Here are a couple of interesting answers from a recent interview with MP (
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=7573.msg236165#msg236165):
"
FROM NATALIE GLADKAYA:
When you’re playing complicated drum patterns, why do you sometimes hit yourself on the head? Also, is there any chance of Dream Theater bringing back ‘An Evening with Dream Theater’ format for your live shows? And have you considered doing any more acoustic / unplugged shows? I don’t know why I hit myself in the head, I’m starting to think maybe I should stop - I’m fearing a brain aneurysm coming on! And yeah, it’s very possible that the ‘Evening with...’ format will come back in the future. We needed a break from it, but now having had that break for several years, it may make sense to mix it up and bring it back. With the acoustic shows, I never say never, it’s possible. I’m not much of a fan of the whole unplugged thing- it’s kinda cliche and every band does it. We did some shows like that back in the late nineties and it was fun, it was different, so I never say never but right now there are no plans."
FROM DAVID FITCH, BRAMBLETON, VIRGINIA:
Is there any chance you will be putting out a Progressive Nation DVD? I would have liked to have, but no, it’s not on the cards. This album and tour cycle will be the first without a DVD, but I think that’s ok, I hate always doing the same pattern or the same formula.
And this
:
FROM STEVEN LUCAS, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK:
I assume that an octavarium, and being ‘trapped inside’ one, is a way of describing the helplessness of having to adhere to and obey the rules of music theory, and that despite the perception of creative freedom, one is not truly free in that any melody he or she may compose will unfailingly consist of a series of the same twelve notes, in a veiled metaphorical allusion to the real confines and limitations of daily life. Am I correct? No.