The "A View from the Top of the World tour is awesome!" thread (spoilers)

[Madman Shepherd]

I think Answering the Call is a really personal and relatable song. It's a declaration of what we can do as a world society to improve this place.

On the flip side, the title track, as cool as it is, is about mountain climbing and spelunking. JP has a knack for making some simple topics sound more emotionally fascinating but at the end of the day, it's still a song about mountain climbing and spelunking.

I only see that reference in the video. I think the words are more a metaphor. Getting to the top of your game. The sacrifice to get there. How its only  our mind that holds us back from accomplishing crazy hard things.

Yeah, but he is a little more literal in that song than others which makes it hard for me to get that out of my head. Things like, Reaching the Summit or talking about physicality, joining the ranks of the elite. It's kind of nitpicky on my part but it does keep me from having too much of a personal connection.

Compare that to Endless Sacrifice where he is talking about being in a hotel room and missing his wife, and yet he manages to make it sound so grandiose, like it could be about anything.

Just personal preference. AVFTTOTW is still awesome. 

[geeeemo]

I think Answering the Call is a really personal and relatable song. It's a declaration of what we can do as a world society to improve this place.

On the flip side, the title track, as cool as it is, is about mountain climbing and spelunking. JP has a knack for making some simple topics sound more emotionally fascinating but at the end of the day, it's still a song about mountain climbing and spelunking.

I only see that reference in the video. I think the words are more a metaphor. Getting to the top of your game. The sacrifice to get there. How its only  our mind that holds us back from accomplishing crazy hard things.

Yeah, but he is a little more literal in that song than others which makes it hard for me to get that out of my head. Things like, Reaching the Summit or talking about physicality, joining the ranks of the elite. It's kind of nitpicky on my part but it does keep me from having too much of a personal connection.

Compare that to Endless Sacrifice where he is talking about being in a hotel room and missing his wife, and yet he manages to make it sound so grandiose, like it could be about anything.

Just personal preference. AVFTTOTW is still awesome.

You are right about it not being nearly as emotional lyrically as lots of other DT song (And as a woman, how awesome would that be to have your hubby write that song!). I do find the middle part of A View gets me emotionally just with the music. DT can hit me emotionally with lyrics or music, sometimes just JP's guitar solos do it.

[Ben_Jamin]

I think Answering the Call is a really personal and relatable song. It's a declaration of what we can do as a world society to improve this place.

On the flip side, the title track, as cool as it is, is about mountain climbing and spelunking. JP has a knack for making some simple topics sound more emotionally fascinating but at the end of the day, it's still a song about mountain climbing and spelunking.

I only see that reference in the video. I think the words are more a metaphor. Getting to the top of your game. The sacrifice to get there. How its only  our mind that holds us back from accomplishing crazy hard things.

Yeah, but he is a little more literal in that song than others which makes it hard for me to get that out of my head. Things like, Reaching the Summit or talking about physicality, joining the ranks of the elite. It's kind of nitpicky on my part but it does keep me from having too much of a personal connection.

Compare that to Endless Sacrifice where he is talking about being in a hotel room and missing his wife, and yet he manages to make it sound so grandiose, like it could be about anything.

Just personal preference. AVFTTOTW is still awesome.

It's literal as those people who not only mountain climb or spelunk, but also surf, and deep ocean dive, are all staring death in the face. That feeling from accomplishing such a task, of facing the impossible.

That is why I love this song. It was even better seeing it live. Seeing that song and TCOT back to back was amazing.

[Elite]

I saw DT&DT last night and I had a good time

[TAC]

AVFTTOTW isn't literally about mountain climbing. It's about the psyche of someone who pushes their own personal and mental limits to achieve something. The mountain climbing is used metaphorically to illustrate the actual meaning of the lyrics.

[Madman Shepherd]

AVFTTOTW isn't literally about mountain climbing. It's about the psyche of someone who pushes their own personal and mental limits to achieve something. The mountain climbing is used metaphorically to illustrate the actual meaning of the lyrics.

I'm pretty sure he said he was inspired by actual mountain climbing and yes, it can be used as a metaphor but as I said earlier, it is a little too literal. Not nearly as literal as the CoT but when he keeps throwing out mountain climbing metaphors, I can't really trick my brain into thinking it's just a general song about overcoming adversity.

[EPIC Outro]

I think we should all be more concerned that a song called The Count of Tuscany isn't being metaphorical at all.

[TAC]

AVFTTOTW isn't literally about mountain climbing. It's about the psyche of someone who pushes their own personal and mental limits to achieve something. The mountain climbing is used metaphorically to illustrate the actual meaning of the lyrics.

I'm pretty sure he said he was inspired by actual mountain climbing and yes, it can be used as a metaphor but as I said earlier, it is a little too literal. Not nearly as literal as the CoT but when he keeps throwing out mountain climbing metaphors, I can't really trick my brain into thinking it's just a general song about overcoming adversity.

Well, at least you recognize just where your limits lie.

Even if it's literally about mountain climbing, it's still an awesome concept.

[Ben_Jamin]

AVFTTOTW isn't literally about mountain climbing. It's about the psyche of someone who pushes their own personal and mental limits to achieve something. The mountain climbing is used metaphorically to illustrate the actual meaning of the lyrics.

I'm pretty sure he said he was inspired by actual mountain climbing and yes, it can be used as a metaphor but as I said earlier, it is a little too literal. Not nearly as literal as the CoT but when he keeps throwing out mountain climbing metaphors, I can't really trick my brain into thinking it's just a general song about overcoming adversity.

Its Mountain Climbing with no harness, Being a Flying Squirrel, Surfing the highest wave, and also, Deep Ocean diving which is what "Rapture of The Deep" is mentioning. "Returning to the womb, on the fringe of the unknown" is diving deep into the depths of the ocean. The video played during that part live made me go..."Oh yeah, that part makes sense now."

So it's not just about Mountain Climbing, but about these risks of life that people go out and experience.

The accomplishment of these death defying actions is being at the top and you feel as if you are at the top of the world. That is the view from the top to the world.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

cool new trailer featuring the album's best song  : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRt9cju2AVE

[EPIC Outro]

Damn that trailer looked slick - I got super excited thinking it was for a Blu-ray.

[Cool Chris]

Visually it did look great, though it was the least informative trailer ever.

[Awaken]

AVFTTOTW isn't literally about mountain climbing. It's about the psyche of someone who pushes their own personal and mental limits to achieve something. The mountain climbing is used metaphorically to illustrate the actual meaning of the lyrics.

I'm pretty sure he said he was inspired by actual mountain climbing and yes, it can be used as a metaphor but as I said earlier, it is a little too literal. Not nearly as literal as the CoT but when he keeps throwing out mountain climbing metaphors, I can't really trick my brain into thinking it's just a general song about overcoming adversity.

I remember this being the case, as well.  Only because after I heard him say it, I said 'I bet he saw 'Free Solo' and came up w that'.  Cause the first and only thing I think while watching that doc/movie is 'Why?!'.

[crystalstars17]

Damn that trailer looked slick - I got super excited thinking it was for a Blu-ray.

Does anyone here know whether or not it actually is?

[cramx3]

Damn that trailer looked slick - I got super excited thinking it was for a Blu-ray.

Does anyone here know whether or not it actually is?

Seems to be just a tour advertisement. 

[Kram]

I would think they would make an announcement if they're filming a show for a BD. They always have in the past.

[Madman Shepherd]

Damn that trailer looked slick - I got super excited thinking it was for a Blu-ray.

Does anyone here know whether or not it actually is?

Seems to be just a tour advertisement.

I'm pretty sure they've done something similar for nearly every tour. Sometimes they end up using it for a song promo later on.

[cramx3]

Damn that trailer looked slick - I got super excited thinking it was for a Blu-ray.

Does anyone here know whether or not it actually is?

Seems to be just a tour advertisement.

I'm pretty sure they've done something similar for nearly every tour. Sometimes they end up using it for a song promo later on.

Yeah, it's pretty normal for most bands.  Take some clips from the first few shows to make a short package to use in advertisements on social media for the rest of the tour.  Or like you said, get enough of those clips and you can make a full "live" music video for a song.  Sadly, nothing from this video makes me think a blu-ray is in the works.  I could be wrong, I'm not sure I've heard anything about them wanting to make a professional concert video, but history says they usually do.  If anything, maybe the Rock in Rio show would make for a good opportunity. 

[Dream Team]

Seems to me if you can make a slick looking trailer like that, it's not a huge stretch to include all the footage for a DVD/BR release. I mean, they must have recorded all the songs to make the trailer.

[cramx3]

Seems to me if you can make a slick looking trailer like that, it's not a huge stretch to include all the footage for a DVD/BR release. I mean, they must have recorded all the songs to make the trailer.

I'd say that is incorrect.  A LOT more goes into making a live concert video/cd than putting some clips to the album track.  Not to mention a significant amount of money.  Having said that, if they wanted to go the Chaos in Motion DVD route, yeah, you could make something like that pretty cheap and easily, but that's easily the worst live DVD they have and I doubt they'd want to put something of that quality out these days.  Some youtube fan videos are better quality of audio and video than that these days.

[The Letter M]

Seems to me if you can make a slick looking trailer like that, it's not a huge stretch to include all the footage for a DVD/BR release. I mean, they must have recorded all the songs to make the trailer.

I hope if they do record a live album for CD/DVD/BD release, they wait until they do another leg of shows and change up the setlist a bit so they could possibly include ALL of the songs played on the tour legs. Ideally, it'd be neat to see them play all 7 songs from AVFTTOTW and include them on a live release.

So far the current setlist runs about 105 minutes long, while the previous live album, Distant Memories, runs about 150 minutes long. I mean I wouldn't mind a short live album, a nice 2CD/1BD set could be neat, but I'd love to see them do what Rush did with their Snakes & Arrows Tour - do a second set of shows with swapped out songs, and add those to the first tour legs and make a longer album.

I also just want to hear them do every new song love.

-Marc.

[TAC]

With attendance as it was for this leg, I wonder what a 2nd US leg would look like.

[The Letter M]

With attendance as it was for this leg, I wonder what a 2nd US leg would look like.

If they advertised it as a special show, like maybe performing all of SDOIT (the song) as part of the set for the album's 20th Anniversary, it might attract more fans to attend. It's also IAW's 30th anniversary but I think they've celebrated that album quite enough.

-Marc.

[MirrorMask]

So far the current setlist runs about 105 minutes long

Mmmh maybe the playing time of the actual songs is 105 minutes, at my show they started just moments after 21:00 and when I looked the clock when it was over, it was 23:06, so that makes for 2 full hours of showtime...

[The Letter M]

So far the current setlist runs about 105 minutes long

Mmmh maybe the playing time of the actual songs is 105 minutes, at my show they started just moments after 21:00 and when I looked the clock when it was over, it was 23:06, so that makes for 2 full hours of showtime...

15 minutes of between song dead time, JLB banter, and the break before the encore seems pretty reasonable. Most of that is usually edited out for live albums, particularly the audio releases (CDs and vinyl). For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

[hefdaddy42]

For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

I mean, I do.  That's one reason I'm listening to a live album in the first place.

[gzarruk]

So far the current setlist runs about 105 minutes long

Mmmh maybe the playing time of the actual songs is 105 minutes, at my show they started just moments after 21:00 and when I looked the clock when it was over, it was 23:06, so that makes for 2 full hours of showtime...

15 minutes of between song dead time, JLB banter, and the break before the encore seems pretty reasonable. Most of that is usually edited out for live albums, particularly the audio releases (CDs and vinyl). For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

Made a playlist with the studio versions of the songs for the setlist and I get 114 mins approximately. I think you forgot at least one song when you made the math, Marc

[cramx3]

For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

I mean, I do.  That's one reason I'm listening to a live album in the first place.

Same.  And I like the banter as long as it's not excessive or awkward.  You put that stuff at the end of the track so you can hit next if you want to skip it without missing the music and everyone is happy. 

[The Letter M]

So far the current setlist runs about 105 minutes long

Mmmh maybe the playing time of the actual songs is 105 minutes, at my show they started just moments after 21:00 and when I looked the clock when it was over, it was 23:06, so that makes for 2 full hours of showtime...

15 minutes of between song dead time, JLB banter, and the break before the encore seems pretty reasonable. Most of that is usually edited out for live albums, particularly the audio releases (CDs and vinyl). For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

Made a playlist with the studio versions of the songs for the setlist and I get 114 mins approximately. I think you forgot at least one song when you made the math, Marc

That is entirely possible.

For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

I mean, I do.  That's one reason I'm listening to a live album in the first place.

Same.  And I like the banter as long as it's not excessive or awkward.  You put that stuff at the end of the track so you can hit next if you want to skip it without missing the music and everyone is happy. 

I like a little bit, but for some bands, there can be quite a bit of dead space between songs that I don't much care for on live albums. Frontman banter can be hit or miss. I don't mind it when I'm watching a DVD or BD, though.

-Marc.

[EPIC Outro]

If I remember correctly, they kind of treated the live release of WDADR more like a studio album - there was a little live banter at the beginning and the end, but the middle of the album was pretty tight. I think it worked well for that release.

[ZirconBlue]

For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

I mean, I do.  That's one reason I'm listening to a live album in the first place.

Same.  And I like the banter as long as it's not excessive or awkward.  You put that stuff at the end of the track so you can hit next if you want to skip it without missing the music and everyone is happy.

Not everyone.  I hate when song intros are on the end of the previous track.  It doesn't really matter during a full album play-through, but when played out of context of the album, I would like the intro and song to go together.

[Dream Team]

For the most part, if I'm listening to a live album, I don't think most people want to hear audience chatter and murmur between songs.

-Marc.

I mean, I do.  That's one reason I'm listening to a live album in the first place.

Yes!! I hate that so much.

Same.  And I like the banter as long as it's not excessive or awkward.  You put that stuff at the end of the track so you can hit next if you want to skip it without missing the music and everyone is happy.

Not everyone.  I hate when song intros are on the end of the previous track.  It doesn't really matter during a full album play-through, but when played out of context of the album, I would like the intro and song to go together.

[TAC]

Not everyone.  I hate when song intros are on the end of the previous track.  It doesn't really matter during a full album play-through, but when played out of context of the album, I would like the intro and song to go together.

Yes!

[MirrorMask]

On a very side note - sometimes I wonder how a band is able to time their show down to a notch.

I mean, they know the playing time of the studio versions of the songs, and when they rehearse eventual additional outros or intros they can time that as well, but I wonder how they fill up the remaining time, and if they have conversation like "mh, we're 13 minutes short of 2 hours, what do we do? play a shorter song or allow James to introduce a bit more the other songs?" 

[cramx3]

On a very side note - sometimes I wonder how a band is able to time their show down to a notch.

I mean, they know the playing time of the studio versions of the songs, and when they rehearse eventual additional outros or intros they can time that as well, but I wonder how they fill up the remaining time, and if they have conversation like "mh, we're 13 minutes short of 2 hours, what do we do? play a shorter song or allow James to introduce a bit more the other songs?" 

Dream Theater shows today seem pretty well rehearsed and timed.  They likely have allotted time in certain parts between songs for JLB to say some things.  I don't think they end up having time to spare because it's such a precise scheduled set.  For other bands who change things up and play completely live with no backing tracks, sometimes you see them scramble to figure things out.  At the Limp Bizkit concert I just saw Fred Durst asked someone on the side of the stage how much time they had left, he said 7 minutes so they played half a song and then did their final song cutting out a track from the set list.  I don't know if that happened because they talked too much (seems likely) but that was an example of things happening live on the fly.  DT may have had instances similar, but they would have been some time ago (like Sorry for the short set comment by MP).