So, it has been recently brought to my attention (I believe it was 35 seconds ago) that the band has gone for a minor and yet completely unexpected shakeup of the setlist for the US leg of the IAW and beyond tour.
Replacing the Astonishing mini-set, two more songs heavily associated with Images And Words have been played: To Live Forever and Don't Look Past Me.
For those who wonder, TLF has been played once (19/07/2012) in the last 13 years, and I believe less than 20 times since 1993, when it was a staple of the latter half of the original IAW tour. As many of you will know, the song, despite being written in 1988 when CD was still in the band, was slated to appear on IAW and served as the testing ground for the singer auditions in 1989-1990. Eventually the song was set aside when the label's request to write more approachable songs in mid-1991 resulted in Another Day and Surrounded. TLF was however, as said, heavily featured in the following tour and ended up being officially released as a B-Side in the Awake era.
For the first couple years of its existence, Don't Look Past Me fate was inextricably linked to that of To Live Forever. It was too written in the early stages of the pre-IAW wilderness years (I believe early 1990, approximately at the same time Take The Time and Under A Glass Moon were being conceived, and substantially after Metropolis and Learning To Live had been shaped into a coherent form) and just like To Live Forever was used heavily in the auditions. For this reason just like TLF and A Change Of Seasons, several version of this songs being sung by various vocalists exist and to this day float around the darkest and least explored corners of youtube. Don't Look Past Me shared TLF's fate of being shelved in favour of AD and Surrounded, but unlike the Petrucci penned song, it was never to receive the warm touch of the limelight or the soaring roar of the crowds.
It is to this date, or I should say, was up to yesterday, the oldest song composed under the name Dream Theater to never have been played, and, since the debut of Space Dye Vest in 2014, the only set of lyrics by Kevin Moore to have suffered that fate.
Personally, it's a song that I have always loved to bits, and that still frequently listen when in need of uplifting notes. It's a wonder how it was ignored for so long. I guess it has to do with the extremely complicated backing vocal line. But still, I'm very happy about, although unfortunately being a citizen of the Old World I didn't get to see it played. I'll be on the lookout for audience videos on youtube!
So, did you know about this song? Are you happy with the choice of dusting out a 7-minute long obscure song from their early catalogue? Would you have liked that slot to be occupied by something else? That's the place to discuss it!
P.S. More of a TLDR, really:
- Astonishing songs in setlist phased out, To Live Forever and Don't Look Past Me phased in
- Both were supposed to end up on IAW, were put aside in favour of AD and Surrounded
- DLPM has never been played before
- Happy about this?
P.P.S. First post in such a long time! How are you all doing?