Well the show was fantastic as expected. I decided to watch the show from the worst seats in the house. Back row center. It turned out these were far better seats than the mezzanine seats in the boxes overlooking the stage. Also, there were a million guests and I really wanted to concentrate on the music rather than talking and listening to commentary.
So I basically watched the show alone and loved it. You really get a sense of the entire performance, including the light show, when you sit at the back. Also, the volume is slightly less, basically to what I consider normal Dream Theater levels: loud, but not insane.
Loved the surprises, loved Paradigm Shift (which they played a bit up tempo if you can believe it), loved the finale. Everybody was playing with extra energy, probably because they were anticipating the surprises. Very fun.
The aftershow started in catering, and many guests filed in, along with the band after they cooled down a bit. Anybody a Yankee fan? Bernie Williams strolled in and he is a huge DT fan and a huge John Petrucci fan. I also happen to be a Yankee fan and was a very avid fan during all of Bernie's career. He hung out with John mostly and I got to shake his hand and say hello. John asked him how his music thing was going and he answered rather philosophically, and at one point added "Well, there are no shortcuts in the music business", hinting at how difficult it is to have music as a career. Mike Mangini stopped by and joined the conversation. He was as gracious and cheerful as could be expected (he hates the Yankees of course!).
The aftershow than got moved from catering to the Founders Room, as it is called. Basically a beautiful lounge with couches and coffee tables and a bar and room to mill about. Unfortunately due to the number of guests, it was packed. But still, a very nice space. This whole club is fantastic. I would be happy to see any band here in the future. Really nice. It was apparently an Imax theater in its last iteration. I spoke to two of the club owners and they were so stoked to have Dream Theater playing their club. They were really happy about the turnout and the fans and how it all went down. One of the owners said he got involved and built the club specifically to attract and book quality musical acts like Dream Theater.
Bernie hung out for awhile but left after a short time, as he was getting a bit hounded by fanboys wanting photo ops. He was very gracious though despite obviously not being super thrilled.
All in all a great show and a great night!
Topic: 2012-07-18/19 - Paramount Theater - Huntington, NY (Read 59656 times)
