DREAM THEATER - Europe leg of the 40th Anniversary Tour 2024-2025

[Cool Chris]

I don't remember the I&W girl looking so pissed.

They did for The Astonishing, but that was only because what JP had in mind was something Hugh wasn't proficient at...

Creating something unique from scratch?

[TAC]

Exactly.

[MirrorMask]

Jokes aside, every artist is entitled to have their comfort zones and knowing what their abilities are; heck, even Brian May didn't want to play the flamenco solo in Innuendo and they got Steve Howe from Yes to do it.

Having said that, what kind of reply from a professional artist is "it's not the thing I usually do?"... imagine John Petrucci being asked to be a guest on an album and saying "nah, I'm more comfortable doing prog metal, I don't want to play a rock song".

[Stadler]

There's no real art to it though. It's just colorforms.

So?  Unless you're Roger Dean or the aforementioned Mark Wilinson, there's no real art to ANY album, is there? 

[gzarruk]

So, The Prog Report are about to premiere a video on YT where they talk about their setlist predictions for the upcoming tour. MP commented on the Facebook post with:

This will be interesting! Curious how much of it you get right (as I’ve already written it 😉) Will watch tonite!

[Setlist Scotty]

So, The Prog Report are about to premiere a video on YT where they talk about their setlist predictions for the upcoming tour.

Nice! I had a chat with Kyle Fagala, one of the guys who participated, just hours before they filmed their discussion, so I'm also looking forward to it. One thing he did say is that they came to the conclusion that the new DT album wouldn't be out until after the first leg of the tour, which affected what they ultimately came up with. But the following day, we were chatting (which is when he told me that) and I pointed out that considering the time frames for ADToE (started on January 3, released September 12) and SFaM (started February 8, released on October 26), I expect the new one to be out by the end of September or beginning of October since they started work on it February 7.

[TAC]

So HoSo's real name is Kyle?

[Setlist Scotty]

So HoSo's real name is Kyle?

No no no. Not understanding how you could've come up with that bizarre connection. 

[TAC]

Well, they're both operating on the notion that the album will not be out before the tour.

[gzarruk]

I am also of the idea that they'll try to release it before the tour. Hopefully that happens.

[Schurftkut]

they kinda confirmed it will be out before the tour, when answering questions about schedule etc.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Well, they're both operating on the notion that the album will not be out before the tour.

WITH THE ADDENDUM THAT I HOPE I AM WRONG!! lolll

[cramx3]

Nice! I had a chat with Kyle Fagala, one of the guys who participated, just hours before they filmed their discussion, so I'm also looking forward to it. One thing he did say is that they came to the conclusion that the new DT album wouldn't be out until after the first leg of the tour, which affected what they ultimately came up with. But the following day, we were chatting (which is when he told me that) and I pointed out that considering the time frames for ADToE (started on January 3, released September 12) and SFaM (started February 8, released on October 26), I expect the new one to be out by the end of September or beginning of October since they started work on it February 7.

I feel like the more important dates are from when the album is finished to when it's released.  It's May and as far as I understand, the album is not finished.  Also, I'm not following, but if there's production delays that could impact release dates.

Personally, I kind of feel like this is not going to be out before the tour, but it still seems possible.  But I've got to think the new single will be out by then and performed on the tour. 

[DreamerTV]

But what if they hadn't, sincerely and consciously, decided yet? Obviously, it's just a hypothesis, but they might be seeing if MP's return and the fact that it's the 40th-anniversary tour are enough to sell enough tickets.
If that were the case, then the card "new music to promote" could be played to further extend the tour once the anniversary thing has done its job.

[Setlist Scotty]

If they didn't plan on having the album out by then, why only start the tour in October? Why not start it earlier?

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

If they didn't plan on having the album out by then, why only start the tour in October? Why not start it earlier?

One possibility might be that Summer tours were already all booked up. I've had tickets for some shows this summer that I bought the ticket for long before DT-MP reunion was ever announced.

[DreamerTV]

If they didn't plan on having the album out by then, why only start the tour in October? Why not start it earlier?

I believe they assumed that first and foremost they would have, in any case, written music together. Therefore, advancing the tour would have still meant aiming for the summer. And in the summer, you have two options: festivals or solo tours. And it's evident that the more lucrative option, leveraging Portnoy's return, is a solo tour. That's why I believe they chose to start in October and not earlier in any case.

[TAC]

And in the summer, you have two options: festivals or solo tours. And it's evident that the more lucrative option, leveraging Portnoy's return, is a solo tour. That's why I believe they chose to start in October and not earlier in any case.

This makes sense.

[genome]

O2 Arena availability looking pretty low now

[DragonAttack]

Jokes aside, every artist is entitled to have their comfort zones and knowing what their abilities are; heck, even Brian May didn't want to play the flamenco solo in Innuendo and they got Steve Howe from Yes to do it.

Actually, that came about simply to a chance meeting of mutual friends

https://brianmay.com/queen-news/queen-features/2022/06/on-the-spot-steve-howe/

and

https://www.loudersound.com/features/queen-innuendo-single-steve-howe-interview

[Setlist Scotty]

I believe they assumed that first and foremost they would have, in any case, written music together. Therefore, advancing the tour would have still meant aiming for the summer. And in the summer, you have two options: festivals or solo tours. And it's evident that the more lucrative option, leveraging Portnoy's return, is a solo tour. That's why I believe they chose to start in October and not earlier in any case.

Right, but you're missing the point. My argument is that they would have the album released before the tour starts. Had they wanted to do a warm up tour beforehand, then they would have been better off doing what they did in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 before starting each tour properly: do a mix of festivals and headlining gigs in B-markets throughout Europe during the summer, which is a great way to get the band name out into the public eye - especially to those who weren't fans yet. That in turn would help them have turnouts much better than otherwise when they started the proper support tour for the new album. But they're not doing that this time. So besides the similar time periods to SFaM and ADToE, the beginning of the tour in October to me is clear evidence that the album will be out by then. Plus MP's final comment in that recent Rolling Stone interview that the full band did was

It’s scary because, under normal circumstances, it takes a bunch of shows to get your sea legs back. But in this case, we need to hit the ground running. That first show is going to be dissected with a magnifying glass in the age of YouTube. We can’t suck. The pressure’s on.

I may be reading into it, but that to me says they're not doing any warm up legs this time around, but that the proper tour starts in October 2024, complete with the new album.

[nobloodyname]

O2 Arena availability looking pretty low now

The upper tier still isn't on sale, is it?

[nobloodyname]

Plus MP's final comment in that recent Rolling Stone interview that the full band did was I may be reading into it, but that to me says they're not doing any warm up legs this time around, but that the proper tour starts in October 2024, complete with the new album.

Given the way they're promoting that show and trying to get people from all around the world to attend, I don't think there's any way they could get away with doing a warm up show, never mind a warm up leg.

[MirrorMask]

Actually, that came about simply to a chance meeting of mutual friends

https://brianmay.com/queen-news/queen-features/2022/06/on-the-spot-steve-howe/

and

https://www.loudersound.com/features/queen-innuendo-single-steve-howe-interview

Thanks! I stand corrected then, I always knew the story as Brian not being sure he could do it.

[DragonAttack]

^
I'd heard Brian's ever so humble (more forgetful? ) version years before, so that's no surprise.

Anyhoo, thought the Queen and Yes fans here would enjoy that great story.  DT fans as well...

On to the matter at hand:  hoping for at least a couple of releases from the new album before the tour.  And hope that MP hits mostly home runs with the set list.

[genome]

The upper tier still isn't on sale, is it?

No, but I think they will start to open it soon, the lower tiers and floor looks nearly gone

[Mosh]

If they didn't plan on having the album out by then, why only start the tour in October? Why not start it earlier?

This. They announced the reunion back in October, DT has been inactive since the last Dreamsonic show in the summer and MP just had a few live commitments sprinkled in since then. Imo they had plenty of opportunities to book a summer tour immediately and clearly decided not to for the sole reason of ensuring the album is done before the tour. Otherwise they would be seriously crunched for time as the first show would probably be happening within weeks. I see no other reason to wait until October to start playing shows again.

[MirrorMask]

MP on FB said that the setlist is basically done.

Not surprised, he had the Score setlist locked since many months before the show.

[devieira73]

My prediction is that the setlist will have The Majesty or Another One from Majesty demos. I think Mike Portnoy won't miss the opportunity to play a 40 years-old song to mark the anniversary.

[cramx3]

This. They announced the reunion back in October, DT has been inactive since the last Dreamsonic show in the summer and MP just had a few live commitments sprinkled in since then. Imo they had plenty of opportunities to book a summer tour immediately and clearly decided not to for the sole reason of ensuring the album is done before the tour. Otherwise they would be seriously crunched for time as the first show would probably be happening within weeks. I see no other reason to wait until October to start playing shows again.

It's very possible they couldn't get onto a summer tour, these things are booked so far in advance. They likely needed that in motion before MP rejoined.

[The Letter M]

My prediction is that the setlist will have The Majesty or Another One from Majesty demos. I think Mike Portnoy won't miss the opportunity to play a 40 years-old song to mark the anniversary.

As neat as it would be to see them play "Your Majesty" or "Another Won", that's probably not going to happen. At least, not as full songs, but it'd be neat if they did an instrumental medley of various Majesty songs lumped together. Cuz we all know JP *loves* medleys. 

-Marc.

[devieira73]

As neat as it would be to see them play "Your Majesty" or "Another Won", that's probably not going to happen. At least, not as full songs, but it'd be neat if they did an instrumental medley of various Majesty songs lumped together. Cuz we all know JP *loves* medleys. 

-Marc.

Well, I think the main problem is James' ability to sing any of these songs. But maybe an instrumental medley is the solution to that! More or less what Rush did on the R30 tour, opening those shows. We all know JP hates medleys, but in this specific situation and considering they're not songs from the "official" albums, I can see him being okay with it. Anyway I can't imagine  MP ignoring the Majesty era on this tour.

[devieira73]

I mean, acknowledging properly the Majesty era, not  throwing only 5 seconds at end of the last song of the show.

[devieira73]

The Majesty and Another One 

[TAC]

Anyway I can't imagine  MP ignoring the Majesty era on this tour.

I don't think I can either. It would be a nice surprise.