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Dream Theater Dream Theater has been one of my favorite band's since the day I first heard "Pull Me Under" on the radio back in 1992. Tell me that doesn't sound hilarious now a days, "'Pull Me Under' on the radio." Their second album, and first with lead vocalist James Labrie, Images And Words, was one of those albums that only comes along about once every decade or so and completely blows you away. I first saw Dream Theater on their Images And Words tour and have seen them just about every tour since. It has not always been marital bliss between Dream Theater and I during our two decade long relationship. I started becoming disenchanted with the band's direction after the release of their sixth studio album, 2002's Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, a sprawling two-disk set that is centered around the 42 minute, 8-part, title track. It was around this time that the band felt the need to make damn near every song ten or more (often much more) minutes long, with half of that time usually being eaten up by long "look how fast and virtuosic we are" instrumental passages that bogged down so many of the songs. Yes, we all know that John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess are musical X-Men brothers endowed with guitar and keyboard superpowers that make them capable of playing superhuman speed unison runs with 110% accuracy, but that doesn't always make the stuff enjoyable. With follow on albums like Train Of Thought, the band pursued even heavier metal tones that distanced me further, and each follow on album did little to win me back. Until now. Dream Theater's latest release, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, is simply extraordinary. After the much publicized exit of band cofounder, drummer, songwriter, and quasi-bandleader, Mike Portnoy, earlier this year, the band forged on with new drummer extraordinaire Mike Mangini under the leadership of guitarist John Petrucci. Petrucci produced the new album and also wrote most of the music and lyrics. It would be an oversimplification to call A Dramatic Turn Of Events a return to form, but the album showcases all of the elements that made long time fans love this band in the first place - melodic, memorable, songs that make you want to listen to them over and over again. On October 17th, the revamped Dream Theater rolled intoWashington, D.C. for a one night stand at the majestic Warner Theatre. I had seen G3 (with John Petrucci) play this venue a few years back, and I can say that it doesn't get much better than this place to see a concert. My presale tickets put me about 20 rows back, Petrucci side of course (yes, I am a guitarist), and I could not have asked for a better seat. The band is currently touring in support of A Dramatic Turn Of Events, which entered the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at #8, and is on the way to becoming one of their most successful albums. I was hoping that the band would play more than just a few songs off the new album, and my wish was granted. The two-plus hour setlist contained no fewer than six (long) songs from A Dramatic Turn Of Events, as well as a good mix of older classics. After an opening set by the popular American thrash metal band Trivium, I made my way over to the bar for one last drink as the crew prepped the stage for Dream Theater. For the sake of expediency, all I will say is that I am not a big fan of Trivium or their style of music in general, but there were certainly plenty of headbangers in the crowd who were. Must be the gray hair talking. At about 9:15 PM the theater was darkened, as the strains of Hans Zimmer' s "Dream Is Collapsing" filled the air and eventually gave way to the downright disturbing Tuvan throat singing that begins "Bridges In The Sky." This is the one song on the new album that is taking the most time to grow on me, but this powerful live performance certainly helped the cause. "These Walls," was up next, and it was the perfect choice from their Octavarium album, as it is wonderfully melodic and reasonably short by DT standards. The title track would have taken up half of the damn setlist. "Build Me Up, Break Me Down" was the next song from A Dramatic Turn Of Events, and if you walked into the concert a little late you might have thought that Linkin Park was playing. The song starts off with an electronic drum intro before exploding into a propulsive nu-metal guitar riff that eventually leads to the gorgeous "You build me up, You break me down" chorus. Not one of the best songs from the album, but a nice change of pace, and I dig it. When you think of epic metal look no further than Train Of Thought's "Endless Sacrifice," and Mangini and the boys smacked this one out of the park. Speaking of Mike Mangini, the rest of the band show him some love early on when they leave the stage after only four songs to let him pound on the skins by himself for a while. Mangini played with Steve Vai, was a drum professor at Berklee College of Music, and beat out six other world class drummers during the Dream Theater auditions - but how good can this guy really be, you ask? THAT GOOD! Just check out some of the YouTube videos of the epic Neil Pearteanesque drum solo he throws down on this tour. Now you kids do realize that Dream Theater have been making records since the late '80s right? The smoking instrumental "Ytse Jam," from their 1989 debut album, When Dream and Day Unite, aptly attested to that fact this night. To allow the smoke to clear from everyone's fingers temporarily, James Labrie takes a seat at the front of the stage for a brief acoustic set featuring the beautiful Images And Words piano ballad "Wait For Sleep," damn you for not following with "Learning To Live", and then the new album's own piano ballad "Far From Heaven." "Outcry" is the next new song performed and although it certainly has its moments, it is the perfect example of a 12-minute DT song that could easily be trimmed down to a measly 8 minutes by taking out all of the boring instrumental noodling in the middle. "On The Backs Of Angels," is the more concise, better, version of "A Change Of Seasons" and it is one of my favorites off the new album. "Caught In A Web," was the only Awake treat of the night, and, surprisingly, Labrie was able to hit most of the high notes reasonably well. Labrie's singing on the new album, and at this concert, was the best I have heard in a long while. The finale to this concert was the icing on the cake. Their landmark 1999 album Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory finally gets its due in the form of "Through My Words" and "Fatal Tragedy", which brings the house down. Closing out the set was A Dramatic Turn Of Events' masterpiece, "Breaking All Illusions," which is as good as any song this band has ever done. On this tour, the band has been alternating a few songs within the main set each night, and for the encore they have alternated playing either "Pull Me Under" or "Under A Glass Moon." On this particular night we were treated to my old favorite "Pull Me Under," but I would have been grinning from ear to ear at either choice. The stage setup and lighting looked incredible and the sound mix was nearly flawless. The band seemed energized by the new songs and how well received they were by the crowd. It was great to see this old band recover so quickly after the sudden departure of one of their most important members and come back stronger than ever with one of the best albums and tours they have ever done. Don't miss either of them. Setlist: Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - October 2011 |