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

[Volante99]

I actually didn't mind the set at all. Except the encore.

Lol actually I thought the PMU encore was perfect. Left after the first chorus and beat the traffic. 

[Volante99]

Edit: Delete

[pg1067]

My "complaints" about the set were all personal to me and my own choices (I'd rather see AWE than PBD, I'd rather see S2n and maybe a TA song or two instead of ANTR), DT has done a fabulous job of rotating songs each tour since MM joined and the facts show that.

Agree.  We all have our favorites and songs that we don't like as much as others.  If I had known the set list before the show, I wouldn't have been looking forward to ANTR, ITPOE and PMU -- not that I don't like PMU, but I did not expect any I&W songs, and PMU is no better than my #5 song on I&W.  That said, in the moment, the performances were great, and it's not as if they busted out a GnR song or something.  Plus, PMU gets the crowd going.  I don't know any band that has been around as long as DT that will regularly play virtually any song in its catalog the way DT will.

[El Barto]

My "complaints" about the set were all personal to me and my own choices (I'd rather see AWE than PBD, I'd rather see S2n and maybe a TA song or two instead of ANTR), DT has done a fabulous job of rotating songs each tour since MM joined and the facts show that.

Agree.  We all have our favorites and songs that we don't like as much as others.  If I had known the set list before the show, I wouldn't have been looking forward to ANTR, ITPOE and PMU -- not that I don't like PMU, but I did not expect any I&W songs, and PMU is no better than my #5 song on I&W.  That said, in the moment, the performances were great, and it's not as if they busted out a GnR song or something.  Plus, PMU gets the crowd going.  I don't know any band that has been around as long as DT that will regularly play virtually any song in its catalog the way DT will.

Metallica. Hell, they'll play every song in the catalogue on a single tour.

Honestly, I find nothing special at all with DT's setlists. And now they seem to have settled on their own Rainbow in the Dark which must be played for every audience. In fact, most of the bands I'm seeing are pulling out deep cuts that DT probably wouldn't.

[Volante99]

My "complaints" about the set were all personal to me and my own choices (I'd rather see AWE than PBD, I'd rather see S2n and maybe a TA song or two instead of ANTR), DT has done a fabulous job of rotating songs each tour since MM joined and the facts show that.

Agree.  We all have our favorites and songs that we don't like as much as others.  If I had known the set list before the show, I wouldn't have been looking forward to ANTR, ITPOE and PMU -- not that I don't like PMU, but I did not expect any I&W songs, and PMU is no better than my #5 song on I&W.  That said, in the moment, the performances were great, and it's not as if they busted out a GnR song or something.  Plus, PMU gets the crowd going.  I don't know any band that has been around as long as DT that will regularly play virtually any song in its catalog the way DT will.

Metallica. Hell, they'll play every song in the catalogue on a single tour.

Honestly, I find nothing special at all with DT's setlists. And now they seem to have settled on their own Rainbow in the Dark which must be played for every audience. In fact, most of the bands I'm seeing are pulling out deep cuts that DT probably wouldn't.

The fact that people are critiquing DT for playing their BIGGEST hit for two tours in a row (OMG! SHAME!  ) is your answer to why their setlist is pretty special. As opposed to Metallica who have made sure to play the same standard handful of "hits" on every show for nearly 30 years. Personally, I've seen DT 5 times and they have played PMU twice.

Because DT has no other BIG hits, just fan favorites, "deep cut" becomes a bit subjective. Sure, they have obscure songs, but, let's face it, 90% of the fans don't REEEALLY have a burning desire to hear "Anna Lee" or "The Ones Who Help Set the Sun".

Also your comment as to most bands playing deep cuts at shows has not been my experience at all.

[Cool Chris]

Let's not overstate PMU's significance here. Sure it is their biggest hit, but it isn't Enter Sandman. No one is coming out of the Yankees bullpen to it.

[Trav86]

I’ve only seen PMU live one time. So, I’m actually looking forward to it.

[cramx3]

I think I didn't see PMU until like the 5th or so time seeing DT.  I agree, that it their hit and its a testament to their setlists that they don't always play it, but sure it's also not quite comparable to the Metallica hits.  I don't think the average DT fan goes to see them to see PMU, but I know there's lots of people who go to the Metallica concert and only know Enter Sandman.

[porcacultor]

I looked into my list of DT concerts (which is pretty meager compared to most users), 3 in São Paulo/Brazil and 1 in New York in the span of six years (2008-2014). I only ever heard basically half of Pull Me Under live (as part of the Pull Me Fingertropolis medley in 2010).

So yeah, I think they could do a lot worse in terms of abusing favourites. They really don't have the same kind of career (and the corresponding predicament of "we have to include 4 specific songs in the setlist at all times") as Iron Maiden and Metallica.

[Volante99]

I’m also coming from the standpoint that when I’ve gone to DT shows with friends (typically casual DT fans), more often than not they are bummed Pmu WASNT played.

[pg1067]

According to setlist.fm, PMU is the non-Rush song I have seen the most live -- 10 times (out of 16 times seeing DT).  I have no complaint about DT playing its biggest/only "hit.  Rather, as mentioned, it's not among my favorites on I&W, and I was not expecting any I&W material this tour.

Ultimately, the opinions about what DT should and shouldn't play are so diverse -- especially among the most vocal fans -- that there's pretty much no way to make everyone happen.  If I were making the set list, one or both of Metropolis and LTL would pretty much always be there, so....

[Dream Team]

I’m pretty sure Metallica plays virtually nothing from Load, Reload, and St Anger except Fuel.

[lovethedrake]

Just got out of the Chicago show...   what a fantastic show!     

I've seen them either 11 or 12 times now and this is their best show in MANY MANY years.

The first set is good...I would say it was on par with the last bunch of tours I have seen but Barstool Warrior and ITPOE elevated it above the recent tours.  We also had FITL instead of Paralyzed which excited me very much because I wanted to see that mid section live so badly.  It did not disappoint.    SC is one of my least favorite DT albums, but HOLY WOW was ITPOE amazing live. 

Then came SFAM....

Just an incredible experience if you love this album like I do.    They were on fire, James sounded excellent and the sound for Petrucci was simply spot on.  IMO SFAM is the greatest guitar album ever made, and to see it live in its entirety is just special beyond words.   You know you are in the presence of greatness while watching JP play this album.  I had some tears coming out during TSCO.

PMU sounds lame in theory but the crowd gets into and it sounds amazing.    I'm actually really glad they ended with PMU.

Just a brilliant show....  seeing SFAM in its entirety was a dream come through for me. 

Highlights of the SFAM set were  Beyond this Life, Dance of Eternity, and TSCO. 

Such a fantastic night... thanks again DT!!!!!      I can't wait for the second leg to see AWE and S2N hopefully.

[SystematicThought]

Ended up going to bed pretty quickly when I got home last night, so didn't get to post my thoughts on last night's show in St. Paul.

I thought it was fantastic. Probably my favorite Dream Theater show that I've seen out of the 5 that I've attended. You can tell how much fun they are having, it's palpable. One of the things that I noticed right away is that JLB is working the crowd so much more and he doesn't go run backstage as quickly anymore. During the entire instrumental section of a Nightmare to Remember he stood in the middle of the risers above Mangini and kinda seemed to take a page out of Maynard's playbook and hold on to the mic and do a little dance. It was refreshing to see.

FIRST ACT
I'm not gonna lie, this first set still doesn't do much for me. Untethered Angel is really cool and fun live, an excellent opener. I didn't know how they would handle the intro of the song, but as far as my ears could hear, they just go straight into the heavy part of the intro? I thought that was great. The outro is also really cool live, and watching Mangini do all of that cymbal work up high is mesmerizing.

Mangini really makes ANTR his own. He slays on this track and he keeps it heavy while adding his own nuances, and I think actually does a proper blast beat, and makes it fun. I think this tour is really Mangini unleashed. He is having so much fun, as always, but he's making the songs his own. ANTR just hammered that home. That being said, two album openers in a row and a long second song kinda felt like too much. I mean, half of the first set is album openers, it just felt like a bit too much. I would rather have seen two different songs, if that was the other option.

The impromptu Rudess/Mangini jam when JP's guitar wasn't working was really cool to see. They played off each other so well and Mangini did some really cool fills. Paralyzed is a really cool live song, and the chorus works really well in a live setting. I liked it.

Barstool Warrior wasn't my favorite track on the new album and didn't do much for me live, but I did really think the projection was really cool for it and the intro is really cool live. Once again, Mangini was the highlight for me. He's just so much fun to watch.

I did forget how much I liked ITPOE Pt 1. I love the intro and when they come back to the intro riff midway through, but faster, that was really cool. The guy next to me was having a religious experience during that part. The risers really were cool for this part because JP went up on the top on his side for that fast part and it felt like he was lording over the stage and it looked really cool.

Pale Blue Dot was really cool live and once again Mangini.... That drum break is really cool live and he gets into it. The projection for this was really cool. The chorus is really good live too.

Overall, I guess I wish there was some more album representation in the first set. I get the focus on new material, but we maybe could have had two more songs in lieu of ANTR and maybe PBD as the encore and a different song in the first set. I don't know, I don't mean to sound so negative, but I just felt underwhelmed in the first half. Oh well, the second set was well worth the price of admission.

SECOND SET
Man, this was so fucking cool to see live. I was only 4 when Scenes From A Memory came out so obviously I didn't know shit about the band or music in general, although I did get Van Halen's 1984 for Christmas in 99, so I did have some music to chew on.

 Anyways, as soon as the lights dimmed for the second act, everybody immediately got out of their seats as the opening credits rolled. I really liked the animations and how they introduced the characters for the album. I forgot that Edward is apparently a Senator in this story, so the sign BAYNES FOR SENATE was a nice refresher. Portraying Victoria in the 1920s flapper style attire was also stylish and added some character to the story. I really liked the accompanying projections for the entire SFAM set. Much better than the live action shots from Metropolis 2000.

I was just in awe the entire time watching this set. Highlights for me were Home (my favorite DT song), Fatal Tragedy during the instrumental when JR and JP were both on the back risers, TDOE was absolutely amazing, my favorite rendition they've done, Finally Free and the CRAZY Mangini outro, his drums really rocked the house, the ground was shaking. Going back, TDOE leading into One Last Time with no pause was just so cool. I wish TSCO had an extended guitar solo outro because it's just so powerful live. Beyond This Life was really cool, and JP's guitar effects were cool live and they actually sounded like they surrounded you. I also realized for the first time how the bass riff in the first verse really sounds like a detective piece in an old movie, it was a cool moment.

I really liked how they played true to the album though, which makes it easier to not feel too bad about an unextended TSCO outro. I felt like I was listening to the record, but the band was playing it live for me like it was 1999 and they were debuting the album for a select group of people. They even did the whole Nicholas getting killed in the end, unlike the 2000 version. I just couldn't help but smile the entire set. I got to see one of my favorite albums in it's entirety and it did not disappoint.

FINAL THOUGHTS
The band is firing on all cylinders. JLB sounds amazing, he's playing the crowd more and just seems like he's having a lot of fun. He didn't run and hide for the instrumentals but stayed out and interacted. I loved it.

JP's playing was amazing as usual.

JM's mix was probably the best I've heard it. Not only was he audible on D/T, he was audible live and his solo in TDOE sounded amazing.

JR interacted with MM a lot and his keytar work was really cool when he did have those spots. Since JP is wireless now, it was cool to see him walk the back risers and end up behind JR to jam during PMU.

Mangini was the star for me though. You can tell that he is comfortable and having SO much fun playing and he is so grateful to be doing what he's doing. But I think shedding the skin of "being Portnoy's replacement" and just being Mangini, the drummer for Dream Theater is doing wonders for him. You compare Finally Free 6 years ago to Finally Free last night, it's night and day. Mangini, if you ever read this, don't stop what you're doing you are so much fun to watch play and the passion is palpable. You are worthy of the DT drum throne. Thank you for your performance last night.

_______

Side note: This was the weirdest DT crowd. There were a lot of drunk people, and a lot of getting up and going to grab a drink (oddly enough, a lot got up for a drink break during Barstool Warrior). The past four that I've seen, everyone is so locked into the music. Thankfully they weren't talking, but there was a couple during the first set on lower level that stood the entire time when no one else did on the left side. During JLB's talk spot before Paralyzed, I think I heard the lady yell something at the person behind her (I assume they asked her to sit down) it was weird. Security did gather around that area a little bit later. The dude was so out of it, he kept stumbling into the aisle and stumbled out to go get another drink. They left midway through SFAM.

Anyways, best show I've seen from them and SFAM was AWESOME! If you have any doubt about going, you should go. Because this is DT having the most fun in their careers and the energy and passion was palpable. I had a great time.

Bosk, quick question if you read this. Can you ask the band what the pre-show robot electronic music is? I kind of got it stuck in my head after awhile. As well as the intermission 1950s music. That was really cool.

[Dream Team]

Wow great experiences! I can’t go this time which sucks. But yeah agreed on SFAM being the greatest guitar album.

[TodJam]

Bosk, quick question if you read this. Can you ask the band what the pre-show robot electronic music is? I kind of got it stuck in my head after awhile. As well as the intermission 1950s music. That was really cool.

I think it was Kraftwerk played during pre-show (at the Wiltern), don't remember about the intermission music.

[RipRokken]

I prefer seated as well, I'm done with the pushing and shoving, the fight to remain in your spot, getting to the venue at 7 am to get a spot near the front.
Standing through shitty opening bands, stand waiting for the band to take the stage, getting so thirsty but not being able to leave your spot cause you know you won't be able to get back to it. Hardly being able to walk the next day, none of that shit is a fun part of the experience for me.
Unfortunately Dream Theater is the only band I like that does seating venues, as a result they're only band I see where I still function the following morning, except for my voice heh

I'm glad someone mentioned that, lol. I'm in the same boat at my age. Funny, I thought I was there about 20 years or so ago when Judas Priest came to town for the Jugulator tour. Rather than stand up front, I found a nice comfy spot at a nearby bar on the floor to watch the show from and was perfectly happy with it (in that venue, that particular bar was pretty close to the left side of the stage). Yet strangely here I am today, still preferring to be up front when I can, and unfortunately, even if there is no general admission pit, that usually involves standing for long periods of time. When there is no gen admission pit in front of the seats, the front row still stands up, and it becomes s a domino effect, because everyone directly behind can't see until they stand up as well, lol. If everyone just remained in their seat, everyone would be able to see perfectly, but that's just not the way it works.  I'm also still of the "general" guiding principle that 1) the front row is really for super fans, 2) that casual fans or guests who got comp tickets who sit down there with their arms folded should be ejected to the balcony, and 3) that when once you become front row "spoiled" (kind of a curse), 2nd row are terrible seats, lol. I've softened on that of course with age, but there is no doubt that what you experience on the 1st and 2nd rows may be vastly different.

Sometimes in a fully seated venue there is the challenge of people from the back coming up to stand against the stage in front of the first row, and that can be a pain in the A. Luckily good security will try to manage that scenario, but I don't mind it so much during the encores -- in fact, I might try to make my way up there too at the end if it's being tolerated.

When it comes to a gen admission pit up front, more often than not I'll try to get as close as possible, but am perfectly content to leave that spot for someone else if I get tired. Luckily, most adult crowds seem to be a lot kind that they were before, and people seem to respect each other's space. I literally can't remember the last time I was getting the life squeezed out of me or fighting random surges, having fights break out around me, etc. It's pretty nice. Still, there is the matter of standing all that time.

Anyway, your post gave me a laugh. I don't see many shows these days anymore, but have started peeking back out there and Dream Theater has been #1 on my bucket list. Whether I want to be up front or happy with seats a bit further back depends on who I'm seeing and how many times I’ve seen them before. Just last week, I saw Queensryche and Fates Warning in San Antonio, TX, and had to go through the same challenges you posted about, lol (except all 3 bands were fantastic and the crowd was thick, but no shoving). This was at the end of a week's vacation and my knees and feet were beat to death. To keep it short, standing in line to get in, lucking into a front row spot against the rail, then standing there through 3 bands without needing to pee (total of about 4.5-5 hours invested on my feet) was an amazing feat of discipline and willpower at my age, lol. Luckily it got easier once the adrenaline from the concert kicked in.

[Lethean]

I've finally caught a show, so now I don't have to stay away from the DT section of the forum.

I haven't read this thread yet, but just wanted to say that I thought the first set was awesome and surprising.  Of all the songs I thought they might play, A Nightmare to Remember and In the Presence of Enemies weren't ones I thought of.  Both sounded fantastic and made the show that much better.  (And I even enjoyed the "day after day" part).
However - I'm hoping this means that they'll do a second US leg and play the other half of Distance Over Time.  Those other songs are too good to not be played.

The second set was just incredible.  I always hoped I'd have a chance to see Scenes live in its entirety one day, and that day finally came.  It was amazing and I thought it was more energetic and intense than when they did I&W.  (No complaints from me about I&W - great great show - I just thought Scenes was even better).

The encore is the only thing I would change. When they finished with the static from Scenes, I was saying to myself "do it do it do it" thinking they might come out with The Glass Prison. As time went on, I doubted that they would, and of course they didn't and played Pull Me Under instead.  I like PMU, but I do hope it gets a rest whenever they tour next.

[Trav86]

How do they do the “day after day” vocal part? Is it a backing track? Or does James just do it?

[Lethean]

James does it.  And he doesn't try to growl or anything.  I thought it sounded good.

[Ben_Jamin]

James does it.  And he doesn't try to growl or anything.  I thought it sounded good.

I thought it sounded better than actually doing that growl. Now if they mixed them both together, is another story.

[Lethean]

James does it.  And he doesn't try to growl or anything.  I thought it sounded good.

I thought it sounded better than actually doing that growl. Now if they mixed them both together, is another story.

I thought it sounded way better. I don't really need them mixed together either. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of growls, so I guess you can take that with a grain of salt. But there are occasions where I like them, and that part of A Nightmare to Remember just never worked for me.

[ReaperKK]

Not sure if it's been brought up here before but are they selling DoT Vinyl at the show? Don't really care about the color.

[El Barto]

I’m pretty sure Metallica plays virtually nothing from Load, Reload, and St Anger except Fuel.

Looks like they've played 68 different songs on the Hardwired tour. From the Load albums you've got Unforgiven2, Memory, King Nothing, Fuel, and Bleeding Me. They also dug out -Human and No Leaf Clover. Their MO for the last 15 years or so is to have 8-10 songs static and 6-8 oddballs, much like DT used to do.

[SystematicThought]

Not sure if it's been brought up here before but are they selling DoT Vinyl at the show? Don't really care about the color.

I think they are. I thought I saw them on Thursday. Both signed and unsigned

[hunnus2000]

Hello from downtown Chicago!!

First - a brief introduction - We're from Mid-Missouri recently transplanted from Dallas, TX. I've been a DT fan for a few years but I had always been aware since PMU debuted back in the day. I was always thinking in the back of my head that I should be listening to more DT. Then they released TA and I was hooked! More about TA later, this is a post about last night's show at the Chicago Theater.

I'm not going to comment on the set list or what songs I would have liked to hear them play as this was only my second show so I was going to be happy regardless!

So without further ado:

[The Chicago Theater - man, what a facility - gorgeous artwork, ornate architecture VERY intimate setting.

Our seats were 3rd row pit just off of house right, center stage closer to JP. So when I say intimate, imagine the size of an average folding chair and then space them out in a comfortable manner and that may give you an idea of how close we were. People in the front row could touch JP and JLB shoes if they wanted!

MM is an ANIMAL!! ANIMAL! He was having so much fun and the interaction between him and the rest of his bandmates puts a smile to your face. He was utterly fantastic and was mesmerizing to watch and dare I say stole the show?

Except for JLB - he was indeed working the crowd and even put on a pirate hat that a fan was wearing. However, he was frequently off stage during extended solos but I don't fault him for anything as during these solos, my attention is elsewhere.

JM - Yes he doesn't move around much but for this show he was very engaging with JP and MM constantly looking at his bandmates.
 
BTW - MM is putting his own mark on the drum parts from the previous catalog. It seems as though he is much more percussive in his playing.

We got BSW and FITL.
 
JLB's voice was great all night but in the outro of PMU, it sounded like he blew his voice out. He was going for a high note during the second to the last "Pull------Me----UUUN---DER" and it was like a broken guitar string on a floating tremlo system. He tried it one more time but not so much...Skay - he was greatness!

What is there to be said for JR and JP - they were they're usual brilliant self and Jordan's keytar was fun to watch. There was at one point where JP walked over to JR's side and played with him on some of there combined runs. That was neat.
At the end of the show they took their time exiting the stage and were shaking the hands of the people in the front row and MM would take a crowd and band selfie. They truly appreciate their fans - and it shows!

The aren't nearly as tall as I imagined they were.

That's it for now - wifey and I drive home tomorrow morning but one last thought - Chicago is a pretty cool town!

[TAC]

Not following the thread daily...

Are any songs being rotated? I thought Paralyzed was played and then replaced by FITL. Is that permanent?

[gzarruk]

Not following the thread daily...

Are any songs being rotated? I thought Paralyzed was played and then replaced by FITL. Is that permanent?

They’re doing Paralyzed one night, then FITL the next, and so on.

[Madman Shepherd]

I actually held out spoiling the setlist for myself for the first time. A bit disappointed overall but still thought it was an amazing show.

Even though ANTR is one of my least favorite songs, it was cool seeing Mangini jam on his audition song and frickin' own the thing. Also, I never found Portnoy's growls to be as big of a problem as most people but after hearing James do that part in a bit of a gnarly, melodic scowl I am once again reminded James just should have been left to do nearly all the vocals in DT. I love the back and forth with portnoy in Constant Motion but other songs like Dark Eternal Night, or SFAM stuff are much better with just James.

Anyway, band was on fire. James was hilarious as always. He said they had such fun making DOT they're talking about making the next album the same way and then joked they're looking into secluded spots in Alaska.

[TAC]

Not following the thread daily...

Are any songs being rotated? I thought Paralyzed was played and then replaced by FITL. Is that permanent?

They’re doing Paralyzed one night, then FITL the next, and so on.

OK, so if they did FITL in Chicago last night..

Then..

Milwaukee-P
Detroit-FITL
Toronto-P
Montreal-FITL
Quebec City-P
Boston-FITL  YAY!!!

[DT1138]

Hello from downtown Chicago!!

Our seats were 3rd row pit just off of house right, center stage closer to JP. So when I say intimate, imagine the size of an average folding chair and then space them out in a comfortable manner and that may give you an idea of how close we were. People in the front row could touch JP and JLB shoes if they wanted!

MM is an ANIMAL!! ANIMAL! He was having so much fun and the interaction between him and the rest of his bandmates puts a smile to your face. He was utterly fantastic and was mesmerizing to watch and dare I say stole the show?

JLB's voice was great all night but in the outro of PMU, it sounded like he blew his voice out. He was going for a high note during the second to the last "Pull------Me----UUUN---DER" and it was like a broken guitar string on a floating tremolo system. He tried it one more time but not so much...Skay - he was greatness!

Holy crap, I was just a few seats away from you.  I was 3rd row Pit, first seat of that aisle which put me practically at dead center.  This was the best concert seat I've ever had in my life. Being in that spot put me right into the action in more ways than one, let me tell you.

I was about 10 feet away from JLB the whole time.  I loved the pirate hat bit also.  At one point, he tipped the mic stand out over us and it was about 3 feet above my head.  Other than the "Pull Me Under" note he missed (yeah, I heard it also), I thought he sounded great otherwise.  Towards the end when he let the audience sing a part, some people were singing it wrong and he made this little "Ok, wait a second guys.." kind of a face with a squint, which made me laugh.  There was also a point during the start of  "The Spirit Carries On" where he had the skull mic stand angled at me in such a way that I felt like the skull was looking at me square in the eye.  I was like... Skully, are you trying to tell me something? 

By pure chance, during the 2nd song, I happened to look over at JP who (I swear to you) gave me a look as if to say "Is this dude digging this?".  I gave him a big smile and nod, and he got the biggest most shit-eating grin and then just dug into the guitar strings with a mad fury.  I could see all the scales he was playing, and what I was really looking forward to was to see him play that fast string skipping section of the "Nightmare to Remember" solo.  He didn't disappoint...his fingers moved so fast it was like a blur.

I kept watching MM.  He had his own little comedy act going on, and he definitely stole the show for me.  At one point he lost grip of his stick in his left hand, made a "WTF" goofy kind of face, and had a laugh at his own expense...then went right back to drumming without missing a beat. I thought that was awesome and hilarious at the same time. At the end of the show, I pointed to him during all the applause, gave him a twin thumbs up, and he did the same back to me. 

J Myung was very focused during this show, even more so than usual it seemed.  He barely looked up from his bass, but his playing was great and the mix was done well enough that I could actually hear him thru the whole show.  JR was awesome as usual, and I loved when he came out with the Roland controller center stage.  He truly is a keyboard wizard.

The animated backdrop they had was quite something, especially the sections for second set. I even watched it during a break, it was like a giant DT screensaver.  Very cool stuff.

I also had the unfortunate disadvantage of security constantly tapping me on the shoulder so they could get through (I had stepped one foot out into the aisle because the seats were so small, so it put me in the line of fire). During the first couple of songs, a guy who head banged too hard split his head open when he smacked it on one of the monitor speakers at the front of the stage and security lead him out.  He had blood all over his face, and it dripped on the floor in the aisle.  I could see all the drippings (gotta love those bright lights) and I pointed it out to security, who promptly sent a guy in to wipe it up.

One final observation:  Security was not as militaristic about cell phones this time around.  They had the same no flash/no video policy, but they were completely MIA during the 2nd act.  I wonder if that had to do with some kind of copyright issue with the newer music?  That was kind of strange.

Awesome show all around, I loved every minute of it.  I have a newfound respect for SFAM, I finally love UA, and the fact that JLB said they will do the next record in the same barn gives me hopes for an awesome follow up album.

The band was on point for sure, but if I had to vote for an MVP it was definitely MM. Any criticisms of him being a "robot" drummer are pure garbage - that dude drummed his ass off.

 

[Lethean]

I noticed a couple comments referring to JM as a statue and saying he doesn't move at all.  That's just not true.  If you say he doesn't make eye contact with the crowd, sure - that's totally true.  But he's far from being a statue.  If you watch him, he's in motion most of the night; he's not rooted to one spot and even when he does spend time in one spot, his body is not still.

On a completely different note - I'm glad Bosk reminded us that the band did not initiate that setlist poll.  I was actually really happy with the first set - I was totally surprised by ANTR and INTPE, and wound up being absolutely delighted.  But thinking back later, I did think it was weird that we had that poll and they didn't play anything from it.  It was good to remember that they didn't ask for it - Bosk just decided to do it and pass along the results. 

[ReaperKK]

Also it could be that whenever they stop touring SFAM they could incorporate those poll songs.

[robbob]

Was at the Chicago show the other night. Did not disappoint as expected, was awesome. I agree with a lot of posts about MM, he was on fire and owned it, noticed he played some of Portnoy's fills with 1 hand!!!  Love his showmanship, just enough and not too much.

Regarding the setlist: I always feel a little ridiculous in complaining too much about it, I think we(including me) come off as spoiled, ungrateful fans, nothing is Never Enough.

But, I get it,  So..   I really thought they would play AWE, being as it seems like the "Epic" song off of DoT.  Love ITPOE, I think it would have been cool if they replaced ANTR with AWE and an older 7-8 minute song. Maybe PMU as a 1st set closer.

Then play Glass Prison as the encore!!

[Aythesryche]

I was at the LSFNY show back in 2000 and one of the many things I loved was when Portnoy went all out near the end of Finally Free. Does Mangini do anything similar this tour? I was also at the Boston Opera House show and he seemed pretty reserved during that part.