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I saw Dream Theater at the State Theater in Minneapolis last night.
I need to start this off with a bit of a rant. I listen to the local hard rock radio station every day, and I didn't hear about the show until Wednesday, and the show was Friday. I don't know if the band's marketing manager is to blame, or our local station for not mentioning it more on the air. I would have been pissed if I had missed the show. I check their web site every now and then to get updates on when new albums and videos are coming out, but since their last album was released this past summer and they toured with Megadeth on Gigantour to support that album, I figured they would be done touring for a while. I guess I was wrong.
So, booking a seat that late, you'd think it would have sucked, but it ended up being main floor, 6th row, center stage. Everyone in my row, it turns out, had bought their seats within the last 24 hours, so I am guessign that they released a block of seats at the last minute and we were the lucky benefactors.
Anyway, it was a great show. They have set such incredibly high standards that after seeing them four times, you just EXPECT them to be phenomenal. I heard JP play a few wrong notes, which I always find refreshing as I put a lot (too much) pressure on myself to play everything perfectly, so it's nice to hear a guitar god drop a few clams here and there. John Myung, one of my bass idols, seemed to be pretty "on", although you can rarely hear him in the mix on any given day, plus the ear plugs I had in kept me from hearing the bass all that well. <font color="yellow">Side note: Yes, ear plugs. OK, I'm old. But, I didn't have a raging headache when I left the show, either.</font> Jordan and Mikey were great as well. James always seems to struggle a bit live, but he did alright.
I wasn't thrilled with their choice of songs, but I had a pretty good idea of what they would play based on their setlist from the past few evenings, so I got what I expected. It was nice hearing them play some more obscure stuff, but I wouldn't have minded hearing a few more of my faves. But hey, they played Take the Time, Fatal Tragedy, About to Crash, Pull Me Under, and Metropolis, so I was alright with that.
Here's the setlist:
Root of All Evil
Another Won
A Fortune In Lies
Take The Time
The Mirror
Lie
Peruvian Skies (w/ Pink Floyd & Metallica interludes)
Fatal Tragedy
About To Crash (Reprise)
Losing Time/Grand Finale
Intermission
As I Am
I Walk Beside You
Sacraficed Sons
Octavarium
Encore
Pull Me Under/Metropolis Pt. 1
I have to say that it looked like a nerd bomb exploded in the theater; lots of geeky looking guys without dates saying things like "This is so awesome! Huh-huh! Huh-huh!" Oh well, that's cool. I couldn;t find anyone to go with on such short notice, and my wife stayed home with the kids, so I suppose I looked like a geek as well. Maybe the truth hurts. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
- E.
I need to start this off with a bit of a rant. I listen to the local hard rock radio station every day, and I didn't hear about the show until Wednesday, and the show was Friday. I don't know if the band's marketing manager is to blame, or our local station for not mentioning it more on the air. I would have been pissed if I had missed the show. I check their web site every now and then to get updates on when new albums and videos are coming out, but since their last album was released this past summer and they toured with Megadeth on Gigantour to support that album, I figured they would be done touring for a while. I guess I was wrong.
So, booking a seat that late, you'd think it would have sucked, but it ended up being main floor, 6th row, center stage. Everyone in my row, it turns out, had bought their seats within the last 24 hours, so I am guessign that they released a block of seats at the last minute and we were the lucky benefactors.
Anyway, it was a great show. They have set such incredibly high standards that after seeing them four times, you just EXPECT them to be phenomenal. I heard JP play a few wrong notes, which I always find refreshing as I put a lot (too much) pressure on myself to play everything perfectly, so it's nice to hear a guitar god drop a few clams here and there. John Myung, one of my bass idols, seemed to be pretty "on", although you can rarely hear him in the mix on any given day, plus the ear plugs I had in kept me from hearing the bass all that well. <font color="yellow">Side note: Yes, ear plugs. OK, I'm old. But, I didn't have a raging headache when I left the show, either.</font> Jordan and Mikey were great as well. James always seems to struggle a bit live, but he did alright.
I wasn't thrilled with their choice of songs, but I had a pretty good idea of what they would play based on their setlist from the past few evenings, so I got what I expected. It was nice hearing them play some more obscure stuff, but I wouldn't have minded hearing a few more of my faves. But hey, they played Take the Time, Fatal Tragedy, About to Crash, Pull Me Under, and Metropolis, so I was alright with that.
Here's the setlist:
Root of All Evil
Another Won
A Fortune In Lies
Take The Time
The Mirror
Lie
Peruvian Skies (w/ Pink Floyd & Metallica interludes)
Fatal Tragedy
About To Crash (Reprise)
Losing Time/Grand Finale
Intermission
As I Am
I Walk Beside You
Sacraficed Sons
Octavarium
Encore
Pull Me Under/Metropolis Pt. 1
I have to say that it looked like a nerd bomb exploded in the theater; lots of geeky looking guys without dates saying things like "This is so awesome! Huh-huh! Huh-huh!" Oh well, that's cool. I couldn;t find anyone to go with on such short notice, and my wife stayed home with the kids, so I suppose I looked like a geek as well. Maybe the truth hurts. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
- E.
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