Train of Thought 2004 World Tour: An Evening with Dream Theater
Rating: 5 Skulls
Death's Review (3/6/04, Pantages Theater, Hollywood, CA):
Dream Theater rule, especially live. The best part is that you never know what you are gonna get when you go to see them live. I've had quite the personal history with the band. I bought the cassette of When Dream And Day Unite as a wee lad after reading a review in Hit Parader that compared them to a cross between Queensrÿche, Metallica and Rush. Hel and I saw them play The Chance in Poughkeepsie, New York, on the Images and Words tour. We saw them at the Roseland Ballroom in New York for the Scenes From New York taping, and we also saw them at the Beacon Theater when they played the entire Master of Puppets album. Heck, last year at Universal Ampitheater here in L.A., we were treated to Ozzy's "Diary of a Madman." Always a different set with this band, always surprises. This night was no exception. Even the venue was an interesting choice - not a place where I have seen metal concerts held in the past. In fact, the last time I was in Pantages Theater, I saw Jason Alexander and Martin Short in The Producers.We got to the venue before the show started, and hit the lobby bar to get some drinks. The lines were ridiculous, so one by one we all bailed and went to our seats so as not to miss the show. The gig started close to on time with a brief video history of the band, showing pictures and video footage from each album in Dream Theater's storied past. Then they hit the stage, busting out with "As I Am" and "This Dying Soul" from Train of Thought (an album I love), followed by "Caught in a Web" from the awesome Awake album. The balance of set one was a mix between mellow stuff like "Hollow Years" from Falling Into Infinity (which featured a killer John Petrucci guitar solo), and recent material like "War Inside My Head" (with cool war footage on the video screen), "The Test That Stumped Them All" (from Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, and very cool renditions of "Endless Sacrifice" and "In the Name of God" (also from Train of Thought), plus some material from 2000's Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory. I'm told this first set varies from night to night, with the real rotation in set two.
After a brief intermission where we all met in the lobby and downed a couple of beers, the band was back, and drummer Mike Portnoy told us that this would be a special night because it was fifteen years to the day since When Dream And Day Unite was released. Believe it or not, they then proceeded to perform the entire 1989 debut album, start to finish. "A Fortune in Lies," "Ytse Jam," "Light Fuse and Get Away," "The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun" - yep, they were all there. Although James LaBrie was not the singer on this first album, he sounded great on this material.
But wait, as they say on cheesy infomercials, there's more. The band then busted out with the "bonus" track and fan favorite that's not on any album - "To Live Forever" - and brought out original vocalist Charlie Dominici to sing it! Wow. His voice was actually really good. Even crazier, they then brought out ex-keyboard player Derrick Sherinian and the now seven-piece band all played "Metropolis Part I" to close out the show, with Jordan Rudess, John Petrucci and Derrick Sherinian all trading leads left and right. It was truly amazing (although where was Kevin Moore?). I guess I have good Dream Theater karma 'cause once again I was at the right place at the right time. I've read rumors that this will be released on album or DVD some day. If not, it is going to make one hot bootleg.
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