I don't know whether they are going to really try to play something from each and every album or if they are going to just do a good representation of their entire careers without trying to literally capture every album. They know Octavarium is a fan favorite, and it's one that is on at least some of their minds as something they want to play. But if they are taking the former approach on this tour before the album drops, Octavarium might be a long shot just because of its length. That is the same quandary they ran into for the Score show once they decided to play Six Degrees. That decision all by itself had a ripple effect through the entire set that made it a pretty big challenge to vary much from what they actually ended up playing. Granted, that's 43 minutes of music that will not be in the set this time around. But the flip side of that is that they have 7 more albums now. It might be really tough to fit Octavarium in. That said, I really hope they do. And even though it is difficult, just kind of sketching out some rough set lists making sure to hit every album, include things I think are fairly likely, but keeping to mostly shorter(ish) songs, I guess they still have plenty of options. Here's a sample I came up with without noodling too hard on it (I will go with the R40- reverse chron format):
1. The Alien
2. Barstool Warrior (I would love S2N, and it's actually a bit shorter, but I was just "feeling" Barstool as more likely)
3. Our New World (I highly suspect this will be played, although I would prefer Moment of Betrayal)
4. The Enemy Inside
5. Breaking All Illusions (since they seem to love this, for some strange reason; I would go with OTBOA, personally)
6. A Right of Passage (not my fave, but it was a single, it's short, and it hasn't been well represented; I could also see TSF since Portnoy probably wants to play it with the band)
7. Constant Motion
8. Octavarium
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9. Honor Thy Father (I would rather see ITNOG, and they could easily sub that in instead, but I was initially going for shorter songs. Either would be a great set 2 opener after 8VM closing the first set)
10. Misunderstood
11. Spirit (they'll surely play this, right?)
12. Take Away My Pain (continuing the "soft" song section)
13. Erotomania (surely an instrumental somewhere, right?)
14. To Live Forever (not "truly" an I&W song, but fits the era and could be part of a good Charlie tribute, followed by...)
15. Afterlife (I would rather see OAMOT as the closer, and I really dislike this song, but given Charlie's passing, I think it's likely)
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16. Pull Me Under (logical encore closer, and it checks the I&W box in a way that TLF only partially does)
With my primary choices, that's only about 2:20 total music. With an intro tape, some short breaks here and there for James banter and JP changing guitars, there's still a good bit of freedom to sub a few of those out for longer songs without going too crazy, without them going over 3 hours total with intermission, which is about what I would expect for an evening with show from them based on past tours. And as far as song selection, I wouldn't mind that set at all. Pretty varied list of things I would expect, things I like, things I'm not crazy about, instrumentals, "ballads," heavy songs, etc. It pretty much has it all.