The other day I went to go see one of the premiere prog rock/metal bands in history, Dream Theater, at the 9:30 Club in DC. I have to say, these guys still have it!
There were no opening acts. DT came right out and started playing. After a bit, they did a 15 minute duel between the keyboardist and the drummer. They played for 90 minutes, took a 20 minute break, then played for another hour.
And although it goes without saying, I’m going to say it anyway: John Petrucci is a fricking guitar god! They put a camera on his guitar whenever he was doing an extended solo, and some of the stuff he did I didn’t think was humanly possible. If ever there was a guitar idol in my life, he would have to be it.
Their current tour only has a few dates left, a few in Spain and one in Korea. Any international dopers in those areas are highly encouraged by me to go see them. And to everyone else, if you are at all into rock or metal and these guys come near you, you HAVE to go see them. Easily one of the top five shows I’ve ever seen, maybe even top three.
Absolutely. It won’t be the same without Barlow on vocals, but they are on my List of Bands I Must See Before I Die. I’ve seen Children of Bodom before, and they’re really good live, and I’m also quite anxious to see Evergrey.
Will you be at the JAXX in Springfield, VA for this show? If so, we should hook up.
I have to agree that Dream Theater live is something that any fan of metal music should see at least once. I’ve seen them live 5 times and they have never disappointed me with their performance. Mike Portnoy really looks like he is channelling Animal from The Muppets.
Excellent. I’ll be sure to shoot you an email or something in the coming days. Or maybe I’ll just get in there and yell out “Where’s ultrafilter?!?”
And that is great news for Amorphis. That album has been getting serious spins in my CD player ever since I bought it.
Ain’t that the truth! His drum kit blew me away. It was so big he had to play it standing up for most of the night. It’s one thing to hear them on the albums, but when you see them do it live, it’s absolutely mindblowing.
I caught them when they were sharing top billing with Queensryche and touring with Fates Warning. QR & DT did a few songs together, now that kicked some serious hiney.
Only wish I could’ve seen them during the Metropolis Pt II tour.
I am a huge Chroma key fan. When I heard that Kevin Moore was originally in Dream theater, I rushed out to hear what they sounded like. :eek: It wasn’t like Chroma Key at all! I should have known by their photo on the album!
Not wanting to be a buzzkill in your DT thread, I just wanted to give those of you who aren’t aware the heads up: Kevin Moore, Mike Portnoy and someone else I can’t recall has a side band called OSI. It is much closer to DT than CK, so you guys may like it.
First came across them while searching for music that was featured in the 1920s something Metropolis movie. Was pretty intrigued by what I heard. Considering getting their Metropolis album or something; any thoughts?
My personal favorites from them are A Change of Seasons and Scenes from a Memory. Of course, the new album Train of Thought is amazing. Here’s a link to their website. You might want to peruse the discography. There’s plenty to pick from.
Damn, damn good musicians! Just avoid meeting them at all costs. I had that misfortune of doing that once. Their egos are big enough to change the rotation of the earth. They deserve to be proud, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just don’t blow your mental image of them by finding out how they treat their fans. I’ve met more than my share of marquee acts, and they’re always the first one to come up when someone say something negative about a band’s demeanor.
I know how that goes. I had the (mis)fortune of scoring some backstage passes to the G3 concert last November. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are really cool guys. Yngwie Malmsteen, on the other hand, is one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever met. I’ve not been able to listen to his music since without his attitude clouding my enjoyment.
Dream Theater does indeed kick ass live. I’ve seen 'em three times, the last one being 3/6/04 in Hollywood where they played their entire debut album (WDADU) to celebrate its 15th Anniversary release. For the encore, they were joined by Charlie Dominici (bleh) and Derek Sherinian (yippee!!) and did a hella version of “Metropolis”. Neener, neener.
As for their egos, I’ve never met them but I’ve heard that they’re mostly cool, although James can be a bit standoffish. Certainly, they’re not as bad as SOME asshole musicians who think they’re God’s gift to mankind! (Such as the aforementioned Yngwie, who was the first one I thought of…) Mike’s totally pro-bootleg trading and pro-file sharing so that’s good enough for me!
