Last night I saw Dream Theater again. If you remember from my last time seeing them, I rated them as the greatest gig I'd ever been to. Well, this time they were better, I kid you not. The band was just spot on - particularly Petrucci, Portnoy and Rudess. There were a lot of improvs and solo spots throughout the night. They played at the Palais - we had spectacular seats - third row from the front in the Lounge area - able to see everything really well. Their setlist was superb as well - very different to last tour, with full versions of 3 songs off the new album (and given two of those songs are well over 15 minutes long - one pushing 20 minutes - quite impressive). Here's the rough order of their set (and even though there's not a heap of songs - it went for just over 2 hours);

• A Nightmare To Remember
• A Rite of Passage
• Hollow Years
• Erotomania
• Voices
• In the Name of God
• Solitary Shell
• Forsaken
  ---
• The Count of Tuscany

Erotomania was probably the best live song I've ever heard. It was certainly the best version of it I've ever heard - but it was literally played to perfection. Not a note out of place. Amazing. On that note, Petrucci was killing it last night. His solos were spot on (sometimes he can play the solos a bit TOO fast live, oddly enough). But last night he was right in the pocket. Portnoy was having fun, I can't fathom his talent at times. Standing up playing the drums (and we're not talking straight 4/4 beats) while talking to the crowd. Deliberately throwing one of his sticks off to the side of the stage to his tech, just to have him throw it back while playing - all the while never missing a beat. In Solitary Shell, he even got off the kit and walked around it while still playing. Insane. Rudess was also brilliant - his two solo spots were unbelievable. He also, very cleverly, hooked his iPhone up to his keyboard rig, and used that to play some of his solo spot. Very cool.

On the back of seeing Opeth 2 weeks ago, I've very much been spoiled with these concerts. Two of the (if not THE) greatest live bands in the world. What a fantastic few weeks of live music.

Labels: Concerts