Wow, looks like I have about 12 pages of material to read through this morning!
Well, before I do, now that I have seen the show and can read this thread, here is my brief review of the show in San Francisco last night:
What a great day and great show! It is hard to believe that Dream Theater has been my favorite band for 20 years now. But at the same time, I am constantly reminded that the music and the live presentation they give the fans are always of such high quality that it should not be a surprise at all.
I went into the show relatively spoiler free. I say "relatively" because we all knew they were playing SFAM, which was going to eat up a HUGE amount of set time. And we knew they would play a lot from the new album, and that that would almost surely include some or all of the promo singles. So that didn't leave a lot of room. I had also been told by JP that my favorite song from d/t, At Wit's End, would not make it into the set this time around. But I had already surmised that anyway just based on set list time and what I figured were the most likely "must-play" songs, so that really wasn't much of a spoiler. So I knew a good deal of what would be played despite my efforts to stay "spoiler free," but there were still some nice surprises.
They went through Untethered Angel at soundcheck, and used some of the intro video to lead into it, so it was easy to figure out that that would open the show. (I was certain they were going to play it, but I thought it would be later in the set and that Fall Into the Light would be the likely show opener just because it has a very similar vibe to it as Constant Motion, which they used to open the Chaos in Motion tour) I saw and heard some other interesting things during sound check as well that I will not get into right now. I don't know when or how they may be brought in at some point. But it was very cool, and that's all I'll say about that.
Anyhow, after that, my son and I left the venue to rejoin our group of friends that were hanging out up the street. We came back just a bit before doors opened, and there were a TON of meet-and-greet fans inside. I'm not sure if there has been a general uptick in other places for people buying those packages. But this was definitely more than I have seen in N. Cal. before. Before the show started, we ran into several old friends, some from DTF and some from real life. It's always great to catch up, even if those moments are brief.
When the lights finally went down, we were treated to a spooky, futuristic opening video reminiscent of Terminator and robots taking over the world, as we have seen in some of the promo videos and hinted at on the album art (by the way, LOVE James' mic stand, which also tied into that theme). Songs in set #1 (hopefully, I got them in the right order--I'm going off of memory):
-Untethered Angel
-A Nightmare To Remember
-Paralyzed
-Barstool Warrior
-In the Presence of Enemies, Pt. I
-Pale Blue Dot
When UA started, my son joked, "Yeah, yeah. We've seen that already..."
I was super stoked for ANTR. It has long been my favorite from Black Clouds, and I figured it would be a beast in a live setting. It really translated well as a live song. And speaking of beasts, Mangini really stood out on this song.
Paralyzed was short and sweet. And I'll just take the opportunity right here to say that ALL of the songs they played from the new album really worked in a live setting. Paralyzed was no exception. I was a bit concerned that it would sound muddy live with those low, chugging riffs. But it sounded great!
Barstool Warrior was one I expected to be in the set, and it was a great addition. James in particular really sounded like he was loose and enjoying himself on this song. And it was a great choice of song to lighten up the tone of the set a bit without doing a ballad.
I was NOT expecting ITPOE. And it is not one I would have chosen. But it really fit in nicely with the rest of the set. And as one of my friends at the show commented, I forgot how much I really like that song.
When they started Pale Blue Dot, I was surprised. Not because they were playing it. But because I figured it to likely be the set one closer, and it seemed to come earlier than expected. I checked my watch, and quickly realized that by the end of the song, we would be right at an hour, so that was about right. But, man, the first set flew by! It wasn't "short," but it definitely had the desired effect of leaving us wanting more. PBD itself was fantastic live. The imagery on stage was dead on with what I envisioned them using to go with that song, and it REALLY worked. Great way to close the first set.
Set 2...well, we know what that is. And it was great. I knew going in that they had reworked the presentation and had new video to go with it, so I was expecting that. I was not expecting that particular style. But it was effective and complimented the music nicely. The band just tore it up. James was spot on. Mangini was beastly. JP was so precise and otherwordly. Jordan looked like he was having a blast. And Myung quietly held down the rock-solid, intricate rhythm as he always does. The presentation of this album on LSFNY really cemented DT as my favorite band and cemented SFAM as one of my all-time favorite albums. This presentation of the album really hammered that home. A few other stray notes about set #2:
-I really like what they did with Through Her Eyes and Finally Free. The changes were subtle, but very well done.
-Mangini REALLY cut loose on the end of Finally Free, and it was AWESOME!
-Jordan...he was just so great. He owned this set. And I love his new toy. The Zen Riffer is gone and replaces by something even more slick looking. It seems tailored to exactly what he likes to do and how he likes to play. It's cool getting to see him come up front for a bit and get to leave his keyboard world.
-As much as I've heard The Spirit Carries on and feel like it is a bit overplayed, it's such a great live song. It gets great crowd reaction every time. And in context of the entire album, it's even that much better. The sea of cell phone lights in the crowd (as well as the lone 1980s holdout who had an
actual cigarette lighter out!
) really enhanced the atmosphere.
I was not expecting Pull Me Under as the encore song. I thought I remembered the band saying at some point that they were going to feature Awake, so I was really expecting something from Awake as the encore. But PMU was a great choice. DT has really done a fantastic job through the years of mixing things up and really giving a huge part of their catalog time to shine in their live shows. They have never felt the need to focus too much on their biggest hits. But in recent years, they have started to gravitate toward more regularly featuring the small handful of their better known songs that are closest to what most bands would consider their "must play" songs. I think it's a smart thing to do. Even though we've all heard Pull Me Under a ton of times, they have a lot of fans that were first exposed to the band by that song 27 years ago. And the fact that it's a great song doesn't change no matter how many times it gets played. It really ended the show on a nice note. Solid choice.
A few other stray observations:
-The new stage setup was really cool. I'm not used to seeing stairs and multiple levels for the band to move around on, and it was nice to see them use it all. For obvious reasons, James utilized the different levels and spaces the most. But JP did at times as well, and Jordan did a bit as well.
-James really sounded good last night. His hard work and preparation through the years are evident when he takes the stage. It goes without saying that the material he has to deliver night after night is incredibly challenging. And it should be obvious to anyone in attendance that he gives it his all.
-And lastly, I just want to say that I am always impressed with the other people the band have with them on tour that I interact with. I have interacted with band management and/or crew for a few bands. But this band surrounds themselves with quality people who really feel like family that enjoy what they do. My hats off to all the people behind the scenes that make the band go!
To sum up the show in a word: