So I constructed a list of DT songs they haven't yet played live with Mike Mangini, and looking at it, it's impressive how many songs they actually DID play on the last tour- 36 songs, counting "Through My Words/Fatal Tragedy" as one, but counting "War Inside My Head" and "The Test That Stumped Them All" as two.
Anyways, here's the list...
Dream Theater Songs
Not Yet Played Live w/Mike Mangini
WDADU
Status Seeker
The Killing Hand
Light Fuse And Get Away
Afterlife
The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun
Only A Matter Of Time
IAW
Take The Time
Awake
Innocence Faded
Erotomania
Voices
The Mirror
Lie
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
Scarred
Space-Dye Vest*
FII
New Millennium
You Not Me
Hollow Years
Burning My Soul
Hell's Kitchen
Lines In The Sand
Take Away My Pain
Just Let Me Breathe
Anna Lee
Trial Of Tears
SFAM
Scene One: Regression
Scene Two: I. Overture 1928/II. Strange Deja Vu
Scene Four: Beyond This Life
Scene Five: Through Her Eyes
Scene Six: Home
Scene Seven: I. The Dance Of Eternity/II. One Last Time
Scene Nine: Finally Free
SDOIT
The Glass Prison
Blind Faith
Misunderstood
Disappear
About To Crash
Goodnight Kiss
Solitary Shell
About To Crash (Reprise)
Losing Time/Grand Finale
TOT
This Dying Soul
Honor Thy Father
Vacant
Stream Of Consciousness
In The Name Of God
8VM
The Answer Lies Within
I Walk Beside You
Panic Attack
Never Enough
Sacrificed Sons
Octavarium
SC
In The Presence Of Enemies
Constant Motion
Repentance
Prophets Of War
The Ministry Of Lost Souls
BC&SL
A Nightmare To Remember
A Rite Of Passage
Wither
The Shattered Fortress*
The Best Of Times*
Non-Album Tracks:
Don't Look Past Me*
Eve
Raise The Knife
Where Are You Now?
The Way It Used To Be
Cover My Eyes
Speak To Me
Raw Dog
There's about 70 songs they could pull from, and in fact, if they do a full 2.5-3 hour show, that would be around 160-180 minutes of music, enough time to cover about 14-18 songs/tracks.
Now going under the assumption that they will play a good chunk of NEW music (say, 6-7 songs each night), that would take up about a third of the show, or about an hour. This leaves 8-12 songs, or about 100-120 minutes of music.
They very well could pick any of the above songs and not repeat any songs they played on the last tour and have a completely unique and different pool of songs to pick from for this coming tour. I would hope they see how much music they can choose from and think of this when formulating their set lists. They could easily fill in 2 hours of music from any of the over 60 songs above and not play the same 20-somg songs they did last tour. In fact, if I could pick 12-15 songs above that would be perfect for the coming tour, I'd choose:
Afterlife
Only A Matter Of Time
Take THe Time
Erotomania
Voices
The Mirror
Scarred
Space-Dye Vest
New Millennium
Lines In The Sand
Take Away My Pain ('96 version)
Beyond This Life
Home
The Dance Of Eternity/One Last Time
Misunderstood
Blind Faith
Honor Thy Father
Vacant/Stream Of Consciousness
Panic Attack
Sacrificed Sons
Prophets Of War
The Ministry Of Lost Souls
A Nightmare To Remember
The Shattered Fortress
I honestly doubt they'd pick any of the 18+ minute epics (so that rules out ACOS, 8VM, and ITPOE), mostly because they'd likely play "Illumination Theory" somewhere in the set (either at the end of the second half, or in the encore).
I mean, they could pick two or three songs from any of the albums in the above list, rotate some in and out like they did last tour, and play ALL NEW SONGS with this line-up that were not performed last tour.
Unfortunately, we'll still likely get PMU or Metropolis as they're their more well-known and fan-favorite pieces. I guess I am okay with that, but we have ENOUGH renditions of those tunes from many tours, give other songs a chance, old AND new, to shine. Besides, the old ones are pre-MP vocals, and JLB's voice has been SOOO good lately that he has done better on the pre-SFAM stuff, so bring on the earlier tunes!!!
-Marc.