| Dream Theater |
| 29/1/2008 (Melbourne, Festival Hall) and 30/1/2008 (Sydney, Hordern Pavillion) |
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Well, I just experienced an amazing 2 nights of my life, and the realisation of a wish I've had for a VERY long time (maybe 15 years?). If you don't read any further, all you need to know is that Dream Theater were the finest musicians I've ever seen live, the gig lived up to all my expectations and that yes, it was worth it.
Let's talk first about the Melbourne show (and the meet and greet). Sean and I got to Festival Hall a little before 4:40pm for the official meet and greet at 5pm. Of the 50 people who were at the meet and greet, I think we turned up about 40th in line... and the line to get in to Festival Hall for everyone else (e.g. non-meet and greets) was LONG. This was 2 hours prior to doors opening... It was immediately obvious that Dream Theater has some pretty dedicated fans. I met a couple of people in line who like me, were seeing more than one show. One guy had just arrived in from Cairns (where he lived) and was seeing Melbourne (meet and greet), Sydney and Brisbane. Sounds like his concert budget is now depleted for the rest of the year... Anyway, we were given our tickets and laminates and led into a side area of Festival Hall where we lined up to wait for the band. We could hear the band doing soundcheck, and the organiser said "yep, after soundcheck they'll come in, shouldn't be long". Obviously unfamiliar with the completely woeful sound at Festival Hall, it took much longer than expected. Anyway, the band came in after we'd been in line for about 45 minutes. First up we all went through and got our photo taken with the band. Then they sat at a signing table and we filed past to get stuff signed and say G'day. I had my new t-shirt on for the occasion (picture coming soon...) which got a few chuckles and comments from the band (which is what I was hoping for). Jordan Rudess joked "thanks for the mention". Portnoy (unsuprisingly) liked it. I got them all to sign the back of one (which I'll frame for the new house, along with the tickets, signed photo and backstage laminate). All in all, it was pretty cruisy, I said Howdy to all of them and wished them a good show, thanked them for coming, etc. Anyway, it was all over and we went into an empty Festival Hall to get our spots. Festival Hall empty is quite weird actually. I got a t-shirt, then pulled up a spot right in front of Petrucci one guy back from the barrier. There Sean and I stayed for the first set, amongst a pretty decent crush going on from the crowd behind. The view was amazing, and Petrucci was less than a metre away for most of that part of the show. After the first set though Sean and I were just knackered and drenched in sweat. Also, given we were that close to the stage, we weren't getting any sound from the hall speakers, only from what was on stage. I think Rudess and Myung (and obviously LaBrie) were going direct into the PA, so all we could really hear was Petrucci (a wall of Mesa Boogies) and Portnoy - not that I complained too much about that :) As we moved out though for the second set, the sound became MUCH better - more balanced / mixed better. The second set was phenomenal - they played my top 4 favourite DT songs, so obviously I was stoked. It was executed with pure perfection. The first set went for about 1.5 hours, they had about a 15 minute break, and then the second set (including encore) went for just under 2 hours. I think I'd struggle to get through playing ONE of their songs live, let alone 3.5 hours. The setlist was as follows; Melbourne: One of the coolest things about the show was the multimedia aspects. They had a big projector which showed clips as the band played - which all looked specifically put together for a live show (e.g. timed to some songs, relevant to what they were playing, etc.). One of the best was a visual history of the album cover art, shown as the band played through Erotomania. Another was an animated clip (kinda like the Clerks TV Show) of the band fighting a big bad wolf as they played The Dark Eternal Night (actually very entertaining). Better than that though, as you would hope with a band as technically mindblowing as DT, they showed what the band was actually *doing*. They had tiny cameras (3) at the front of the stage, one above the keyboards and one behind the drums. So the crowd, no matter where you were, could get some visuals of the band playing, and closeups of fingers as they blazed up and down fretboards/keys. An excellent idea for a band like this and a standard that should be at every "muso" gig. I left Festival Hall very excited about the prospect of seeing something similar (or different) the following night in Sydney. The Sydney trek was pretty uneventful - getting to Sydney itself wasn't hard (given I did it at least 25 times last year). Getting out to the Hordern Pavillion however was a different matter. After some sleuthing, I worked out I could catch the bus (which was quite convenient). Anyway, got on the bus, spotted a guy in an Iron Maiden top, and basically followed him :) Luckily, he was also going to Dream Theater :) I lined up in what seemed to be a ridiculously long line, however it started moving pretty quickly and I soon discovered that the layout to the Hordern is fantastic. Essentially, there's one long line outside, which then splits into a number of gates to get in. Once through the gate, it opens up into an outdoor area where there are tables, bar stools, bars and plenty of areas to drink, smoke and talk to people. The venue itself is open with a number of doors, and it only ever took 1 minute tops to get into the stage area (which is big, and it looks like you can see the band from pretty much anywhere). It was one of the best venues I've been to. The band took to the stage in much the same fashion as Melbourne, and the setlist was pretty similar (below). I stood pretty much center stage about 20 metres back (able to see everything). The sound was spot on - again, great sound at this venue. Sydney; In my opinion, "The Dark Eternal Night" wasn't as good in Sydney as it was in Melbourne, nor the second set in general. The Keyboard Solo and "Lines in the Sand" were great, and the encore was incredible. "Pull Me Under" was unbelievably good to hear, and "Metropolis" was awe-inspiring and reassuring at the same time. The song itself is testament to songwriting and musicianship, and it was grounding and heart-warming to actually see Dream Theater stuff it up! After watching these guys for 6 hours across 2 nights play everything note-for-note perfect (with added live energy/feel obviously) it was quite fitting that the last song I saw them play made them stop twice trying to "get it back together". It happened after a "blackout" during the song (i.e. music/lights stop for a few seconds, then they launch back into the song). When they launched back in, it was quickly obvious that Portnoy was playing something different to Rudess (don't know which one was right). Rudess just stopped playing (it's not exactly a song you can just "jump back into"). They all eventually stopped, recounted it in, and the same thing happened. There was a lot of laughter and after the song Portnoy gave a "sorry guys, what a fuckup" look to the crowd - it was great. Other than that, all players were outstanding, including James LaBrie (who often I don't really care too much for his live vocals). In summary, the two nights were just incredible and unforgettable. I saw Iron Maiden a week later, who were absolutely awesome, but still paled in comparison to Dream Theater. I absolutely loved it, and it will probably go down as my greatest gig of all time. |