Aaaand.... I'm back. I should get some sleep but I want to put it all down while it's still fresh.
First of all, damn my luck and the automatic selection of the ticket at the store where I bought it. I asked for the second gallery, the highest and most distant zone of the theatre, but... why o why was I stranded at the very angle, with the light panels in front of me?? I could see only three of the five screens, and I often had to lean to my right to see Jordan better!!! for whatever reason halfway through Act II someone a couple of seats away left and I went there, but had I known that not *every* seat in the theatre grants a proper visual, I would have forked the extra cash for a better seat, screw the price.
Now, the show... wow. Just wow. All the reports about the presentation being amazing were not just fanboys excited, they really went for a great and impressive light show, easily their best so far. The animation was ok, it was not distracting and was underlying some important passages of the song, nothing corny or in your face, it was fitting.
The band was great as always, they feeded off the audience. Every time Petrucci raised his arm a roar from the whole theater came, and even Myung once got one by pointing his arm. Has he ever done anything like that? waving and raising his arm (actually he was more pointing) as a way to pump up the audience? to the best of my knowledge all he has ever done on stage was playing and tackling LaBrie once... anyway, good to see him at least once getting the crowd going!
The sound was good and the songs were all great, even my least favorites from the album were better live. Off the top of my head, let's see... Dystopian Overture was a roaring success. A Better Life was very well received. When your Time has Come also. Three Days is were everyone went nuts, a roaring applause at the end. In A Life Left Behind LaBrie very succesfully got the crowd going during the chorus. Ravenskill also was a blast. A New Beginning basically got people praising Petrucci more than Jesus, and chanting his name at the end of the solo.
Moment of Betrayal was another success from the second act, also The Path that Divides went down great. By the end people could hardly contain their excitement, everyone was clapping during Hymn of a Thousand Voices, and at James' invitation they all stood up for Our New World. Astonishing was met with widespread excitement and of course they all got a very deserved standing ovation. I knew I couldn't hold back tears at the end of this song, hehe!
As for James... he warmed up pretty quickly. The end of The Gift of Music wasn't that great, The Answer was already an improvement and from Act of Faythe on he was basically as good as the studio version, Three Days especially was badass, he was even more theatrical than on the album version. The rest of the show was great, with the occasional and rare difficulty here and there (In Moment of Betrayal he kinda struggled).
Anyone stayed after they left the stage? the "end credits" piece is an abridged and instrumental / orchestral version of Astonishing, closed at the very end of a single Nomac buzz, the one that closes Dystopian Overture. Very funny touch! Also, there was the Nomac boot to take pics and I appeared on stage, too bad I was at the bathroom and I didn't see it, damn! (A friend who was also at the show informed me).
So, all in all, delusion for the bad seat aside (At a different concert there I was in that high balcony but still the sight was good so I figured I could stay there again but no, damn), a very great show, sure Act II flew away but the "fake encore" thing with Our New World "closing" and then restarting with Power Down was a good move, I didn't feel the need for any extra song at all. A wonderful experience, a bet that paid completely off (As many did, I bought the ticket without hearing a single note of the album), and the confirmation of why Dream Theater is one of my favorite bands.
Should they bring this around again, I won't miss it for anything, no matter the price.
It was truly and completely astonishing
Topic: Dream Theater in Italy - 2016/03/ 17, 18, 19 (Milan) and 20 (Trieste) (Read 7850 times)