall fan base wants or likes.

-I&W:  Their classic album.  And their breakthrough.  This is an obvious choice.  Which is why they did I&WaB.

-SFAM:  For the vast majority of fans, this is either their top album, or at least top 3 (behind I&W or Awake).  That isn't true of all fans.  But it is true of most.  And it was a landmark album for the band, for a number of reasons.  And it hasn't been revisited in the U.S. since then.  So for these reasons and the reasons mentioned above, what they are doing makes sense.

I believe this should all respond to what you said when you PM'd me, zappafrank2112, so I don't plan to send a separate response to your PM.  Again, sorry for not responding to that earlier.  But if you want to further discuss why that thread was closed, send me another PM and we'll go from there.

Seems very Queensryche-ish.

Yeah, and this isn't anything like what QR has done, as I explained above.  You just can't even compare the two.

I also think the Queensrÿche comparison is hugely unfair as if DT are becoming some nostalgia act just doing a cash grab playing their old albums.

Exactly.  This is a far, FAR cry from that.  See above.

Again, Bosk alluded to this being something special, so I'll have to have faith and take his word on that, because he obviously knows something we do not.

Yes, I do know some things about it, and can't really say more.  Look, I don't want to get expectations out of whack.  It isn't something earth-shattering.  For most people, the fact that it is SFAM revisited is more than enough to send them through the roof.  That's the gist of it.  There is more, and the fact that they are doing SFAM is the main point. 

Anyhow, I am way behind on this thread and other stuff.  This is only page 13 of 17, so some of this may have been addressed.  But I wanted to respond to some of this before I got farther in.

[countoftuscany42]

My dad is coming down from the bay area for the friday LA show, and he decided we should do the m&g 
I've met them all a number of times, but it will be great to actually do the full platinum experience and have a good professional photo with the band.  Dead center 4th row 
And now i just picked up my own ticket for the thursday LA show, so im set 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

My two cents: I think that playing a regular set, followed by a set of Scenes, followed by a cool encore is pretty awesome. Especially as someone who has not... um... seen Scenes. I'm actually really excited.

[zappafrank2112]

I believe this should all respond to what you said when you PM'd me, zappafrank2112, so I don't plan to send a separate response to your PM.  Again, sorry for not responding to that earlier.  But if you want to further discuss why that thread was closed, send me another PM and we'll go from there.

All good; I very much appreciate your thoughtful response.  I also didn't realize you had a closer connection to the band, which might have made my original thread feel like an attack.  Needless to say, it's been in insightful to read everybody's perspectives.

[zappafrank2112]

Oh, and as a follow-up: when I walked out the door to catch the bus to work this morning, I did decide to throw on SFaM on my headphones, and was reminded of how... almost perfect it is in its setup and execution.

"Through Her Eyes" wrapped up along with Act 1 as the countdown clock for my show on-sale hit one minute left, so it seemed very fitting, all things considered, ha.

[bosk1]

The tour is based around the new record, with Scenes as a bonus. It's a win-win.

This nicely encapsulates what I was trying to say earlier.  This tour is about the new album.  It is in support of the new album, and the new material will be featured, as has been the case with EVERY DT tour.  The Scenes material is a bonus, and one thrown in because, across the majority of the fan base, it is something the vast majority of fans will truly appreciate and respond well to.

It TOTALLY is a fine line. I just don't think DT has crossed it.

Agreed.  And I would go even just a bit farther and say that, while it is a fine line, I don't think DT have come close to it.  Again, they are incredibly prolific and release new material on a regular basis.  And they ALWAYS feature a significant part of that new material on their tours.  They are never a band that has rested on their laurels.  Ever.

Images and Words sorta pushed it. That was nostalgia, but I sorta get it...

I'm not really disagreeing.  But I'm going to just throw this out there to push back on the idea that the I&WaB tour pushed them closer to that "fine line."  That tour, in and of itself, was a "bonus."  It wasn't used as an excuse to get out on the road by a band that had run out of creative ideas and had to rely on nostalgia to sell tickets.  This is, instead, a band that had just released arguably one of the most creative and different albums of its career over 25 years after their inception, KNOWING that it could be controversial and divide the fan base.  And they toured extensively on that album, featuring not just a few songs—but the entire thing, with production completely different than anything they had done before. 

I&WaB was done as a bonus to the fans.  And, yes, there were a few mixed reasons for doing it.  But behind virtually all of those reasons, it basically boiled down to, "the fans would really appreciate this celebration on this very important anniversary, so let's give them something extra that they will remember." 

So, yeah, this may be "sorta push[ing] it" in terms of feeling like "nostalgia," but not in the way that comes even close to relegating DT to a "nostalgia act."  Not even close.

Anyhow, probably beating a dead horse, so I'll stop on that issue.  A couple of other misc. items:

-I think it was zappafrank2112 that mentioned BCSL a page or two back.  I would LOVE it if they represented that album more.  I don't care for Wither, so I hope they would skip that.  TBOT is likely not a candidate, but I wouldn't rule it out.  And while they haven't shied away from duplicating songs they feel get a strong crowd reaction (TDEN, TSCO, for example), I wouldn't count on them duplicating TSF so soon.  TCOT would be cool.  But given that they will likely play a lot of new material in the first set, possibly a song from the new album in the encore, and the second set being SFAM, that doesn't leave a lot of space, so I would likely rule out long songs (which is why I had said way back in the other thread that, knowing what they have planned for this tour, Octavarium is VERY unlikely).  That leaves ANTR and AROP.  AROP isn't great.  But I wouldn't mind either one of those.  And I have made it no secret to JP that ANTR is one of my top 3 choices for songs to see live from them.  So here's hoping.  It IS a bit on the long side.  But I think it might be short enough to be a possibility, even if it might be a longshot.

-This is largely a semantics thing, but as to the argument over whether DT has gotten "a majority" or simply "a significant number" of fans AFTER SFAM:  does it really matter?  Personally, from what I have observed here and other places (such as looking around the audience at shows), I think the ages of most fans you see would support that the "majority" have probably been onboard since the early days.  But that said, you can't discount that they have gained a truly significant number of fans after that album. 

-Regarding opening acts:  I could be wrong, and I don't any inside info to base this on, but I wouldn't be surprised if the evening with format disappeared in the not-too-distant future.  I just don't see the band easily being able to do this indefinitely.  I could be wrong.  As far as what I personally want, I have mixed feelings.  I don't want to see time wasted on a bad band.  There aren't many good "prog-metal" bands that I would want to see opening for them.  But there are lots of good bands in other sub-genres of metal that could be good.  I never would have discovered Trivium had they not opened for DT on the ADTOE tour, for example.  And while I am generally not a fan of power metal, I would LOVE to see Symphony X open for DT.  But the bottom line for me is, if shorter sets can produce a better-rested band (and, specifically, better-rested vocalist), which results in a better performance, then I'll happily sit through an opener.

[Indiscipline]

I would be an extremely happy fan if DT from now on toured with a new album + complete anniversary album du jour setlist.

The IAWA show was one of the most emotional and memorable concert experiences in my life.

[Samsara]

To comment on bosk's last reply -- I completely see DT going the co-headline route in the next few years if they continue on (not saying they aren't planning on continuing on, but they are getting older, and I guess they may want to tour less at SOME point).

Sorta like you see Judas Priest and Deep Purple going out together. I could see Dream Theater doing that, potentially, with the right band. Or scaling back to a headline set of say...100 minutes, and bringing on a second, fairly well known opening band that will play for 50 minutes (not a rookie band, but someone of note, like a Fates Warning).

To be frank, while Rush is Rush, and them doing those huge shows is one thing, I think they are the anomaly in being able to do that night after night. And their popularity is at a level that they don't play back to back shows, or at the very least, if they do, they have a bunch of time off in-between. DT doesn't have that luxury. They have to play three out of five nights to make the budget pencil out properly with the kind of show they want to do.

So, if they have to maintain that very active tour schedule, I don't see them putting on 2.5 hour gigs after this tour cycle. It can get to be too much with the number of shows they do on a tour leg.

[Peter Mc]

Seems like it's definite then, the whole of Scenes live. I pretty much guarantee most of these grumbles will disappear once people actually witness the majesty of this album live again. That DT12 show was a big eye opener for me where I was like "Holy shit, I forgot how great this stuff sounds live".

[bosk1]

Seems like it's definite then, the whole of Scenes live.

Yes, that is my understanding.  Well, for precisely what was said to me, it was that the second set would be SFAM.  The phrase "SFAM in its entirety" was not used.  But the second set being SFAM implied either that they will play all of it, or at least the vast majority of it.  It isn't going to be just a suite of songs like they did on the DT12 tour.  It is an entire set dedicated to that album.

[countoftuscany42]

Bosk, I'd imagine you're not at liberty to say specifics, but do you know if there's any plan to differentiate the two LA shows?  I'm happy to see the same show twice in a row especially if we're getting all of SFAM, which i haven't gotten to see before, but for how rarely they have back-to-back shows in one city like this it seems like the perfect opportunity to change things up a bit.  the only other benefit to two dates like this could be to shoot a dvd, but i doubt they'd be attempting that so early in a tour

[bosk1]

Bosk, I'd imagine you're not at liberty to say specifics, but do you know if there's any plan to differentiate the two LA shows?  I'm happy to see the same show twice in a row especially if we're getting all of SFAM, which i haven't gotten to see before, but for how rarely they have back-to-back shows in one city like this it seems like the perfect opportunity to change things up a bit.  the only other benefit to two dates like this could be to shoot a dvd, but i doubt they'd be attempting that so early in a tour

I can tell you that I have NO IDEA.    I have another email out to JP on another issue.  When he responds, I will ask him, and will post the response if he says it is okay to do so.  Going purely from my own speculation--and let me make this clear that I am ONLY SPECULATING--if they are doing back-to-back nights at the same venue, I would guess that they are going to change it up in some fashion.  It may be something like the first leg of the ADTOE tour where they had rotating A and B setlists.  But, again, that's just a guess.  I have no information to back that up.

[cramx3]

Have they done back to back nights since they started the evening with format again with the static setlists?  Just to have a stat point to compare?  Obviously in the past they would do something different, but I wonder if they still would. (I hope so)

[hefdaddy42]

Got orchestra seats for Charlotte.

Where are you Hef?  I'm C 1&2.

I'm in Q.  So several rows back lol.

I my wife and I get there early enough (and we should) we'll have to all find a spot for dinner before the show maybe... there are several 4-star + places around Ovens.

Sounds good to me!

[pg1067]

Bosk, this seems an apropos time to say thanks very much for sharing what you share and acting as sort of a liaison between this fan group and the band!!