By Andrew Bansal
November 16th 2016, City National Grove Of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: Throughout a career that has now spanned more than three decades, from 1985 when they formed the group in their late teens all the way to the present day, progressive metal demigods Dream Theater have consistently exhibited exemplarily skillful musicianship in their studio recordings as well as live performances, which is what anyone loves most about them and it’s also the single biggest quality that makes one a Dream Theater fan. Following the release of their 2013 self-titled effort, guitarist John Petrucci wrote the story that would become the concept for the next album, ‘The Astonishing’. With keyboardist Jordan Rudess, Petrucci created the music as the soundtrack to this story, and after three years in the making, the double LP was unveiled in January 2016. With ‘The Astonishing’ being written as a single extended musical piece meant to be performed in its entirety, Dream Theater ventured to do exactly that, playing the whole album on all tours they did this year, with grand visual production to accompany the live music. But on the final North American leg of this cycle, they decided to add an encore of classics to make it even more worthwhile for ticket buyers. As part of this leg, Dream Theater visited the Grove of Anaheim last Wednesday, and with a full three-hour show and no opening acts, sent Los Angeles/Orange County fans to prog heaven.
The Grove looked much different from the norm for rock/metal shows, as only the frontmost, lowermost of the five tiers was general admission standing, and dinner tables and chairs were laid out through the rest of the venue, with assigned seating. Doors opened at 6 PM, giving everyone plenty of time to find their seats. A strict no-photo, no-video policy was in place for this show, not even cellphone photos or videos, and this was very thoroughly implemented by the extremely alert in-house security staff. Part of the mystique of ‘The Astonishing’ live experience is to witness it firsthand at the show itself, not through hundreds of low-quality YouTube videos, so this was very much a positive aspect of the event, and credit goes to security for co-operating with the band in this endeavor. Dream Theater began Act 1 of ‘The Astonishing’ promptly at 8 PM, and by that time, attendees were more than ready for a long evening of scintillating prog.
To accommodate the additional encore of older material, Dream Theater had to remove three tracks from ‘The Astonishing’ set, but still essentially played the whole album, and as the performance flowed uninterrupted, with no break in music and no speaking to the audience whatsoever, two things were most notably evident. Firstly, the elaborate, intricate visual presentation that was projected on a staggered set of screens on stage created quite a scene and lent a landscape for the band members to perform in front of. The stage was certainly transformed into the Dream Theater realm like never before, and this newfound theatrical approach is where the band has elevated artistically as compared to their past work. Secondly, even for those not very familiar with the new material, it was extremely easy to be instantly drawn to the actual musicianship on stage, regardless of what song was being played. Neither John Petrucci nor Jordan Rudess are perpetrators of extended jam versions of songs or endless noodling, and both always stick to the ‘script’, so to speak, but when a Petrucci or Rudess solo is in full flight, the identity of the song is quite secondary, and that’s the beauty of a Dream Theater concert.
That being said, every DT concert proves further that James LaBrie is the only vocalist that could successfully sing in this band, as he was absolutely at his peak on this occasion, hitting all the highs, mids and lows with perfection and sounding better than ever. Petrucci, Rudess, Myung and Mangini were all equally flawless. As a live act, a band is partly judged by the energy they bring onto the stage, but Dream Theater is unique in that the energy is created by the music, not by the movements of the band members themselves. There’s a reason why they stand in their respective positions for most of the show. The perfect execution of every single note is what ignites the sparks that emanate when Dream Theater is performing on stage, and this is not a band that needs to jump and prance around to be a watchable live act. The audience at DT shows is very well aware of this, and the band also knows their crowd, LaBrie and Petrucci in particular acknowleding the fans at opportune moments and raising crowd volume as a result. Towards the end of Act 2 of ‘The Astonishing’, they brought out Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale to sing ‘Our New World’ with the band, a song she recorded on the album as well. For the encore, Dream Theater played three fan favorites ‘As I Am’, ‘The Spirit Carries On’ and ‘Pull Me Under’, ending the evening on the highest possible note. Even though ‘The Astonishing’ is a complete performance in itself, the encore of classics gave the show the finishing touch it deserved.
There are live bands and then there is Dream Theater. So many bands visit Southern California and play incredible shows, but then Dream Theater comes along and raises the bar in terms of sheer musicianship. This show demonstrated this quality of theirs in full, but there was more, due to the added cinematic element. The Dream Theater show of 2016 is second to none for those that can honestly appreciate and enjoy it, and without doubt the pinnnacle of live music.
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More photos:
Set List:
Act 1:
01. Descent of the NOMACS
02. Dystopian Overture
03. The Gift of Music
04. The Answer
05. A Better Life
06. Lord Nafaryus
07. A Savior in the Square
08. When Your Time Has Come
09. Act of Faythe
10. Three Days
11. The Hovering Sojourn
12. Brother, Can You Hear Me?
13. A Life Left Behind
14. Ravenskill
15. Chosen
16. A Tempting Offer
17. Digital Discord
18. A New Beginning
Act 2:
19. 2285 Entr’acte
20. Moment of Betrayal
21. Begin Again
22. The Path That Divides
23. Machine Chatter
24. The Walking Shadow
25. My Last Farewell
26. Losing Faythe
27. Whispers on the Wind
28. Hymn of a Thousand Voices
29. Our New World (feat. Lzzy Hale)
30. Power Down
31. Astonishing
Encore:
32. As I Am
33. The Spirit Carries On
34. Pull Me Under
Remaining Tour Dates:
11/18/2016 – Temecula, CA @ Pechanga Resort and Casino
11/19/2016 – Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Theatre
11/20/2016 – San Jose, CA @ City National Civic
11/28/2016 – Charlotte, NC @ Ovens Auditorium
11/29/2016 – Jacksonville, FL @ Florida Theatre
12/01/2016 – Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
12/02/2016 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
12/04/2016 – Atlanta, GA @ Atlanta Symphony Hall
12/05/2016 – Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center