Top Of The World Tour 2023

[jadiggerdt]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=680652780093258&set=a.268057098019497

[Schurftkut]

going to groningen with my father. first time for him, 5th for me!

[hefdaddy42]

So, do we think there is any chance of shaking up the set list for these new shows?

[Wim Kruithof]

going to groningen with my father. first time for him, 5th for me!

Figured you were Dutch with this gentle nickname. I'll go to Tilburg for sure, hoping Hefdaddy 's right and they change the setlist a little. But if won't, I won't be complaning either...

[Lonk]

So, do we think there is any chance of shaking up the set list for these new shows?

I can see them dropping 1-2 songs, but I wouldn't expect any major changes based on what we saw for DoT.

[Schurftkut]

going to groningen with my father. first time for him, 5th for me!

Figured you were Dutch with this gentle nickname.

when choosing a username i had to try too many variations of what i wanted that weren't allowed, so i tried this one which there's apparently no censorship needed. i used to be keywizardlike, but lost my login..

[gzarruk]

So, do we think there is any chance of shaking up the set list for these new shows?

I can see them dropping 1-2 songs, but I wouldn't expect any major changes based on what we saw for DoT.

I hope they at least drop BITS and ES. Would love to see Sleeping Giant and something else replacing those two.

[Lonk]

So, do we think there is any chance of shaking up the set list for these new shows?

I can see them dropping 1-2 songs, but I wouldn't expect any major changes based on what we saw for DoT.

I hope they at least drop BITS and ES. Would love to see Sleeping Giant and something else replacing those two.

I would be fine if they dropped those two and TMOLS, and insert a couple shorter songs in there.

[Wim Kruithof]

funny, Bridges In the Sky and Ministry of Lost Souls were (next to The Count) the highlights on last tour, for me. Especially The Ministry of Lost Souls. Incredible touching and moving, best song on Systematic Chaos by a mile.

[MirrorMask]

So, do we think there is any chance of shaking up the set list for these new shows?

My realistic guess is that they will swap Awaken the Master for Answering the Call.

[Deadeye21]

So, do we think there is any chance of shaking up the set list for these new shows?

My realistic guess is that they will swap Awaken the Master for Answering the Call.

If they want to swap Invisible Monster for Transcending Time as well, that'd be fine by me!

[The Curious Orange]

Hoping they manage to come back to the UK and play anywhere other than the hideous cow-shed that is Wembley Arena.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

They will not be dropping Awaken the Master.

[Schurftkut]

i'm hoping for octavarium instead of tcot, answering the call instead of ministry. OR just play the glass prison again and i'm happy

[Deadeye21]

i'm hoping for octavarium instead of tcot, answering the call instead of ministry. OR just play the glass prison again and i'm happy

I'd think maybe ITNOG for Sacrifice and Ministry replaced with something short for the 20th of ToT.

[jimgolf]

i'm hoping for octavarium instead of tcot, answering the call instead of ministry. OR just play the glass prison again and i'm happy

I'd think maybe ITNOG for Sacrifice and Ministry replaced with something short for the 20th of ToT.

As much as I'd love to hear ITNOG, I think it's a bit out of range for James these days. I could see them maybe playing Stream of Consciousness though. Maybe This Dying Soul? I like Honor Thy Father but I think the band would shy away from that considering how portnoy driven the song is. I would really really love to see Octavarium live. The only show from the Octavarium tour I saw was Gigantour and they've never played it since(outside of the Schmedley Wilcox ending)

[gzarruk]

I don't think we'll see Octavarium played live until maybe the next tour.

As for next year's sertlist, I don't think they'll change it too much, but I'm hoping for some tweaks. Most of these songs they've already played many times since 2011.

[The Paddies]

It's been said, but it really is such a shame they don't change the setlist around as much anymore as they used to. I understand from the production side and it's hard to memorize or relearn (or even to recreate) some of the songs live. But still. If only they changed half of the set, than it would be much more interesting to go to see the band live more than once. I mean: 70 euros ain't cheap. And all things considered: I'd rather prefer 'an evening with' setlist with a few instrumentals and/or an intermission. They have so many albums to cover these days, a lot of them don't get the attention they deserve. For the next leg I'd love to see Answering The Call, In The Name Of God and Octavarium, but that seems wishful thinking.

[Mladen]

I was convinced The Ministry of lost souls was wishful thinking, and yet here we are. I wouldn't be surprised if The Glass Prison, Octavarium or In the name of God came back.

[Trav]

I don't think we'll see Octavarium played live until maybe the next tour.

As for next year's sertlist, I don't think they'll change it too much, but I'm hoping for some tweaks. Most of these songs they've already played many times since 2011.

Which ones have been played many times in the last 11 years?

[Mladen]

The only songs that were played on three tours since 2011 are Breaking all illusions, Bridges in the sky, Metropolis, The Spirit caries on and As I am. I am not counting Pull me under, that one shows up sporadically at festivals. But yeah, that's not a lot of songs. That's a handful of them. They've mostly been pulling out songs that they haven't performed in years.

[Trav]

Yeah, my point is that they have played "most of the songs many times". The only one in the set now that has been played since 2011/2012 was Bridges and About to Crash and that was just a summer European tour in 2015. So no one else in the world has had those.  And if people are complaining that they played "xyz" 11 or 12 years ago like that was so soon... I mean c'mon!

[gzarruk]

I should've worded this better
I meant to say about half of their set had already been played before with MM. BITS, ES, 6:00, TCOT all have official live versions from this lineup and I wish some of them were replaced with something else. There's lots of other songs they haven't played for a lot longer.

Still, I'd definitely go see them if I had the chance to

[Trav]

I should've worded this better
I meant to say about half of their set had already been played before with MM. BITS, ES, 6:00, TCOT all have official live versions from this lineup and I wish some of them were replaced with something else. There's lots of other songs they haven't played for a lot longer.

Still, I'd definitely go see them if I had the chance to

Yeah, you're right about that. I agree, if they come back here with the same set I'll still go. We don't know how many tours they have left in them. But they really should change it up a little if they are playing the same markets twice.

[bosk1]

It's funny, I often have a similar reaction to songs where I'm like, "Oh, their playing that again?  Haven't we heard it enough recently?"  And then I actually go and check and realize it has been a lot more years than I thought.  DT is just that band now where they have been around for so long that they've played just about everything a lot now.

[Setlist Scotty]

It's funny, I often have a similar reaction to songs where I'm like, "Oh, their playing that again?  Haven't we heard it enough recently?"  And then I actually go and check and realize it has been a lot more years than I thought.  DT is just that band now where they have been around for so long that they've played just about everything a lot now.

That is true, but with such a massive catalog at this point, there's plenty to pick from that hasn't been played with MM yet. For one, I was really surprised that they haven't played Erotomania yet. Would have been perfect for this tour: representing Awake, hasn't been played with MM yet, is an instrumental to give JL (who has been struggling more) a break. Makes much more sense than playing 6:00 again. And they could've played something else from ADToE than BitS, not only because of the miming fiasco, but also because that song was played consistently throughout the whole Dramatic tour (aside from the summer warmup leg) and was included on the 2015 mini-tour, such as LNF or TitL which were both added late in the tour.

[cramx3]

I do hope they change things up.  The setlist for this tour was not the greatest overall.  I certainly enjoyed the shows, but I feel the setlist can be a lot better and since they already toured Europe once, another leg should be different IMO.  Maybe not completely, but at least 2 songs. (swap in a new song with another new song, and an old with another old for example). I think that should be the bare minimum, but we all know DT has gotten used to not changing the sets up even between legs.

[Ben_Jamin]

I do wish the band would change up the setlist. But also, being one that hardly ever sees the band, and I never really got to see them much with MP, I understand why they don't. I did not get to see many of the songs on the setlist this tour before. Even though I've watched Live at Luna Park and the other live dvds, it's an entirely different experience actually being there at the show and hearing these songs.

Being that the songs I enjoy most from some bands tend to be ones they rarely play live, it does not matter to me what songs a band plays live. Most of these songs were only played for that certain tour, and only played one tour with MM. I do not mind one bit that they played these songs again. I saw it twice because this setlist was about as close to a dream set-list the band could have done with this amount of set-time. I did not expect them to go full on epic mode either by the majority of the set being songs close to 10 min. in length.

Some of us are very fortunate to witness the band more than once, but also there are many whose first time is that very show which is your 5th show of the tour.

With the production utilizing some fantastic graphic animation, it takes time to make these videos and having various amount of songs to switch around can become a bit of a hassle. The backing videos weren't that well produced either when Portnoy was in the band, it was more like Windows Visuals type of video mixed with live shots of the band. This tour, it's entirely a video production, and it works well with the surrounding album cover art and the light show. I think it's amazing and is showcased by how much the band downsized their gear, especially Mangini with his downsized drum-kit (Although I understand there could be other reasons for him downsizing the kit).

I do also think it is possible to have worked in some more video animation in this downtime, so that they can change up the set with some different songs.

Also, the video production is one reason why I think the band doesn't improvise much, or add in extra solos and that type of stuff. I say this because of how much the band improvised during the I&W&B tour, and they did not have a video screen at all, which gave them a sort of freedom by not being bound to staying in sync with the video production.

It's funny, I often have a similar reaction to songs where I'm like, "Oh, their playing that again?  Haven't we heard it enough recently?"  And then I actually go and check and realize it has been a lot more years than I thought.  DT is just that band now where they have been around for so long that they've played just about everything a lot now.

That is true, but with such a massive catalog at this point, there's plenty to pick from that hasn't been played with MM yet. For one, I was really surprised that they haven't played Erotomania yet. Would have been perfect for this tour: representing Awake, hasn't been played with MM yet, is an instrumental to give JL (who has been struggling more) a break. Makes much more sense than playing 6:00 again. And they could've played something else from ADToE than BitS, not only because of the miming fiasco, but also because that song was played consistently throughout the whole Dramatic tour (aside from the summer warmup leg) and was included on the 2015 mini-tour, such as LNF or TitL which were both added late in the tour.

Reminds me of what Geddy Lee said on R30, "We have way too much music to play" and I feel Dream Theater has hit this point where they have so much music they can play now that certain songs won't be played as much anymore.

[DTiwbwMP]

As far as i'm concerned in regard to DT, I could CARE LESS about video screens, click tracks, graphics, animation, blah, blah, blah. They are NOT Kiss who needs that stuff! People go to DT shows for the instrumentation and the songs! I don't expect the MP days when it comes to setlists, but it would be great to have at least, alternating sets.

[KevShmev]

As far as i'm concerned in regard to DT, I could CARE LESS about video screens, click tracks, graphics, animation, blah, blah, blah. They are NOT Kiss who needs that stuff! People go to DT shows for the instrumentation and the songs! I don't expect the MP days when it comes to setlists, but it would be great to have at least, alternating sets.

Agreed, but it appears obvious that the band has become stuck in their ways and aren't gonna change any time soon, so the click tracks and static set lists are here to stay.  It's a shame because they have so much music now, yet every show on a tour has the same songs. 

[MirrorMask]

As far as i'm concerned in regard to DT, I could CARE LESS about video screens, click tracks, graphics, animation, blah, blah, blah. They are NOT Kiss who needs that stuff! People go to DT shows for the instrumentation and the songs! I don't expect the MP days when it comes to setlists, but it would be great to have at least, alternating sets.

So you don't appreciate at all the band putting on a show? would you enjoy it the same (maybe with a discount on the ticket price) if they were just playing in a room with basic lightning and no kind of added visual bonus at all?

Granted, every band is different, and there's no magic formula for a show that applies to everyone; some shows are more basic, some are more theatrical. And every show can be technically performed by the band members wearing everyday clothes on a basic stage with just enough lightning to let people see them. But a live concert is a show, a performance, not a band rehearsal with the public attending. It's an experience, it's more than just seeing in person some guys playing music rather than watching them on YouTube playing in a room together. Maybe some people would be just fine with a very basic show, but many as well go to shows to, well, see a show, not just to watch musicians playing their music.

[SeRoX]

It's good to see they'll do another tour BUT if they don't change setlist, at least 3-5 songs, there will be no interest for them. Hardcore fans sure buy ticket no matter what they play. But as the tour goes and setlist reveals many won't buy it. We will see more empty seats.

Tbh, I don't think last tour setlist was their loved and even liked one so they must change it for their sake. Will they change? I don't think so, maybe 1-2 songs. This is their worst strategy that keeping setlist same for a long time, espeically since MP left.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope they'll do great.

[Jinx]

I missed it the first time around (purposefully, the Fury fight going on next door in the stadium meant prices all around the area were bumped up) so I am glad that they are coming back - to a better venue to in the Hammersmith! As such I'm not altogether bothered about the setlist although I think they might play a song or 2 from ToT as its the 20th anniversary.

[Setlist Scotty]

As far as i'm concerned in regard to DT, I could CARE LESS about video screens, click tracks, graphics, animation, blah, blah, blah. They are NOT Kiss who needs that stuff! People go to DT shows for the instrumentation and the songs! I don't expect the MP days when it comes to setlists, but it would be great to have at least, alternating sets.

So you don't appreciate at all the band putting on a show? would you enjoy it the same (maybe with a discount on the ticket price) if they were just playing in a room with basic lightning and no kind of added visual bonus at all?

Granted, every band is different, and there's no magic formula for a show that applies to everyone; some shows are more basic, some are more theatrical. And every show can be technically performed by the band members wearing everyday clothes on a basic stage with just enough lightning to let people see them. But a live concert is a show, a performance, not a band rehearsal with the public attending. It's an experience, it's more than just seeing in person some guys playing music rather than watching them on YouTube playing in a room together. Maybe some people would be just fine with a very basic show, but many as well go to shows to, well, see a show, not just to watch musicians playing their music.

I don't mind them improving the production at all, but not at the cost of playing to a click and static setlists.

The thing is, they can still do both. Rush (the band who they almost always follow as an example) almost never used a click, triggered whatever samples were needed manually (as opposed to playing along to tape) and on recent tours had swapped out a few songs from night to night. So everything we're asking for is doable - especially with 5 guys as opposed to 3. But for whatever reason, this is one thing that they won't do like Rush. That and live backing vocals.

[cramx3]

I think the only time DT's videos were actually important to the show were from the Astonishing tour.  I don't dislike the videos in any way, but I kind of agree with DTwwbwMP that most fans go to see DT so the visuals actually aren't necessary.  I don't see anyone complaining in the JP tour about the lack of visuals.  People are just generally awe struck watching these guys play at a very high level. I say this in that I really hope the "extras" don't dictate the set list and not necessarily that I think they should scale back the show.

So you don't appreciate at all the band putting on a show? would you enjoy it the same (maybe with a discount on the ticket price) if they were just playing in a room with basic lightning and no kind of added visual bonus at all?

I would say my dream DT concert might very well be this.  A GA ballroom with seats in the back, no special stage, just the band out there performing fully live without click.  If DT pulled off a show the same way MP's Shattered Fortress did in NYC, I would be happy with that.