02 Arena, London | 20/10/2024

[Jinx]

It does seem with this heavy "heavy song" set that they are indeed going back to where SC and BCSL ended and carrying on the proper metal direction.

[TAC]

Metropolis Pt. 1

Break

Set 1...70 minutes

Night Terror

They've gone off stage. Encore

Set 2...65 minutes

[brakkum]

More than anything I would like to check from fellow forum colleagues who went to concert in what form the band members are, especially Labrie? In their personal opinion of course.

The band was really tight overall. There were some really funny flubs. My favorite was the first bass harmonic bar in As I Am didn't have distortion on JM's bass and he looked to stage right like WTF? But it was fixed immediately after.

The elephant is James, sadly. He was great about 90%, but there were a lot of parts that had changed melodies, or limit the breath he gave certain moments. I would certainly prefer that over bad high notes though. Not to say he didn't do great, he did, but it's the only clear indication of the bands age, everyone else fucking floored me. I love James so much, so it's hard to admit. But, I'm honestly very glad he's embracing it and making accommodations now compared to what happened the last few tours.

[Deadeye21]

Yes, but then continued on with the encore. I think it's kinda fair.

[TAC]

Yes, but then continued on with the encore. I think it's kinda fair.

They had an encore? Really? 


I wasn't complaining about the set lengths. I was just curious as to what they were.

[winter_rosean]

The band was really tight overall. There were some really funny flubs. My favorite was the first bass harmonic bar in As I Am didn't have distortion on JM's bass and he looked to stage right like WTF? But it was fixed immediately after.

The elephant is James, sadly. He was great about 90%, but there were a lot of parts that had changed melodies. I would certainly prefer that over bad high notes though. Not to say he didn't do great, he did, but it's the only clear indication of the bands age, everyone else fucking floored me. I love James so much, so it's hard to admit. But, I'm honestly very glad he's embracing it and making accommodations now compared to what happened the last few tours.

Thank you so much on your insight. I am concerned about James really, especially now seeing Metropolis footage that colleague put above from the concert, I totally need to understand and take into consideration the age and everything, sometimes in my head I forget which year are we in, that these are not 90s anymore and I need to expect lower tones than they originally are. Like you said, hard to admit.

[brakkum]

I will also clarify that James got better throughout the night. I need to rewatch Metropolis but I remember there being some rough parts for him there. But as the night progressed he had less and less bad moments, which was great

[TAC]

I will also clarify that James got better throughout the night. I need to rewatch Metropolis but I remember there being some rough parts for him there. But as the night progressed he had less and less bad moments, which was great

Yeah, seems so. Watching the PMU clip and it's much better. He'll need a few shows probably.

[wolfking]

Octavarium aye.  Yeah, MP can stay.

[genome]

You'll be pleased to know that the Psycho intro is back

[tuto]

Are we allowed to share links to youtube clips from the show?

[brakkum]

Are we allowed to share links to youtube clips from the show?

Hell yea! And I have to share this guy next to me that was freaking out when Octavarium started

https://youtube.com/shorts/y1hTqLxrIrY?si=z0BXK2kJYQhv4wlA

[Skeever]

James has his moments, but sounds a bit better than what I heard on Dreamsonic, at least.

[TAC]

James has his moments, but sounds a bit better than what I heard on Dreamsonic, at least.

That's fair.



Jordan is wearing glasses now?

[senecadawg2]

May have missed this earlier in the thread, but was Hollow Years the Budokan version?

[Grizz]

May have missed this earlier in the thread, but was Hollow Years the Budokan version?

From what I read on Reddit, it sounded like the 2009/2010 version, more or less, with the Bebot/guitar intro
Edit: yep, exactly the same arrangement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yjqnGOCbU
Bebot, clean guitar, distorted guitar, the song with the pre-chorus lines from the demo, extended piano jam outro

[ReaPsTA]

Most important thing - Watching Barstool Warrior. During the little SFX segment after the first chorus, you can see MP hitting the secret cowbell.

The click track and pre-recorded vocals are dead. They will not be missed.

[senecadawg2]

From what I read on Reddit, it sounded like the 2009/2010 version, more or less, with the Bebot/guitar intro
Edit: yep, exactly the same arrangement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yjqnGOCbU
Bebot, clean guitar, distorted guitar, the song with the pre-chorus lines from the demo, extended piano jam outro

    More than any other song in the setlist tonight, I really hope this one sticks around for the US shows.

[Zydar]

Thanks for the live update, guys!

I'm now having my morning coffee in bed and watching clips on YouTube from the show.

[genome]

From what I read on Reddit, it sounded like the 2009/2010 version, more or less, with the Bebot/guitar intro
Edit: yep, exactly the same arrangement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yjqnGOCbU
Bebot, clean guitar, distorted guitar, the song with the pre-chorus lines from the demo, extended piano jam outro

I was only really familiar with the Budokan version so those extra lines really threw me off 

[DAYAFTERDAY]

My experience of the show:

The setlist, atmosphere and energy coming from the band were amazing. There was so much excitement building in the arena beforehand and it felt very special and intimate (despite the size of the room). I had great seats (A3 Row M) and saw Ross Jennings from Haken a couple of rows in front of me! I briefly went and told him how awesome he was in the intermission, I hope he didn't mind I only took a few seconds of his time! Seeing my favourite band of all time live as well as meeting someone from possibly my 2nd favourite made this very special night even more wonderful.

Anyway, let's get to the elephant in the room: James.

As a vocalist myself, the vocals matter to me in Dream Theater, probably more than they do for most fans and JLB is an irreplaceable part of their sound. I didn't catch them on the last tour but from some of the footage I was worried about how much he'd declined since I'd previously saw them in 2020.

But what I will say is that I no longer care what footage on Youtube of his vocals sound like, being there in person I thought he absolutely nailed it tonight, maybe it's my poor hearing or just the magic of loud speakers being blasted at you, but I thought he sounded fantastic last night, way way waaaaay better in person than it comes across in clips I've seen.

He also made better choices than usual in terms of not oversinging or pushing himself too hard and reworking certain melodies that just aren't possible for him anymore. I noticed this straight away in Metropolis and also throughout the night, such as in the verses of As I am, he didn't do the high part in the second part of the verses, just sang them in the same melody as the first part. These choices allowed him to save himself for when it did matter such as "Trapped inside this Octavariuuuuum!" Which was perfect, I mean I'm almost at the point of wondering whether that part was lipsynced because he fucking nailed it (And I'm sure it wasn't if they aren't using a click track anymore). I really think he has put a lot of effort into his performance and the singing decisions he is making.

So if anyone is having doubts due to how he sounds in some clips, when you are there in person, it sounds amazing and you will not be disappointed.

Other highlights of the show for me were:

Vacant > Stream of Consciousness: This was a lovely surprise and the psychedelic light show during stream was awesome.

Hollow Years: The live version of this is so much better than the original album version, wonderful to experience live.

Octavarium: What can I say, this was on my and a lot of other fan's who never saw it befores bucket list and thoguh I was expecting it, the chills I got from the first few instantly recognisable notes from Jordan were very tingly indeed. Razor's edge live was one of my all time favourite live moments.

Night Terror: Kicked ass live.

This is the life: I was a bit meh on this song when it first started, but I guess I'd forgotten what a great ballad it was. I was at the show with my dad and we have a relationship that doesn't involve that much talking but we connect through shared love of the same music, and we had a moment together during this song and I put my arm around him and we were swaying along. It was lovely.

I'm sure there were more parts but I can't think at the moment.

All in all it was a fantastic setlist, the band were excellent of course and the vibe and energy is just brilliant to see this classic lineup all together onstage again.

[Parasomnia]

Damn, you can hear James almost starting to cry during Vacant. Fucking raw moment.

[Whitefish]

Literally when the whole set before those last three songs are all big bangers and then we get Spirit and Pull it's like "yeah, the show ended already. This is for the casuals.l

Yeah, this is how it felt for me. Home was fantastic, but TSCO and PMU felt like crowd pleasers for the more casual fans. It's not a bad encore exactly, but after the highs of the second set it didn't quite retain the energy for me.

Not complaining though, it was a great night. But it the encore had been ACOS...that would have really been something.

[Zydar]

I'll always have a soft spot for TSCO - it's probably a Top 10 DT song for me, and I'm definitely not a casual fan. And it was very logical that they ended with PMU, the song that put them on the map.

[genome]

Yeah I know it's a predictable song in the set but I would've been disappointed if there was no TSCO. It was a powerful moment too.

I can give or take PMU at this stage, but they aren't going to leave that one out in a 40th Anniversary show. Crowd loved it too. There were some people near me really dancing to it.

[ganpondorodf]

Please please PLEASE keep Stream of Consciousness for the US leg, it's my favorite piece they've ever written.

[Wukong]

Just got back to my city flat after a whirlwind of a weekend - seeing the NFL in Wembley stadium followed by seeing the Dream Theater concert over at 02. I've got no idea why I did this - insanity I guess. But holy shit, it was worth it, even with the somewhat boring game. Initially I was just going for Dream Theater, but when I realized I could watch an NFL game the afternoon prior, the little devil ears on my shoulder went up and I found myself booking tickets.

This isn't the first time I've flown out to London to see the NFL product, and it was as good as ever. I'm a season ticket holder for a team here in the US, and greatly enjoy going to NFL games, but the presentation in London is always just something else. I fucking love a Dino's hotdog and sometimes I feel like it might be worth going just for that

Anyway, after a wonderful british breakfast of bangers and mash and a football game where I ate a very good hotdoog, I hopped back to London just in time to grab a warm pint of beer and go see Dream Theater. And holy shit. Let me just say that I had the time of my life. While I've never loved the food options at the 02, I was there for, of course, the main course, Dream Theater. Starting with the introductory song, "Metropolis pt. I", I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was like MP knew exactly what we all needed to hear at that point. James was unsteady, but you know what? He was fine. He got better as the night went on.

Moving on through the set, there were some hiccups, but overall, it's like MP was just reading our minds. James got better with every song, and the band were tight as hell. By the second set, I was losing my mind. Toward the end, JR brought out his continuum, and I began doing what I have heard people describe only as "scrommiting" - I started screaming so loud that I almost threw up. For me, that was the highlight. And I had to leave before the encore because I was starting to feel a bit delirious from events of the day and anxious that I might not be able to make it on my flight home.

Frankly, I don't care what people's cellphones say (cell phones have been known to change the pitch on vocals), James LaBrie was unstoppable after those early hiccups, and would win my early vote for "comeback player of the year", yes, even over MP.

Anywho... Feeling a bit lightheaded from the last 24 hours but I will be fine - today will be a chill day in the city and then tomorrow it's back to Mrs. Wukong who has been a great sport about me randomly springing a Dream Theater London weekend... lol

Carpe Diem

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Toward the end, JR brought out his continuum, and I began doing what I have heard people describe only as "scrommiting" - I started screaming so loud that I almost threw up.

Is this you? Sounds like you had a blast, what a call to make and travel that far for your DT and NFL dreams! You're a legend, sir.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I was hoping for but definitely not expecting Vacant -> Stream of Consciousness. What a beast move.

[lonestar]

I was hoping for but definitely not expecting Vacant -> Stream of Consciousness. What a beast move.

And with the opening of Octavarium, it gives JLB a good 20 minute break in the middle of the set.

[KevinJonathanPetrucci]

Most important thing - Watching Barstool Warrior. During the little SFX segment after the first chorus, you can see MP hitting the secret cowbell.

The click track and pre-recorded vocals are dead. They will not be missed.

Let's GO!!!!!!!!!

[DAYAFTERDAY]

Yeah hearing Mike & John backing vocals for real as well made it feel so much more organic, it was a joy to behold as somebody who had only experienced this lineup through videos before.

[Lax]

I watched the live video til hollow years and here are my thoughts to this point, without the thrill of being in the crowd :
-The sound is HUGE, even filmed you can feel how powerful and articulated the sound is
-The setlist is great and the show is too
-The mirror felt a little weak between the first big hitters

-James' voice is awful until barstool warrior, and I'm yet to hear the remaining of the show.
I'm used to the fact the first song is usually butchered (and metropolis isn't even in the singable song list)...and it has been.
The following songs have vocals either off or forced in pitch.
I'll wait to see the whole show but if it's all like that, I think they should drop any high note and stick to an octave below original to all songs.

Happily, I'm a musician and don't care much about vocals, so I'm used to focus on music, and the chemistry with portnoy is still great, you can feel there is no click track and it's more lively.

[The Curious Orange]

No click track? Really? I'm not convinced. Some of those lighting effects were so damn precisely timed to the music they could only have been cued by a click track. But some of the songs, or sections of songs, yes, I agree, it did seem that the click track was turned off to let the band flow.

I'm surprised Mike didn't talk to the crowd. I'm also surprised (and pleased) that we didn't have the expected extended drum solo were were all fearing / looking forward to.

I loved:

Lasers! I'm a whore for a laser beam! The whole production was a huge step up from what we've seen, more lights, more colours, bigger, better screens (not obscured by pointless chevrons or those dice things they had a few years back).

The sound - big, arena filling, crisp and clear, I could hear all of the instruments perfectly.  Was there a technical problem with Jordan's keys at the start of The Mirror? They played the fist big riff of the song without the keyboard part. If this was intentional, it added a new twist to the song, if it was accidental, well, they should continue to play it that way!

The visuals and animations were brilliant. They re-used the SFAM comic-book film for the SFAM songs (they really should have put that drawing of Victoria on a t-shirt) but the rest of it was new. Metropolis had a new steampunk inspired cityscape, with balloons (very Rush!) and pistons, Constant Motion had some lovely psychedelic kaleidoscope fractals (pretty colours!) and the best of the bunch was Octavarium, with some truly insane Yellow Submarine style animation. I hope that was AI generated, because if that came from a human imagination, that is one fevered mind! I also loved the Wizard of Oz bit, that was brilliant (and again, very Rush!)

Loved the little wrap-around LED strip on Jordan's keyboard, especially when it went to piano keys and highlighted what he was playing.

Loved the setlist. It's impossible to find the perfect setlist to please every single setlist warrior on the internet, but thay came damn close. The Mirror! Under a Glass Moon! Stream of Consciousness! Octa-Bloody-Varium! And the best song of the night - Hollow Years.

Didn't like:

The O2. It's a horrible venue.

The queue at the merch stall. They kept letting O2 priority customers push in first, not cool.

The ridiculously high ticket prices.

Overall, this was my 18th DT show, and one of the best, and certainly the biggest. Man of the Match this time round, well, there can be no other choice, it has to be all 5 off them.

[Lax]

No click track? Really? I'm not convinced. Some of those lighting effects were so damn precisely timed to the music they could only have been cued by a click track. But some of the songs, or sections of songs, yes, I agree, it did seem that the click track was turned off to let the band flow.

I agree, I can't say when it's on or off, but in some the first few songs I heard some drift in tempo, that's the only point I'm at.