First and Last DT show you’ve seen.

[TAC]

6/8/92 The Ritz NYC opening for Iron Maiden. I had no idea who Dream Theater was going into the show. By the time their set was completed, my mind was blown and I've been a HUGE fan ever since! I just could not believe how good P&P were!

You ain't kidding. My avatar is a pic I took that afternoon. I have some great shots of Iron Maiden. In fact, in the video boot, you can see my flashes going off right in front of Dave. I really regret not taking a few pics of DT, but there was no way I was gonna risk getting thrown out before Iron Maiden.

My two impressions that stood out were..the drummer is amazing, and the bass player is a ...madman.
Dream Theater blew me away that night. And it took about a minute on stage for them to do so.

[DTiwbwMP]

You ain't kidding. My avatar is a pic I took that afternoon. I have some great shots of Iron Maiden. In fact, in the video boot, you can see my flashes going off right in front of Dave. I really regret not taking a few pics of DT, but there was no way I was gonna risk getting thrown out before Iron Maiden.

My two impressions that stood out were..the drummer is amazing, and the bass player is a ...madman.
Dream Theater blew me away that night. And it took about a minute on stage for them to do so.

    

[Progmaniac1988]

6/8/92 The Ritz NYC opening for Iron Maiden. I had no idea who Dream Theater was going into the show. By the time their set was completed, my mind was blown and I've been a HUGE fan ever since! I just could not believe how good P&P were!
6/28/23 MSG THEATER NYC on dreamsonic tour. IMO, THE TOUR that lead DT to bringing back THE GOAT! This show was OK, but terribly attended and JLB was AWFUL. Hopefully the return of MP refreshes the band and they take their craft to a higher level once again.

Yeah seems that dreamsonic tour did not get great feedback. It's a shame. I saw DT at that same theater at Madison sq garden back in 2003 or 2004 for the tot tour. Place was sold out and packed to the brim.

[DTiwbwMP]

Yeah seems that dreamsonic tour did not get great feedback. It's a shame. I saw DT at that same theater at Madison sq garden back in 2003 or 2004 for the tot tour. Place was sold out and packed to the brim.

Yep. I was in 1st row for that one!    

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I am actually trying to remember the date of the first DT show I saw. The only song I remember was definitely played was Another Day. It was not an evening with but I forget the opener. I remember Portnoy's drum solo. He invited some kid from the back of the venue to come up and play drums with him. It was such a cool thing to see.

[Setlist Scotty]

I am actually trying to remember the date of the first DT show I saw. The only song I remember was definitely played was Another Day. It was not an evening with but I forget the opener. I remember Portnoy's drum solo. He invited some kid from the back of the venue to come up and play drums with him. It was such a cool thing to see.

You sure it wasn't an Evening With show? The only gig I remember off the top of my head where MP invited a guy from the back of the venue to play on his drum kit with him was this show (which I was also at, and included Another Day):
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2004/the-theater-at-madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-7bd6d234.html

[King Postwhore]

May 15th, 1993. Rocky Point, Warwick RI.

Dreamsonic tout. July 2nd.  2023

21 times live.

[Setlist Scotty]

May 15th, 1993. Rocky Point, Warwick RI.

Dreamsonic tout. July 2nd.  2023

21 times live.

Lucky you getting to see one of the weirdest setlists from the 90s, with them opening the show with Learning to Live! Glad there's the radio broadcast of the show so we can still listen to it!

[King Postwhore]

Lucky you getting to see one of the weirdest setlists from the 90s, with them opening the show with Learning to Live! Glad there's the radio broadcast of the show so we can still listen to it!

What a weird day we're at a amusement park at an old roller skating rink inside. People are looking at us weirdly and that whole show was smell of puke and piss. LOL some guy tried to get up to body surf half the show. He finally gets up but he's upside down and I punch them in nuts he went down hard and everybody around me started clapping. Lol what a way to see Dream Theater your first time.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

You sure it wasn't an Evening With show? The only gig I remember off the top of my head where MP invited a guy from the back of the venue to play on his drum kit with him was this show (which I was also at, and included Another Day):
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2004/the-theater-at-madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-7bd6d234.html

You could well be right. The show was indeed at MSG. I would have guessed it would have been around the 2006-2009 time frame but I have no basis for thinking that other than 2004 seems early for me. I figured I wasn't big enough a DT fan back then but this sure looks like the one. The only 3 facts I remember to a certainty are right here so thank you for confirming this lol. I thought it was something like Satch as an opener because I was obsessed with him at the time but that doesn't appear to line up. I have a decent memory of the solo. They were playing beats on the stage floor at some point. Mike may have even invited more than one person up during that solo. It really made an impression on me at the time though the next tour I saw in person wouldn't come until A Dramatic Tour of Events.

[Setlist Scotty]

You could well be right. The show was indeed at MSG. I would have guessed it would have been around the 2006-2009 time frame but I have no basis for thinking that other than 2004 seems early for me. I figured I wasn't big enough a DT fan back then but this sure looks like the one. The only 3 facts I remember to a certainty are right here so thank you for confirming this lol. I thought it was something like Satch as an opener because I was obsessed with him at the time but that doesn't appear to line up. I have a decent memory of the solo. They were playing beats on the stage floor at some point. Mike may have even invited more than one person up during that solo. It really made an impression on me at the time though the next tour I saw in person wouldn't come until A Dramatic Tour of Events.

If your first show was at the Theater at MSG, then this was definitely the show. The only other time they played the same venue was last year on the DreamSonic tour. They did play MSG proper, but that was opening for Maiden in 2010.

And yes, at that 2004 show there were others that played with MP during his solo, however it was people up front and it was on a tom that he brought out to the front of the stage. But he didn't want people who paid for the good seats to have the chance, so he asked a crew member to find someone in the very last row who was still having the time of his life despite having crappy seats. That guy was the one who actually played side by side with MP on his Siamese Monster. It was also the show where Eugene Friesen came out and played cello along with the band for the last 3 songs of the second set (Vacant, Stream of Consciousness and Disappear). And it also was the very first time they played Disappear live, with the only other time being the L@B show later in the month.

The co-headliner they did with Satch was 2 years earlier, and they played Jones Beach on that leg of the tour.

[Cool Chris]

Despite being a fan since 92/93, I didn't see them live until 2004. I was not in a good space in my life and sadly didn't appreciate it as much as I should have, especially looking back at the setlist.

MP did a drum solo... er, duet with Scott Rockenfield. When he took the stage he got a huge pop. I felt like a doofus as I didn't recognize him. I knew QR of course but outside of Tate just wasn't going to recognize anyone out of context.

[YngVai]

First was the Dallas stop on the Chaos in Motion Tour in 2007.

Most recent was Top of the World in Chicago in 2022, (or Petrucci + Portnoy Lovefest Tour, Chicago stop if that counts).

[pg1067]

So with the big tour coming I thought it would be fun to discuss the first and last times we saw DT.

First show:  November 12, 1992 at The Marquee in Westminster, CA.  My own band had played this same club a couple years earlier.  The location is now a "gentlemen's club" called The Library ( https://thelibrarygc.com ).  After the show, about a dozen fans hung out in the parking lot talking with JM, JP, JLB and MP for about a half hour.  KM didn't come off the tour bus, so I didn't get his signature on my I&W CD booklet.  Fortunately, he added his signature at one of the shows I attended in 1993.  The set list:  https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/1992/the-marquee-westminster-ca-5bd6cfd8.html

Last show:  February 5, 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.  I was around 6th row in the pit, on the aisle on JM's side.  As they were making their rounds at the end of the show, JP spotted my Caress of Steel shirt and gave me a thumbs up.  The set list:  https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2022/microsoft-theater-los-angeles-ca-b883962.html

[pg1067]

Lucky you getting to see one of the weirdest setlists from the 90s, with them opening the show with Learning to Live! Glad there's the radio broadcast of the show so we can still listen to it!

They opened with LTL, closed the main set with Met1 and played PMU as the encore (following Eve).  I saw the same set a couple weeks later, but they had Met1 as the opener, PMU to close the main set, and LTL as the encore (again, following Eve).  I suspect this is the show where I got KM to sign my I&W CD booklet.

[Samsara]

First: August 1998 opening for Deep Purple and ELP at Jones Beach, Long Island, NY.

Last: February 2022 - Oakland, CA.

I've seen them a total of 15 times. The second-most by any band (I've seen Queensryche 38 times - and probably won't ever again unless they are opening for an act I want to see, or the original band reunites).

[Nekov]

First show: Octavarium tour in Buenos Aires
Last show: DT12 tour in Buenos Aires

[PixelDream]

First time: Ahoy Rotterdam, January 18th 2004 - Train of Thought Tour

I was 17 and this concert was everything at that time.

Last time: AFAS Live Amsterdam, May 13th 2022 - Top of the World Tour

This wasn't very good. JLB was totally off and even Mangini I could hear in his playing that he wasn't in the zone.

After this concert I had decided for myself I would probably stop going to DT because of JLB sounding not great and because the show nowadays is all pre-programmed to a clicktrack and with pre-recorded backing vocals. A band on rails.

However, since MP is back I did get a ticket to their show in the hope of seeing some spontaneity back in the show.

[nobloodyname]

My first show was on my 31st birthday, 17 January 2004, at Hammersmith Odeon (or whatever it was called then).

As I Am
Act I: Scene Four: Beyond This Life
Endless Sacrifice
Caught in a Web (with drum solo)
This Dying Soul
The Great Debate
Act II: Scene Nine: Finally Free
Keyboard Solo
Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...) (Queen cover)
Honor Thy Father
Another Day
Only a Matter of Time
Erotomania
Voices
The Silent Man
In the Name of God

Trial of Tears
Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper

And my last show was at the same venue, called the Eventim Apollo by that time, on 22 February 2020 (the second night of the Distant Memories recording).

Untethered Angel
A Nightmare to Remember
Fall Into the Light
Barstool Warrior
In the Presence of Enemies, Part I
Pale Blue Dot

Act I: Scene One: Regression
Act I: Scene Two: I. Overture 1928
Act I: Scene Two: II. Strange Déjà Vu
Act I: Scene Three: I. Through My Words
Act I: Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy
Act I: Scene Four: Beyond This Life
Act I: Scene Five: Through Her Eyes
Act II: Scene Six: Home
Act II: Scene Seven: I. The Dance of Eternity
Act II: Scene Seven: II. One Last Time
Act II: Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On
Act II: Scene Nine: Finally Free

At Wit's End

I didn't see them after Covid since their show had, for my personal taste, become devoid of personality and increasingly marred by James's performances. I just didn't feel it was a worthwhile expenditure of money. Actually, I really dropped off seeing them during most of the Mangini period for both those reasons, not just following Covid.

[MirrorMask]

As I Am
Beyond This Life
Endless Sacrifice
Caught in a Web (with drum solo)
This Dying Soul

Taking This Dying Soul from the usual second spot after As I Am and swapping it with Beyond this Life feels a bit gratuitous  what was wrong with doing the usual one-two punch from Train of Thought and have Beyond this Life after Caught in a Web? I guess the drum solo segued better into the intro of TDS rather than BTL.....

[thunderdog10]

Images and Words tour The Edge Fort Lauderdale

Dreamsonic Orlando (my 29th DT show)

[EvantheMotel6Owmer]

First show: Chicago Theatre, Chicago, Illinois April 5th, 2014 (Along for the Ride Tour)

Last show (for now): Chicago Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, February 20th, 2022 (View from the Top of the World Tour)

[faizoff]

My first show was on my 31st birthday, 17 January 2004, at Hammersmith Odeon (or whatever it was called then).

As I Am
Act I: Scene Four: Beyond This Life
Endless Sacrifice
Caught in a Web (with drum solo)
This Dying Soul
The Great Debate
Act II: Scene Nine: Finally Free
Keyboard Solo
Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...) (Queen cover)
Honor Thy Father
Another Day
Only a Matter of Time
Erotomania
Voices
The Silent Man
In the Name of God

Trial of Tears
Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper

That was my first DT show too!

I still have the ticket and the ToT shirt I bought that day. I sadly lost the keychain with the big eye.



Last show was the Dreamsonic tour in Orlando Jun 23, 2023. Can't believe it's been more than a year already. I had such a great time, place was full unlike most of the other shows and sound was excellent. I was in the fifth or sixth row I believe right in front of JM.

[Whitefish]

That was my first DT show too!

I still have the ticket and the ToT shirt I bought that day. I sadly lost the keychain with the big eye.

This was my first DT show as well! Amazing setlist.

My only other time seeing them was on the 8V tour in Wolverhampton. Going to the O2 in October, so quite a long gap between shows..

[gborland]

First:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/1993/the-cathouse-glasgow-scotland-6bd6ce22.html

Latest:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2023/sec-armadillo-glasgow-scotland-23ba9ca3.html

Next:
https://www.setlist.fm/upcoming/dream-theater/2024/the-o2-arena-london-england-1bab6574.html


...and in between seen them all over the world, at least 40 times.

[nobloodyname]

It'll be 26 for me once I've done the O2, Paris and RCMH. Don't suppose you're going to the RCMH show again, fellow?

[gborland]

It'll be 26 for me once I've done the O2, Paris and RCMH. Don't suppose you're going to the RCMH show again, fellow?

Sadly not. I don't have the budget for transatlantic trip at the moment!

Really looking forward to the London show though. 

[gborland]

While I'm in this thread, I'll tell y'all about that time I accidentally saw DT in Seoul.

I had a work trip to Seoul, and was scheduled to fly home the day before DT were due to be playing.

Well wouldn't you know, something mysteriously went wrong with the project I was working on, forcing me to stay an extra couple of days. I have no idea how that happened. Anyway I was able to catch DT and fly home the next morning. 

[The Curious Orange]

First show was Nottingham Rock City back in 1993, they blew me away. Last show (my 17th) was Birmingham Symphony Hall last year. Next show (18th!) is the O2 next month (and if the ticket prices don't start to come down in future, it might be my last...)

[Adami]

Yall have fantastic memories. I've seen DT a number of times but have no clue which was my first or last. I know my last was still when MP was in the band and I know one of the shows I went to was in Chicago when they played MoP on the second night that I didn't know about and might have seen if I'd known.

[Setlist Scotty]

First show was Nottingham Rock City back in 1993, they blew me away. Last show (my 17th) was Birmingham Symphony Hall last year. Next show (18th!) is the O2 next month (and if the ticket prices don't start to come down in future, it might be my last...)

You were at the show where JL jumped into the audience to deal with the heckler?!?! Did you realize what was happening at the time? Or were you the heckler since you were blown away?   
 
 

Yall have fantastic memories. I've seen DT a number of times but have no clue which was my first or last. I know my last was still when MP was in the band and I know one of the shows I went to was in Chicago when they played MoP on the second night that I didn't know about and might have seen if I'd known.

I was at that show too, as well as the night before and the following night in Milwaukee.

[Schurftkut]

first: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2002/heineken-music-hall-amsterdam-netherlands-6bd6d2d6.html

last: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2023/de-oosterpoort-groningen-netherlands-1bbd6174.html

i've seen the 2nd leg of world tourbulence and both of ToT as well., Then again in 2017/2019. Not interested in going anymore, i do want to see Liquid Tension live, but Labrie is just too much too handle by now. He nailed the climbing high note in Losing Time in 2004, but couldn't sing 1 line ok last time.

[Phoenix87x]

First was 2009 on the black clouds tour. Everything felt wrong, they looked like there was some major issue going on and either the band was gonna end or someone was gonna leave and that's exactly what ended up happening. 

Last was 2023 for the on top of the world tour- Didn't have much interest in the band at that point. Didn't want to go, but my uncle wanted to so I went. Got high as holy hell on edibles and it then became the best concert experience I ever had. So yeah, alls well that ends well.

[Wim Kruithof]

First show:  November 12, 1992 at The Marquee in Westminster, CA.  My own band had played this same club a couple years earlier.  The location is now a "gentlemen's club" called The Library ( https://thelibrarygc.com )

Is this the live recording of Live at the Marquee? Was really wondering if anyone at this forum was there back then.

My first show was the Images, Words and Beyond Tour in 2017, 013 Tilburg.

I've seen them five times since, last time was the Top of the World Tour in 2023, 013 Tilburg. And there are two venues coming this fall (Köln, Germany and Amsterdam).

[gborland]

Is this the live recording of Live at the Marquee?

Live at the Marquee was recorded in London.