Dream Theater At Massey Hall March 25th, 2004 Duration: 3.25hrs *=HIGHLIGHT!! Setlist: As I Am This Dying Soul The Mirror (with solo from ‘Lie’) *Beyond this Life (with Frank Zappa improv. section) *Hollow Years (extended guitar solo) Matter of Time *Endless Sacrifice *Finally Free (w/drum solo) ^Intermission^ New Millennium Caught in A Web Another Day *John Petrucci Guitar Solo/ *Goodnight Kiss/ *Solitary Shell ‘Passage to Bangkok’ by Rush (Cover) *Stream of Consciousness *In the Name of God (w/end guitar solo) **ENCORE: A Change of Seasons Being 20 minutes late didn’t stop Dream Theater from amazing the crowd at Massey Hall. It was a sell-out show, and they roared when bassist John Myung started the night off doing the intro to their rousing new lead single ‘As I Am’. Equally crunchy was the 11-minute juggernaut ‘This Dying Soul’ with the highlight definitely being John Petrucci’s electrifying guitar work. Even so, I found these two mediocre compared to what was to come. The concert really started off with ‘The Mirror’, a head banger’s paradise that featured a solo section with Petrucci ripping the solo from ‘Lie’. The next song was probably the highlight of the first set if not the show! The improvisation section was amazing, it was JP doing some cool psychedelic noises but the magic for me was when keyboardist Jordan Rudess and drummer Mike Portnoy were trading off solos; rarely do you see a rock band these days with this amount of creativity to improvise for 5 minutes and make it sound amazing! Other highlights in this set were the melodic solos in ‘Hollow Years’, the James’ singing on ‘Endless Sacrifice’, and Mike Portnoy’s big drum solo at the end of ‘Finally Free’. Back to James LaBrie: he wasn’t his BEST tonight, he has been battling the cold and apparently his Dad was in the hospital the night of the show… Now onto the second set, and the crowd were starting to get into it more. To open it off John Myung came out with his Chapman stick to play ‘New Millenium’. ‘Another Day’ was the only track from ‘Images and Words’ but it was well done, with tasteful synth saxophone work by Jordan Rudess, a flawless guitar solo by John P. (he was flawless all night!), but James LaBrie couldn’t hit the top few notes up in the stratosphere likes done before, too bad. The highlights continue with a very emotional melodic solo by John Petrucci, which lead into the ballad ‘Goodnight Kiss’ featuring John’s longest and one of his most emotional guitar solos in his vast repertoire. This lead into the next part of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, the upbeat ‘Solitary Shell’, with JP getting out his double necked guitar (12 string/6-string) which was a big highlight! To everyone’s surprise they did a Rush cover (well done)…but I think when the opening notes for ‘Stream of Consciousness’ were played the crowd began to really appreciate the sheer power of Dream Theater’s music. The second set ended with the chaotic number ‘In the Name of God’, IMO other than their encore number its their best live song! The solo section was awe-inspiring, with Rudess and Petrucci pulling off the unison section perfectly and Petrucci’s solo was incredible to watch, with some amazing ‘shapes’ along with his blinding speed. As soon as ITNOG ended the crowd got to their feet for a 5-minute standing ovation. We all started chanting ‘A Change of Seasons’, hoping they would grace us with their 25-minute epic, and they did starting with and excerpt from the movie ‘The Dead Poet’s Society’. Most people were standing up headbanging and singing along (including myself) for the whole song and it was a magical moment, something that great music should produce. Not only are Dream Theater the most talented rock/metal band of today (and possibly ever) but they also convey intense emotions in their songs that can touch the crowd and give them a night that they will never forget. I paid $50 for a ticket, and let me tell you I would be triple that to see them play a show like that again. Words can't describe how amazing they were....I just hope I did a good enough job! By the way, I was in the left centre balcony.
I missed them here last Friday. Ah, but, wow, the show sounds awesome. Whoo for five minute improv sessions!
Here's some pics of the Detriot show, the individual members look similar to how they were when I saw them, its just the last photo that's different John Petrucci John Myung Mike Portnoy James LaBrie Jordan Rudess The Whole Band (This is In Detroit, I was MUCH closer!)