Totally agree, chrisbDTM. This album/band encouraged sitting and quietly watching the show. Honestly, I couldn't imagine standing for that entire show. It would be a chore. I would have NEVER said that about a previous DT tour.
Some random observations from the night in no particular order:
-Oakdale is a GREAT venue. I really hope DT make it back again soon.
-The live show was better than the album.
-Mangini was fun. He's obviously trying his best to entertain the crowd, given the material. His skill comes through live much better than the album.
-Myung probably looked bored because he was.
-This was the first Oakdale show I've been to with vendors wandering the aisles selling drinks. That stood out to me for some reason.
-It became crystal clear to me that DT don't give a crap about the audience for this tour. They're just performing Petrucci's play, and if people want to pay to watch, all the better. More Broadway than concert tour.
-The sound was great, although they understandably seemed to struggle getting James balanced between his various "characters".
-That solo in "A New Beginning".... good lord.
-There was some AMAZING technical musicianship going on, but it often got overwhelmed by the crushing banality of song structure. And when things would really start to get going, the song would fall off a cliff and land in a depressing puddle of another Jordan piano lullaby. (This obviously applies to the album as well.)
-The light show was good, but why all the lights aimed directly at the audience? I was sitting almost directly behind the sound board and was constantly getting lights flashing directly in my eyes. Anyone else?
-The images/movies did nothing to add to the "story", at least for me.
Bottom line... I really hope they got this out of their system and can get back to kicking some ass on the next one.
(And for the love of god, PLEASE hire a producer for the next album! The Rudess/Petrucci ego trips need to stop.)