OK, what with just watching once and not having it on hand to refer to while typing, I'm not sure how detailed I can be, so here are my impressions.
It is very, very good.
It is loud as crap, especially JP.
I thought all of the ADTOE songs translated very well to the live setting, except for This Is The Life. I love that song, but I don't think it translated as well.
All of the uptempo aggressive metal songs were friggin' MASSIVE. Especially The Dark Eternal Night. Holy crap.
James LaBrie was on FIRE. He sounded incredible.
Mike Mangini is a puzzle in a way. He plays with an incredible passion that is infectious and great to see. And he is seemingly superhuman. I mean, I play drums, but he and I aren't doing the same thing. It's like a little kid who knows addition and subtraction watching someone perform a differential equation. I mean, wow.
But he has such efficiency of movement that some of the real hard things he is doing don't look as hard as they really are. It's weird. But cool!
6:00 had a great groove, Mangini nailed that.
A Fortune In Lies was probably the best I've ever heard it.
The Spirit Carries On was good, but it is by default the least of the recorded versions.
I absolutely loved the acoustic set (The Silent Man and Beneath The Surface), the string quartet really added a lot. Fantastic.
I also, unexpectedly, loved all three solo spots (although JR accompanied JP, so not sure if it's technically a "solo" lol). JR's was an improvised piece on piano; JP's was really all over the place regarding style and technique, but still cohesive; and Mangini's was, without a doubt, the best drum solo I've ever seen. It wasn't just a collection of drum tricks like most solos are. It seemed to be an actual composed piece of music, that was complete of itself, not needing any other instruments. I mean, of course he showed off his impressive skills, but it was extremely musical, and not just wanking.
The jam at the end of Metropolis was a lot of fun. Didn't expect that.
Overall, at the beginning of the concert, there seemed to be fairly equal coverage of the different band members, but the farther it went, it seemed to gravitate toward mostly JR and JP.
Also, JP seemed to get louder as the show went on, oftentimes to the detriment of the other members (especially JM
)
I'm sure there was something else I wanted to mention, but it is escaping me now.
Overall, it was fantastic. Can't wait until it is released on Blu-Ray in November. Great to see it with old friends and new. Great to meet vtgrad, really classy guy and fellow longtime fan!