Top Of The World Tour 2023

[Wim Kruithof]

Very nice point of view William, I can only agree on.

I really am enjoying this forum a lot, since it brings a deeper dimension to the band for me. But it has its flaws and the constant bashing of LaBrie overall, is not that respectful, I would say. With the latest topic (which is locked now) as a stand-out to my point.

On topic, darn... waiting for my gig on the 12th of Februari is taking forever.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Very nice point of view William, I can only agree on.

I really am enjoying this forum a lot, since it brings a deeper dimension to the band for me. But it has its flaws and the constant bashing of LaBrie overall, is not that respectful, I would say. With the latest topic (which is locked now) as a stand-out to my point.

On topic, darn... waiting for my gig on the 12th of Februari is taking forever.

No one is 'bashing' any of the band members. There are some fans who are extremely loyal -- not a bad thing on its face - and are trying to define any criticism outright as 'bashing'  or disrespectful - that is exactly what you appear to be doing, as though those of us who voice criticism are acting with prejudice and disrespect. It's an attempt to shut down any discussion of criticism of someone you feel strongly about. 

The reason why this issue keeps coming up is because the band is touring regularly-- not because we are 'constantly' looking to disrespect someone-- and every night is a new performance. To the extent that they put themselves on stage and sell tickets, feedback and discussion will ensue. Most of it is overwhelmingly positive, but not all of it. It's coming up right now because the band is on tour as we speak and this is the place to discuss, among other things, the band's musical performance during the View tour.

That's all it is. I'll leave it at that until the next show in the tour, when hopefully we'll all agree it was a flawless performance.

[geeeemo]

except it was considered disrespectful on the post that was locked....

[Ben_Jamin]

Very nice point of view William, I can only agree on.

I really am enjoying this forum a lot, since it brings a deeper dimension to the band for me. But it has its flaws and the constant bashing of LaBrie overall, is not that respectful, I would say. With the latest topic (which is locked now) as a stand-out to my point.

On topic, darn... waiting for my gig on the 12th of Februari is taking forever.

No one is 'bashing' any of the band members. There are some fans who are extremely loyal -- not a bad thing on its face - and are trying to define any criticism outright as 'bashing'  or disrespectful - that is exactly what you appear to be doing, as though those of us who voice criticism are acting with prejudice and disrespect. It's an attempt to shut down any discussion of criticism of someone you feel strongly about. 

The reason why this issue keeps coming up is because the band is touring regularly-- not because we are 'constantly' looking to disrespect someone-- and every night is a new performance. To the extent that they put themselves on stage and sell tickets, feedback and discussion will ensue. Most of it is overwhelmingly positive, but not all of it. It's coming up right now because the band is on tour as we speak and this is the place to discuss, among other things, the band's musical performance during the View tour.

That's all it is. I'll leave it at that until the next show in the tour, when hopefully we'll all agree it was a flawless performance.

I know JLB has always been inconsistent in his live performances. But, that's just how it is, and I thought we fans already accepted that fact. 

Let me tell you as well, I love Mudvayne, but man talk about a sad situation with their singer Chad Grey. His voice sounds completely shot, yet I still went and saw Mudvayne, because Mudvayne is more than the vocalist to me. Same thing with Dream Theater.

I can still talk about the live shows without mentioning the obvious target. It's really unfortunate though how Dream Theater's luck is. The first show with a new set and they have technical issues. What surprised me the most was why didn't they have a spare mic for JLB? Was the show entirely locally based, with the crew and other necessities for the band? I think this because even their production wasn't their main production set-up they've been using this tour, it's the scaled down version that they used for the Festival shows like Waken, with the big video screen. So, did the band just bring themselves, their gear, and some stage production, and left mainly the other things for the local crews, like finding the mics, cables, and things of that nature?

[Schurftkut]

https://youtu.be/hbMPLKvFCh4?t=492

kinda interesting to hear this kind of mistake in dream theater, MM skips a part but keeps the pace going and getting back at the correct parts quickly enough.

[Adami]

https://youtu.be/hbMPLKvFCh4?t=492

kinda interesting to hear this kind of mistake in dream theater, MM skips a part but keeps the pace going and getting back at the correct parts quickly enough.

On the one hand, I heard he had food poisoning some time in the last 30 years, which might explain that mistake.

On the other hand, they should really replace him immediately.

[TheCountOfNYC]

https://youtu.be/hbMPLKvFCh4?t=492

kinda interesting to hear this kind of mistake in dream theater, MM skips a part but keeps the pace going and getting back at the correct parts quickly enough.

On the one hand, I heard he had food poisoning some time in the last 30 years, which might explain that mistake.

On the other hand, they should really replace him immediately.

[wolfking]

Very nice point of view William, I can only agree on.

I really am enjoying this forum a lot, since it brings a deeper dimension to the band for me. But it has its flaws and the constant bashing of LaBrie overall, is not that respectful, I would say. With the latest topic (which is locked now) as a stand-out to my point.

On topic, darn... waiting for my gig on the 12th of Februari is taking forever.

You know how when you're annoyed or had a bad day and you hold in all your frustrations and anger and your partner does something very minimal which always for some reason annoys you and causes you to take all your frustrations of the day out on her which ends in an argument?  That's kind of the relationship a very small percentage of DTF has with Labrie.  DTF and all of its members love James like no other, but those things like his performances at times causes some of us to nitpick against him.  it's cause we love him and hate seeing struggle. 

As I've mentioned, he was number 2 in my top 25 singer list, and while I struggle with his vocals lately, I would never want him out of the band, that's crazy talk.  he's there to the end, but it's sad to see him struggle as much as he is.  No one here is here just to bash James, it's because we love the guy, his vocals, his character, what he's given us with DT and beyond, that is all.  It's out of love for him and the band.

[TAC]

Dio has always been horrid live, even when he was young, IMO (although I will give you that his voice stayed pretty consistent even into his later years). 

WUT? To me, Dio really had one rough patch and that was the first couple of Heaven And Hell tours. He would've been 60ish then. He was pretty damn good for that final tour though considering he was dying.

But horrid live? That's just not true.

[gzarruk]

Part of Sleeping Giant: https://youtu.be/ShGROwgLIGs

[SeRoX]

I just love how James alter the vocal melodies of Caught In A Web and it sounds pretty good.

[nobloodyname]

The guitar equivalent of what is happening on the vocal side of the band is this at 5:15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUA50ojVgPU

Never been a Pantera fan so not really familiar with the song but some of the comments are hilarious

[nobloodyname]

Dio has always been horrid live, even when he was young, IMO (although I will give you that his voice stayed pretty consistent even into his later years). 

WUT? To me, Dio really had one rough patch and that was the first couple of Heaven And Hell tours. He would've been 60ish then. He was pretty damn good for that final tour though considering he was dying.

But horrid live? That's just not true.

The thing about how bad Bruce is live these days just isn't true, either. Sure, he doesn't sound like he used to but he doesn't miss the sheer number of notes that James does. And Bruce is being way more athletic on stage, too.

Look, when even Crystalthingy (I'm sorry, I can't remember your forum name!), is being critical of James' performance, it just can't be put down as people being nitpicky. How on earth one person in the last couple of pages could describe James as sounding "great" on that first night, I just have no idea. I can't compute it. I really can't. It's wildly out of tune in several places.

But, but, but... as I've said a thousand times, James is the voice of Dream Theater and without James, there's no Dream Theater. I love him. But saying his performance is "great" is tantamount to the old Iraqi Information Minister claiming the US army hadn't arrived when tanks were rolling past behind him.

[nikatapi]

Most of the bands downtune their songs live.
Iron Maiden, Metallica, everyone tunes at least half to a full step down.

I believe DT only did that for the I&W tour recently.

It's reasonable for James' voice to not be what it used to be 30+ years before.
To be honest i'm happy that they dropped the excessive use of backing tracks, and seems like JP's microphone is much higher in the mix this time.
I would prefer James altering melodies, and wouldn't mind if DT dropped tuning in at least some of the songs, to help the vocals being more manageable.

Let's be realistic, songs especially from I&W and Awake were pretty impossible to sing even back then, much more now.

What i'm just curious is what happened starting from the Astonishing and onwards, seems like a big change, since the tour for the self-titled album was a very good for James, at least from most of the performances i've seen.

[SeRoX]

CIAW from Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSIlNHL1zUY&ab_channel=LitosComesa%C3%B1a

[crystalstars17]

Look, when even Crystalthingy (I'm sorry, I can't remember your forum name!), is being critical of James' performance, it just can't be put down as people being nitpicky.

Haha, No worries! 😁 I guess I've acquired a reputation here for being James' defender, and I still am. That's never gonna change. Though I admit that sometimes it's painful to listen to and acknowledge that something is amiss, I'm not sure "critical" is the right word as I'm more concerned for him, honestly. He's still my favorite singer, always will be, no matter what challenges he may be dealing with right now.

What i'm just curious is what happened starting from the Astonishing and onwards, seems like a big change, since the tour for the self-titled album was a very good for James, at least from most of the performances i've seen.

This is EXACTLY what I'm saying! Something obviously happened during the Astonishing, because let's face it, people - this was no gradual decline. This was a very marked, sudden change which coincided with after that tour to the present. I don't know whether it was just the effects of singing what was essentially a three and a half hour opera all by himself every night (which can't be too healthy, even Broadway leads have understudies to give their voices a break, and they're only singing one role!), or else some sort of reinjury happened that they're not telling us about (which is of course none of our business anyway as it's his personal health, they don't owe us anything, though arguably he may face less brutal  criticism if such a thing were to come out). Or a combination of these things.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

CAIW sounded decent.

A few more coming out of Spain now:

About to Crash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHmJsMXoy3Y
 

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Look, when even Crystalthingy (I'm sorry, I can't remember your forum name!), is being critical of James' performance, it just can't be put down as people being nitpicky.

Haha, No worries! 😁 I guess I've acquired a reputation here for being James' defender, and I still am. That's never gonna change. Though I admit that sometimes it's painful to listen to and acknowledge that something is amiss, I'm not sure "critical" is the right word as I'm more concerned for him, honestly. He's still my favorite singer, always will be, no matter what challenges he may be dealing with right now.

What i'm just curious is what happened starting from the Astonishing and onwards, seems like a big change, since the tour for the self-titled album was a very good for James, at least from most of the performances i've seen.

This is EXACTLY what I'm saying! Something obviously happened during the Astonishing, because let's face it, people - this was no gradual decline. This was a very marked, sudden change which coincided with after that tour to the present. I don't know whether it was just the effects of singing what was essentially a three and a half hour opera all by himself every night (which can't be too healthy, even Broadway leads have understudies to give their voices a break, and they're only singing one role!), or else some sort of reinjury happened that they're not telling us about (which is of course none of our business anyway as it's his personal health, they don't owe us anything, though arguably he may face less brutal  criticism if such a thing were to come out). Or a combination of these things.

Putting aside that I disagree this was all sudden and totally out of the blue, we can't say 'something obviously happened' as that would be pure speculation, unsupported by even a shred of evidence. The band, JLB, have said zero.

[crystalstars17]

Putting aside that I disagree this was all sudden and totally out of the blue, we can't say 'something obviously happened' as that would be pure speculation, unsupported by even a shred of evidence. The band, JLB, have said zero.

At least we agree about this, it is of course speculation. It's not like when Adele had vocal surgery and the whole world knew about it (and I'm not speculating anything of the sort, and even if that were the case it's his choice to say something or not). But I'm not the only one who regards this as sudden, and coinciding with that timeframe, including fans I've talked to irl. Something is wrong, obviously, and whatever side of this discussion we fall on I think we can all agree that we want to see him pull through it in whatever way is best for both him and the band.

[KevShmev]

You know how when you're annoyed or had a bad day and you hold in all your frustrations and anger and your partner does something very minimal which always for some reason annoys you and causes you to take all your frustrations of the day out on her which ends in an argument?  That's kind of the relationship a very small percentage of DTF has with Labrie.  DTF and all of its members love James like no other, but those things like his performances at times causes some of us to nitpick against him.  it's cause we love him and hate seeing struggle. 

As I've mentioned, he was number 2 in my top 25 singer list, and while I struggle with his vocals lately, I would never want him out of the band, that's crazy talk.  he's there to the end, but it's sad to see him struggle as much as he is.  No one here is here just to bash James, it's because we love the guy, his vocals, his character, what he's given us with DT and beyond, that is all.  It's out of love for him and the band.

Well said. We criticize what we love. 

It's like the brother analogy.  You and your little brother as kids can be fighting in the front lawn, but if some jerky neighbor kid comes by and makes fun of your brother, you immediately stop fighting with your brother and defend him to the neighbor kid.  And I suspect that is how most of us would be with DT and JLB.  Put most of us on a general music forum and we'd jump to the defense of Dream Theater and/or JLB, but here, amongst big fans, we are not afraid to critique and "fight" (disagree) a little about it.

[geeeemo]

I am one year younger than James. And I can say everything suddenly gets worse after 55. I am healthy, take care of myself, etc. But I see why people retire, because it becomes a full-tome job managing all the issues!. Of course, you start to notice things a little bit in your 40's, and then 50's. But after 55...it's been shocking to me. It could be that for James. The after 55 drop plus old  injury could simply be it.
Aside from that, though, the last tour, I thought he did really well. I don't say anything, but being flat really hurts my ears. He has always been that way live.  But last tour, he sounded really good and I really only thought it was a bit noticeable at the first concert  saw in the first week.  By the next week, much better, and I saw them at the end of the US tour, and he was great. Not young voice great, but old voice great. (And I was there when he did the FU, lol! These are the moments to catch live!)

[the_silent_man]

How's the crowd interaction? Is it just straight song to song or is there a bit of chit chat etc? Any extended jams/nuggets thrown in to the songs?

[gzarruk]

Not going to comment (again) on James' performance, but will say it's so nice to finally hear JP's backing vocals again. He might not be a great lead vocalist, but for BGVs he's doing a GREAT job (judging by various youtube clips). I'll never understand why they had his mic muted and used very fake sounding tracks instead for years.

[jimgolf]

When Portnoy and Petrucci started doing backing vocals it was rough for a while, but they both have really improved their vocals. I don’t know if Petrucci is self conscious about his voice, but John sounds really good now and it adds a nice compliment to James vocals. I agree with Bosk that they don’t need to completely ditch the prerecorded vocals, just turn them down. A good mix would be 50% Petrucci, 50% prerecorded backing vocals -which create really full sound. Either way, I’m very happy they have decided to turn Petrucci’s mic up and let him sing

[James Mypetgiress]

CIAW from Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSIlNHL1zUY&ab_channel=LitosComesa%C3%B1a

James sounds good here! Very very happy that John's vocals are, indeed, back to prominence in the mix again.

[Trav86]

CIAW from Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSIlNHL1zUY&ab_channel=LitosComesa%C3%B1a

James sounds good here! Very very happy that John's vocals are, indeed, back to prominence in the mix again.

Damn I love that song.

[WilliamMunny]

CIAW from Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSIlNHL1zUY&ab_channel=LitosComesa%C3%B1a

James sounds good here! Very very happy that John's vocals are, indeed, back to prominence in the mix again.

Damn I love that song.

His choices on the vocal melody are good in my book–it's always been a lukewarm song for me, and I actually like it sung in a lower register.

"Voices" is a top 5 song for me, but if they did it live and JLB sang the chorus a full octave lower, I'd be so much happier. It's the quiet bridge and JP's solo that make that song what it is (for me at least)

[javidt]

I've just seen the Barcelona gig. Very happy to hear JP backing vocals instead of the prerecorded ones.It helps a lot to feel the live vibe. The mix was great, you could hear the bass clearly.
And IMHO,this set list is better than the previous one. I think it's the first time I hear CIAW in twenty years.

[EPIC Outro]

I am glad that everyone seems to be enjoying the new set - I hope it comes stateside so I can finally add Caught in a Web to my "heard-it-live" collection.

But I personally prefer the previous set. The selections from Six Degrees are delightful after not being played in so long, but I was fortunate enough to have been in the audience for Score, and it's just going to be tough to EVER top that particular performance of Six Degrees, IMO.

[RaiseTheKnife]

This setlist looks amazing!  My wife will freak out if Solitary Shell makes its way back to the U.S.  Plus the new album tracks are fantastic cuts.  Envious of Euro fans right now!

[SeRoX]

I've just watched some clips from Barcelona concert. No exaggeration, James sounds great. I'm so glad and hyped.

PMU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AJbennifxM&ab_channel=HellYeah%21
TCOT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlx59v1vIPo&ab_channel=MechDvil7
SS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QNvt2Zt0QE&ab_channel=TonyMu%C3%B1oz
6:00 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_jMwarlHG0&ab_channel=TonyMu%C3%B1oz

I hope they'll add some other unplayed songs for the US dates and make a DVD.

[nikatapi]

James indeed sounds so much better, great to see!
Also really liked Mike's performance on Solitary Shell, he really is an incredibly versatile drummer.

[crystalstars17]

I was fortunate enough to have been in the audience for Score

 

[James Mypetgiress]

CIAW from Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSIlNHL1zUY&ab_channel=LitosComesa%C3%B1a

James sounds good here! Very very happy that John's vocals are, indeed, back to prominence in the mix again.

Damn I love that song.

His choices on the vocal melody are good in my book–it's always been a lukewarm song for me, and I actually like it sung in a lower register.

Agreed! Admittedly I love CIAW, but I think his interpretations of the "Seen the path, the one you take" section sounds absoutely incredible here.

[Madman Shepherd]

I've just watched some clips from Barcelona concert. No exaggeration, James sounds great. I'm so glad and hyped.

PMU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AJbennifxM&ab_channel=HellYeah%21
TCOT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlx59v1vIPo&ab_channel=MechDvil7
SS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QNvt2Zt0QE&ab_channel=TonyMu%C3%B1oz
6:00 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_jMwarlHG0&ab_channel=TonyMu%C3%B1oz

I hope they'll add some other unplayed songs for the US dates and make a DVD.

Thanks for sharing! Yeah he sounds great!

I feel like we go through this at the beginning of every tour. James has some rough performances and the usual suspects say, "Oh god, maybe they should get a new vocalist!" After warming up his voice over another show or two he is in top form, or...well, top form for a dude that is almost 60 singing insanely difficult songs.

I'm glad he's modifying some vocal melodies now. I think we've heard them enough times almost identical to the album that he gets a pass on not being able to sing like he's in his 20s anymore. I'm an average Rush fan and my friend is a huge fan. I asked him what he thought about them tuning down so low and he said, "I've heard it enough times the original way. It's kind of cool to hear it a bit different."

I do wish they'd bring back the backing tracks. I know, I know, damned if you do, damned if you don't. I'm glad you can hear Petrucci more though. But we all know James doesn't have the power he once had. And that's fine. He has sounded amazing long after he had a right to so I get why some people might find it a bit jarring that he struggled more in the last few years. I swear, 90% of the haters really can't constructively think things through and put everything in context.

For instance, I saw Bob Seger a few years ago. The arena went nuts for him even though Old Time Rock n Roll sounded NOTHING like on the radio. James struggling through a song sounds much more like the album version that Bob Seger singing one of his biggest hits. And yeah, the majority of Seger's audience probably hadn't even listened to any of his music other than when it randomly comes on the radio in years, so a DT audience has different expectations, but the human factor is still there. Take what we can get and enjoy what we can or shut up unless you can constructively critique the situation with full context. A lot of people on this board are able to (not all though).