2019 set list and tour discussion (**KEEP ALL SPOILERS HERE**)

[DTA]

Not sure how many more DT tours there will be, but do you think they will ever play any of the MP2:SFAM songs again after this tour?t

I wouldn't mind if they retired I&W and SFAM permanently after this tour.

[EPIC Outro]

There is no universe where Dream Theater will not perform at least some songs from Images and Words and Scenes From a Memory again. They may not pop up in every setlist or every tour, but they will be a part of DT's overall live identity until the band ceases to exist.

[TheCountOfNYC]

There is no universe where Dream Theater will not perform at least some songs from Images and Words and Scenes From a Memory again. They may not pop up in every setlist or every tour, but they will be a part of DT's overall live identity until the band ceases to exist.

Pull Me Under, Metropolis, and The Spirit Carries On will always be setlist mainstays. The band loves playing them and the fans love hearing them.

[TAC]

Sure, why not?

[kiszol]

I attended the Budapest show last night.
I have to say the guys were rockin' brilliantly and they enjoyed themselves on the stage. Petrucci was especially magnificent throughout the evening.

As for James...
Untethered Angel was very bad, close to unlistenable. My companions said afterwards that it was fine in their eyes but I recorded the whole show and it sounds just as bad as how I felt it there. During the song I felt terrible as I thought our entire evening will be ruined by James. I read here before that UA is not a great show starter for him and he usually struggles there but I couldn't imagine that he will be much better later. Most of the high notes were barely audible and/or false and he was out of tone for most of the song. However after UA he became much much better. He was far from perfect and there were some cringy moments later on as well (most notably some parts of Barstool Warrior and TSCO plus almost the entirety of Home) but he was more or less okay. Interestingly it was very hit and miss. He struggled a bit during a song or even during a verse but nailed perfectly the next just as hard one a minute later. For example he sang almost perfectly the end of Finally Free at the very end of the show ("A blinding light comes into view" and onwards) and it rarely gets harder than that. Some parts of the song are on youtube (search for "Dream Theater 2020 Budapest") so you can judge yourself. It was close to what I expected but much better than what I thought it will be after that terribel UA (also on youtube btw). A 6,5/10 perhaps.

The show was great anyway and I hope they can keep playing for at least 10 more years. However altering and shortening the sets for James's sake seems inevitable.

[gzarruk]

This should probably go to the Controversial Opinions thread, but I wouldn't mind seeing them with another vocalist, after James retires, if that means we can have DT for more years (and if the new guy can make the songs justice).

[Cool Chris]

If the guys want to perform post-James, I am ok with that, but it won't be "more DT."

[gzarruk]

If the guys want to perform post-James, I am ok with that, but it won't be "more DT."

Some people said the same about Portnoy. Guess what...

It's not that I *want* this to happen, but if James retires on his own will and the rest of the band feel like they should continue, there's no reason why they shouldn't. If the new guy is good enough and his voice suits the band, I'd be for it.

[Cool Chris]

If the guys want to perform post-James, I am ok with that, but it won't be "more DT."

Some people said the same about Portnoy. Guess what...

True. And fair point I didn't consider, but I wasn't one of those people who thought that.

[Volante99]

If the guys want to perform post-James, I am ok with that, but it won't be "more DT."

Some people said the same about Portnoy. Guess what...

It's not that I *want* this to happen, but if James retires on his own will and the rest of the band feel like they should continue, there's no reason why they shouldn't. If the new guy is good enough and his voice suits the band, I'd be for it.

Losing a singer vs losing a drummer is a totally different ballgame. I’m a big Portnoy fanboy and I recognize his contributions to the songwriting and arranging, but at the end of the day; the drummer keeps the beat. LaBrie is literally the voice of the band.

Now hypothetically DT could replace JLB and survive, but it’s going to have a much larger impact on the sound/tone of the band vs losing Portnoy. For my money, LaBrie and Petrucci have always been the irreplaceable members of DT, and it’s been that way since Images & Words.

[KidInTheDark666]

This. ^

[EPIC Outro]

I love JLB and hope he is DT's singer 'till the end. But if he decided to leave on his own, I would be open to DT continuing with another singer.

However, if DT chose to push him out, I might be done.

[Mladen]

I had a great time in Budapest two nights ago. Paralyzed and Pale blue dot are my favorite new songs and I was really glad I got to hear them. The band performed extremely well and looked like they enjoyed themselves, Myung and Mangini were cracking each other up throughout the night, and James took over the spotlight in terms of stage presence. His singing wasn't what it was six years ago, but I didn't feel like it took away from the experience. I think James is not going anywhere, he can stick around and perform as good as he can until the entire band decides to call it quits. It was so touching to see all of the Scenes. Truly a precious opportunity to witness such a masterpiece of an album in its entirety.

[TAC]

Yeah, great post M.

I know sometimes it's hard to tell, but I can easily feel how into playing with MM that JM is.

[gzarruk]

If the guys want to perform post-James, I am ok with that, but it won't be "more DT."

Some people said the same about Portnoy. Guess what...

It's not that I *want* this to happen, but if James retires on his own will and the rest of the band feel like they should continue, there's no reason why they shouldn't. If the new guy is good enough and his voice suits the band, I'd be for it.

Losing a singer vs losing a drummer is a totally different ballgame. I’m a big Portnoy fanboy and I recognize his contributions to the songwriting and arranging, but at the end of the day; the drummer keeps the beat. LaBrie is literally the voice of the band.

Now hypothetically DT could replace JLB and survive, but it’s going to have a much larger impact on the sound/tone of the band vs losing Portnoy. For my money, LaBrie and Petrucci have always been the irreplaceable members of DT, and it’s been that way since Images & Words.

To be fair, James has been in the band longer and is in more albums than MP, so I agree a vocalist change would be a big shift and James will always be THE voice of DT, but that doesn't mean they can't continue with someone else if he wants to retire.

I love JLB and hope he is DT's singer 'till the end. But if he decided to leave on his own, I would be open to DT continuing with another singer.

This is basically what I've been saying.

[Peter Mc]

I think, because he’s not really one of the main creative forces in the band, they could continue with another singer without the music suffering. It would be a big change in how they sound though as La Brie has a very unique and distinctive sound. He is a big reason why DT don’t sound like any other metal band or even any other prog metal band.  It would be hard to find another singer who can do that for them.  They can find better technical singers but not so easy to find a guy where, as soon as he opens his mouth, you instantly know what band you’re listening to.  Doesn’t seem to me that he’s planning on going any time soon though anyway. 

Under 2 weeks now until I see DT in London so I will hear how he is for myself.

[cramx3]

Maybe the perfect JLB replacement singer who sounds just like him exists in the Philippines

[gzarruk]

Maybe the perfect JLB replacement singer who sounds just like him exists in the Philippines

 

[Lonk]

Maybe the perfect JLB replacement singer who sounds just like him exists in the Philippines

Good one 

It wasn't perfect but I thought Ross Jennings (Haken) sounded pretty good singing The Shattered Fortress set with Portnoy.

[cramx3]

Yea, Ross did DT really well.

[CB]

Comparing youtube videos of 2020 with those of 2019 it's obvious that JLBs voice on this leg of the tour is affected by illness or something else. I'm sure he knows and the band knows the reason, but they don't say anything. I hope it's nothing serious, otherwise it would have been wiser to postpone the tour.
Or to hire a guy from the Philippines.

[KidInTheDark666]

I swear, no other singer gets sick for an entire tour leg as often as James.

[Mladen]

He didn't sound sick to me. He sounded just as he did on the videos from last year's tour. The first set sounds a bit more difficult, but he warms up for Scenes. He is also all over the stage, I am certain he feels good and confident with his performance.

A friend of mine and I often talk about how James takes small steps in front of the drums and hardly makes contact with the audience when he doesn't feel well with his singing. There was absolutely none of that in Budapest.

[KidInTheDark666]

Yeah, he doesn't look sick. Actually he looks like he's enjoying the shows a lot.

[SeRoX]

I watched some of Helsinki show and thought James was really sick or just gave up. Seems like he didn't even try. And I watched Budapest show from youtube and James singed pretty well, even in the first set he nailed it just fine and the stage presence was amazing.

[cminor]

I watched some of Helsinki show and thought James was really sick or just gave up. Seems like he didn't even try.

James was really sick in Helsinki? I don't think so. For example at the end of UA he shows a stage presence you rarely see from him (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3MGpw3BSOU&t=4m48s). He headbangs, kicks the air and just enjoys the energy of the song. His vocals also sounded alright to me (compared to the last videos I have seen from the show in Budapest, where he seemed exhausted most of the time and even changed vocal melodies in BW due to his decreased vocal range).
Overall I have to admit it is very difficult to say anything about his health based on excerpts from youtube videos but my impression is that his general state of health got worse during the tour (let's hope this impression is false). With that in mind it might not have been the best idea to record the DVD right at the end of the tour.

[Adami]

I watched some of Helsinki show and thought James was really sick or just gave up. Seems like he didn't even try. And I watched Budapest show from youtube and James singed pretty well, even in the first set he nailed it just fine and the stage presence was amazing.

Honestly, we have no idea how often James is sick. Every time he struggles, there are tons of fans who say he was sick to justify the bad performance. So the fact that he appears to so often be sick, mostly just means he so often struggles and fans look for ways to justify it that don't involve any actual criticism toward James.

[cminor]

Good point but to be fair even James himself stated that he often got sick during the last tours. I remember an interview (in a podcast?) after the Images, Words & Beyond Tour where he mentioned that he got sick several times on the tour and all the trash-talk about his singing abilities by fans have affected him personally.

[MirrorMask]

Entering this thead symbolically with my hand over my eyes to not read around.

Tomorrow night, it's finally MY turn. 20 years later, I will finally get a chance to listen to Scenes from a Memory in its entirety myself!!!

Yes, sadly when they toured Italy in 2000 they didn't stop by my town (after all they just came the previous autumn, my first DT concert), and so I couldn't / wasn't able to travel and I missed the show where they played it in full.

Better late than never, 20 years later I will FINALLY get to hear my favorite album of all time in its entirety!!! 

Hello Victoria, so glad to see you after 20 years, my friend!

[geeeemo]

Entering this thead symbolically with my hand over my eyes to not read around.

Tomorrow night, it's finally MY turn. 20 years later, I will finally get a chance to listen to Scenes from a Memory in its entirety myself!!!

Yes, sadly when they toured Italy in 2000 they didn't stop by my town (after all they just came the previous autumn, my first DT concert), and so I couldn't / wasn't able to travel and I missed the show where they played it in full.

Better late than never, 20 years later I will FINALLY get to hear my favorite album of all time in its entirety!!! 

Hello Victoria, so glad to see you after 20 years, my friend!

ooh! those first few moments of tick, tock, tick tock.....so exciting!!!

[Lonk]

Enjoy, the excitement after they dim the lights and the clock start ticking is pure joy!

[cramx3]

Entering this thead symbolically with my hand over my eyes to not read around.

Tomorrow night, it's finally MY turn. 20 years later, I will finally get a chance to listen to Scenes from a Memory in its entirety myself!!!

Yes, sadly when they toured Italy in 2000 they didn't stop by my town (after all they just came the previous autumn, my first DT concert), and so I couldn't / wasn't able to travel and I missed the show where they played it in full.

Better late than never, 20 years later I will FINALLY get to hear my favorite album of all time in its entirety!!! 

Hello Victoria, so glad to see you after 20 years, my friend!

 

[gmillerdrake]

Entering this thead symbolically with my hand over my eyes to not read around.

Tomorrow night, it's finally MY turn. 20 years later, I will finally get a chance to listen to Scenes from a Memory in its entirety myself!!!

Yes, sadly when they toured Italy in 2000 they didn't stop by my town (after all they just came the previous autumn, my first DT concert), and so I couldn't / wasn't able to travel and I missed the show where they played it in full.

Better late than never, 20 years later I will FINALLY get to hear my favorite album of all time in its entirety!!! 

Hello Victoria, so glad to see you after 20 years, my friend!

Nice       You will not be disappointed. Was fortunate to see it twice last year....incredible stuff

[pg1067]

Entering this thead symbolically with my hand over my eyes to not read around.

Tomorrow night, it's finally MY turn. 20 years later, I will finally get a chance to listen to Scenes from a Memory in its entirety myself!!!

Yes, sadly when they toured Italy in 2000 they didn't stop by my town (after all they just came the previous autumn, my first DT concert), and so I couldn't / wasn't able to travel and I missed the show where they played it in full.

Better late than never, 20 years later I will FINALLY get to hear my favorite album of all time in its entirety!!! 

Hello Victoria, so glad to see you after 20 years, my friend!

You are where I was about 10 months ago.  I also missed the SFAM tour (although I had multiple opportunities to see it and have no idea why I missed it).  I had seen most of my favorite parts of it done over the years since, but seeing the whole thing was EPIC!!!  Enjoy yourself.

[CB]

I missed SFAM the first time because I didn't even know DT back then, silly me!

Have fun, it's sooo worth it

(But don't forget to enjoy the first part of the show as well, it's great too, just VERY different.)