One would think that a two time Grammy nominated band has earned enough success to garner the attention of the promoters.
Yup, I agree that, IMO, DT should have the attention of promoters, but (1) that's coming from a bias fan perspective and (2) I don't think two Grammy nominations that don't even get awarded during the live Grammy broadcast have a lot to do with anything.
They have played here many times in the last 25 years, just not in the last 5 years. All of their clubs shows were filled to the brim and all of the larger shows have had at least 3/4 filled venues. That should be more than enough to garner the attention of promoters. As I said earlier, sellouts are rare these days. Promoters know that and bands know that.
I agree with pretty much everything you said here, but once again, that's on the promoters, not the band.
Do I have issues with the band's success? I have thought in the past that gee they are getting big and are no longer there for their original fans that lifted them up and gave them their early success.
How are they no longer there for their original fans? They are a band, they create music, distribute it, and then tour to play shows. That's pretty much it. Not sure I follow.
So in a way, it's like finding a secret location in Switzerland that is all your own and then once the word gets out everybody shows up and ruins it for you. That's my comparison to Dream Theater. They've become what Pink Floyd became: a machine. I see why Portnoy left the band. He felt it was becoming a machine....comparisons to the theme of the new album anyone?
So you like something less simply because more people now like that same thing? That's weird. I like what I like and don't like what I don't like based on my opinion, not based on how many other people do or don't like the same.
And the MP - DT split has been discussed to death here, so I'm not going to touch that...
I just wrote the Olympia Theater imploring them to bring Dream Theater there for their fall tour. Here is a link to this beautiful venue...https://www.olympiatheater.org/ Carl Palmer and his ELP Experience played there last month and they were awesome.
That's the right move, and unfortunately pretty much all you can do. I hope they continue to release more dates and that something pops up near you!