Full Circle
About half way through Dream Theater's set last night, I realized something. It became clear to me that their music has enhanced my life on another level outside of the obvious enjoyment I get from their music. If not for them, I never would have met Mike, and to that end, Jeff or Stephanie either. Mike and I met about three years ago via Mike Portnoy's message board (he is the drummer). So it seemed quite fitting that these were the guys (and gal) I saw Dream Theater with. I very much value my friendships, and so to Dream Theater, I say: thank you.
Mushy stuff aside, the evening was interesting. Dream Theater actually invited two other bands to tour with them - Into Infinity and Redemption. Hardly a soul in the Dodge theater actually liked Into Infinity's performance. The guitars had a bad sound, one of the guitar players was downright sloppy, and the sound mix was horrible. They only had one and a half good qualities about them: they had all sorts of energy, and their singer is quite versatile...however, he didn't take advantage of his talents well.
Redemption had awesome music, but they lacked in stage energy and the singer sounded like he had a cold or something. The lead guitarist also had problems throughout their set. I guess his amps stopped working a few times. I could tell on a couple instances that he was probably supposed to be playing some sort of lead seeing as how the music would become quite vacant. Both bands probably have phenomenal studio recordings, otherwise Dream Theater would not have put their stamp of approval on them.
Dream Theater played an all around good set as usual. They had great momentum going. They got the crowd going right away with a metal version of Ric Flair's (old school wrestler) entrance music and then broke into their own material. They played the best version of Surrounded I had ever heard live (this was my second time hearing it), and even played stuff I had never gotten to hear live such as Blind Faith. Of course, unless San Diego got that one the night before, no one in the US has ever heard that one live. All of the songs were executed so well. Up until the end, I was very satisfied with the set list. When playing their latest epic, In the Presence of Enemies - a two parter - they made part one sound amazing. They did prove though that even live, there was no hope for part two. That is the song they ended their primary set with. Their encore was underwhelming with their selection of less than exciting tunes converted into a medley. When they busted out "Learning to Live", Jeff and I got way excited. But that was just a tease. They played maybe thirty seconds of it. It was very reminiscent of Rush's encore for about three tours straight where they played YYZ and at the end would tease the audience with ten seconds of Cygnus X-1 before calling it quits for the night. Bastards.
All in all, the set was great. Dream Theater continues to put on a fantastic performance. Oh, and John Myung (bass) actually moved on a couple occasions. Of course, Jordan Rudess breaking out the keytar (sp?) was a long overdue treat.
Tomorrow I go with Mike and Jeff to the Rush concert. I am way stoked for that one. That leads me to this week's anthem. I know I chose Rush a couple weeks ago...but that was a gag based on the son's title ("Anthem"). Just like last week where I shared the song that introduced me to Dream Theater, this week, the anthem is the song that got me hooked on Rush. From 1980's "Permanent Waves" album, I give you "The Spirit of Radio".
Mushy stuff aside, the evening was interesting. Dream Theater actually invited two other bands to tour with them - Into Infinity and Redemption. Hardly a soul in the Dodge theater actually liked Into Infinity's performance. The guitars had a bad sound, one of the guitar players was downright sloppy, and the sound mix was horrible. They only had one and a half good qualities about them: they had all sorts of energy, and their singer is quite versatile...however, he didn't take advantage of his talents well.
Redemption had awesome music, but they lacked in stage energy and the singer sounded like he had a cold or something. The lead guitarist also had problems throughout their set. I guess his amps stopped working a few times. I could tell on a couple instances that he was probably supposed to be playing some sort of lead seeing as how the music would become quite vacant. Both bands probably have phenomenal studio recordings, otherwise Dream Theater would not have put their stamp of approval on them.
Dream Theater played an all around good set as usual. They had great momentum going. They got the crowd going right away with a metal version of Ric Flair's (old school wrestler) entrance music and then broke into their own material. They played the best version of Surrounded I had ever heard live (this was my second time hearing it), and even played stuff I had never gotten to hear live such as Blind Faith. Of course, unless San Diego got that one the night before, no one in the US has ever heard that one live. All of the songs were executed so well. Up until the end, I was very satisfied with the set list. When playing their latest epic, In the Presence of Enemies - a two parter - they made part one sound amazing. They did prove though that even live, there was no hope for part two. That is the song they ended their primary set with. Their encore was underwhelming with their selection of less than exciting tunes converted into a medley. When they busted out "Learning to Live", Jeff and I got way excited. But that was just a tease. They played maybe thirty seconds of it. It was very reminiscent of Rush's encore for about three tours straight where they played YYZ and at the end would tease the audience with ten seconds of Cygnus X-1 before calling it quits for the night. Bastards.
All in all, the set was great. Dream Theater continues to put on a fantastic performance. Oh, and John Myung (bass) actually moved on a couple occasions. Of course, Jordan Rudess breaking out the keytar (sp?) was a long overdue treat.
Tomorrow I go with Mike and Jeff to the Rush concert. I am way stoked for that one. That leads me to this week's anthem. I know I chose Rush a couple weeks ago...but that was a gag based on the son's title ("Anthem"). Just like last week where I shared the song that introduced me to Dream Theater, this week, the anthem is the song that got me hooked on Rush. From 1980's "Permanent Waves" album, I give you "The Spirit of Radio".
posted by Aaron \m/ at 12:09 PM
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