Los Angeles Gets Treated To An Evening With Dream Theater

By Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Carsten Steinhausen] 

April 19th 2014, Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles CA: American progressive metal titans Dream Theater embarked on the ‘Along For The Ride’ world tour in January, and after an extensive European run, they began the North American leg in March and made their way to downtown Los Angeles to play at a sold-out Orpheum Theatre last night. This time they were revisiting the ‘evening with’ format, wherein paying fans were promised a three-hour Dream Theater show with no opening acts whatsoever. The band has always played great venues in the Los Angeles area and their show here is usually a highly anticipated event. Judging by how quickly the show sold out and the pre-show hype outside the Orpheum Theater on the day of, one had a feeling this crowd was in for something special.

Doors opened promptly at 7 PM, and for attendees who were visiting this historic 85-year old venue for the very first time, the mere sight and feel of its inner architecture was sufficient to put them in the right spirits for the show that was to follow. At 8 PM, the lights dimmed to black and the ‘False Awakening Suite’ intro was played on the PA, accompanied by a animated video consisting of elements of every Dream Theater album cover artwork, aptly culminating in the emergence of the band’s classic logo which also occupies the cover of their latest self-titled album.

Amidst deafening cheers from this 2000-capacity crowd, Dream Theater appeared on stage and delved into the first set which consisted mainly of recent material, from the self-titled, ‘A Dramatic Turn Of Events’ and ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings’ albums, with the exception of the ‘Trial Of Tears’ tune which comes off of the ’97 effort ‘Falling Into Infinity’. The five members of the band were at the peak of their powers right from the get-go, and in a sense, Los Angeles was lucky to get this show towards the very end of this touring run, as the band was completely in their groove, having played this set consistently for the past three months. In this reviewer’s humble opinion, ‘A Dramatic Turn Of Events’ is still the best-written and best-produced album Dream Theater have put out in a long, long time, and the two songs off of it ‘On The Backs Of Angels’ and ‘Breaking All Illusions’ sounded gloriously fantastic, specially the latter which brought this first set to a truly breathtaking end.

Following Set 1, there was a 15-minute intermission during which a video montage was played on the screen, a combination of items such as fans covering Dream Theater songs, mock brand and action figure adverts, and various little clips of that nature including a voice overdub on a video of a conversation between John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Those who stayed in their seats during the intermission were in splits due to the hilarity of this video, and it was an entertaining diversion from the musical extravaganza that otherwise filled this evening.

The band reappeared on stage and explored their older material, with the excitement amongst fans rising further and further with every song of this second set. From the front row of the floor section all the way to the last row of the balcony, people were seen enjoying themselves wholeheartedly and giving the band the response their performance deserved. In comparison to the three previous times this reviewer has seen Dream Theater, at the Greek Theatre in 2009, the San Manuel Amphitheatre in 2010 (opening for Iron Maiden) and Nokia Theatre in 2011, this was by far the most responsive and energetic crowd they’ve had in Los Angeles, and the ‘evening with’ format was perhaps the main reason for it. It largely ensured that the crowd would consist of hardcore fans, because this three-hour show was certainly not going to be a casual fan’s cup of tea. Simply based on how much better this whole setting was for a Dream Theater show as opposed to them playing with opening acts or opening for bigger bands themselves, they should come back to Los Angeles with the same show format every time from now on.

The second set focussed on two albums in particular that were celebrating their 20th and 15th anniversaries respectively this year, ‘Awake’ and ‘Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory’, and for fans it was a welcome treat to get to witness these tunes being played live, some having not been part of the Dream Theater set for a long time. As expected from Dream Theater, both sets were loaded with solos and instrumental jams, an aspect that completely fits their show better than it does for any other band. While a guitar/drum solo or an instrumental jam by another band at a different show might signal a bathroom or beer break for attendees, a solo or jam at a Dream Theater show is as attractive of a proposition as a song, if not more.

Perhaps the greatest thing about the vantage point this reviewer had in the balcony was that drummer Mike Mangini’s exploits on stage were clearer to the eye. It’s been almost four years since he joined the band, and based on his performance and demeanor on stage, there’s no doubt that he’s completely comfortable in his role, reveling in what he gets to do on stage, and no longer the new guy. The departure of a drummer of Mike Portnoy’s undeniable calibre would have capsized any other band, but much to the delight of fans who’re open-minded enough to accept them in their current incarnation, Dream Theater are still as strong as ever, thanks in no small part to Mike Mangini who’s turned out to be the best replacement they could have possibly found.

The usual suspects James LaBrie on vocals, John Petrucci on guitar, John Myung on bass and Jordan Rudess on keyboards were absolutely on-point in their respective roles, putting on a sparkling exhibition of musicianship in a manner only they can. With so many shows happening in Los Angeles on a nightly basis, you see Dream Theater play a show and before they revisit the city on their next tour, you get to see 20 other progressive metal bands. But with their show, Dream Theater make you truly realize that they’ve always been and will continue to be the pinnacle of progressive metal. With the combination of the brilliant live music, the animations played on screen and the elegant lighting patterns to enrich it all, this was a holistic audio-visual experience for these grateful attendees.

James LaBrie injected his quirky sense of humor into the show as well, talking with complete certainly about the Canadians preferring to watch hockey playoffs rather than attend this show, and commenting on the contact high he was getting on stage from the strong cannabis fragrance emanating from the crowd in his vicinity. Besides, cameras mounted atop Jordan Rudess’ keyboard and Mike Mangini’s drumkit also gave the audience some unique angles, enabling them to get a closer look at two members who would have otherwise not been as visible as their three band mates in the foreground.

The sound quality at the Orpheum was absolutely perfect. Not that Dream Theater would ever play a show at a bad-sounding venue, but some are definitely better than others, and this was the best-sounding show they’ve played in Los Angeles in a while. Granted that the attendance capacity was much lower than places like the Nokia and Greek, it made for a better atmosphere with an intimately packed theatre of devoted fans.

All in all, Dream Theater truly lived up to their name and took the gathering at the Orpheum to an altered state of consciousness.

Check out a full gallery of fantastic pro-shot photos by Carsten Steinhausen (view it here if you’re on a non-Flash device):

Visit Dream Theater on the web:
DreamTheater.net
facebook.com/DreamTheaterOfficial
twitter.com/DreamTheaternet
instagram.com/DTimages

Set List:

Set 1:
False Awakening Suite (Intro)
01. The Enemy Inside
02. The Shattered Fortress
03. On The Backs Of Angels
04. The Looking Glass
05. Trial Of Tears
06. Enigma Machine (w/ drum solo)
07. Along For The Ride
08. Breaking All Illusions

Set 2:
01. The Mirror
02. Lie
03. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
04. Scarred
05. Space-Dye Vest
06. Illumination Theory
Encore:
07. Overture 1928
08. Strange Déjà Vu
09. The Dance Of Eternity
10. Finally Free

Visit the Orpheum Theatre on the web:
LAOrpheum.com
facebook.com/pages/THE-ORPHEUM-THEATRE/198571464136
twitter.com/LAOrpheum

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