I watched this two weeks ago at a theater at Arlington, MA. Unfortunately the attendance was very low (about 10 people), given that it was the only theater showing the film in the Boston area.
Here is my mini review, I am following the same outline that Spacebar used
Footage: Probably the best among all DT DVDs. The video quality was crystal clear and the positioning of the cameras were good and most of the time correct members were captured at the correct times.
Sound: I have mixed feeling toward the mix, although it might be due to sound system at the theater. The JP and JLB was very loud in the mix and unfortunately JM and JR (except his solos of course) are almost missing entirely. I was especially disappointed that JM is almost entirely buried in the mix with a super muddy tone because he was perfectly audible in Score and Budokan. Apart form the mix, overall sound was stellar, especially JP's sound.
Members:
JLB - He really surprised me. I need to watch this several times to confirm but he indeed sounded even better than Score! He was also very energetic on the stage, I only wish there was more crowd interaction and talking in between the songs.
JP - Easily on top of his game, as usual. His back vocals were almost inaudible though.
JR - Perfect as usual, his solo spot was especially brilliant.
JM - Since he was mostly inaudible I can't really judge his performance, but he seemed more energetic and engaged than usual.
MM - He was definitely godlike. The drum solo is one of the highlights of the DVD and he played most of the older songs without too much embellishment (except playing some parts using only a single hand! No joking!)
Setlist:
- Bridges in the Sky : Awesome, works amazing as an opener and the chorus being sung with the crowd adds another dimension to the song.
- 6:00: This wasn't so good in my opinion. JLB is simply not able to pull of those high and aggressive vocal lines anymore and that took a lot from the song. But the band, especially MM was amazing on this one.
- The Dark Eternal Night: This was great, easily the best live recording of the song. The instrumental part was especially well executed.
- This is the Life: I think this song didn't work great in the live setting, JLB was amazing on this one though.
- The Root of all Evil: Good, but I think it was more energetic on Score.
- Lost Not Forgotten: Like Spacebar mentioned, the unison part was a disappointment, it didn't sound very tight and not being able to Hear JM's basslines behind the unison took away a lot. At least rest of the song was breathtaking.
- Drum Solo: So much fun to watch!! Usually drum solos are boring as hell but MM is making it so musical it is so entertaining. Also it seemed like an extended version of the original solo I have seen live back in 2011. Easily one of the highlights of the DVD.
- A Fortune in Lies: Personally, I really don't like WDADU at all so I would much prefer them playing some other song from their discography (why not more songs then SFAM or Six Degrees ??)
- Acoustic set: The Silent Man, Beneath the Surface: Another highlight of the DVD, especially the Silent Man sounded so beautiful with strings !! The vocals were also perfect and I think this was the only time where JP's back vocals were audible.
- Outcry: Works awesome live, epic JLB performance !
- JR Solo: The most emotional JR solo performance I have ever seen, very moving
- Surrounded: This is my least favorite track from I&W so I don't want to comment on it.
- On The Backs of Angels/War Inside My Head/The Test that Stumped Them All: I am not a big fan of OTBOA but I think those 3 songs worked really well played back to back. I still prefer the Score performance of the latter two songs though.
- JP Solo (with JR atmosphere): I am a huge fan of JP, but I think he really the shredding style on this solo spot, the slow parts were very moving though.
- The Spirit Carries On: This is the only song from SFAM.. and yes it is an amazing song and it works very well live, but do we really need this song again on DVD??? I think it is time for DT to retire this song to free up some space in the set.
- Breaking All Illusions: So awesome... To me this is the best DT song in the last decade and it is captured amazing on the DVD.
- Metropolis pt. 1 w/extended jam: The extended jam was fun but I think we have heard much better live performances of this song.
Overall, I would say that it is a good show and despite the shortcomings (the mix etc.) I didn't get bored for a single second in 2 hours 40 mins running time. I would rank it below Score, Budokan. Live Scenes and above CiM.