Tour Title: Metropolis 2000 Summer Tour
Rating: 5 Skulls
Death's Review (8/30/00 Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY):
I know, we've beaten the shit out of the whole Dream Theater thing here at Metal Judgment. What, with the SFAM reviews, the Images classic, the DT concert reviews and Garth's review of the summer tour, Dream Theater has gotten as much coverage as anything else on this site, if not more. Some of you must be thinking, enough already, why do we need more Dream Theater content on this site?Well, for starters, I may have seen one of the best concerts of my lifetime last night, and thus, I had to write about it. Dream Theater concluded their SFAM U.S. touring cycle with an incredible "special performance" at Roseland Ballroom. Unfuckingbelievable! The occassion was the recording of material for what is said to be an upcoming DVD, and believe me when I tell you that you must check out this alleged DVD if and when it ever comes out. There was pure magic in the air last night, and I can't see how it could do anything but come across on the disc.
The band opened up with an expanded, almost theatrical production of SFAM in its entirety, supposedly for one of the last times ever. I was late to the gig, having been told it started at 7:30, I got there at like 10 'till 9:00. Fuck. Guess what, they were only on SFAM's second track! Must have been a late start. But the show was sold out, the place was packed and Hel and I drifted along the side of the venue looking for a place to hang out.
Strangely enough, we ended up right on the side of the stage. LaBrie would come out to drink water and chill between parts, hanging right next to us. Wierd. Myung came out a bunch to tune his bass. Great perspective.
We saw all the elements come together from this quasi-backstage positioning. The Hypnotist's part was actually acted out by this professor-type dude, who sat next to us between parts looking like he was grading papers (probably just going over his lines)! We saw the chorus getting ready, which came out later in the show. It was a wierd perspective.
The band, of course, ROCKED. By the end of SFAM, we moved out onto the floor. Things were cool, the band was great. But then it happened. They played "The Spirit Carries On", not even one of my favorite tracks. But the chorus came out and the whole vibe was so transcendental that it was truly a great rock moment. Check out the DVD when it comes out and see for yourself.
"Finally Free" was also awesome, carrying the vibe. The ending was synched to the film acting out the sounds at the end of the album. Very cool.
And the sign came up on the screen: "There will be a twenty minute intermission." So I called Garth (biggest DT fan I know, perhaps on par with Tony Syme) on my mobile, just to rub it in that I was seeing Dream Theater make a DVD, and he wasn't! Then I looked around, and noticed everyone had these awesome "event" t-shirts designed specially for this gig! The merchandise stand had been long cleaned out by then though, so none for me. That sucks.
I also noticed the scope of the production. I counted six cameras, perhaps there were more. Full-on professional recording. I started to realize that this was going to be memorialized for all-time, and may end up being remembered as one of rock/metal/prog's finest moments. Again, buy the DVD and see what I mean.
Set two begins (thanks to "bergenboy29," and "JPetrucci1" from the Dream Theater board, whose posts I used to piece together the set list and refresh my memory). "Metropolis Part I" got the crowd pumped as expected. Next was "Just Let Me Breathe," and this sounded great and made me want to give Falling into Infinity another chance. After that was a medley of "Acid Rain" by Liquid Tension Experiment (musicians take note of this absolute insanity if you watch the DVD! Amazing!) into "New Millennium" and finally, a slowed down and strangely funky "Caught in a Web". Awesome.
Then the mighty Awake began to rear its majestic head. Wow. The live performance of "The Mirror" reminded me that Awake is still my favorite Dream Theater album. "Another Day" followed, and included live sax from this Beckenstein fellow who I'd guess played on the record or has recorded with them or something and seemed to be a big deal, but didn't really impress me next to all those other musicians.
Back to Awake for "A Mind Beside Itself" IN ITS ENTIRETY!!! This means "Erotomania," "Voices," and "The Silent Man" back-to-back-to-back! Absolutely splendid, one of the highlights of this approximately 3 1/2 hour show (my legs were tired by the end of the night!). Last song before the encore was "Learning to Live."
Can you believe, after all of that, the encore was "A Change of Seasons" in its entirety? It was. Unbelievable, incredible, amazing, awe-inspiring. This show re-inforced my faith in rock and roll.
If only I could have snagged one of those t-shirts! :)
Submitted by garth (8/16/00, Maritime Hall, San Francisco, CA):
Yet another fantastic night with Dream Theater. Prog rockers Spock's Beard kicked off the night with a mixed set. I'd never heard them before and didn't know exactly what to expect. What I saw can best be summed up as a cheesier version of Dream Theater. My reactions to Spock's Beard wavered between, "This is kinda gay" and "Ok, now THAT fucking ROCKED!" Good band that goes over the top a bit too much.Dream Theater kicked off their set with the sleighbells to the masterpiece "Metropolis Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper" and sounded amazing. Necks snapping, heads bobbing. The overall setlist was nearly flawless, including songs from every DT album, except When Dream and Day Unite. The mid-set medley was phenomenal, with the whole band switching effortlessly between "New Millenium" and "Caught in a Web" multiple times on a single beat.
The band was, as always, in top form. Portnoy is a master of working the crowd and seems to have fun with it. That is, when he's not blowing the crowd's minds with his pounding. The real standout, though, was Jordan Rudess. This man is simply an extremely talented keyboard player. His changes from gorgeous classical piano to rocking prog synth flowed like mad. The addition of strategically placed cameras to the stage show finally allowed the crowd to truly appreciate the crazy fingering of Rudess, Petrucci and Myung. And few artists sing with as much passion and effort as James LaBrie. Simply beautiful voice.
What can I say? The band blows me away every time. One of my favorite parts is always the little things they throw in, like Petrucci's rendering of the Simpsons theme song in a solo. The little things and the big things all add up to one result: a show not to be missed.
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