The amount of complaints in this thread is remarkable.
The band is going out of their way to release something that people have been clamoring for for three years, and there are so many people saying stuff like, "What the hell, I gotta pay for this??" Yeah, streams cost money. As much as people don't want to admit it, Dream Theater is not Metallica. They can't stream old shows for weeks on end for free.
Yeah, it's a stream. Oh well. I wanted a physical release too, but that's not happening (yet), so I'll gladly fork over $16 (maybe I won't get coffee that week) to the band I've supported since 2003. I've paid a lot more for a lot less when it comes to DT stuff, and a lot of that money didn't go to the band (ie, buying old Fan Club CDs on ebay). $16 to support my favorite band? Easy. I'll probably get a buddy or two over to watch it too. Compared to going to the movies with a few friends, $16 is a friggin' steal.
To be fair, I haven't seen most of this. Probably a song or two back when it was first uploaded. So I get not wanting to pay for this if you saw it already. But the band didn't make money on those youtube streams. They deserve to be paid for their work. Ask Lars, he'll tell you.
And what about this suggests that the band is out of touch? Are they the only band doing streams of older shows? Nope. Are they the only ones asking for money for streams? Nope. This is what a lot of bands are doing. Is it because they're doing this instead of putting out a DVD? If that's the case, then maybe it's not them who's out of touch.
My 2¢. I'm excited.
I'm just as astonished about the complaints, that I also find it remarkable.
They're complaining, about it not being Live, an old show they saw (and that is no fault other than your own if you watched that video, and went out of your way to download it or find a bootleg dvd of that show), it costing money, or it not being a physical release instead.
I didn't watch any videos, because I could find any on youtube, and didn't want to dig further for them. I just said, "oh well, I hope they'll release it sometime in the future."....The future is now, and they are releasing it, albeit a stream, but I'll take that as I can still watch it.
Your movie analogy makes a crapload of sense. It's almost the same thing we are experiencing with these live streams. The bands are premiering their live shows, whether actually live or something from the archives. It's exactly like going to the movie theater. You're paying to watch a movie on the big screen, and with good sound, you don't own it. Later on, you can own it as the DVD/Blu-rays get released. This is what I am noticing happening with these live streams. Fans are demanding a dvd/blu-ray of the actual live stream show, like Katatonia. Or one of the pre-recorded show like IQ with A Show of Resistance and Ever, which they are doing a bundle of both pre-recorded shows on DVD/Blu-ray.