Recent Experiences with the Official Bootlegs?

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I'm thinking of ordering a couple of CDs from the Official Bootlegs. Has anyone done so recently, and what was the waiting time like to receive everything? I'll probably order what I want regardless, but am curious about how long it may take.

[bosk1]

I ordered shortly after Portnoy left the band because I was afraid they might become unavailable, and there were a couple of things I still needed to get.  That was awhile ago, but I seem to remember hearing someone else ordered stuff since then and didn't really have any issues.  I mean, Portnoy owns that, so I would not imagine there being a problem.  If something is listed as available and you order it, you should get it.  He isn't going to allow the site to continue to exist if the products aren't there.

[Madman Shepherd]

I ordered shortly after Portnoy left the band because I was afraid they might become unavailable, and there were a couple of things I still needed to get.  That was awhile ago, but I seem to remember hearing someone else ordered stuff since then and didn't really have any issues.  I mean, Portnoy owns that, so I would not imagine there being a problem.  If something is listed as available and you order it, you should get it.  He isn't going to allow the site to continue to exist if the products aren't there.

Portnoy owns that?!?!  Are you sure?  I'm pretty sure it is owned by the Dream Theater corporation.  Mike Brown is the guy responsible for filling orders.  After Portnoy left he mentioned that while Portnoy put the bootlegs together, JP was more involved on the business side and Mike Brown said that JP had just ordered a whole bunch more stock so there would be no change in how it operates. 

I'm pretty sure Portnoy has nothing to do with it anymore, hence his passive aggressive statements about planning really cool stuff that won't be released now. 

[hefdaddy42]

I'm pretty sure it is owned by the Dream Theater corporation.  Mike Brown is the guy responsible for filling orders.  After Portnoy left he mentioned that while Portnoy put the bootlegs together, JP was more involved on the business side and Mike Brown said that JP had just ordered a whole bunch more stock so there would be no change in how it operates. 

This was my understanding. 

AFAIK, Portnoy only owns all the original recordings that many of the CDs were produced from.  But JP ran the business side, and JLB is in charge of future live recording offerings.

[Stadler]

I'm pretty sure it is owned by the Dream Theater corporation.  Mike Brown is the guy responsible for filling orders.  After Portnoy left he mentioned that while Portnoy put the bootlegs together, JP was more involved on the business side and Mike Brown said that JP had just ordered a whole bunch more stock so there would be no change in how it operates. 

This was my understanding. 

AFAIK, Portnoy only owns all the original recordings that many of the CDs were produced from.  But JP ran the business side, and JLB is in charge of future live recording offerings.

Is there any connection between that fact and the fact that there haven't been any live offerings for almost five years?

Anyway, I ordered a couple of the DVDs about four months ago (I'm guessing), and everything arrived perfectly in about two weeks or so. 

[hefdaddy42]

I'm pretty sure it is owned by the Dream Theater corporation.  Mike Brown is the guy responsible for filling orders.  After Portnoy left he mentioned that while Portnoy put the bootlegs together, JP was more involved on the business side and Mike Brown said that JP had just ordered a whole bunch more stock so there would be no change in how it operates. 

This was my understanding. 

AFAIK, Portnoy only owns all the original recordings that many of the CDs were produced from.  But JP ran the business side, and JLB is in charge of future live recording offerings.

Is there any connection between that fact and the fact that there haven't been any live offerings for almost five years?.

I think the biggest connection is that JLB isn't OCD like MP is.

Also, what would probably have been a great Ytsejam release was instead given away by the band for free as the Holiday recording a couple of years ago.

Further, they've only had two tours since MP left, and there were official live recordings put out for both tours.  Not much reason for any more live Ytsejam recordings to be released under JLB's watch, since it would only duplicate what has been released officially.

[me7]

...but there was the missed opportunity to release a DVD from the BC&SL tour. We still don't have a live version of TCOT.

[TAC]

...but there was the missed opportunity to release a DVD from the BC&SL tour. We still don't have a live version of TCOT.

My guess is that after the split, anything from the BC&SL tour was out of the question.
But they could've released something from the 2011 Summer tour.

Also, TCOT is on the Happy Holidays CD.

I would think there'd be some sort of live document from this 30th Anniversary Tour, no?

[hefdaddy42]

...but there was the missed opportunity to release a DVD from the BC&SL tour.

Which was before JLB took over.  So blame that on MP.

[bosk1]

I'm pretty sure it is owned by the Dream Theater corporation.  Mike Brown is the guy responsible for filling orders.  After Portnoy left he mentioned that while Portnoy put the bootlegs together, JP was more involved on the business side and Mike Brown said that JP had just ordered a whole bunch more stock so there would be no change in how it operates. 

This was my understanding. 

That could be.  For some reason, I thought that whatever was still left was Mike's, but that the band was planning on doing some new stuff in the future.  But you could very well be right.  But either way, my point still stands.

[Madman Shepherd]

So here is what I suspect:

Dream Theater Historical Recordings:  Portnoy took it upon himself to archive all of those so they were never in a central "DT archive" and he is not willing to give them up.  Legally, I think DT could get those back but it would be drawn out and messy and not for certain they could so they probably don't even want to bother.  I do think DT is legally entitled to those because when Portnoy recorded those, he may have used his own DAT recorder to plug into the soundboard, but the soundboard was still DT's, the music is still DT's, and the intellectual property is still DT's.  But like I said, it would be messy and DT just doesn't care that much.  Thus, we will never see any future bootleg's from pre-Mangini material. 

James LaBrie as an archivist:  I don't think James or the rest of the band was really into the bootlegs.  I wouldn't even doubt if he has never listened to things like the making of SFAM because to him, most fans, and most musicians, they come from the old school where you buy studio albums and live albums and you pay to see them in concert.  Thats it.  So when he took over the archival for future releases, they probably had the idea to just release the Happy Holidays CD for free and nothing else.  When I heard James had taken over the bootlegs, I thought "Awesome!"  When we got the Happy Holidays bootleg I had mixed feelings.  Obviously it was incredibly cool and I am so glad they did that, but I realized they would probably never go back to the bootlegs we knew.  I don't think we will ever hear a ADTOE demos bootleg with the drum machine.  I don't think we will hear a Making of DT12.  Since they don't rotate setlists, there isn't anything live to hear that we haven't.  I don't even think that kind of obsessive thinking is on JLB's radar. 

So it sucks we won't get more but the whole bootlegs thing was abnormal to begin with so and that was a bonus anyway.  So if there is the potential they do something again like Happy Holidays then that is above and beyond what we should expect as fans. 

[bosk1]

^I think that is probably pretty close.

[ReaPsTA]

The Happy Holidays CD was great and I'd love to hear more stuff like that.  That version of Ytsejam is the coolest thing.

The probable lack of future Making Of and Demo CDs though is a huge loss.  They were some of the best parts about following the band.  ADTOE with a drum machine would be fascinating, and I'd love to hear some of the songwriting in DT12.

[goo-goo]

The Happy Holidays CD was great and I'd love to hear more stuff like that.  That version of Ytsejam is the coolest thing.

The probable lack of future Making Of and Demo CDs though is a huge loss.  They were some of the best parts about following the band.  ADTOE with a drum machine would be fascinating, and I'd love to hear some of the songwriting in DT12.

Would love a behind the scenes video for both ADTOE and DT12. That's all I ask

[Stadler]

Legally, I think DT could get those back but it would be drawn out and messy and not for certain they could so they probably don't even want to bother.  I do think DT is legally entitled to those because when Portnoy recorded those, he may have used his own DAT recorder to plug into the soundboard, but the soundboard was still DT's, the music is still DT's, and the intellectual property is still DT's. 

I'm not sure how you can conclude that.  At best, and absent any specific agreement otherwise (which, if you were going to speculate about anything, it would be that), DT could probably STOP him from using them, but that's it.

James LaBrie as an archivist:  I don't think James or the rest of the band was really into the bootlegs.  I wouldn't even doubt if he has never listened to things like the making of SFAM because to him, most fans, and most musicians, they come from the old school where you buy studio albums and live albums and you pay to see them in concert.  Thats it.  So when he took over the archival for future releases, they probably had the idea to just release the Happy Holidays CD for free and nothing else.  When I heard James had taken over the bootlegs, I thought "Awesome!"  When we got the Happy Holidays bootleg I had mixed feelings.  Obviously it was incredibly cool and I am so glad they did that, but I realized they would probably never go back to the bootlegs we knew.  I don't think we will ever hear a ADTOE demos bootleg with the drum machine.  I don't think we will hear a Making of DT12.  Since they don't rotate setlists, there isn't anything live to hear that we haven't.  I don't even think that kind of obsessive thinking is on JLB's radar. 

So it sucks we won't get more but the whole bootlegs thing was abnormal to begin with so and that was a bonus anyway.  So if there is the potential they do something again like Happy Holidays then that is above and beyond what we should expect as fans.

I'm not sure that this is going to be popular, but for me, the whole process - regardless of the why's or the circumstances - is indicative of why DT went from one of a very, very few UNIQUE and SPECIAL bands in my "Favorite List" to one of many that I REALLY REALLY LIKE.  I don't expect others to agree with this, it is just my tastes, but I LIKED all that stuff.  It made me feel special as a fan in a way I just don't now (and while I like the "Happy Holidays" thing, I'm a sort of iconoclast in that way.  I like the CD, the packaging, the liner notes.  I don't like having to do it myself.)

[ariich]

Surprised to see the love for the Happy Holidays download. I mean, I thought it was super cool that the band offered it for free, but I really didn't think it was very good. I think I ended up deleting it.

[Sycsa]

Surprised to see the love for the Happy Holidays download. I mean, I thought it was super cool that the band offered it for free, but I really didn't think it was very good. I think I ended up deleting it.

I disagree. The sound quality pretty good (albeit inconsistent, since it was recorded during different shows), JLB put on a really strong performance with lots of strong high notes (I was surprised to hear As I Am and Endless Sacrifice, these songs make it obvious how much he improved compared to Live at Budokan) and it also features my absolute favorite live performance of Peruvian Skies.

[BlobVanDam]

Surprised to see the love for the Happy Holidays download. I mean, I thought it was super cool that the band offered it for free, but I really didn't think it was very good. I think I ended up deleting it.

I disagree. The sound quality pretty good (albeit inconsistent, since it was recorded during different shows), JLB put on a really strong performance with lots of strong high notes (I was surprised to hear As I Am and Endless Sacrifice, these songs make it obvious how much he improved compared to Live at Budokan) and it also features my absolute favorite live performance of Peruvian Skies.

I actually just gave it a listen earlier, and he's much much better on As I Am on Budokan than he is on the Holidays bootleg. He slays Another Day though. Top notch version there. UAGM was great too, although I'm not a fan of the overshooting on the high notes.
Overall it has a much better mix than LALP, although as you said it's a bit inconsistent. It's a great companion piece to LALP.

[bosk1]

Surprised to see the love for the Happy Holidays download. I mean, I thought it was super cool that the band offered it for free, but I really didn't think it was very good. I think I ended up deleting it.

  What?  This is the first time I have ever heard this opinion.  What's not to like about it?

[wasteland]

Yeah! It's like they gifted us with an equivalent of the audio part of Chaos In Motion (just better in terms of sound quality), it's not chips!

[hefdaddy42]

Surprised to see the love for the Happy Holidays download. I mean, I thought it was super cool that the band offered it for free, but I really didn't think it was very good. I think I ended up deleting it.

  What?  This is the first time I have ever heard this opinion.  What's not to like about it?

Hint: he's a silly Brit.

[Sycsa]

Overall it has a much better mix than LALP

This is the point to remember, I don't know why I forgot to mention it. The keyboards are way louder and the drums have more punch. Listening to it after the woefully disappointing LALP was a breath of fresh air.

[ariich]

Surprised to see the love for the Happy Holidays download. I mean, I thought it was super cool that the band offered it for free, but I really didn't think it was very good. I think I ended up deleting it.

  What?  This is the first time I have ever heard this opinion.  What's not to like about it?

I didn't think the sound was very good, and performances seemed variable. And I can't recall exactly but I remember most of the songs I was most interested in hearing live versions of just didn't sound very good. Possibly I've just been oversaturated with DT live albums. The fact that I haven't even seen/heard the latest one yet would support that.