LaBrie is back. Actually he's BACK!

[eosforum]

The man hasn't sang that powerfully and without making mistakes since like 1994. Everybody at the show in Athens yesterday was amazed from his performance, including the ones who don't really dig his voice and style. He only used falsetto like a couple times during the whole show. Learning to Live and Caught in a Web were sang just like the album versions!! Congrats JLB, welcome back to kicking ass!

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Great to hear.

[Jarlaxle]

 

[wammabe]

Now DT needs to put The Killing Hand into their set list 

[tri.ad]

I can only confirm the OP about the concert in Vienna. JLB's singing was absolutely top-notch.

[antigoon]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

[Adami]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

I gotta agree.

[wolfking]

He sounded a bit shaky to me on vids from the first few shows.  Perhaps he's warmed up a bit now.  Also, take into consideration that live performances are usually perceived better than what they actually are in concert.

[eosforum]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

I personally never said that before. I've seen them live in 2005 and 2007 and hat he did yesterday was beyond comparison I also made clear that not only did he not any mistkaes but he also didn't use falsetto to hide the weakness or tireness of his voice as he used to do all the time. I'm telling you this was different and I believe you will see that yourself when you watch a show of theirs.

[Chrissalix]

He's nowhere near where he was in 1994 but he's been a lot better on this tour than he has been for a long while.

[Addy]

He's nowhere near where he was in 1994 but he's been a lot better on this tour than he has been for a long while.

Pretty much this. He's not and will never be in early 90s shape. But I think that his voice is the best in 10 years (if you count off Score DVD).

[italianoman]

Yeah, the very first videos that came out from their first show didn't sound terribly good as per Labrie's singing (especially on OTBOA's; he was all over the place pitch-wise) but just the other day I checked out some of the newest concert footage and he sounded AMAZING. I was shocked.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

Yeah, I think he definitely sounds a lot better. I've been looking at a lot of the YT footage, and what really strikes me is that he's back to doing all the random super-high notes like he did pre-injury. This can be chalked up to either of 2 easy explanations: 1) He's feeling better now or 2) Portnoy didn't want him doing that.

But yeah, it's pretty nuts. He takes the E5s in the UaGM chorus up to G#5s nowadays, works in a crazy line on G#5 near the end of Endless Sacrifice, and hits an A5 near the end of Peruvian Skies. And these seem to be pretty consistent, he does them every show. He's worked in some really high stuff in TGD as well, and taken a couple of the lines in Forsaken, OTBOA, and CIAW up a bit. Really stunning he can still do that at his age and given all his voice has been through.

Still not 1994 and before, though. He still sounds strained on a lot of the higher melodies, but after a decade of mostly weak (IMO) performances, it seems like he's gotten back on track in a big way.

[Sketchy]

Maybe we can get LATM style Metropolis and AFIL this tour (please please please that'd be awesome), especially if they released it on DVD.

[Bill Carson]

I've always felt that LaBrie gets the unfairest criticisms. Actually think he has the toughest job. If he's tired or just not right, he will never be able to hide that fact due to the nature of his instrument.
Whilst all the others could easily do shows on autopilot regardless of their health. I mean you hit a string, it rings out right ? But try even talking if your not 100%.
Not sure what prompted me to stand up for a singer considering i'm a guitarist but there you go.

[Metabog]

I've always felt that LaBrie gets the unfairest criticisms. Actually think he has the toughest job. If he's tired or just not right, he will never be able to hide that fact due to the nature of his instrument.
Whilst all the others could easily do shows on autopilot regardless of their health. I mean you hit a string, it rings out right ? But try even talking if your not 100%.
Not sure what prompted me to stand up for a singer considering i'm a guitarist but there you go.

I don't agree with you, the stuff the others have to play is at least as difficult, and it's easy to mess it up if you have a injured finger or leg or something, and guitar mistakes are immediately audible. It's just that whenever Petrucci messes up live everyone says "oh whatever, Gods make mistakes too", but when JLB messes up everyone is like "Man JLB messes up all the time."

[tristl]

 
my first DT concert was in 07 in Porto, jlb was amazing, later that year two times in germany the same.
in 09 in june open air in gelsenkirchen and in winter near stuttgart both times brilliant.
then i was in rome at the 4th of juli and i didn't think he was shaky, he hit the high notes perfectly and had a lot of volume in his voice,
for me jlb is since the budokan dvd on the way up, if you hear the offical live bootlegs  between say 95 and 03 he sometimes doesn't
sound great. but at that time he had problems with his voice. i also think that mp with his set lists never tried to ease things up for jlb(see his last interview).
its always the singer who will have problems first with his instrument, in the last three years i was at three maiden concerts and bruce was awful at all of them.
so anybody tell me which singer does in longer terms a better job then jlb, i don't know anybody.

[Bill Carson]

I've always felt that LaBrie gets the unfairest criticisms. Actually think he has the toughest job. If he's tired or just not right, he will never be able to hide that fact due to the nature of his instrument.
Whilst all the others could easily do shows on autopilot regardless of their health. I mean you hit a string, it rings out right ? But try even talking if your not 100%.
Not sure what prompted me to stand up for a singer considering i'm a guitarist but there you go.

I don't agree with you, the stuff the others have to play is at least as difficult, and it's easy to mess it up if you have a injured finger or leg or something, and guitar mistakes are immediately audible. It's just that whenever Petrucci messes up live everyone says "oh whatever, Gods make mistakes too", but when JLB messes up everyone is like "Man JLB messes up all the time."

I think you missed my point - I'm not saying that his parts are harder & I also realise that if one of them had a specific injury it could hinder them.
What I'm talking about is that even the slightest issue (general unwellness or jet lag) can be heard to affect the vocals. Whilst I think you can get away with it on other instruments.
Your fingers are a bit more robust then the old vocal chords.

[Setlist Scotty]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

I gotta agree.

This. I've been hearing it as far back as 2000 and I also remember hearing the same thing on several of the subsequent tours.

[Nobby]

Now he's back maybe people will get off his back. The guys a quality singer,period.

[chrisbDTM]

we are that much closer to hearing

'BLLOOOWWWWWWWJJJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB'

from another hand/ the killing hand from LATM live again

[reneranucci]

People have been saying "he's back" since Octavarium. I don't buy that anymore, he's good at some shows and terrible at others, he sings off key quite often, the high notes have this screechy unpleasant sound, and his enunciation is still terrible. He can't perform like in his younger days, that's impossible by definition, but he still manages to keep up with the show which is all that matters.

[John94]

I've always loved James' vocal ability but this tour also shows that JP has stepped up his vocal ability. He is sounding better too!

[ReaPsTA]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

I know what you mean.  Not every vid of his has been perfect.  But some of his performances of Caught in a Web have been like 95% percent as good as the album, which is tough to accomplish with that song.  There's also a certain confidence to him that we haven't seen in some time.

I've always loved James' vocal ability but this tour also shows that JP has stepped up his vocal ability. He is sounding better too!

Also true.  JP's singing is the best it's ever been.

[tristl]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

I know what you mean.  Not every vid of his has been perfect.  But some of his performances of Caught in a Web have been like 95% percent as good as the album, which is tough to accomplish with that song.  There's also a certain confidence to him that we haven't seen in some time.

I've always loved James' vocal ability but this tour also shows that JP has stepped up his vocal ability. He is sounding better too!

this is what i mean, he is much more self confident since his biggest critic is gone and like he said in his last interview the setlist is done so he can really perform it night by night, i think mp didn't care about that.

Also true.  JP's singing is the best it's ever been.

[TAC]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

I know what you mean.  Not every vid of his has been perfect.  But some of his performances of Caught in a Web have been like 95% percent as good as the album, which is tough to accomplish with that song.  There's also a certain confidence to him that we haven't seen in some time.

True. Seems to have a ton of confidence, and also seems to be operating with the confidence of the ENTIRE band behind him.

His performance on Learning To Live from Poland might be the best I remember hearing.

People have been saying "he's back" since Octavarium. I don't buy that anymore, he's good at some shows and terrible at others, he sings off key quite often, the high notes have this screechy unpleasant sound, and his enunciation is still terrible. He can't perform like in his younger days, that's impossible by definition, but he still manages to keep up with the show which is all that matters.

Not every show from the I&W tour was great vocally. Your first thought is true. James is great and then can be rough. He's at worst inconsistant, but I feel he's sounds as good on this tour as he's ever sounded.  

[El JoNNo]

He sounded awesome when they opened for Iron Maiden.

[Bone_Daddy]

People have been saying, "James is back!" every tour for a few years now. Sounds the same to me.

I gotta agree.

QFT

[chrisbDTM]

he's doing great. the only thing that makes me cringe is the WOAHHHH coming out of the caught in a web solo section. its pretty bad, but then he goes on to sing the next part very very good. and just like the record

[DTFan0789]

Honesty, it was hearing James LaBrie's voice that initially got me into Dream Theater in the first place. Being a guitarist, I was of course familiar with John Petrucci, but I never actually sat down and really listened to DT before. It wasn't until late Summer of '06 when VH1 Classic was showing part of the "Score" DVD that I became a fan for life. Of course all of the players completely blew my mind, but I'll always remember the thing that struck me the most about the band was the lead singer. I just felt like he had the most amazing voice I've ever heard before in my life.

I understand that James' operatic style of singing may not be everyone's cup of tea, and the man has had his fair share of vocal problems before, but love him or hate him, he IS the voice of Dream Theater. I was listening to the Polan bootleg yesterday, and I think he's sounding great! 

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Now DT needs to put The Killing Hand into their set list 

no they don't

[TAC]

Now DT needs to put The Killing Hand into their set list 

no they don't

Yes, they sure as hell do!

[John94]

I wouldn't complain if they started playing it again.

[BlobVanDam]

They have too many other good songs to play TKH. If they play that, that means a better song that's being pushed out. It's a decent song, but I can think of dozens of songs I'd much rather hear.

[lateralus88]

They have too many other good songs to play TKH. If they play that, that means a better song that's being pushed out. It's a decent song, but I can think of dozens of songs I'd much rather hear.

Like Space Dye Vest?