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

[bosk1]

I terms of view, I think rows 3-5 or so are about the best.  You are still right there, but just far enough back to where you can take in more of the stage.  But in terms of band interaction, front row is where it's at.  When it is dark, the band can't really see beyond the first row or two a lot of the time.

[nobloodyname]

According to one of the (former, I guess) heads of Voices, there's nothing new or special about either night (other than them being filmed).

[MirrorMask]

I assume they'll play one night Fall into the Light, one night Paralyzed, and have both on the DVD.

[Zydar]

Oh I'd love to have Fall Into The Light on a DVD/Blu-Ray. That's probably my favourite song from the new album.

[IgnotusPerIgnotium]

According to one of the (former, I guess) heads of Voices, there's nothing new or special about either night (other than them being filmed).

My guess is that maybe they'll like to film both performances and choose the best ones from each night..
If they're doing the same set list each night it's cool, although predictable..but I'd hope they add at least  some solo spots, let's say JR playing Interstices (which I absolutely love!) or some cool jam with JP maybe some LTE like Hourglass, that would be worth it!

[Sebastián Pratesi]

Random question about the show - at my show, James during the pause between Act I and Act II of SFAM reminded that Jordan Rudess had just joined the band, and got him to come out and say hi at his mic. Does he always do that or was it a slightly improvised moment?

Yeah, it seems it changes from day to day. He didn't do that at the show in Buenos Aires in December.

There, he explained that the album's success was a very important moment in their career, and that they were thankful and happy to be playing those songs 20 years later. He did say that it was their first album with Jordan.

He also said that he was feeling very high "from all the pot". Which reminded me of this oldie but goldie: https://youtu.be/7qP6pmJdQZ0

[SeRoX]

When you have a chance to play DOT in its in its entirety but you decided to not. You had all the time to perform.  Since DOT is very well welcomed from fans I don't think it would be overkill to play it as a whole. And you play 2 nights in a row for the DVD.

I'm questioning DT's tour and setlist decisions since the Astonishing tour.

[Lowe2005]

When you have a chance to play DOT in its in its entirety but you decided to not. You had all the time to perform.  Since DOT is very well welcomed from fans I don't think it would be overkill to play it as a whole. And you play 2 nights in a row for the DVD.

I'm questioning DT's tour and setlist decisions since the Astonishing tour.

What didn't you like about I,W&B?

[the_silent_man]

I,W&B was awesome. I loved how they reintroduced some extended bits, covers, the story time part, enter sandman snippet etc, which they hadn't done in a while. I always loved things like this and it made DT shows a bit more... special?

Have they continued doing this for this tour or are they just playing the songs straight with no additions?

[hefdaddy42]

Straight, no chaser.

[MirrorMask]

Well, SFAM begs to be played in its entirety and one song after the other, but there is a break between Act I and Act II, and James talks a bit there reminiscing about the album. Just like he did every 2 songs during the Images and Words set. Better than nothing.

The first set of the show goes on in full and James talks only after the first two songs with the usual "welcome to the show, good to be back" thing.

[cramx3]

I,W&B was awesome. I loved how they reintroduced some extended bits, covers, the story time part, enter sandman snippet etc, which they hadn't done in a while. I always loved things like this and it made DT shows a bit more... special?

Have they continued doing this for this tour or are they just playing the songs straight with no additions?

Plus ACOS, the Euros got a few TA songs, NA got some deep cuts if you were lucky.  Defintiely thought that was a solid show and tour.  The only problem with this one, was following up two tours of playing full albums with another doing another classic album.  It seems to have done fairly well in terms of sales (2nd US leg was a bit weaker, but first was super strong and the Euro shows look well attended) though so while I wasn't a huge fan of doing all of SFAM, I did enjoy the shows I saw and can't complain too much other than not swapping more songs on the second leg.

[pg1067]

I,W&B was awesome. I loved how they reintroduced some extended bits, covers, the story time part, enter sandman snippet etc, which they hadn't done in a while. I always loved things like this and it made DT shows a bit more... special?

Have they continued doing this for this tour or are they just playing the songs straight with no additions?

Plus ACOS, the Euros got a few TA songs, NA got some deep cuts if you were lucky.  Defintiely thought that was a solid show and tour.  The only problem with this one, was following up two tours of playing full albums with another doing another classic album.  It seems to have done fairly well in terms of sales (2nd US leg was a bit weaker, but first was super strong and the Euro shows look well attended) though so while I wasn't a huge fan of doing all of SFAM, I did enjoy the shows I saw and can't complain too much other than not swapping more songs on the second leg.

All of I&W plus ACOS in full was worth it by itself.  Prior to that tour, I had never seen ACOS done in full, although I think I had seen all of the sections separately.  The first set list was patchy.  I was at one of the shows where they did Don't Look Past Me, which was not good.  I'm also not a big fan of To Live Forever, and it wasn't a "deep cut" for me since I had seen it a bunch on some of the early tours.  However, that one at least suits James's current range very well, so the performance was strong.  We also got Hell's Kitchen, As I Am and Breaking All Illusions, which was really good (I honestly don't remember the Sandman snippet).

[Chino]

We also got Hell's Kitchen, As I Am and Breaking All Illusions, which was really good (I honestly don't remember the Sandman snippet).

I am peanut butter and jealous.

[Ben_Jamin]

I'm not expecting anything surprising for the filming. Unless they decide to get the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

[Lowe2005]

Well, I'm very much looking forward to tonight, almost 3 years is too long, especially when I got spoiled with 3/5 of the UK shows back in 2014. I could do with a bit of cheering up and my co-conspirator tonight hasn't been well but he's not going to miss celebrating 20 years since he started seeing DT.

[cramx3]

I,W&B was awesome. I loved how they reintroduced some extended bits, covers, the story time part, enter sandman snippet etc, which they hadn't done in a while. I always loved things like this and it made DT shows a bit more... special?

Have they continued doing this for this tour or are they just playing the songs straight with no additions?

Plus ACOS, the Euros got a few TA songs, NA got some deep cuts if you were lucky.  Defintiely thought that was a solid show and tour.  The only problem with this one, was following up two tours of playing full albums with another doing another classic album.  It seems to have done fairly well in terms of sales (2nd US leg was a bit weaker, but first was super strong and the Euro shows look well attended) though so while I wasn't a huge fan of doing all of SFAM, I did enjoy the shows I saw and can't complain too much other than not swapping more songs on the second leg.

All of I&W plus ACOS in full was worth it by itself.  Prior to that tour, I had never seen ACOS done in full, although I think I had seen all of the sections separately.  The first set list was patchy.  I was at one of the shows where they did Don't Look Past Me, which was not good.  I'm also not a big fan of To Live Forever, and it wasn't a "deep cut" for me since I had seen it a bunch on some of the early tours.  However, that one at least suits James's current range very well, so the performance was strong.  We also got Hell's Kitchen, As I Am and Breaking All Illusions, which was really good (I honestly don't remember the Sandman snippet).

If you weren't a fan before 2007ish, To Live Forever is practically a deep cut now.  But also, I got to see Jordan and John do Hourglass from LTE.  While that tour wasn't much of surprises as a whole tour, the fact they did a couple at all was kind of cool and still different than what they have done this tour, unless I missed out on some nuggets.  I don't recall any one off things like Hourglass or Don't Look Past Me during the D/T/SFAM tour they've been on for the last year.

[pg1067]

Well...the first set seems to be identical to the rest of the tour (with Paralyzed in the third slot).

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2020/eventim-apollo-london-england-439873df.html

[cramx3]

Well...the first set seems to be identical to the rest of the tour (with Paralyzed in the third slot).

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dream-theater/2020/eventim-apollo-london-england-439873df.html

Personally, if anything changes I would expect it to be on night 2, but also, I'm not really anticipating much difference between swapping that with FitL.  I do wish for some surprises though.  Hopefully it's their best performance too.

[nobloodyname]

Back from the show.

Good overall performance although felt as if it was lacking a little dynamism. A little je ne sais quoi. Well, I do, but we've been here before.

James pitchy. Mumbly in places. Gave up singing some lines, and was barely audible in the mix (in the first set) to the point that I heard it being discussed in the toilets. It absolutely wasn't the worst night I've seen of his but there were a number of people around me in the second row who were noticeably mouthing wtf. I know there will be other people posting here who'll say he sounded great, and I'll be delighted for them. Honestly.

Cameras were limited in presence tonight. And there was certainly absolutely nothing to explain why my front row centre seats for tomorrow night were moved but perhaps there'll be a track installed tomorrow for additional shots.

Set as you'd expect with Paralyzed.

Got a JP pick

Energy was nowhere near the level it was for the Score show (I was there for that one, too). The atmosphere was electric that night. Utterly transcendent. Although I was less sober, too, which may have had an effect back then

Looking forward to tomorrow night now. Just wish there were going to be more former Voicees in attendance. Lovely to see a few before tonight's show, though.

Also: I want a pair of the jeans James was wearing.

Also also: people in the front row literally - and I mean that literally - had drinks confiscated, with no prior warning, because the show was being filmed. Quite extraordinary.

[Peter Mc]

Can’t really disagree. I have been a staunch defender of JLB but I will hold my hands up tonight and say he was very poor to the point that it was detrimental to the show, especially the first set which did not sound good at all. The energy picked up with Scenes but not enough, just never really got excited by any of it.

I will say that this is the first time I’ve worn earplugs at a DT show as I now have tinnitus and don’t want to do any further damage. That may account a little for the lack of ooomph, I’m not sure.  I would rank this as probably the 2nd worst DT show I’ve seen in 23 years of seeing them and I get no pleasure from saying that. I would have to seriously think about spending £60-70 to see them again if this is how JLB sounds going forward.

Not just JLB though, there was just a lack of energy on stage in general and the crowd didn’t seem all that into it even. Can’t see it making for a great DVD.

[Architeuthis]

I've seen some reviews on fb saying JLB was great!  If not, at least he gets another crack at it tomorrow night.

[geeeemo]

I have been seeing that as well..People are stoked 

[nobloodyname]

Can’t really disagree. I have been a staunch defender of JLB but I will hold my hands up tonight and say he was very poor to the point that it was detrimental to the show, especially the first set which did not sound good at all. The energy picked up with Scenes but not enough, just never really got excited by any of it.

I will say that this is the first time I’ve worn earplugs at a DT show as I now have tinnitus and don’t want to do any further damage. That may account a little for the lack of ooomph, I’m not sure.  I would rank this as probably the 2nd worst DT show I’ve seen in 23 years of seeing them and I get no pleasure from saying that. I would have to seriously think about spending £60-70 to see them again if this is how JLB sounds going forward.

Not just JLB though, there was just a lack of energy on stage in general and the crowd didn’t seem all that into it even. Can’t see it making for a great DVD.

Re making a good live release, I had that very thought towards the end of the show. Funny what you find yourself thinking. At least the performance itself will be patched-up.

Earplugs and tinnitus: same position as you (wonder if we're a similar age? Couple of years off 50 here). I took one of the plugs out at one stage to hear what it was like and wowee... it was horribly unpleasant. Folks, we talked about this before but I would not, no way, attend this show without earplugs.

But hey, still looking forward to tonight!

[nobloodyname]

Here you are, a clip of The Spirit Carries On I filmed last night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYo3oj5AyRA

[SeRoX]

I'm reading many post from Facebook and like %90 of the comments raise James' performance.

I think the last Europe shows he saved his voice for the DVD and he gave his best that night (and hopefully tonight too.) I just watched some London clips from Youtube and James sounds so tight and confident.

[Lethean]

Not just JLB though, there was just a lack of energy on stage in general and the crowd didn’t seem all that into it even. Can’t see it making for a great DVD.

Was the crowd at least standing for the show?  If everyone was in their seats it definitely gives that vibe of not being into it, even if people are very much into it.  They posted a few days ago asking the crowd to be loud or energetic or something like that and my thought was "good luck with that." I saw the Images and Words anniversary tour in the UK and the crowd made Canadian audiences seem energetic in comparison.

[Adami]

Here you are, a clip of The Spirit Carries On I filmed last night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYo3oj5AyRA

Eesh. Definitely not his worst performance, but still really rough.

[Peter Mc]

Can’t really disagree. I have been a staunch defender of JLB but I will hold my hands up tonight and say he was very poor to the point that it was detrimental to the show, especially the first set which did not sound good at all. The energy picked up with Scenes but not enough, just never really got excited by any of it.

I will say that this is the first time I’ve worn earplugs at a DT show as I now have tinnitus and don’t want to do any further damage. That may account a little for the lack of ooomph, I’m not sure.  I would rank this as probably the 2nd worst DT show I’ve seen in 23 years of seeing them and I get no pleasure from saying that. I would have to seriously think about spending £60-70 to see them again if this is how JLB sounds going forward.

Not just JLB though, there was just a lack of energy on stage in general and the crowd didn’t seem all that into it even. Can’t see it making for a great DVD.

Re making a good live release, I had that very thought towards the end of the show. Funny what you find yourself thinking. At least the performance itself will be patched-up.

Earplugs and tinnitus: same position as you (wonder if we're a similar age? Couple of years off 50 here). I took one of the plugs out at one stage to hear what it was like and wowee... it was horribly unpleasant. Folks, we talked about this before but I would not, no way, attend this show without earplugs.

But hey, still looking forward to tonight!

44 years young! Tinnitus literally came out of nowhere about 16 months ago.

Weird thing was that James struggled really badly on the new songs, you’d think he would at least be able to manage stuff only recently recorded. I will say that this is the first time I’ve ever had this experience with him. He’s always been really good, occasionally superb. He sang the Scenes stuff marginally better, especially the ballads but kept going for crazy notes that be blatantly was not capable of hitting. Maybe me wearing earplugs didn’t help, I don’t know. I saw the Images tour the other year and he was as good as I’ve ever seen him.  Hopefully this is just a one-off but I would certainly think twice about spending £150 (including travel and hotel) to see them again. Hopefully he and band/crowd are better tonight and people get a great show.

[nobloodyname]

Can’t really disagree. I have been a staunch defender of JLB but I will hold my hands up tonight and say he was very poor to the point that it was detrimental to the show, especially the first set which did not sound good at all. The energy picked up with Scenes but not enough, just never really got excited by any of it.

I will say that this is the first time I’ve worn earplugs at a DT show as I now have tinnitus and don’t want to do any further damage. That may account a little for the lack of ooomph, I’m not sure.  I would rank this as probably the 2nd worst DT show I’ve seen in 23 years of seeing them and I get no pleasure from saying that. I would have to seriously think about spending £60-70 to see them again if this is how JLB sounds going forward.

Not just JLB though, there was just a lack of energy on stage in general and the crowd didn’t seem all that into it even. Can’t see it making for a great DVD.

Re making a good live release, I had that very thought towards the end of the show. Funny what you find yourself thinking. At least the performance itself will be patched-up.

Earplugs and tinnitus: same position as you (wonder if we're a similar age? Couple of years off 50 here). I took one of the plugs out at one stage to hear what it was like and wowee... it was horribly unpleasant. Folks, we talked about this before but I would not, no way, attend this show without earplugs.

But hey, still looking forward to tonight!

44 years young! Tinnitus literally came out of nowhere about 16 months ago.

Weird thing was that James struggled really badly on the new songs, you’d think he would at least be able to manage stuff only recently recorded. I will say that this is the first time I’ve ever had this experience with him. He’s always been really good, occasionally superb. He sang the Scenes stuff marginally better, especially the ballads but kept going for crazy notes that be blatantly was not capable of hitting. Maybe me wearing earplugs didn’t help, I don’t know. I saw the Images tour the other year and he was as good as I’ve ever seen him.  Hopefully this is just a one-off but I would certainly think twice about spending £150 (including travel and hotel) to see them again. Hopefully he and band/crowd are better tonight and people get a great show.

47... and the same thing happened with my tinnitus about two years ago!

So! Tonight! Proper filming went on tonight with a track in front of the stage. Fall Into the Light replaced Paralyzed, otherwise no changes and no special stuff. James was better overall tonight but again went for a few nights he wasn't going to reach. We had the pleasure of being virtually right in front of him, second row, and the effort he puts into singing really is quite something.

Crowd stayed seated until half-way through The Spirit Carries On.

Curiously (I use that word advisedly with respect to last night's incidents!), the front row were allowed to keep their drinks tonight.

Better overall than last night, I would say

[geeeemo]

Got back from the show a bit ago. I thought it was fantastic! The crowd was seated, but some of us stood at appropriate moments, and the momentum built steadily. I was surprised at the energy in the venue considering we weren't standing the whole time. I was sitting in the 12th row center right.

I thought James sounded great. Not flat all! Even on UA and BW. Maybe sharp once for a couple words. Loved it. He really had superb energy on the stage. This was the 4th time I saw this show and it was the best of them all. Not too soft or loud.

I was sitting next to a young woman who was sooo excited to see Scenes, she showed me her goosebumps (I can't remember the song now  ) I enjoyed Spirit more than at any show, it was really a moment. Honestly, all of Secenes is a moment. ItPoE was really, really great as well.

Either at the end of the 1st set or Scenes, MM crossed his arms like a genie and slowly sunk down and disappeared. It was fun .

I am sad it's done already and the next tour won't be for a while. Dream Theater never disappoints!

[AboutToCrash]

I don’t post too often but I too was at the London show and thought James was very poor. I was always relieved when he left the stage so that the band could perform instrumentally. I’ve defended him previously to no end and think in the studio he’s a fantastic addition to the band.. but it’s perplexing that he would perform like that given that the show was being filmed. He was also adjusting vocal melodies to go higher which made no sense to me. This is the 8th time I’ve seen them and for the price I paid I expected some form of effort from him, it seemed so half arsed and careless. My partner was excited to hear metropolis for the first time and couldn’t understand what the Hell he was saying. I might not go again. On the other hand the band itself were phenomenal, the technicality and sound was insane and I’m constantly dumbfounded by their ability. JLB did nail in the presence of enemies to be fair to him, but to release this performance on DVD would be a catastrophe imo. It’s a shame because he really detracted from the band last night, a feeling I’ve not had for the previous 7 shows

[geeeemo]

Weird how our perspectives are different...

[CB]

Weird how our perspectives are different...

The comments on facebook about the London shows are VERY positive and there's a lot of excitement regarding the dvd. Some complaints about the sound in the venue, some complain that the vocals were occasionally drowned out by the guitar. That's no problem regarding the dvd, and some wrong notes, if there have been any, can be fixed. I have no doubt they have the material for a great dvd!

About JLB, he definitely had superb energy on stage when I saw the show in Oberhausen! Since the start of the tour I never heard any comments about him being half-arsed or careless on stage, quite the opposite. Really strange that different people seem to have seen different shows even if they were at the same concert

[gzarruk]

Is there a vocalist as controversial as JLB in the genere?