Dream Theater North American Tour Dates (Feb-Mar, 2025)

[Samsara]

Risky move for a festival, though.  They usually tailor their festival setlists to the audience.

Agreed. Guess we'll see!

[ReaperKK]

I agree big time on this, Brian. Seems like a really odd omission. They can probably play A Fortune In Lies in their sleep, or even adding Ytse Jam in the first set to give James a breather.

I think if they keep Home out of the setlist then they should slot in YTSE Jam. I think it'd make for a great encore opener plus it gives James some more time to give his voice a rest.

[cramx3]

Risky move for a festival, though.  They usually tailor their festival setlists to the audience.

And one could argue that would be the case here. That festival has basically every type of rock and metal on it, but in reality, LtL leans more towards a butt rock crowd overall.  My guess if you polled people going to LtL and asked what DT they'd want to see, I'd put money on ToT. So doing Parasomnia makes a lot more sense considering it's more relevant and they are going to be doing it on tour already.  These festivals also now really like to highlight what makes them more exclusive.  Like full album performances or re-union sets.  I mean, SLAYER is on the bill 

Also, I absolutely LOVE the stage DT is on that day.  It's basically all power metal and then DT.  Would make for a great day of music for my tastes.

[Stadler]

It was a blast catching up with you guys. Been too long. I figured you were staying for the post-show, and I wanted to get home, so I missed saying goodbye. But hopefully we'll get together soon.

Glad you got a chance to talk with MP.

I also very much echo that James got better as he got warmer for sure. There were some outstanding moments from him. I'm impressed how he's leveled out his performance and improved the consistency from night to night. I know he's a professional, and that's his job, but some guys have a hard time doing that. James took it in stride, and you can tell he's worked at it. 

I'm so happy to hear this.  I'm absolutely 100% okay with someone that can't hit the same notes he did when he was 26.  I am far far less understanding about someone that can't stay on pitch with whatever note they choose to sing. Geddy Lee, Robert Plant, neither one of them could sustain an entire show like they did back in '74, and I understand that.  Both (especially Plant) have done a great job of adapting their singing style to their current physical state.  I am James fan, I got into the band because of him, but without reigniting that old story again, there were moments on Dreamsonic where I couldn't dismiss it as just "range".  I don't care what the melody is for Metropolis - Paul Stanley would often sing alternative melodies to Detroit Rock City over the years - as long as it's musical.

[bosk1]

It was a blast catching up with you guys. Been too long. I figured you were staying for the post-show, and I wanted to get home, so I missed saying goodbye. But hopefully we'll get together soon.

Absolutely. 

One thing I just remembered that I thought was curious.  Night Terror got a really enthusiastic response, which was cool.  But the response to Midnight Messiah seemed very lukewarm.  That kind of surprised me, as MM is more accessible to a general metal crowd.  Did it seem that way to others at their shows?

[KevShmev]

I'm with you.  I was a bit surprised that nothing from WDADU was in the set, given that it is celebrating the band's 40th anniversary, but since I don't like that album very much, I was totally OK with it.

I do like that album quite a bit (maybe it is better to say I like the songs a lot since I think Charlie and the production both hold it back a bit), but I am totally fine with them not playing anything from it this tour.  Aside from being their first, it's not like that is a landmark Dream Theater album, and there aren't any live mainstays from it that would have fit the "greatest hits"-type set that Portnoy picked.  Heck, even a fan favorite like Six Degrees isn't being featured at all. 

[geeeemo]

Absolutely. 

One thing I just remembered that I thought was curious.  Night Terror got a really enthusiastic response, which was cool.  But the response to Midnight Messiah seemed very lukewarm.  That kind of surprised me, as MM is more accessible to a general metal crowd.  Did it seem that way to others at their shows?

I can't remember..lol!  I was so overwhelmed by seeing So Many songs I've never seen live, that I was in my own zone. Sunday I'll be seeing them again, and will probably be more with it. I mean, I nearly cried when they played Octavarium. Which is not my style, at all.

[TAC]

but I wouldn't expect Iron Maiden to play "Remember Tomorrow" in tribute to Dennis Stratton.  Did Rush pay any tribute to John Rutsey during the Snakes & Arrows tour (again, honest question, I don't know)?

OK..now you're just being a wise guy.

[pg1067]

Having peeked at the setlist prior, I knew once "Barstool Warrior" hit what set we would be getting.

Looks like they swap out Panic Attack, UAGM and TDEN for AROP, Constant Motion and AIA.  I'd rather have had Constant motion over either UAGM or TDEN, but I'm overall very happy that I got the former batch.

James really delivered the songs with conviction, and I was impressed on the second night of a back-to-back, that his performance was very consistent. For those who are reading this review and haven't read others from this tour yet, yes, the older songs are modified to fit James' current range. He ducks many of the bigger notes. But in all honesty, except for a couple of spots, it didn't bother me all that much. James sounded really good on the material from the last 20 years. And the mods made to the stuff from the 90s was passable. It killed the vocal "punch" on the tunes, but it is what it is at this point.

Fates Warning did it, and while Ray Alder's tone is much more melodic and "buttery" than James' (which is why FW sounds just fine), what the James and the band have done to give us those call backs to I&W and Awake is good. I mean, listen to the "Mirror" below. When it gets high, James has issues. But listen to some of the other tunes, in his mid-range, he sounds great. Again, human instrument. Unlike the rest of them, the quality of James' instrument changes and it's going to be what it is.

I commented after the Saturday show in LA that it seemed like James made last-second decisions to go for or not go for certain notes, and I think that led to some of the mods not sounding great.  In the case of FW, they clearly wrote new melody lines and rehearsed them, and Ray was fully committed to the mods.  I like what DT has done, but I think they would be even better by fully committing to changes - even if James thinks he can still nail something.

I had never seen "Octavarium" played, so while a big monotonous in sections (sorry, it isn't my favorite), I really enjoyed seeing it played. The end section where Portnoy counts 1 through 8 is just amazing live. Great energy.

I was shouting along with MP:  "ROOT!"...."OCTAVE!!!"

One that I DID record, was "Stream of Consciousness." So cool to hear that live again. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the Train of Thought tour. And since that album celebrated 20 years later year, I was really thankful to get "As I Am," "Vacant" and "Stream of Consciousness."

AIA is in the same category as PMU.  I don't need to see it again, but Vacant and SOC were AWESOME!  The latter is my favorite DT instrumental by a pretty good margin.

•    Then while song selection was good, I knocked it another half point down because of a glaring omission – there was nothing played from DT's first album. I expected SOMETHING to recognize Charlie's passing on the band's 40th anniversary tour. And we got nothing. I'm not sure why. And I haven't seen anyone ask MP why.

I raised this issue in my post about the LA show.  Apparently someone asked him if they considered a WDADU song, and MP said no.  I too am surprised there wasn't even a mention of Charlie's death.  They always call their former bandmates "brothers," and Charlie seemed to be the guy they had the best relationship with.  Seemed only fitting that they'd at least make a comment.

I've written this post a couple different ways, and I don't know what is the best way to present this... I recognize how it's going to come off, but I certainly don't mean it anywhere near as callously as it's inevitably going to sound.  But I just don't feel any void or any loss from there not being any WDADU songs/Charlie reference.  Maybe it's me, because I got in with Images And Words, didn't hear WDADU until way later, and it's not a record that resonates with me very much. I get he's a part of history; but I wouldn't expect Iron Maiden to play "Remember Tomorrow" in tribute to Dennis Stratton.  Did Rush pay any tribute to John Rutsey during the Snakes & Arrows tour (again, honest question, I don't know)?

I think the difference (as least as far as Rush goes) is that I don't think any of the 20 shows I attended didn't have a song from the debut.  I'm struggling to remember if Geddy ever mentioned Rutsey on stage.  I want to say yes, but I'm really not sure.

[Skeever]

On the phone issue, I agree that James was clearly a bit irritated.  But I think his "rant" was overall pretty classy and called-for.  To paraphrase, the gist of it was along the lines of:

"Hey, look, I get it that people want to get their phones out and take pictures and videos, and that's cool.  But it's not cool to be recording for like 10 minutes and have your phone right up in my face when I'm trying to perform for everybody here.  You all paid good money to come here and hang out, and to see us in flesh, so can we keep the phones to a minimum and enjoy our time together at a metal show?"

Yeah, it was longer than that, and there were a few expletives thrown in.  But I don't think it was unnecessary at all.  And, honestly, it wasn't all that long.  I think it probably felt longer than it was because he drew it out a bit, and things like that naturally just feel awkward and feel like they are dragging on longer than they actually are. 

(also, I think it went on just a little bit longer than normal bc JP was also back in guitar world appearing to get Maddi's assistance with something guitar-related during that time)

James LaBrie throwing around expletives on stage? I'm sorry but ... no. Not my James. Preposterous.

[hefdaddy42]

One thing I just remembered that I thought was curious.  Night Terror got a really enthusiastic response, which was cool.  But the response to Midnight Messiah seemed very lukewarm.  That kind of surprised me, as MM is more accessible to a general metal crowd.  Did it seem that way to others at their shows?

Here in Raleigh, the response seemed pretty strong for both songs.

For me, I don't care very much for Midnight Messiah, but their performance of it was fantastic.

[Stadler]

OK..now you're just being a wise guy.

I didn't mean it that way, but those are the analogues.  Charlie by all accounts was a great guy and a great teammate, but in the grand pantheon of Dream Theater, he's not Paul Di'Anno, or Bon Scott...

[TAC]

I didn't mean it that way, but those are the analogues.  Charlie by all accounts was a great guy and a great teammate, but in the grand pantheon of Dream Theater, he's not Paul Di'Anno, or Bon Scott...

No I know. I'm just bustin'.

[hunnus2000]

James LaBrie throwing around expletives on stage? I'm sorry but ... no. Not my James. Preposterous.

[CodyWanKenobi]

AIA is in the same category as PMU.  I don't need to see it again, but Vacant and SOC were AWESOME!  The latter is my favorite DT instrumental by a pretty good margin.

I thought Vacant was incredible. Was a total highlight of the entire night for me. James was amazing and the arrangement was so good. Reminded me a lot of how they arranged SDV a few tours ago. I'm so glad they included it in the set.

[durga2112]

I thought Vacant was incredible. Was a total highlight of the entire night for me. James was amazing and the arrangement was so good. Reminded me a lot of how they arranged SDV a few tours ago. I'm so glad they included it in the set.

Okay, now I'm really intrigued! Initially I didn't want to know anything about the setlist, but it turns out that hanging around a forum like this is not the best way to avoid setlist spoilers.  Eventually I realized that I had spoiled the entire setlist for myself one song at a time, but I still haven't watched any videos or listened to any audio, figuring that as amazing as the setlist looks on paper it's going to sound even better in person. "Vacant" is a song I have always loved, so I am very much looking forward to hearing it in a couple of weeks.

[jimgolf]

Midnight Messiah got a pretty good response in Philly.

It was also the first time they ever played the song though soooooo...

I enjoyed it live even though there were a couple hiccups with them learning the song.

[gmillerdrake]

Looking like I'll have an extra ticket to the Chicago show on 3/8. Shoot me a Message if you're interested.....

[Progmaniac1988]

I wonder if MP is on good enough terms with the A7X guys to show up during their set? MP is pretty well liked in that fanbase.

Not a big surprise, but the Louder Than Life festival got the full daily line up released, DT playing Friday September 19th in Kentucky:



If you notice the little bubble next to their name, means they are playing a full album.  So I guess that's just more confirmation of what we already know that Parasomnia is being played in full this fall in NA.

Also, kind of makes me think the fall tour is probably booked.  Definitely won't be announced until the current tour is over though.

Actually if you look * means full album,  the dot means anniversary. So that's just showing its 40th anniversary I believe.

[jammindude]

I'm at the theater right now. I'm literally standing in the exact spot at the mouth of the alley behind the Moore theater where I met Mike Portnoy for the first time November 1994 on the awake tour. How times have changed. Back then it was just one bus and the guys didn't even have a ride to their hotels. They had to walk three blocks to get to their own hotels. At that time I met Mike, and both John's. I wasn't quite a member of the online community just yet so it was Mike that had to break the news to me that Kevin was no longer in the band.

Now I'm looking at two tour buses and a semi gated off. Mike and John just walked up the alley and into the tour bus about 10 or 15 feet away from me. I said hi but they didn't acknowledge me and I didn't want to intrude.

And it's OK. I'm not complaining. I'm just reflecting.

About 10 minutes after that, Jordan walked out of the alley with his wife. But again, I just said hi and have a good show and I didn't approach them directly.

I guess it's time to scoot around the corner to the local pub for some muscle relaxer. LOL


EDIT - the real shocker of the night came when someone came up and introduced themselves because they remembered me from jammin dude's neighborhood!!! That about blew my doors off. The only reason I don't do that anymore is because of too much family drama with my wife's emotional problems. Just made it too hard to upkeep. But it was nice that someone remembered the show.

[jammindude]

I'm exhausted. But it was a fantastic show. As others have been saying, James came out of the gate, a little rusty, but warmed up quickly and absolutely killed it for most of the show. Definitely 100 times better than the miserable summer tour from a year and a half ago.

[birchbark]

The Sacramento show was incredible! My body is still sore from how much I was banging my head. I'd been hoping to see Under A Glass Moon and Home, but I can't even be too disappointed at their absence. The set was great, the sound was on point, and seeing Mike Portnoy behind the kit was like a dream come true. I was accompanied to the show by a friend who I've been trying to get into DT for years...after seeing them live, he finally gets it 

Highlights for me were Octavarium, The Mirror, Stream of Consciousness, and Night Terror. Unfortunately, I was slightly late to the show, so I missed the first three songs of the set. Still a great show, and I can't wait to see them on the next leg/tour.

[Architeuthis]

I'm exhausted. But it was a fantastic show. As others have been saying, James came out of the gate, a little rusty, but warmed up quickly and absolutely killed it for most of the show. Definitely 100 times better than the miserable summer tour from a year and a half ago.

That show was incredible! Yeah James really killed it last night, I was quite blown away. My seat was very back row 1st balcony. At least I could stand up without blocking somebody's view. Probably the best DT show I ever witnessed. The whole band was so awesome, that I can't single out a MVP player of the night.
The cool part is the same friend came with me that was there on the awake tour. It was quite a reality check that it was 30 years ago, and here we are again at The Moore theater. JLB and MP shared the same sentiments. My friend and I drifted apart for almost 30 years and reconnected for this show. We drove out from Sequim to be there. Crossed the water on the ferry, had fish & chips at Ivars, and walked a few blocks to the venue.
Also my bass player friend came with us and he was enamored by the concert!
Man, I hope DT keeps their light show like they did on this tour, it was brilliant!
Btw, I thought the DreamSonic tour was pretty awesome at Marymoor Park, and JLB wasn't bad. But wow, did he step up his game for DT40!

[CodyWanKenobi]

Okay, now I'm really intrigued! Initially I didn't want to know anything about the setlist, but it turns out that hanging around a forum like this is not the best way to avoid setlist spoilers.  Eventually I realized that I had spoiled the entire setlist for myself one song at a time, but I still haven't watched any videos or listened to any audio, figuring that as amazing as the setlist looks on paper it's going to sound even better in person. "Vacant" is a song I have always loved, so I am very much looking forward to hearing it in a couple of weeks.

Oh man I'm so sorry, I initially tried to avoid giving spoilers but saw that the thread was already full of them so I gave up with this post. Dude, if James sounds half as good during Vacant as he did in the show I was at, you're gonna be in for a treat. The fact that he wrote the lyrics about something so personal really is a testament to his performance and the emotion he was able to convey. He nailed it.

[bosk1]

My daughter and I were driving in the car earlier tonight, and Night Terror came on, and we both immediately started gushing about how good it was at the show the other night.  Probably the favorite song of the show for both of us. 

I am still a bit puzzled over my reaction to Octavarium.  It is a top 3 DT song for me and I was SO excited to hear that it is in the set and I will finally get to see it live in person.  But it just didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would.  Maybe I was just tired by that point.  Not sure.

[geeeemo]

My daughter and I were driving in the car earlier tonight, and Night Terror came on, and we both immediately started gushing about how good it was at the show the other night.  Probably the favorite song of the show for both of us. 

I am still a bit puzzled over my reaction to Octavarium.  It is a top 3 DT song for me and I was SO excited to hear that it is in the set and I will finally get to see it live in person.  But it just didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would.  Maybe I was just tired by that point.  Not sure.

About Ocatavrium, a little the same for me. I mean, I nearly cried, just because I was finally seeing it, but somehow it was different than I expected. We'll see tonight.

[jimgolf]

My daughter and I were driving in the car earlier tonight, and Night Terror came on, and we both immediately started gushing about how good it was at the show the other night.  Probably the favorite song of the show for both of us. 

I am still a bit puzzled over my reaction to Octavarium.  It is a top 3 DT song for me and I was SO excited to hear that it is in the set and I will finally get to see it live in person.  But it just didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would.  Maybe I was just tired by that point.  Not sure.

Man, I had the exact opposite reaction to it. I felt like I was in an awake coma of musical bliss 10 minutes into the song. Octavarium was probably one of the big songs that got me into the band(I became a fan during the Octavarium era) - but I didn't get to see it live because I didn't catch a "full show" tour date. I always thought they would pull it out again soon because of how great a song it was, but they just never did(id be interested to know why it took that long to play the song again).

Anyway, everyone reacts to live songs differently. I know there are songs I wasn't too keen on from the studio record, but when I heard them live I thought they were amazing, and it kind of changed my opinion of them. Octavarium live(I saw them in Philly) was just as good as I hoped it would be. There was a point during the song where I looked at my friend and was like "man, this is sick."  Honestly, they could've not come back for an encore after that and I felt like I would've gotten my money's worth.

[TAC]

Maybe I was just tired by that point. 

It'll be past my bedtime when the play Octavarium.

[Progmaniac1988]

It'll be past my bedtime when the play Octavarium.

Your making the old jokes just too easy for us all TAC 😂

[TAC]

Your making the old jokes just too easy for us all TAC 😂

I literally told someone to get off my lawn this week. 
True story.

[durga2112]

Oh man I'm so sorry, I initially tried to avoid giving spoilers but saw that the thread was already full of them so I gave up with this post. Dude, if James sounds half as good during Vacant as he did in the show I was at, you're gonna be in for a treat. The fact that he wrote the lyrics about something so personal really is a testament to his performance and the emotion he was able to convey. He nailed it.

Nah man, that's not on you at all - like I said, I spoiled the entire setlist by my own doing, so that's completely on me. But what you said about the arrangement of "Vacant" made me realize that, even though I know which songs they'll be playing, I still don't know everything about how they'll sound, so the setlist on its own is only part of the picture.

Plus, now that they've started making little changes to the setlist from night to night, there's always the possibility, however remote, that they'll bring out a rarely played song at any given show. 8 more days until I see them - I don't think I can possibly be any more excited about a concert. 

[Glasser]

It'll be past my bedtime when the play Octavarium.

Yeah this is reality. I'm going on the 14th and I'm wondering how long I will last. Imagine how the band feels.

[jammindude]

Is this tour the first time they've played Vacant and SOC together?  I could have sworn they played SOC without Vacant on the TOT tour and then they obviously did Vacant without SOC at the Score show. So it occurred to me that I had seen them live separately, but never together.

[brakkum]

Where's Scotty when you need him

edit: based on setlist.fm it looks like they did do them together in 2004: https://www.setlist.fm/song/dream-theater/vacant-63d78a77.html

[durga2112]

Where's Scotty when you need him

edit: based on setlist.fm it looks like they did do them together in 2004: https://www.setlist.fm/song/dream-theater/vacant-63d78a77.html

Just to add to this, the current tour marks the first time "Vacant" has been played since the Score show in 2006, so this is a really nice treat for those of us who are fans of that song (it has been a favourite of mine ever since I first heard it).