(SPOILERS) DT Live in Luna Park review

[bugsyoz]

Folks

I too attended the screening at Avoca last night.  Great sounds, and great picture quality.  For what it's worth, I was the bloke in the office attire...shirt/tie and all that bs Lobbed straight off the train from Woy Woy.  Yes international folks...the suburb is 'Woy Woy'.

Talking to the theatre staff, they said for some strange reason the second screening this coming Monday has sold more tickets.  I suggested school holidays, some folk will probably be on leave from work.

Perhaps it was me, long day and all that...and I'm reluctant to say it....I noticed the sound/vision were not in sync as the show went on.  Very very annoying.  Like being at ar$e end of an outdoor show or something what you see is not what you hear.  It was half a bar out.  Anyway, I'll check it out again Monday night.

MM's solo is amazing, the cinema audience clapped at its conclusion!

Bugs

[adamack]

BUT, with that being said, this DVD will easily go down as being the best recording of JLB live. He easily outshone the rest of the band  Forget Budokan, CiM or any other DVD from the past, JLB is back and easily proves it on LiLP. JLB's soaring vocalisations made the night for me - I got shivers and goosebumps at multiple times.

Is it...is it possible that I am just as excited for Luna Park as I was for DT12?

Maybe that would be taking things just a tiny bit too far, but thanks Spacebar, you just made my year!

It's obviously important for everyone to be on their A game, but it is absolutely detrimental for JLB to be in top form on a DVD release for my personal taste. I'm so glad to hear that this could be considered his best.

Now for the hard part...waiting. 

[me7]

I just got back from the show and I'm somewhat disappointed with the mix. The keyboard was barely audible at times and the guitar dominated everything. A good example is Breaking all Illusions at 9:06: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UhQKol7PFzA#t=547 . Here, the keyboard is hardly present at all, all you hear is JP chugging. Most keyboard solos were fine though.
The cinema also cranked the volume up way too high. I would have preferred it quieter, with less noise from the overdriven speakers, but several headbangers surrounding me didn't seem to mind. It will probably be different at different venues, depending on the mood of the projectionist.

The editing was very good. As a hardcore fan, I would have preferred more shots of MM going crazy and more closeups of JMX, but I understand that they have to keep commercial appeal in mind. The only real gripe I have is the unison in Lost not forgotten. It practically begs for a long splitscreen shot of JP and JR, but they only show them in splitscreen for ~2 seconds and cut to other band members too much. These are 20 seconds when I don't care for JLB, JMX and MM at all, I just want the insanity of that unison.

[Spacebar.]

Bugs, that was the other segment I forgot to talk about! There were a couple of shots with JR playing a key and half a second later the sound would come through.

I was the guy with MP designed DT t-shirt. I noticed another guy had worn his Black Clouds t-shirt. Not surprising given it was showing at 7 and it takes at least an hour to get to Avoca. I was lucky I had the day off, but then had to race home because I had ward rounds starting at 8. Did you talk to the staff about how they were able to get the screening and not somewhere like Dendy? Also, I was quite tempted to clap in a lot of segments but didn't know how the crowd or the baby would react!

[ImNewDontKillMe]

Just got back from the chicago viewing myself. For the most part I agree pretty much with everything that was said in the review at the top of the thread. Jordan is a little lost in the mix but holy cow, JLB is up front and shining and this man's performance is absolutley amazing. It's nice to hear James in 2013 (2012 at the time) absolutly killing it on the harder passages in songs like surrounded and metropolis.

The only thing not so great about viewing this in a theater is that the show was shot in 1080p for home video release. Movies are filmed in much higher resolutions (4k) so when they are shown on gigantic screens you get to expierence all of the great picture detail. 1080p on a 400" screen can make the image look very soft and sometimes even out of focus and I noticed this a lot with the Luna Park screening, especially on the sweeping crane shots.  There was also a ton of noise and visible compression on some of the darker shots where most of the lights were off. I wonder what version of this was sent for the screenings? Should look more crisp on smaller home tvs. Still just a minor gripe.

Was definetly worth the trip and november 5th cant come soon enough!

[BlobVanDam]

I'd like to know how the audio compared to what we say on that 360 vision performance of 6:00. Because I think that sounded pretty questionable in the vocals department.

Yeah, I kind of have to agree, at least compared to some of his better performances. That's why I'm surprised to hear that it sounds better than even Score.

Of course it's subjective, but if that ends up being the generally agreed upon opinion, I'm curious if it was overdubbed at all.

We haven't heard it and you're already hinting at possible overdubbing?

B.Lee

If anything that's a compliment to how JLB sounds on this, so I'm happy if he's sounding that good that people are questioning it. The same thing happened with Score, and we all know how good JLB sounded on that.

[Mikeyd]

Just getting back from the New York show. I have to agree with everyone here. Incredibly well shot, James is MVP, and Jordan is a bit too low. The drums sound very powerful which is something I felt was missing on the last few DVDs. I feel that the songs they played will replace the studio versions on my current rotation. James' added vocal flourishes in each song really elevated the whole performance.  Some of his banter is incredibly awkward but I enjoyed it : ). Everyone in the theater was really into it and one guy was air drumming like crazy. I would say that this is the dt concert footage that you show people to get them into the band.  Definitely had a great night.

[fadetoblackdude7]

I just got back from the Barrington, IL showing. My thoughts:

- AMAZING concert, definitely tied with Score, if not better
- JP was indeed too loud in the mix, leaving JR and JMX buried
- JLB was PHENOMENAL! His best live dvd performance yet!
- MM's solo was one of the best parts, absolutely outrageous
- The string quartet definitely added more color to TSM and BTS

...And we were at a high-end movie theater and we paid extra for recliner seats with a blanket and pillow 

[bairrock]

I too just returned home from the New York Screening.
The DVD is amazing!
It visually looks great...some really great shots of all the band members rocking out...and the crowd shots as well really show the size of the venue.
The sound was good...couldn't hear Jordan very well...BUT, JP's guitar sound was amazing...MM drums sound loud and tasty...JM's bass was there...this could all be the theatre sound also, so who knows...I did notice in the middle of Breaking All Illusions til the end, the visual was behind the sound a millisecond...little annoying...hopefully just the theatre's fault.
Performance-wise, everyone is shining!
Set list flowed well...I really enjoyed every song...it felt like this is (and was) a damn good solid show to record and capture for a DVD performance!
Favorite moments...
Man, the ADTOE material really shines well in a "live" setting!  This is the Life was amazing!  I had some tears building up.
Honestly, every song just had its place.  Song after song (like I said before) they just moved to the next and the flow of the show never got dull and boring.
Great job DT!  Definitely be picking this up when released!!

Oh yeah...I was sitting in the same aisle as air-drummer guy!  He had a blast!

[YtseJamittaja]

Anyone spotted that crying girl? 

[bairrock]

yeah...she's doing her thing in The Spirit Carries On...
honestly....it was funny to catch at first, but then they show her again and you actually feel what she's feeling at that particular moment...then you start tearing up..lol!

[slycordinator]

About how long is the theater version?

Show itself was about 2 hrs 45 minutes. There were about 15 minutes of trailers/previews where I saw it but I'm sure that depends on the cinema. Good thing too, because my buddy from work was running late...

[Madman Shepherd]

I just got back from the Bolingbrook, IL show and need to be to work in 8 hours but am restless from my 2 1/2 hour drive back to Iowa. 

First of all, iPic theatres are pretty nice.  Not a bad deal at all.

Second, the length was about 2:30 long.  Definitely got our moneys worth. 

The sound was pretty loud but I liked it.  The speakers seemed to handle it just fine although I agree that the keyboards were a little low at times so I was wondering if that is the final mix or if it is the speaker setup in the theatre.  I also wish the drums were a little louder.  Some of the low end drums hardly picked up at all. 

Overall, it was amazing.  Excellent performances all around.  Tons of energy.  I felt like I had a much bigger review mapped out in my mind, but my mind is kind of gone right now.  Since I could talk about how much it ruled a lot more I will just skip to a few more negatives.

Although James sounded amazing throughout most of the night, during the quieter parts it seemed like his mic picked up a lot of his breathing in the distorted windy way, ya know, the sound of wind going into a microphone.  For me, it was pretty distracting.  Obviously they use the best equipment but the thing i kept thinking was, "Shit, why are you using cheap ass mics."  So, I dont know what the deal was. 

James also had some awkward stage banter or jibba jabba as I coined it several years ago.  After JPs guitar solo (which I thought was kind of boring) he talks about how JP brings out so much emotion and that men have tears running down their face.  He quickly follows it up with something about how it goes for women too but they are better about showing their emotion.  WTF dude?!  Awwwwkward. 

On the flip side, at the tale end of JR's piano solo, James comes out and says some incredible things about JR while he finishes the last few notes and then James finally says, Mr. Joran Rudess and the place erupts.  Quite a moment and while JR's keyboard/piano solos often bore me, this was pretty awesome. 

MM's drum solo was FUCKING INSANE.  This actually got applause from the people in the theatre.  I have seen DT twice with MM and I have seen him one time at a clinic where he did some kickass stuff on drums and the drum solo on this film blew me the fuck away.  I remember somebody noting that he did a one handed rhythm and somebody commented on this board, "What a dick!"  There are several moments like that where you are just thinking, "Ok we get it, you are the greatest drummer in the world.....please don't stop"

Other than that there is some funny interaction between James and JP during Surrounded.  Nothing major but it'll be worth a few gifs.  Also, for what its worth, I think that the best versions of Surrounded and Fortune and Lies are probably found on Live in Luna Park. 

Ok, I'm gonna finish up my M&Ms and sleep. 

The completely stupid drive to the Chicago area was totally worth it...but I'm sure I'm going to change my tune when my alarm goes off. 

[slycordinator]

The only thing not so great about viewing this in a theater is that the show was shot in 1080p for home video release. Movies are filmed in much higher resolutions (4k) so when they are shown on gigantic screens you get to expierence all of the great picture detail. 1080p on a 400" screen can make the image look very soft and sometimes even out of focus and I noticed this a lot with the Luna Park screening, especially on the sweeping crane shots.  There was also a ton of noise and visible compression on some of the darker shots where most of the lights were off. I wonder what version of this was sent for the screenings? Should look more crisp on smaller home tvs. Still just a minor gripe.

Actually, plenty of movies are shot in 2K which is only practically identical in resolution to 1080p (difference being 128 more pixels in width) and there are a few movies shot in 1080p. The difference is the level and type of compression. And it wouldn't be shocking if the cameras used were ones that wouldn't cut it for cinematic usage. Also, even some cameras used for digital cinema don't handle dark shots extremely well.

I bet the screenings were taken from the final source used to duplicate the blu-rays (just minus all the extras and stuff and converted to a Digital Cinema Package).




And I thought JMX was higher in the mix than I'd remembered from Budokan at least but I seem to have the minority opinion on that. But yes, Jordan was too quiet. Not like when I saw them in Seattle many moons ago, where he was at 11 compared to everyone else at a 3. lol

[hefdaddy42]

OK, what with just watching once and not having it on hand to refer to while typing, I'm not sure how detailed I can be, so here are my impressions.

It is very, very good.

It is loud as crap, especially JP.

I thought all of the ADTOE songs translated very well to the live setting, except for This Is The Life.  I love that song, but I don't think it translated as well.

All of the uptempo aggressive metal songs were friggin' MASSIVE.  Especially The Dark Eternal Night.  Holy crap.

James LaBrie was on FIRE.  He sounded incredible.

Mike Mangini is a puzzle in a way.  He plays with an incredible passion that is infectious and great to see.  And he is seemingly superhuman.  I mean, I play drums, but he and I aren't doing the same thing.  It's like a little kid who knows addition and subtraction watching someone perform a differential equation.  I mean, wow.

But he has such efficiency of movement that some of the real hard things he is doing don't look as hard as they really are.  It's weird.  But cool!

6:00 had a great groove, Mangini nailed that.

A Fortune In Lies was probably the best I've ever heard it.

The Spirit Carries On was good, but it is by default the least of the recorded versions.

I absolutely loved the acoustic set (The Silent Man and Beneath The Surface), the string quartet really added a lot.  Fantastic.

I also, unexpectedly, loved all three solo spots (although JR accompanied JP, so not sure if it's technically a "solo" lol).  JR's was an improvised piece on piano; JP's was really all over the place regarding style and technique, but still cohesive; and Mangini's was, without a doubt, the best drum solo I've ever seen.  It wasn't just a collection of drum tricks like most solos are.  It seemed to be an actual composed piece of music, that was complete of itself, not needing any other instruments.  I mean, of course he showed off his impressive skills, but it was extremely musical, and not just wanking.

The jam at the end of Metropolis was a lot of fun.  Didn't expect that.

Overall, at the beginning of the concert, there seemed to be fairly equal coverage of the different band members, but the farther it went, it seemed to gravitate toward mostly JR and JP.

Also, JP seemed to get louder as the show went on, oftentimes to the detriment of the other members (especially JM )

I'm sure there was something else I wanted to mention, but it is escaping me now.

Overall, it was fantastic.  Can't wait until it is released on Blu-Ray in November.  Great to see it with old friends and new.  Great to meet vtgrad, really classy guy and fellow longtime fan!

[me7]

I thought all of the ADTOE songs translated very well to the live setting, except for This Is The Life.  I love that song, but I don't think it translated as well.

All of the uptempo aggressive metal songs were friggin' MASSIVE.  Especially The Dark Eternal Night.  Holy crap.

Same here. I love This is the Life on the album, but the live version was boring. The dark eternal Night on the other hand I find boring on the album, but live it rocks.

[adamack]

So far, the general consensus seems to be:

- JLB is at his best

- MM is amazing, and his drum solo is absolutely ridiculous

- The songs from ADToE translated very well in a live setting

- The string quartet added a very nice touch to the songs it was involved with

- JR is a bit too low in the mix, while JP was very loud

Jesus Christ this is going to be awesome!

[teclas]

So here's my two cents from last night:

1-  I love MP but I do believe that having MM is the best thing that has happened to DT in a while.   Having watched LALP last night, just a couple of days after having heard DT12, only confirmed, strongly, that the band is living a great inspired, moment. 

 During the whole concert I could see great camaraderie; the way this dvd is edited, you can get a glimpse of the rest of the band jamming and joking around when there's a keyboard or guitar solo.  MM never stops smiling and doing this crazy metal faces.  This of course becomes contagious on the rest of the band members.

2- Really cool areal shots on JR (where you can even  see in great detail his synth screen and ipad) and MM.

3- JLB seems more relaxed and in control, his performance is stunning.  He finally became this great frontman for the band.

4- I was able to attend a show from this tour last year, but everything happened too fast from me.  There's great production detail where you don't miss a thing of everything happening, band/crowd.  I truly believe this is their most ambitious and most achieved concert on film.

5- Like everybody else is mentioning, the mix has the guitar too loud but I hope that this is more of a Movie Theater setup that the actual mixing of the BR/dvd.  Will see in the near future.

6- MM playing Metropolis is crazy good.  Way faster that they used to play it and more detailed drums on the last bit of instrumental section.

[me7]

JR is not just a bit too low, he is barely there. He is as low as JMX is on a studio album, seriously. If the mix for the BluRay isn't better, I'll pass. I enjoyed watching the show once but I have no intention  to listen to it again with this mix.

[BlobVanDam]

I'm disappointed to hear about the JR mix. I was hoping it was just a problem for one particular venue that showed it, but it seems that most people heard the same issue.
I assume everyone was hearing the surround mix, so maybe the stereo mix will be better?

[TheAtliator]

Man I am so freakin excites for this DVD, but the missing keyboard is really going to bug me BAD. If they took THIS LONG with the DVD it really should have a mix that reflects it.

 I always feel like Jordan is being turned down too low, and the million incredible notes he is playing at any time get interpreted by most listeners as 3 notes. If that makes sense.

Could you hear the bass solo in Metropolis?

[hefdaddy42]

Could you hear the bass solo in Metropolis?

Yes.

[TheAtliator]

YYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

hopefully really loudly and way up front..

[teclas]

JMX also sounds awesome on Breaking All Illusions.

[Spacebar.]

Not only can you hear the solo but you see almost all of JMX's forearm muscles that are used to play it 

[MoraWintersoul]

Not only can you hear the solo but you see almost all of JMX's forearm muscles that are used to play it 

Jump to homoerotic drooling DTFers in 3,2...


(also heteroerotic/various-erotic )

[Zydar]

JMX also sounds awesome on Breaking All Illusions.

    

[?]

Are there any close-up shots where we can see some member's nose hair?

[hefdaddy42]

I don't remember, but JR's hat was pretty cool.

[daykrush]

Back home from the Amsterdam screening.....what a great dvd! Never seen the band playing this tight! I went to 4 dates on the Dramatic tour but this one beats em all.
There's not a lot to add with what already been said here on the forum.
Petrucci is indeed way to loud in the mix...
LaBrie is on top of his game, all the song from ADTOE are way better live than on de cd.
Mangini is from an other planet and need to be locked in a cage....still reading here on the forum that some people want MP back....WTF? Are they deaf or what?

I'm going to give DT2013 another spin and hope to wake up the 9th of November......so I can watch it again and all the extra's ....

Thanks DT for the music! The spirit does carry on!

[Jinx]

It saddens me that after a year of being in production there's still issues where the sound and footage don't quite sync. Hope it doesn't affect the viewing too much 

[daykrush]

It saddens me that after a year of being in production there's still issues where the sound and footage don't quite sync. Hope it doesn't affect the viewing too much 

I didn't notice it....but i hope the sound is better on the actual dvd.

[BlobVanDam]

I don't remember, but JR's hat was pretty cool.

I'm sold. Sign me up.

[Prog Snob]

Could you hear the bass solo in Metropolis?

Yes.

It was too low in my opinion. 

[hefdaddy42]

Could you hear the bass solo in Metropolis?

Yes.

It was too low in my opinion.

Yeah, but you could hear it.