OK, I'm firmly in the "they're not as good as they used to be" camp, but these were the best DT shows I've seen in many a year.
The sound was perfectly acceptable on Friday night, but it was much clearer and sharper on Saturday - I guess there may have been some spots in the venue where it was less clear, there always is, but I've no complaints. James, on the other hand - well, he's fantastic 90% of the time, but when he reaches for those big notes and fails to hit them, it's painful to listen to. It really is about time he changed some of the vocal melodies so he's singing notes he can actually hit.
Otherwise - fantastic. The DOT songs worked well live, especially Fall Into The Light, which should have been played every night IMO. Still not sure about including ANTR, though. ITPOE and PBD worked like a one-two punch that Tyson Fury would be proud of.
The presentation of SFAM was damn near perfect (James' vocal on Beyond This Life on Saturday notwithstanding - ouch!), and I loved the visuals, they missed a trick in not selling a t-shirt with that drawing of Victoria on it! Through Her Eyes brought tears to mine, I can finally tick Home of the list of songs I've not seen live (The Killing Hand for the next tour?) and the phones on Spirit Carries On was a lovely end to a lovely evening. I really liked Mangini's drum thing on Finally Free - it was supposed to be funny! Even At Wit's End was a better encore than I thought it would be.
Man of the Match trophy goes to Mike Mangini for Friday - he's a real powerhouse, and he's having so much fun up there, and to John Petrucci for Saturday - that was some sh1t-hot guitar playing, some beautifully intuitive solos across both nights.
I've not enjoyed recent DT tours as much as I used to, and the nightmare that is trying to get a train in and out of London has put me off seeing them again. I intended these to be my last DT shows. But they really pulled off something special here, and I can't wait to see them again!