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Dream Theater => Concerts and Set Lists => Topic started by: moffatt on July 08, 2010, 01:41:06 PM
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What are you thoughts on the best song DT can open with. A song that builds up alot of excitement and epicness. On the main tours for the past like 5 albums the first track has been the opening song, personally I think that works perfectly.
My favourite has to be A Nightmare to Remember, the intro was insane with the curtain. Made it truly epic, had to be on of the highlights of the show for me. The Glass Prison comes a close second though.
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I think As I Am is one of their best openers. You can't get much better than that intro! :metal
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The Glass Prison. There is no better opener in this world.
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The Glass Prison. There is no better opener in this world.
I was thinking this, but ANTR was pretty fantastic.
And maybe it's just me (yes), but it'd be cool if they opened with Hell's Kitchen, with the ambient intro and all.
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You not me. :facepalm:
In all seriousness all that have been said are great openers.
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I think Metropolis has the best build. It works as a perfect opener or closer.
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I really liked The Root of All Evil as an opener.
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Everytime I listen to LSFNY and hear Regression, I always think..man, this is the perfect way to start a live album.
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I think Metropolis has the best build. It works as a perfect opener or closer.
They opened with Metropolis at my first ever show in Worcester in 04 and I couldn't believe my luck; fantastic way to open and get the crowd pumped.
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Sprach urtsul...u know, the Intro on Chaos in motion..and then Directly into ITPOE!...That was the most awesomething ever! They'll never, NEVER!!! be able to make a concert opener as good again.
Got a little dissapointed to se ethat the DVD had Constant motion as first track...I'm very lucky they didn't do that in sweden :)
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Under A Glass Moon would get my nod as the best song they could open with...
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The Glass Prison hands down.
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A Nightmare to remember. Such an epic opener. :metal
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On the concerts I've been to, the openers were...
June 2007: Overture 1928/Strange Deja Vu
June 2009: In The Presence of Enemies Pt. 1
September 2009 (PN09): A Nightmare to Remember
I think Overture 1928 was the most awesome of them all, I still remember that - the intro from tape, and then MP appears... Simply amazing. ITPOE1 was very surprising and was quite nice as well, although maybe the least powerful of all three for me. ANTR - the definition of "epic".
If I had to choose something else, the ideas I get are Pull Me Under, The Glass Prison, The Root of All Evil and Constant Motion. I think TGP would be my favourite (although this may also be affected by the fact that the only song from Six Degrees I've heard live this far was Solitary Shell :( ).
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The Glass Prison has got to be on the short list, along with ITPOE Pt. 1.
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As I Am is a good one for sure..
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The Glass Prison, for sure.
On the topic of Dream Theater's concert openers, I've never understood why they used to start shows (in and around the Awake tour-era, IIRC) with Under a Glass Moon. I mean, sure, JP's solo is fantastic, but to me it doesn't really have the same feel of energy that an opener should.
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6:00 is the only logical choice
That would be epic beyond epic
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The Root of All Evil is so badass opener!!!
ANTR is epic one too!
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The Root of All Evil
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The first time I ever heard Dream Theater, was when I bought the Score Dvd. TROAE defines an epic opener. I still get excited every time I pop that dvd in there! DT really knows how to open a concert!
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The first time I ever heard Dream Theater, was when I bought the Score Dvd.
Awesome introduction!
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The Root of All Evil. Seriously, that opening riff. So powah.
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I remember really looking forward to my first DT concert, and then hearing that ominous bellow, with the Octavarium balls swinging away on the screen at the back...
I got chills. All over. 'Specially my penis. Since then I've seen Constant Motion, In the Presence of Enemies pt. 1, and A Nightmare to Remember as openers, and ANTR was the closest they've come - which is nowhere near.
"DUGGADUGGADUG, BADUG BADUG" chills you to the bone. It's the most exciting thing I've ever experienced at any gig, DT or no. And I've seen Muse open with Knights of Cydonia. The Root of All Evil wins this by light years.
A Clockwork Orange was a damn fine intro tape, too.
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Well-written description, but seriously, penis chills? That just sounds horrendously uncomfortable. :lol
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Hey, what can I say? My Octavarium-balls were swinging away at the back, what else would you expect?
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Hey, what can I say? My Octavarium-balls were swinging away at the back, what else would you expect?
Oh no, don't get me wrong, my balls swing like that when I see Dream Theater live, too. But even so, if you're getting penis chills you may want to get yourself checked.
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The Glass Prison because of how absolutely relentless it is. It kicks your ass and just doesn't stop.
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The Root of All Evil. Seriously, that opening riff. So powah.
the problem I have with this or TGP opening is that it doesn't really start for a while after the intro stuff.
6:00, on the other hand, hits you with that drum fill and keeps going.
Now THATS an opener
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naaah, I must agree that TROA is an awesome opener, but I must say that the worst opener they've ever used for a concert must be Constant Motion
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A Fortune In Lies. I don't care how obscure it might be, that intro is bombastic as hell.
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A Fortune In Lies. I don't care how obscure it might be, that intro is bombastic as hell.
That would be cool too
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A Fortune In Lies. I don't care how obscure it might be, that intro is bombastic as hell.
Geez, I had to listen to hear the intro on it, shows how much I like WDADU.
But holy crap you're right. That would be amazing.
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I think the reason I prefer TROAE is that it was the first ever DT song I saw live in 2005. The whole video and lighting sequence they set up was pretty awesome.
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It's between A Nightmare to Remember and The Glass Prison but either way there would be much :metal to be passed around.
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The Root Of All Evil of course. Remember the awesomeness of Score.
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i seriously think it would be BEYOND EPIC if they opened with 'The Crimson Sunrise/Innocence' like Rush does with '2112 Overture/The Temples Of Syrinx'
....i mean, come on......imagine the intro tape ending and that acoustic intro starting up!! :hefdaddy
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Once in a livetime
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I would love to hear them open with SDOIT's "Overture/About to Crash" and then segway into something else, maybe "This Dying Soul".
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Interesting thought, but they have never really played overture live.
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Yer they used it as an intro tape and cut it short and then went straight into about to crash on the SDOIT tour.
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I'd love to know why they don't play it live. is it too boring?
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Score?
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I know that. But without the orchestra. Just the band playing it, I just find it weird.
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it would also be cool if they opened with These Walls and have the curtain drop like they did with ANTR
....that would be the TITS!
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Score?
The band didn't play it there.
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I'd love to know why they don't play it live. is it too boring?
Maybe it's too many Keyboard tracks on the original that it wouldn't sound good live
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The mirror -----> 12 step suite, it would work really well.
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The mirror -----> 12 step suite, it would work really well.
I concur, we need the twelve step suite to have a prologue.
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For the last time:
THEY AREN'T LINKED
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For the last time:
THEY AREN'T LINKED
Fine then, play it for the sake of epic music
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THESE WALLS!!!
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THESE WALLS!!!
ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!
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They are linked by a common theme
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Lifting Shadows
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I'd love them to open with Under a Glass Moon.
...
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it would also be cool if they opened with These Walls and have the curtain drop like they did with ANTR
....that would be the TITS!
This exactly. These Walls has so much energy and power that it would get the crowd into it quickly.
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Pretty much all the recent albums have well placed first tracks for this, since they are amazing openers to concerts as well.
The Glass Prison, As I Am, The Root Of All Evil and A Nightmare To Remember have all been mentioned. I'm not sure which one I prefer most of all, maybe The Glass Prison.
Systematic Chaos is a weak link in that since it starts and ends with In The Presence Of Enemies, and I'd prefer to see that in full at the end. Constant Motion is an OK opener since it gets straight into it which can also be good, but not quite the same as the other 4 with their buildups.
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i think its As I Am...... this song is best for the opening.... its intro is so cool!!!
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Pretty much all the recent albums have well placed first tracks for this, since they are amazing openers to concerts as well.
The Glass Prison, As I Am, The Root Of All Evil and A Nightmare To Remember have all been mentioned. I'm not sure which one I prefer most of all, maybe The Glass Prison.
Systematic Chaos is a weak link in that since it starts and ends with In The Presence Of Enemies, and I'd prefer to see that in full at the end. Constant Motion is an OK opener since it gets straight into it which can also be good, but not quite the same as the other 4 with their buildups.
At PN08 they opened with In The Presence Of Enemies Pt. 1 then went into Beyond This Life. I must say, it worked!
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I don't know, how about something random? Caught in a Web. That would be a kick-ass opener I think.
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In the Presence of the Enemies part 1.
There isn't really another choice. :P
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The Root of all Evil
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I seriously can't be the only person who thinks that 6:00 would be the most kick-ass opener ever
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Just let me breathe
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Just let me breathe
As much as I'd like to hear it live, I don't think it'd work well as an opener
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naah, I know, I just wanted to sound random
But seriously, I guess...I think the Also sprach urutsula kinda thing or w/e it's called + ITPOE was the best opener I've whitnessed through my soon 17 loong yeaaars
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I seriously can't be the only person who thinks that 6:00 would be the most kick-ass opener ever
No you are not. :metal
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Burning My Soul would work
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Out of all the bands I know, DT definately have the best opening tracks.
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Absolutely
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I seriously can't be the only person who thinks that 6:00 would be the most kick-ass opener ever
No you are not. :metal
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when they opened with a nightmare to remember i thought that was BAD ASS. i mean when i saw them on the maiden tour it was lame because they opened with as i am which is like SOOOOO standard lol
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ANTR is pretty awesome, I think the curtain dropping had a lot to do with it though.
Although I have never seen it personally, I love Regression/overture 1928, especially on LSFNY. I'm going to have to say that.
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I've seen them open with In The Presence of Enemies Part 1, and having seen it, it's the best thing they could open with.
I'd like to see them open with 6.00, but I guess its unlikely...
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New Milennium would be a GREAT song to open with. Same with Metropolis, TGP, The Root of All Evil, and As I Am.
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Much love for As I am it seems, it did open for live in budokan and was pretty epic so I get it. I know ToT gets a lot of love by DT fans, and it's actually be a gr8 opener too imo.
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Hard choice, but probably one of the following:
In the Presence of the Enemies (Part 1)
6:00
Under a Glass Moon
A Nightmare to Remember
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Glass Prison.
Enough said.
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^That was awesome. A nightmare to remember seems like it'd be tight.
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They could do what Styx did when i saw them... open with a medley of songs that we all kinda wanna hear... but not really
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I'd probably say Glass Prison.
What about something like Vacant as the intro tape then they kick into This Dying Soul.
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How they opened Score was amazing.
Play a recording of In the Name of God, then come in live with The Root of All Evil.
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As I am :tup
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What would happen if they played a cover version of 'Fanfare for the Common Man' before they went into their first song? They did well with Also Sprach Zarathustra, maybe they can make Aaron Copeland sound metal.
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What would happen if they played a cover version of 'Fanfare for the Common Man' before they went into their first song? They did well with Also Sprach Zarathustra, maybe they can make Aaron Copeland sound metal.
Opening with ASZ always seemed really strange to me. I mean, the idea of it is kinda cool, but at the same time, it felt rather anticlimactic. I'd much rather they open with one of their own songs.
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They could do what Styx did when i saw them... open with a medley of songs that we all kinda wanna hear... but not really
The general consensus on this board is "no more medleys please."
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Good songs are always quiet with a buildup:
A Nightmare to Remember
The Root of All Evil
These Walls (maybe)
As I Am
The Glass Prison
Those would be the best, I think.
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They could do what Styx did when i saw them... open with a medley of songs that we all kinda wanna hear... but not really
The general consensus on this board is "no more medleys please."
I was being semi sarcastic.
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Dunno what you're all talking about. 6:00 is still the only choice
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Blind Faith would be interesting.
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Sorry for the double post, but The Ones Who Help to Set The Sun would be unexpected and epic to open. Or if they do Evening withs again open the second set with it.
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Starting a show with The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun? That would be weird as hell...
You know you'd be in for an interesting show, though.
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What would happen if they played a cover version of 'Fanfare for the Common Man' before they went into their first song? They did well with Also Sprach Zarathustra, maybe they can make Aaron Copeland sound metal.
Opening with ASZ always seemed really strange to me. I mean, the idea of it is kinda cool, but at the same time, it felt rather anticlimactic. I'd much rather they open with one of their own songs.
For me it was the most epic opener I've witnessed, ASZ into ITPOE
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Thus Spoke Zarathustra. That really worked well for them. I'm hoping the bring it bak.
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I seriously can't be the only person who thinks that 6:00 would be the most kick-ass opener ever
No you are not. :metal
6:00 may be my favorite intro of any song... ever. Besides Blackest Eyes.
You are not alone :metal
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i can't believe people aren't talking about the greatest opening ever!!! (imo)
A Change of Seasons! on the FII tour they opened with acoustic part on tape and then came in. Sickest thing ever.
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Odd idea, what about "Only a Matter of Time" and then have the ending transfer into "In the Presence of Enemies Pt. 1" abruptly?
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i can't believe people aren't talking about the greatest opening ever!!! (imo)
A Change of Seasons! on the FII tour they opened with acoustic part on tape and then came in. Sickest thing ever.
Yeah, but I can't see them playing the entire song at the beginning of a set, and I'd much rather see that than just the first two movements.
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A Nightmare to Remember or The Glass Prison.
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i can't believe people aren't talking about the greatest opening ever!!! (imo)
A Change of Seasons! on the FII tour they opened with acoustic part on tape and then came in. Sickest thing ever.
Yeah, but I can't see them playing the entire song at the beginning of a set, and I'd much rather see that than just the first two movements.
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that's what i'm talking about. That's the best to me.
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how about an epic opener from the new album? :neverusethis:
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New Milennium would be a GREAT song to open with.
NM is easily the worst opening song they've ever put on an album and would be a horrible way to start a show imo.
I think a fantastic way to start a show would be the same way Falling Into Infinity should have started, with the opening riff of Raise the Knife.
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6:00
Heard on on the the 2002 world tour and I loved it as an opener.
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Another Won
DT kickin' it off old school! :metal :metal :metal
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New Milennium would be a GREAT song to open with.
NM is easily the worst opening song they've ever put on an album and would be a horrible way to start a show imo.
I think a fantastic way to start a show would be the same way Falling Into Infinity should have started, with the opening riff of Raise the Knife.
The Way it Used to Be is also a good opener-that-never-was.
Quite like NM, though.
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New Millenium sounds reasonable in the current situation.
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I have a 6DOIT era boot in which they opened with New Millennium. It was terrific, and got the crowd really pumped up. I think the live version of NM outshines its studio counterpart by far.
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I agree. It has more energy, plus LaBries vocals on the studio aren't great.
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On a good day, NM is a top 15 song for me. I love it. But I don't see it as a strong opener--that is, if it's consistently the opener for the entiire tour. But if they randomly threw it in there for a set, it would work great.
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Another Won
DT kickin' it off old school! :metal :metal :metal
This.
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I'd like to see The Root of All Evil make a comeback on this tour.
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The Glass Prison would be awesome to see on this new tour as well.
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I'd like to see The Root of All Evil make a comeback on this tour.
I would like to see this aswell, but IMO TGP and ANTR serve better as openers.
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The Glass Prison would be awesome to see on this new tour as well.
I hope they do this, but it is a personal song about MP, so I don't know if they'll do that for the first non-MP tour.
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I'd like to see The Root of All Evil make a comeback on this tour.
This.
followed by "These Walls".
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I'm still on for These Walls as the opener......too perfect!
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I'm still on for These Walls as the opener......too perfect!
Yeah I agree with this 100%
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I'm still on for These Walls as the opener......too perfect!
I love the song, but I would be shocked if they use it for an opener at this point.
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DT always opens with a new song, IMO it's time to break that.
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DT always opens with a new song, IMO it's time to break that.
This. I prefer it when a band opens with a classic. EX: When I saw In Flames on their Come Clarity tour with FTBD7, they opened with "Pinball Map". Absolute punch in the face opener!
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They still open with As I Am occasionally. I think In The Presence Of Enemies Pt 1 is their best, most recent opener.
Ah hell, why not. In order of my liking the song as an opener:
The Glass Prison
Lines In The Sand
Metropolis, Pt. 1
About To Crash
Overture 1928 / Strange Deja Vu
In The Presence Of Enemies Pt 1
New Millennium
Home
A Nightmare To Remember
Pull Me Under
The Root Of All Evil
As I Am
I think The Great Debate and Honor Thy Father would both be pretty sweet opening songs, though I don't think they've ever done that. Hell's Kitchen as an intro to Lines In The Sand too. Also, I'm fairly certain they've never opened a show with 6:00.
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DT always opens with a new song, IMO it's time to break that.
Almost no big band opens with new stuff anymore. Rush NEVER starts with anything new, and usually they keep it for at least 5 songs into the set (but granted they're also doing 3+ hour shows).
That said, opening with a classic, a-la Rush, would be nice. Obviously the only classic that's almost universally loved is The Glass Prison, but we're not sure if those songs will be played.
But I'll say it again: Open with 6:00 goddammit
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I know and think that the AA songs are probably gonna get fewer-to-none rotation in the following tours, but I still cross my fingers to see The Glass Prision live someday.
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Something tells me they might do exactly that: less AA stuff. Or, god forbid, another medley with just the AA stuff.
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6:00 is the only logical choice
That would be epic beyond epic
Agree.
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+1 for TGP or TROAE :)
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6:00 is the only logical choice
That would be epic beyond epic
Agree.
A different but interesting option would be "Don´t look past me".
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I'd love These Walls as an opener.
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I absolutely love These Walls, but I seriously don't think it would work as an opener.
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I absolutely love These Walls, but I seriously don't think it would work as an opener.
Agreed.
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The Root of All Evil is probably my favourite, the opening lends itself so well to pitch blackness on stage while the crowd goes insane for the staggered entries... it was amaaaaaazing when we saw it live, then when it finally kicks in the stage floods with light and the weird curtain thing falls down to en epic riff, brilliant opener.
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The shows that I've seen had the following openings...Root of All Evil....Constant Motion...and Nightmare to Remember....
I think The Glass Prison would be a killer opener but since I'm an awake fan I'd love to seem them open with something like 6:00 or Lie...Just so people know they're not messing around.
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The Glass Prison is a great opener.
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I hope they don't utilize a curtain again... it seemed to fail a lot on the last tour
Anyways, I would love to see ANTR as an opener again, although it will never happen. It was my first live DT song... it was very exciting
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Haha the funniest curtain mishap was my first time seeing Marilyn Manson, and his curtain fell down before he came out. Ruined his entrance and he just came out the back.
ANTR, I would love to see be played.
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I always dreamed to hear and see all AA suite live...it would be good for open...but long too...and without MP I doubt they will ever play that full...
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6:00 is the only logical choice
That would be epic beyond epic
Agree.
With the new drummer?...Nice! That would be awesome to have the song start the song in a different intro.
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One that seems possible
Overture/About to Crash
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One that seems possible
Overture/About to Crash
Would be nice. I also loved Overture 1928 as an opening track, like in most of 2007 tour.
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I would like to hear them open with Home, although that may be a little tought for a warm up.
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UUU Home would be a killer to start with! :metal
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It is The Glass Prison hands down.
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Glass Prison followed by This Dying Soul for second set in Anaheim 06 knocked my socks off. Worst opener for me was probably Constant Motion.
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Pull Me Under anyone? It was probably their strongest opening song ever...
To sum up all the songs that have been regularly used to start a show in the past:
Metropolis
Pull Me Under
Under A Glass Moon
The Crimson Sunrise
Lines In The Sand
Regression / Overture 1928
The Glass Prison
New Millennium
As I Am
Overture / About To Crash
The Root Of All Evil
Constan Motion
In The Presence Of The Enemies
A Nightmare To Remember
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I like As I Am, it really gets the adrenaline pumping. I also think Metropolis Pt. 1 is the perfect closer
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The Glass Prison baby!
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New Millennium is a great opener, IMHO.
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New Millennium is a great opener, IMHO.
Really? I've never seen it live in person (although I know they used it to open the second set of the Live at Budokan show, which I've seen), but as much as I love the song, I've never felt it works well as an opener. Maybe if they cut the first 29 seconds.
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New Millennium is a great opener, IMHO.
I love NM but i have to disagree.
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ANTR or TROAE
both are quite epic
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6:00
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I seriously can't be the only person who thinks that 6:00 would be the most kick-ass opener ever
No you are not. :metal
6:00 may be my favorite intro of any song... ever. Besides Blackest Eyes.
You are not alone :metal
Sir, you speak the truth. (even though I like the intro to Fear Of A Blank Planet more than Blackest Eyes, but that is not for this topic).
6:00 would be amazing, and when I saw them ANTR was pretty cool too...
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Under a Glass Moon never occured to me as an opening song, but now that they do open with it, I think it's a great choice. One of my all time favs!
I saw them opening with In the Presence of Enemies pt1 once and thought that rocked too.
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Under a Glass Moon never occured to me as an opening song, but now that they do open with it, I think it's a great choice. One of my all time favs!
They opened with it a lot in 1995 on the Awake tour, actually.
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They opened with it a lot in 1995 on the Awake tour, actually.
Recent fan- ignorance ;)
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They opened with it a lot in 1995 on the Awake tour, actually.
Recent fan- ignorance ;)
Haha don't worry about it!
If you're interested, you can check out a (nearly) complete list of setlists from every Dream Theater show here (https://www.mikeportnoy.com/dates/tourography/).
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The Root of All Evil
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Sprach urtsul...u know, the Intro on Chaos in motion..and then Directly into ITPOE!...That was the most awesomething ever! They'll never, NEVER!!! be able to make a concert opener as good again.
Got a little dissapointed to se ethat the DVD had Constant motion as first track...I'm very lucky they didn't do that in sweden :)
The only DT show I've been to and that intro was amazing indeed. I would have loved to see the intro video from the ToT-tour leading into As I Am integrated in the Budokan-DVD though, like Rush did on the R30 DVD, that also seemed like a cool opening.
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Only seen Dream Theater live once, and yes when they opened Radio City Music Hall 4/1/2006 with TROAE I had chills... It was amazing, that gets my vote, with Glass Prison up there as well.