Like pretty much any progressive band, Dream Theater has been a huge influence on the music that we make. We finally, got to see them live at The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee. Here is our take on their show.

THE SHOW SET LIST

The Enemy Inside

The Shattered Fortress

On the Backs of Angels

The Looking Glass

Trial of Tears

Enigma Machine

Along for the Ride

Breaking All Illusions

The Mirror

Lie

Lifting Shadows Off a Dream

Scarred

Space-Dye Vest

Illumination Theory

Overture 1928

Strange Déjà Vu

The Dance of Eternity

Finally Free

Illumination Theory

(Piano Outro)

The Good:

To say Dream Theater rocked the venue would be an understatement. Riff after Riff, the entire band blew our minds away with their amazing set list. The new material does mark a shift from the classic Dream Theater sound and does let us see the true Mike Mangini. He seemed much more in his element on the new music than the old Portnoy numbers.

As is with any classic Dream Theater album, it gets better with age. You have to listen to it multiple times to truly appreciate it. We remember hearing metropolis for the first time and feeling pretty much the same as we felt with the new album material. Today Metropolis is our go to album in our car and we are sure the new Dream Theater album is going to be the same.

One of the best moments was sitting on row 4 in front of Petrucci and watching him cast his spell with the guitar. Words cannot do enough to express the sheer euphoria of seeing Petrucci in action.

The lighting for the Dream Theater show was one of the best we have ever seen – in fact the best ever at any of the big. More on the sounds a little further into this review.

The Bad:

Being fans of the classic Dreamtheater numbers, we were quite disappointed at the set list because it didn’t have as much of a punch when it came to old material. No “pull me under” and just the bare intro from Metropolis. We expected to hear more of songs like “honor Thy father” and “Under the glass Moon”. “Voices” would have made the show out of the world.

However, we do understand that the objective of the tour is to popularize new material and hence cannot completely object to the bands zeal to promote new material.

The Ugly:

When we see an amateur band with lousy sounds, we expect a picture perfect performance from a band on tour like Dream Theater. While the sounds were great overall, it was amusing to see mess ups with James Labrie’s sounds. His volumes kept going haywire as though the mixer had no idea how to place his volumes. There was a brief moment when James was singing into the mic and nothing was heard. Well, all bands have their bad days and we’re sure the sound guys would have heard a piece of the bands mind.

The ugliest part of the gig was the $400 per head for a meet and greet with the band. Seriously guys, you are an inspiration to other budding musicians. They don’t shell out $400 at a gig. Make it affordable.

The final Word

Overall, it was a pretty good gig. Great progressive music and like a mature band, not much talking. James as usual is pretty brief and frank with his conversation. The band did what it always best- played some amazing music.

Needless to say, we look forward to welcoming Petrucci and the gang to Milwaukee again.

So, are you a fan of Dream Theater? What's your favorite album of theirs? Share your thoughts either in the comments section below or via the contact form.

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An evening with Dream Theater