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Dream Theater 11th November 2007 Dream Theater 10th November 2007 Dream Theater 9th November 2007 Dream Theater 13th October 2007 Dream Theater 12th October 2007 Dream Theater 9th June 2007 Oceansize 27th April 2007 Opeth 5th November 2006 Porcupine Tree 29th September 2006 Neal Morse 8th July 2006 Oceansize 23rd June 2006 Oceansize 27th March 2006 Dream Theater 26th October 2005 Dream Theater 25th October 2005 Dream Theater 24th October 2005 Dream Theater 16th January 2004

Concert reviews

On this page, I will write some reviews of concerts I have attended.

I intend to restrict historic reviews to recent months, but future concerts will cover Dream Theater and other bands. The Dream Theater review from 2004 was one I wrote for the New Voice Fanzine, that was never published. I also included it because it was the only Dream Theater gig that I have taken a camera to.

I have limited opportunities to attend gigs, so I am very choosy and therefore it is best not to expect many updates.

Dream Theater, King Georges Hall, Blackburn 11th November 2007

After a good night’s sleep, I turned up in Blackburn at noon for the final instalment. All told, the three gigs resulted in 1,000 miles of driving.

The Kings Hall is a council owned building, very impressive in the Victorian style. I arrived early in order to grab some lunch with Al Muirden, his brother in law, Bob and Dean, who we bumped into coming from the station. Afterwards, we returned to the venue just as the Symphony X boys were getting off the bus. Most said hello quickly, but the bassist did stop for a couple of minutes.

A bit later, John Myung arrived by taxi, and other than saying hello, was straight in. The handful of waiting fans missed him as he went in the other entrance. Shortly afterwards, the other four arrived, but as they went into the yard, they were able to escape straight in. Jordan wandered out quickly to say hello. He was interested to hear how the interview with John Myung had gone.

Once that excitement was over, I then settled down with a few fans for the long wait for doors opening. Much time was spent speculating on what might be in the setlist, although, our predictions were only correct in respect of Forsaken.

Fortunately, time passed quickly, although due to the cold, the queue really did not start to form until six. Then security caused chaos by changing the door that they wanted people to line up in front of.

In fact, security was a problem at Blackburn as they were letting people in one at a time and searching people. I was asked whether I had a camera and when I said yes, was allowed it in anyway. However, the effect of the slow entrance was obvious once Symphony X came on. There were loads of fans still trapped outside. As with Wolverhampton, the crowd were pretty cool and formed rows. Dean and I took up station on the front, between James and John Petrucci’s normal slots.

Being the last night, we were hoping for laughs and giggles and it did not take long. Mike was in the wings and as Symphony X started, he started to throw stuff at them. From what I could see, it looked like bread crusts and grapes. A few minutes later, he came on stage dressed in a long gown, and carrying a large mop and shovel and pretended to sweep up. In reality, it was just an excuse to try and put the band off.

At some point during the set, Eric brought a woman dressed up with feathers into the pit, who threw a pair of black knickers onto the stage. Usually, when the band throw stuff off the stage everyone jumps trying to catch it. On this occasion, when Russell threw them off, the whole front row retreated, trying to avoid them. A lot more popular was the water bottles that Russell threw into the crowd. I had come prepared, but it was useful to get a spare as I was planning on doing a lot of singing.

Russell was in a jokey mood and at one point, started singing a dance song. He has such a great voice, he can get away with it. I think the lyrics he sung were “why did you suck on my balls so hard last night”. It was to the tune of last chance for romance tonight.

The set was the same as previously, and the sound problems continued. But from the front, we continued to have a good laugh interacting with Russell. The bassist had told me that they are back on the road again next year. I would expect that a large proportion of the crowd that saw them with Dream Theater will be there again. Once again, Michael Romeo lost the guitar and he did not seem to notice. The weird thing was that I could hear the sound of him plucking the strings very loudly but there was no guitar sound from the PA.

At the end, Mike joined them on stage, dressed in the gown again, and also with a Halloween mask on. At that point, security intervened on taking photos, and then continued in acting in a very heavy handed way in stopping any pictures being taken.

By the time Dream Theater were on, the place was full, although I think the capacity is quite small, possibly less than 2,000. The set started as standard with Constant Motion, and it was evident that there was going to be silliness. Mike tried to distract James by singing some of his parts in a falsetto voices. Later on, he would succeed in getting James to fluff his lines during the dark eternal night.

The set list then changed with Never Enough being next up. By then, we were all into it, and there was lots of pogo-ing and cheering from the front row. Blind faith followed which is a cracking song live, before we got Forsaken. This had been played in Newcastle, but not since then in the UK and it was very well received with some very loud singing along.

The dark eternal night is definitely a big crowd pleaser, and was just another excuse for me and Dean to go crazy. At least there was space around us, as that was a lot of mass on the move. I am sure that if you were within ten feet of us, then you could not have missed us. Although, on the front row next to Iain who was beside me was a bloke who just stood there through the whole gig, not even clapping the end of songs. Why bother? On this occasion, we had an extended outro from Jordan.

After working up a sweat, we then got to relax because they played Another Day. Another chance for a singalong.

During the song, John Petrucci and James seemed to be conferring and afterwards James left the stage and the remaining four launched into an improvised jam. It was very cool, especially the sections that John Myung was able to add. The reason for this being thrown in seemed to be to allow enough time for James to go and collect the Symphony X boys.

Initially they just hung around and Dream Theater launched into Scarred. I wonder what some of the newer fans thought of this as I bet some of them have not got as far back as Awake yet. It was great to hear this song as I knew it was on the set for this tour, but I had not heard it in the previous shows. At the end, Mike invited Russell Allen and Jason Rullo onto the drum kit. He then went around the front and conducted all of the players when to play, including directing the crowd when to cheer. Very silly, but also terrific fun.

Symphony X continued to watch, whilst Dream Theater launched into In the presence of enemies.

We were all wondering whether there would be a change to the encore, but we guessed not once John started with trial of tears. However, he went off on one and after some fiddling started to rub the guitar against the edge of the cabinets. All of a sudden he placed the guitar on the ground left on sustain and stomped off the stage. Mike left the kit to pick the guitar up and then John appeared on the kit. Mike then launched into Eruption, including a display of up the neck tapping.

The rest of Schmedley Wilcox was played, including a huge singalong for Razors edge.

The boys from Symphony X then came on stage for the final goodbyes and thanks to the crew. Mike decided to launch into an acapalla version of Last Night, but because he was on his own, it did not take off. Apparently, they had spent the afternoon mucking about with such songs. The long flight home is just going to fly by.

The full set was:

• Constant motion

• Never enough

• Blind faith

• Forsaken

• The dark eternal night (with extended JR outro solo)

• Another day

• Improv Jam

• Scarred

• In the presence of enemies

Encore

• Schmedley Wilcox

This was one the best set of the two legs of this tour. Overall, I think that the Dream Theater set at Newcastle was more special, but on that occasion the support act was not as good by a long way, so overall it balances out.

At the end, Mike promised us that they would be back in 2009. That is going to seem an awful long way away.

Dream Theater, Wolverhampton Civic Hall 10th November 2007

I was really looking forward to Wolverhampton for reasons that will become clear in a moment. Despite the slow traffic, I was able to arrive early and get some posters put up on the doors. Unlike last time, the queue formed quite slowly.

A bit later on, Kerry and Richard arrived and I decided that the local pub was a better bet with the Voicees, although my mood was not improved by watching the football scores come in, and seeing Southampton get thumbed five nil. Unbelievable1

Those who are in the fan club know that I write articles on the solo work of the band members. Having done Mike and then Jordan, I spoke to John Myung at Newcastle and asked him to do it. In the few days before Wolverhampton, we received confirmation that he would speak to us. So at 5.30, I went backstage with Greg (also from VoicesUK). Jordan was also there, doing an interview. He came over to say hi. He did confirm that he was a little under the weather. In fact, Greg was going to act as taxi driver to take Jordan from Newport to Oxford during the week to see Porcupine Tree in concert, but Jordan was not fit for it. Jordan was a little surprised that we were there for an interview with John Myung. Later, I was told by Rikk, the production manager that John had not done a single interview on the whole European tour, so we were especially privileged. Prior to the interview, Rikk had told us that we were going to get ten minutes only.

I have always been a huge fan of Myung, and those who have read the Newcastle review before will know that my son, Little Funky thinks that Dream Theater is the John Myung band, with four other guys.

I am not going to spill the beans now. For details of the interview, you will have to wait for the fanzine. However, John was engaging and interesting. He did talk, and I allowed him to develop his thoughts without interruption. We also got a full throated belly laugh as well. After twenty five minutes, I had covered all the questions, and we took one photo for the fanzine and we were done. I just sat back in amazement at the whole experience. It is also worth pointing out that John gave me more time than I had with Mike, although Mike does get in a lot more words per minute.

After the interview, Rikk gave me permission to stay in, so I was able to choose my spot on the front rail at leisure.

The place filled up quite quickly and Symphony X were on stage at 7.30. Russell Allen was even more up for it than the previous night. As before, he was jumping down onto the speakers at the front of the stage and reaching out into the crowd. The Wolverhampton crowd were very well behaved, and stood in rows rather than squashing up. It did leave loads of room for jumping up and down and on more than one occasion I got an acknowledgement from members of the band for being so animated.

Russell was also quite animated and by the end of the show, he had been reduced to a sweaty heap, not attractive. In fact, I was so close that when he raised his arms, sweat ran off his elbows. Nice.

The set list for Symphony X was the same as the previous night.

The sound started off okay, and then after two songs, it went off, with huge amounts of bass distortion. I am not quite sure what they are doing wrong but having heard the complaint several times about this tour, you would have thought that they would fix it. At one point, near the end, Michael Romeo lost sound from his guitar, although he did not seem to notice and he carried on playing. His tech crawled on stage and was banged on the various foot pedals until it returned.

Dream Theater started as in previous nights, with the Ant Odyssey leading straight into Constant Motion. James was absolutely on fire and he seemed determined to match the level of intensity seen from Russell, although he does do less Dad dancing these days. He positively prowled around the stage. The crowd was very keen as always. On this tour, I have noticed that the crowd had been getting younger. In Wolverhampton, it was also noticeable how many females there were at the show, and most of them were singing along, so clearly not just there with their boyfriends.

The full set was:

• Constant motion

• Strange deja vu

• Endless sacrifice

• Surrounded 2007

• The dark eternal night

• Ministry of lost souls

• Spirit carries on

• In the presence of enemies

Encore

• Schmedley Wilcox

I had seen the setlist back stage and was pleased to see Ministry of lost souls on the list. It was not my favourite song when I heard Systematic Chaos, but I am slowly getting it, and it works very well live.

It was clear that the band were winding up to the end of the tour. Mike seemed to be joking around and it was noticeable that Eric (Mike’s drum tech) was fooling around with him and generally air drumming behind the kit. At one point, Mike fluffed his words, and shouted out oops. Something to listen out for, when the boots turn up.

Jordan was on better form and seemed to be spending a fair bit of time out front with the Zen Riffer. It is a very cool instrument and I hope that he will continue to use it, although he does seem to have a fondness for new toys all the time.

I wish I had taken a camera with me, as security at Wolves was fairly relaxed for the first half of the show. I do have this one photo, that was taken by Kerry at the mid point interval. Quite restrained me!!

Afterwards, I spoke for a few minutes to the bassist from Symphony X, having given him a flyer for the book.

Dream Theater, Newport Centre 9th November 2007

Having done the biggest gig in the UK at Wembley in October, the second leg in the UK was at smaller venues, starting with Newport. This was the first time that the band had been in Wales since 1993. I arrived at 3pm and there was no queue so I wondered around looking for the pub that VoicesUK had decided to meet in. After taking ages to find it, it turned out it was closed until 6pm. So I went back to the venue where a small queue had formed. Luckily Dean and Janet tuned up and that helped to pass the time. They had brought the Welsh flag with Dream Theater written on it that was tied on the railing in front of the seated area.

Newport Centre is a council run sports centre, and the stage was very wide and shallow. As well as the standing room, there was unreserved seating, tiered up from floor level. According to those who were seated, it worked quite well as they were not too far away from the stage.

Things started promptly at 7.45 with Symphony X. Russell Allen continues to amaze with his on stage persona and his huge voice. By the start of the show, the place was full and the crowd was pretty tightly packed in. Fortunately, there was none of the shoving that we had experienced at Manchester, so I was able to focus on the band rather than worry about what was happening behind me. The band were determined to have a good time and Russell was focusing on those people who were joining in, including me. At one point we had the following exchange:

Russell Allen: Come on!

Thefunkygibbons: I have seen the light!

Russell Allen: Have you seen the light?

Thefunkygibbons: I have seen the light!

Dean: There it is, up there (points to spotlight above Russell’s head)

Russell looked up.

I LOL’ed. Maybe you had to be there.

I also managed to get a stick from Jason Rullo but I gave it to Dana, (someone who was helping give out the promo material from Roadrunner), as she seemed to be a bigger Symphony X fan than me.

As with previous nights, the sound quality for Symphony X was not brilliant. It is hard to understand why this is, as Dream Theater’s seems to be very good.

The full set was.

• Set the World on Fire

• Domination

• Serpent's Kiss

• Paradise Lost

• Inferno (Unleash the Fire)

• Sea of Lies

• Of Sins and Shadows

After a quick change, Dream Theater were on. I have a copy of the Wembley setlist, and that has a slot for James to say hello to the crowd after the first song. He did acknowledge that it had been too long since they had been in Wales.

I had heard that some of the band had been ill with a virus that they had picked up travelling. It did seem to me that it was Jordan who was most affected as he was not his cheerful self. Although, he did seem to pick upon the energy of the crowd and got more into things as the show went on.

The crowd were definitely up for it, and cheered every song.

The full set list was

• Constant motion

• Panic attack

• Endless sacrifice

• Surrounded 2007

• The dark eternal night

• As I am

• I walk beside you

• The spirit carries on

• In the presence of enemies

Encore:
MEDLEY

• I. Trial of tears

• II. Finally free

• III. Learning to live

• IV. In the name of God

• V. Razor's edge

We have had all those songs before, but the band were very tight, so I am not complaining. The addition of the solo to Surrounded lifts the track to a new level. As before, John Myung wandered around the back of the drum kit and sat beside Mike, completely locked in the pocket. As he came back, John Petrucci looked at him, as if to say “Get back on your own side”.

I would expect that the crowd did enough to deserve inclusion on the tour next time through, although with a capacity of approximately 2,200 the Newport Centre is probably too small for the band now.

If you were there, you may have spotted me afterwards handing out flyers for the authorised biography “Lifting Shadows”.

Dream Theater, Wembley Arena 13th October 2007

Wembley was always going to be special, although more for the things around the gig, than the gig itself. The day started with the drive to Wembley, which promised to be horrible because England were playing at the stadium in the afternoon. As it happens, the drive was not too bad, but the parking was horrendous.

Thanks to those wonderful people at Roadrunner, the day started with an extra special treat. The publicity people had organised for a panel of fans to interview Mike for a magazine. The lucky seven were selected from competition winners to a question on Mike’s forum or a myspace posting. Despite a late start, we were gathered and taken through to the backstage. As we went through, Herman Li of Dragonforce was there practicing. I wondered whether we were up for a surprise, but more of that later.

As we passed in front of the stage, John Petrucci and James were up there getting their set up right.

We then gathered in front of the stage with Mike and the Mirage Monster in the background. After the photos, Mike asked whether we wanted some photos with the Monster, and the photographer then said, there is no need I have already done them. Shame there was not an axe to hand.

We then went to the back stage to one of the dressing rooms. I always knew that that John Myung was called JMX by the crew, but it was cool to see it on the dressing room signs. We then got to speak to Mike, or rather we asked some brief questions and Mike gave answers at length. Actually, I could listen to Mike all day. He has an incredible memory for facts and is very passionate about everything that he doing. We also got a full explanation of all his recent tattoos. One of the most unusual ones, is a dragon that he has on his arm. It was drawn by Max age 8. Not sure what Max will think about it when he is introducing his girlfriends to his father in ten years time. I am looking forward to seeing the article in a few months.

At the end Mike was happy to sign stuff. I had brought along the Mike’s tambourine from the Red Monster. One of the others asked when I find such things, to which Mike replied, “If he told you that, he would have to kill you.” Very true. Actually, it was good to hear from Mike that it was the genuine article.

We then left and had the joy of trying to collect tickets. I had bought 2 standing and 2 seated tickets within minutes of them going on sale and yet, there I was 1 hour before the gig and no tickets. I have dealt with most of the various ticket agencies, but ticketline really take top award for incompetence. In the end, they re-issued the seating tickets, but not the standing ones. A friend had to buy new standing ones, but at least, there were some to be had. The seating tickets arrived at home 5 days late.

I had decided that Little Funky and I would be seated because Little Funky had struggled in a big crowd at Notting Hill Carnival. As it happens, I wish I had kept the standing tickets and stood at the back. The seats were awful, near the front but up in the gods. We could not see Mike at all, the single screen was blocked by trailing equipment and the high position allowed us to see all the equipment boxes that were cluttering the rear of the stage. In fact, if the band are going to play bigger arenas, some thought probably needs to be given to stage design. On the train of thought tour, the stage set up included three plasma screens and Wembley was much too big for just one.

Wembley was 80% sold (according to Roadrunner) but by blocking off the rear, the open portion looked quite full. The standing crowd was quite packed, and before the event started, they amused themselves by throwing around condom balloons. Another sign of the crowd getting younger methinks.

Symphony X were on stage a few minutes late, but they were up for it once again. Prior to the gig starting, I had seen Russell Allen out for a walk with some of his crew and spoke briefly to him and told him how much I had enjoyed the previous night. However, I am a bit worried that Russell’s view of the delights of London might be coloured by the industrial wasteland that is Wembley.

They played a very similar set to the previous night, but they did seem to be feeding off the high energy of the crowd and were even more into it. Russell was working the crowd and was even jumping onto the speakers at the front of the crowd and raising merry hell. Seeing which side can cheer the loudest may be a concert cliché, but it is great fun. Besides, our side was much louder than the north side.

Of the tunes, Domination was excellent. In fact, I do like most of the songs off the new album. The rest of the crowd seemed to agree and Symphony X have gained loads of new fans from this outing.

Their set list was

• Set the World on Fire

• Domination

• Serpent's Kiss

• Paradise Lost

• Inferno (Unleash the Fire)

• Sea of Lies

• Of Sins and Shadows

Whilst backstage, I had seen the setlist so I knew what was coming. We had some changes from the previous nights. The new version of Surrounded with the added guitar solo was excellent. We also had Strange Déjà vu from SFAM and As I am from Train of Thought. Of course, the core of the set was the same, and The Dark Eternal Night and In the Presence of Enemies got the same positive reaction. The heat also seemed to be a factor again, and at least 40 people were passed forward out of the crowd. Some of them had fainted, although reports from the crowd suggested that there was less pushing than at Manchester.

Looking down from above, the crowd were having a good time, and on many occasions, every hand in the place was raised in unison.

After the show, I had after show passes for Little Funky and I. There were a lot of people from Roadrunner, but bizarrely several left before the band turned up. The first special guest was Herman Li. It turns out that he was there for an interview with John Petrucci for Total Guitar magazine. I pulled his leg a little “Here to learn from the master? I guess you will be burning your guitars now?” Actually, he was pretty cool and said that he had been a fan of Dream Theater since Images and Words. We also had a lengthy discussion about bootlegs. He did ask LF whether he played guitar and when he said a little, Herman offered him a chance to try his. And LF said no. I don’t think he will live it down.

There is always no guarantee as to who will turn up to the aftershow. On this occasion, only Mike and Jordan showed. I had a good chat with Jordan with a few rarities to talk about. Mike was still talkative and stayed for about 20 minutes. Then he was off, with plans to catch a plane in order to go home for a week.

Overall, it was a good show and great to see Dream Theater being big enough to fill Wembley. I am not sure that I would want them to get any bigger. In addition, I know I will not be using seating tickets again.

The full set list was

• CONSTANT MOTION

• STRANGE DEJA VU

• BLIND FAITH

• SURROUNDED '07

• THE DARK ETERNAL NIGHT

• KEYBOARD SOLO

• LINES IN THE SAND

• AS I AM

• I WALK BESIDE YOU

• IN THE PRESENCE OF ENEMIES

Encore:
MEDLEY

• I. TRIAL OF TEARS

• II. FINALLY FREE

• III. LEARNING TO LIVE

• IV. IN THE NAME OF GOD

• V. OCTAVARIUM

Dream Theater, Manchester Apollo 12th October 2007

Traffic!! Arrrrgh!! Why is it that when you want to get somewhere in a hurry, you are held up at every turn. Although it was a 220 mile trip to Manchester, I left in good enough time to arrive for 4o’clock. I did not arrive until 20 to seven, just before the doors opened and the queue was already around the block. Never mind, a mixture of low cunning and bulk, meant that I was still able to get within 3 rows of the front.

Last time at the Apollo, it was seated and although it also sold out on that occasion, this time seemed to be busier. It was also noticeable that the band seems to have gathered loads more fans, and many of them are very young.

This was particularly noticeable when Symphony X came on stage. There were several waves of pushing and at one point a sizeable mosh pit got going behind us. During the gig, I had Patricia McLoughlin (DTGranny to some) in front of me, and I was trying to shield her from the worst of it. However, despite being a veteran of over 90 gigs, many of them on the front rail, she bailed out and headed back. The other problem was the heat. Whilst not as bad as Wolverhampton a few years back, it did get very hot. The security did pass out water, but a little ventilation would have been a good thing.

Like many fans, I am selfish and would have preferred an evening with format, but if there has to be a support band, then there are few better choices than Symphony X. Whilst their brand of symphonic speed prog metal would not normally be my thing, they have one redeeming feature. Sir Russell Allen. Quite simply, he is the best voice in metal. Having missed the chance to see them in 2003, when Little Funky was suddenly ill 2 hours before the gig, I was really looking forward to seeing them.

Russell Allen is huge, and he simply owns the stage. Knowing they were only getting 40 minutes, the turned the knobs up to 11 and launched straight in. As well as the voice, Russell has a full toolbox of gestures, wild stares and comedy dances. I for one, was very amused by his slow lead footed shuffle to the front of the stage during one instrumental breakdown. He also interacts with the crowd and obviously enjoys a certain level of chaos.

The rest of the band were pretty solid, and one has to wonder how Michael Romeo can play so fast with those short fat fingers. Technically he is very impressive, although not as interesting as Petrucci.

I am certain that Symphony X would have gained a good many fans out of this performance.

After a quick change to the stage, including the addition of some model ants up front, it was time for the main act.

The show started with Constant Motion, which is rapidly becoming a crowd pleaser live. As always, it was cool to see how much work Petrucci and Myung are doing to drive this song along. I guess we all knew that we were going to get Constant Motion, The Dark Eternal Night and In the Presence of Enemies off Systematic Chaos, so the interesting bit was to see what else we would get. Second up was Panic Attack which is my favourite song off Octavarium. We also got Endless Sacrifice, which is my favourite off Train of Thought. The set list also included Home. There were a few people around me who did not recognise it, which I suppose is not surprising as many of the new fans have only just discovered the band. Goodness knows what they would have thought of Another Won on the last tour.

The Dark Eternal Night is a song which was born to be played live. The riff is really straight forward and the whole crowd were chanting along to it. For the live show, the band have done another of the comedy cartoons that were seen on Octavarium, and it became a debate as to whether to watch the band or to watch the screen.

James continues to be in fine form, although he is not as dramatic as Russell Allen. The interaction between him and Mike on The Dark Eternal Night works well.

Mike is Mike! He had the mirage monster that we had seen in Newcastle. Whether I had noticed them last time, this time I noticed that he has a punch bag on the far side of kit and he has kept the spy mirror. On Score, he was using it to watch the cues from the orchestra. Now, he is using it to watch the video screen. Perhaps if he gets bored, we could pipe in some episodes of the Sopranos.

Every time we see him, Petrucci seems to have gotten bigger. Methinks he is spending time bench pressing Marshall cabinets before the gig. He is also back to the full beard and long hair look. His playing was flawless, and he even took the chance to add a few flourishes to the end of a couple of songs. This despite the fact the Mike was making hand gestures suggesting that John was pleasuring himself. As if!

John Myung is now has him six string bungo, and as always he was awesome. I always spend a fair bit of time in every gig watching Myung and he was as inhuman as ever.

The greatest change to the set up this time was Jordan. He has ditched the analogue synth, but he has made quite a few changes to his set up. His new stand is in the shape of an upturned hand (think The Thing off The Adams family) and the Oasys now has a radias modual and a memotron mounted on top of it. In addition, he has moved the position of the Continuum and Lap steel to the front of his riser although the stand still allows them to swing around in various positions. However, the most interesting thing is the addition of the Zen Riffer, complete with Majesty logo. This is no original keytar. When Jordan brought it to the front of the stage for a duel with Petrucci, the place went wild. Actually being close up meant that I could see how Jordan communicates with Petrucci in order to get in sync with him.

The end of the gig came far too quickly, although the dark master sections of In the Presence of enemies were shouted out with great gusto.

For the encore, we got Smedley Wilcox, whish is made up of trial of tears, finally free, learning to live, in the name of God and razor’s edge from Octavarium.

The full setlist was

• CONSTANT MOTION

• PANIC ATTACK

• ENDLESS SACRIFICE

• THE DARK ETERNAL NIGHT

• HOME

• MISUNDERSTOOD

• TAKE THE TIME

• IN THE PRESENCE OF ENEMIES

Encore:

MEDLEY

• I. TRIAL OF TEARS

• II. FINALLY FREE

• III. LEARNING TO LIVE

• IV. IN THE NAME OF GOD

• V. OCTAVARIUM

Overall, it was a great show and I was pleased with what I got. I stopped off on the way home for a chicken kebab in fresh naan. The end of a perfect evening.

Dream Theater, Newcastle City Hall 9th June 2007

This was a long 770 mile round trip, but given that it was a one off show in the UK to tie in with the fact that Dream Theater were doing Download the following day, it seemed worth it.

News that DT were going Newcastle City Hall came out unexpectedly as it was spotted that tickets were for sale on various websites before the date had even been announced. Thanks to some sharp eyed VoicesUK members, and a warning thread on the forum, I managed to get in early and bought a ticket on the front row. In fact, I ended up with two tickets but twelve seats apart, but more of that later. I decided that Newcastle would be a good opportunity to take Little Funky to his first Dream Theater gig.

We arrived in town early and met up with the VoicesUK crowd at Luckies bar. As always, it is always great to meet you with friends, old and new. Prior to the gig, I would imagine that there were more than 50 of us there. Just before the gig, Little Funky and I went off to Frankie and Bennies, with Patricia McLoughlin (known to some as DT Granny, although she prefers DTFlamingo, which is her screen-name). Her attendance at DT concerts is legendary, and she has seen them almost 80 times over the years.

Queuing to get in was straight forward, queueing for merchandise less so, and it does seem that prices rise every time in line with the band’s popularity.

Newcastle City Hall is quite a small venue with a slightly sloping stalls and an upstairs balcony on three sides. The security getting in was cool and low key (unlike certain venues) and we made our way to the front, initially taking our seats on the left for the support band.

At 8pm, the support band came on. To-Mera are a local female fronted band, in the style of Within Temptation, Nightwish etc. There only have 30 minutes to make an impression, and I am not sure that they succeeded. But then again, Dream Theater fans have been spoiled with the evening with format for many years, so any support band was going to struggle.

After the interval, I decided that both of us would occupy the one seat in the centre and given the low key approach to security, there was no problem. I heard some of the photographers complaining later, but the way in which some people moved to the front once the show started seemed to work out okay.

At 9pm, Dream Theater came on stage to rapturous applause. The first sound was 1928 Overture, which seems like a great choice, before allowing James to come on and start with Strange Déjà vu.

The point of being at the very front is to get a good view. Sound – wise, the mix sounded slightly off balance and Jordan in particular was hard to make out. But then again, if one wants the best sound, one goes back to the sound desk.

The show proceeded with Panic Attack before James introduced two songs off the new album, Constant Motion and Forsaken. Both of these were very popular and there was plenty of singing along.

By then, Little Funky had been spotted at the front, with his head barely reaching over the stage front. James bent down and shook his hand. Mike then threw him a stick. (He had to throw two as the person beside us almost jumped on the stage to intercept the first one headed his way).

James then made the announcement that Dream Theater would be back in the fall, and that there would be six UK dates. Outstanding! He then said that as it was the anniversary of Images and Words that selected shows would includes that album in its entirety. I thought that he was talking about the fall shows.

It turns out I was wrong. The rest of the setlist was the follow of Images and Words in order.

As expected, Pull me Under was huge, with loads of jumping around and screaming along. In fact, every song was sung faithfully by the crowd, as we have all had nearly 15 years to learn the words. Surrounded was extra special as it had been extended to include some extra snippets, including Marillion’s Sugar Mice.

Little Funky has always been the biggest fan of Myung, and once it was clear that they were doing the whole of the album, he could not contain himself. The best ten seconds of the show? The bass solo in Metropolis Part 1! With a few graceful steps, Myung moved central stage and completely owned the stage with a flawless display of up the neck bass tapping. From three feet away, it was jaw dropping.

The encore was Home, another crowd pleaser and the end to another fantastic and truly memorable gig. The decision to play the whole of Images and Words was inspired and I was glad that I was there to see it.

Afterwards, I was very fortunate to have aftershow passes. I ran quickly to the car to collect the Pride of my collection for signing. There was a small crowd, gathered at the front, waiting to see who would come out.

As expected, Mike was out first. He was gob smacked at being asked to sign the Gold Award. He also signed the MeanStreak demo (yet more amazement) and a copy of the article from New Voice issue 5/6 that I wrote about his discography. He seemed concerned that some people might complain about the setlist choice. I for one, loved it and told him so.

John Petrucci was similarly impressed. He said that playing the Images and Words material was very straight forward as it is ingrained in his memory. Of the new material, he said Constant Motion is technically quite hard.

Jordan was talkative as always, and was very kind to Little Funky who was a little dumb struck at the time. Once again, I managed to surprise him, by getting him to sign a copy of Speedway Blvd.’s single, which he has not seen in years.

James came out and was happy to talk and do photographs. As well as the Gold Award, I got him to sign my copy of Images and Words on cassette, which now has all five signatures including Kevin Moore.

And then finally, the highlight of the evening for Little Funky. Having tried to manage expectations by telling him that John Myung does not always appear, I was delighted when John did come out. I always find John Myung engaging and he was happy to talk about where he was going and how he was amazed that the other guys found time for side projects. He signed the instructional video, but did say that it was unlikely that he would be doing another one. He also told us that Musicman are making a six sting bass for him as we speak, so he will soon be back to six strings again. Little Funky was pretty much speechless, and it was only afterwards that he remembered the thousands of questions that he wanted to ask him.

Overall, meeting the band was the cherry on top of the icing on top of a very large cake.

I have some photos, but there are better ones from other people if you search.

The full setlist was

• 1928 Overture

• Strange Déjà vu

• Panic Attack

• Constant Motion

• Forsaken

• Pull me under

• Another Day

• Take the time

• Surrounded

• Metropolis Part 1

• Under a glass moon

• Learning to live

• Encore

• Home

Newcastle City Hall Photo Gallery

Oceansize, Agincourt, Camberley 27th April 2007

I was very pleased to see this venue come up on the list as it is very close to home and Oceansize had planned to play Camberley in 2006, but it was cancelled at short notice. This was part of a series of dates in advance of the recording of the new album and the band had announced that they would be road testing a number of the new tunes.

I arrived at the venue just before eight and caught the tail end of Pilot X. There are a very local band, and I think they are still in college. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and had clearly brought a lot of their mates down to see them. In advance of the gig, I was quite surprised to see that there were four bands listed as the support, but I guess that such decisions are up to the promoter rather than Oceansize.

Of the other three supports, Bohica, Miro Skies and Without Grace, I thought that WG were way ahead of the others. They seemed to have quite a lot of local support and up front, many of their fans had the tee shirts and were word perfect when singing along. I think they could build quite a following.

Before the gig, I got the chance to speak to Steve and Gambler. Obviously, they had been having trouble with transport (which had meant no sound check at Southampton the previous day or on this night either) but they were very happy with the new material. Once the mini tour was complete, they would be going into the studio to record it all, with a target release date of September.

Oceansize were ready on stage just after 10.30pm. I was right at the front so I am not sure now many people were there, but it did not seem sold out, and certainly by the end, the crowd thinned a lot as fans of the support bands disappeared.

The first four songs were new, and quite long as well. The Oceansize sound is evolving and has moved completed away from verse - chourus - verse to a more sound scape structure. It is difficult to make judgements on a single listen, but I do like what I hear and I think that the new album will be a grower. It was also noticeable that there are a lot more keyboards being used, and for the first four tunes, Gambler seemed to spend more time on the keyboards than on the guitar.

In the middle of the set, the band played Catalyst, which was well received.

The next three new songs were heavier, and there was some awesome drumming from Mark. I did shout out my appreciation and was told by Mike not to encourage him. Mike described one of the songs as being pure evil and it was.

Due to time constraints, we did not get our promised encore, but given the transport difficulties and the excessive number of support bands, I was well pleased with what we heard.

Afterwards, I got to chat with Mark, who was very talkative. He did tell me about how he is mixing up the drumming and that it was not surprising that I was having difficulty counting what rhythm it was in. We also had a long conversation about Dream Theater (I was in a Dream Theater shirt), and the fact that they had been invited out on the road with them, but that the timing had not worked out. Earlier Steve had said that he was not a fan of Dream Theater's music, but in my opinion, I reckon that Dream Theater fans would enjoy seeing Oceansize and that I never see a bad word about Oceansize on the Dream Theater forums. Personally, I would love to see Oceansize on the bill for Dream theater's European tour later in the year and given the size of the the crowd that Dream Theater are getting, it would be good exposure for the band.

Here are the couple of things signed by Steve, Gambler and Mark.

Opeth, Portsmouth Pyramids 5th November 2006

Opeth had been on my concert wish list for some time. In 2005, I actually had tickets to see them in London, but these were sold as I could not go. As well as the first night of a new tour, it was going to be an extra special night because it was the first proper concert for my son, Little Funky. Having him with me meant some changes to my plans for the concert. A metal concert would be daunting for most fourteen year olds, but Little Funky is the smallest teenager you will ever see. That meant I knew I would be watching the concert from the back rather than my customary spot on the front row.

The Portsmouth Pyramids was an unusual venue, being part of a council leisure centre. Basically it was a large square room with a high ceiling, carpet on the floor and a couple of bars. It was an unusual crowd, with half looking like metal heads and the rest being goths or punks. I have never seen so many girls with tattoos.

On this tour, Opeth were being supported by Paradise Lost. I had borrowed quite a few of their albums in advance and was looking forward to their set, which was billed to be an hour long. On stage, Paradise Lost were somewhat of a disappointment. They are a very experienced rock band with their own brand of heavy rock. However, for some reason, they failed to spark. They tried to get the crowd on their side, but it was just not working for them. I guess it must be hard being the support act. Given that it was a metal crowd, it certainly was a mistake to use so many samples as part of their live set. I liked some of the tracks, such as Red Shift, but overall, I don't expect I will be buying any of their albums on the strenght of this show.

Setlist

• 1. Erased

• 2. Isolate

• 3. Grey

• 4. Hallowed Land

• 5. Redshift

• 6. Embers Fire

• 7. No Celebration

• 8. Shadowkings

• 9. Pity the Sadness

• 10. As I Die

• 11. One Second

• 12. Forever After

• 13. Say Just Words

• 14. Eternal

Opeth hit the stage at 9.15pm and immediately the mood changed. They soon had the audience eating out of their hand. As I pointed out to Little Funky, the difference seemed to be that Opeth were intent on enjoying themselves, whereas Paradise Lost were simply trying too hard to be loved.

The Opeth set was mixed and varied. It started out heavy with Ghost of Perdition off the most recent album and continued with When. The band were also dusting off some older songs and we got Face of Melinda and Night and The Silent Watcher, the first UK performance of this song. Obviously, some of the songs were appreciated more by the crowd, but plenty of banter from Mikael kept the mood light.

The set closed strongly with Blackwater Park. As an encore, we got Deliverence which was fantastic. Overall, the night was brilliant with great performances from the whole band. Apparently, the gig in London, a few nights later was recorded for a future DVD. On the evidence of Portsmouth, it promises to be a must have purchase.

Setlist

• 1. Ghost Of Perdition

• 2. When

• 3. Bleak

• 4. Face Of Melinda

• 5. Night And The Silent Water

• 6. The Grand Conjuration

• 7. Windowpane

• 8. Blackwater Park

• ENCORE

• 9. Deliverance

Porcupine Tree, Astoria London 29th September 2006

Porcupine Tree had been high on my gig wish list for some time. Once before, I had tickets but had to sell them as I needed the brownie points with the beloved to be allowed to see Dream Theater instead.

I arrived at the Astoria in good time and was reasonably well placed in the queue. The number of Dream Theater tee shirts seemed to out number all others. Once in, I was in the second row right in the centre.

The opening band was Paatos. I had bought their recent album just to see what they were like. Personally, I thought their album was a little too mellow for my tastes. Live, they were slightly better with a louder edge. Certainly, they could play and probably won over a few people. The drummer was excellent, although I trust he stayed around to watch Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree, who is the master.

Porcupine Tree were on stage right on schedule. Steve Wilson had already announced that they were using this tour in support of the release of their live DVD and also to demo some new tracks for the next album. As it happened the first set was made up entirely of new material. In total, there were 6 tracks, one of which was a long epic and 2 of which saw Steve playing the keyboards rather than the guitar.

In my opinion, most of the new stuff was pretty good, and seemed to be a natural development on from the Deadwing style. I probably enjoyed the epic track most of all, and look forward to hearing that when the studio album is finally recorded.

After a short break, the band returned with a selection of songs from the DVD. I would guess that the Astoria was sold out and the crowd were definitely in the mood to sing along.

The band were very tight. Gavin Harrison on the drums is amazing, one minute laying down a simple groove with feeling, the next, driving the tunes forward with passion and energy. I do love Colin Edwin on the bass. He is just so relaxed and cool and always seems to have a smirk on his face as if he cannot believe that he is making a living doing what he loves. Richard Barbieri on keyboards always seems to be in a world of his own, but given that he was placed high up and surrounded by keyboards, I guess that this is not surprising. Although Steve Wilson plays guitar very well, for touring, the band usually bring along an additional guitarist. Once again, it was John Wesley. I have seen him before, when he toured with Fish and he is an excellent guitarist, as well as providing backing vocals.

The star of the show for me, though, was Steve Wilson. He really has it all, great stage present, a great voice and the ability to deliver with feeling the powerful lyrics that he has written.

Overall, it was a great night out and everything that I was hoping for from Porcupine Tree.

Setlist

• New Song 1

• New Song 2

• New Song 3

• New Song 4

• New Song 5

• New Song 6

Break

• Open Car

• Sound of Muzak

• Buying New Soul

• Arriving Somewhere But Not Here

• .3

• The Start of Something Beautiful

• Trains

Encore

• Halo

• Blackest Eyes

Neal Morse, Kings' Centre, Chessington, London 8th July 2006

I have been looking forward to this gig for months. It all started when Neal posted that he was coming to Europe on tour and was looking for suitable venues. I had had previous conversations with him on the solo church tour and was looking for an opportunity to put something on locally, so I was wondering whether this would be the opportunity. As it happens, a few miles up the road, Derek Ellmore was having the same thoughts, and quickly secured the use of the Kings Centre in Chessington. Neal put Derek and I in contact with each other and I was able to help with promotion in the local area and on some of the forums.

On the day, family events were quite busy but we arrived at the venue just after five. Things were a little confused as 12 members of the party had missed flights and things were running very late. I said hello to Neal (and got a big hug by way of welcome). Neal introduced me to Cherie and in turn I introduced my wife and the five children. After chatting a bit, the children went off to see Jayda (Neal's daughter). It seems that they adopted her and they sent the next few hours together, watching films, playing on the play park outside and then keeping her a seat on the front row. At one point, just before the concert, I went to Neal and said, "I seem to have lost two daughters, and you have lost one, so I guess they are together somewhere." Surreal.

I was able to meet up with Dean and Janet Hayles, who are long time Neal supporters and good friends of mine from many a queue outside Dream Theater concerts. Dean and I made ourselves useful by moving a few things around, laying out some more chairs and then hunting down Max (the tour manager) to see what needed doing. We took on the job of laying out the merchandise. Max then played the trump card. He had the new album "Cover to cover" to be made up. He had the cases, the tray inserts, the discs, booklets and tray insert. All he needed was an assembly line. I guess if you bought one of these at the show, and the tray insert in is upside down, that will be my fault.

The full set list is at the bottom, but Neal was focusing on this most recent work. As always, he gave it his all, and despite the late start, he soon had the audience on his side. I would have been happier standing but the layout and the height of the stage would have made that a non-starter. We did stand for some of the later songs, and I admit to having a little boogie.

The band that Neal had with him did a good job of re-producing the material, although reaching the standards of Mike Portnoy and Randy George was always going to be a tough order. I thought the sound was good at the front, where I was, but do not know how it translated further back. During the concert, Will (Neal's son) joined him on stage for The man's gone and Cradle to the grave, which are both fantastic songs. Jayda did her bit during Reunion, with the whole crowd also singing along as instructed by Neal in his choir master role.

The woman behind us guessed that we might be able to help and gave us a request for a song as an encore. One of my daughters took it. I am not sure whether she gave it to Neal or to Cherie, but for the encores, Neal came out and played it. Given that it was Bridge across Forever, it was very well received by the crowd. Despite the late running we got the full planned set with the exception of Solitary Soul. Neal did much less talking than on his solo Church tour, just explaining a few of the links between songs but mostly allowing the music to speak for itself.

At the end, I bought a couple of things off the merchandise table and spoke briefly to Collin (the drummer). I would have stayed to say goodbye to Neal but by then, the chldren were walking zombies. Overall, they enjoyed their first mainstream concert enormously, although some of the prog bits were a bit much for them. Personally, it rates as one of my best concert experiences ever. I need to look at the photos to see if any of them are any good.

Setlist

• Questionmark - The full album

Break

• The creation

• The man's gone

• Cradle to the grave

• Help me / Spirit and the flesh

• King Jesus

• Father of forgiveness

• Reunion

Encores

• Bridge across forever

• We all need some light / Open wide the floodgates part 1

• Open the gates part 2

• Wind at my back

Neal Morse in Chessington Photo Gallery

Oceansize, Wilde Theatre, Bracknell, 23rd June 2006

I had been looking forward to this show for some time, especially as it was close to home. Friday night saw me and two friends first in the queue at the Wilde Theatre in Bracknell. This was a bit of an odd place for a gig, as it seemed to be more of a local arts centre than a club. Standing in the queue and seeing the bouncers direct other people to the Shakespeare play that was elsewhere that night was a little surreal. However, the hall itself was good, with standing room in front of the stage, banked seating for those that wanted it and two sets of balconies for those that prefer to look down on the stage. Personally, I always prefer to be in the bleeding ears zone right up front.

First up were the support bands Miles Dark and Shomaha. The first was a three piece that gave a good account of themselves, especially the drummer who was the real deal. Shomaha were a bit more unusual, mostly due to the lead guitarist who sat in a chair at the front of the stage and noodled all over every tune. I really struggled to understand the influences but as a live band, it was something to see.

There were a few fans of Shomaha in, but most of the crowd were there for Oceansize. Since last time I saw them, Steve had added more songs to his knowledge so the setlist was more varied. Mike joked about the number in the crowd who might have come for Music for a Nurse, and although it was played overall most of the set was rocking and pacy. Quite simply, Oceansize are one of the most interesting live bands in the UK at the moment. In addition, they do an excellent job of re-producing the complexity of their studio albums live.

I grabbed Mike's setlist. In his own words and spelling

• 1 day

• homage

• amputee

• charm

• no 2morro

• women

• catalyst

• bad man

• nurse

• 1/0

• ornament

We also got to sing happy birthday as it was Gambler's birthday, and someone produced a Smarties cake for him.

Oceansize, Wedgewood rooms, Portsmouth, 27th March 2006

I managed to get down the A3 before the work traffic and found the Wedgewood rooms easily. I had not been there before. Typically, I only go to larger gigs, so it was somewhat of a change to be at a smaller gig and the different vibe that comes from the more intimate setting.

The door was open so I wandered in and after chatting to the guy setting up the merchandise, managed to get through to meet the band to get some stuff signed. I took my copy of Efflorsce on vinyl and the SMBS Blue Vinyl on Errol records for signing and managed to get all five signatures. I did not disturb their dinner too long as the support act were doing their sound check and it was too loud to chat.

News had already been received that PRR had broken down so Oceansize were going to get a longer set, although as Steve had not learnt all the songs at that point, the opportunity to fully exploit this turn of events was limited.

Doors opened at 8 and Munroe Effect came on at 9pm. As a local band, they were surprising good. I had been chatting to the drummer outside earlier on, and he said that it was their 8th gig, so they have potential.

I guess they played just over 30 minutes, mostly in full attack mode, which was slightly unexpected as the songs on their myspace page were not that heavy.

Oceansize came on at 10, by then the place was about 2/3rds full.

The set list was

• Mine host

• Charm offensive

• Catalyst

• Bad man

• Paper Champion

• Women who love men

• Homage to a shame

• No tomorrow

• New pin

• One out of none

• Music for a Nurse

• Ornament

The band was in good form, and delivered a stunning live performance. They really are a band that needs to be seen live to appreciate the songs. Steve on bass was a little subdued but the rest of the band are very active on stage. Mike certainly gave it his all. It is slightly unusual not to get an encore, but the last song was a good enough finish to the night. Overall, an excellent night out.

Dream Theater, Wolverhampton Civic Hall, 26th October 2005

Having already had two consecutive nights of Dream Theater, I was quite voiceless having sung so much. I was lucky to be at Wolverhampton, but I had picked up enough brownie points with the beloved by trading tickets for Opeth in early September for permission to do a third night in a row.

I arrived early and joined Dean and Janet Hayles and Patricia Loughlin (DTGranny) at the very front of the queue. We were in the queue three and a half hours and then the door we were in front of was not opened but the ones beside it. Grrrr. We still pushed hard and I managed to grab a spot on the rail just off centre stage.

Wolverhampton was a late addition to the tour, as this night had been earmarked for a return to Manchester, but for some reason the plans changed. The venue was slightly odd, with a flat standing stalls area with a high banked balcony on three sides.

Prior to the gig, Mike had posted on VoicesUk and asked how many people were going to each UK show so that he could determine how much to mix up the setlists. As a result, we did get two changes to the Monday night. The first was a rare outing for Speak to me which is another outtake from the Cleaning out the closet CD, although collectors will be familiar with it because it was also on the Japanese first pressing of the Falling into infinity.

It was soon obviously that the band were in the mood for enjoying themselves, presumably relaxing having nailed the Pink Floyd cover the previous night. The hall also got very hot and at one point Mike collapsed over the kit in mock exhaustion. It also meant that Dean and I threw three people over the rail who were suffering from exhaustion. There were also some comedy moments with John Myung and John Petrucci pushing each other with their shoulders whilst still playing and a laugh when James handed the mic to Jordan and he just looked at it before saying "Hello".

There was a rumour that we were going to get The Glaass Prison and at the start of the second set, as the static hiss started and it was followed by the bell toiling, the place went wild. This was followed by This dying soul, which is the next part of the AA saga. It was followed by several other long songs and wrapped up by Octavarium.

The encore was Metropolis Part 1, and as the band were mucking around, the gap in the middle was long enough for them to make a trip to Starbucks. We now know that Mike uses the secret cowbell as the trigger for everyone to start again. Tuesday night was a special night, but this show was the best standard Dream Theater show, I have ever seen.

Setlist

• The root of all evil

• Panic attack

• Another won

• A fortune in lies

• Under a glass moon

• Caught in a web

• Peruvian skies

• Speak to me

Break

• The glass prison

• This dying soul

• Never enough

• Sacrificed sons

• Octavarium

Encores

• Metropolis Part 1

Dream Theater, London Hammersmith Apollo, 25th October 2005

As the second night in London, this gig was always going to be special as Dream Theater were going to maintain their tradition of turning the second set over to a cover of a classic album in full. We already knew from Amsterdam what it was going to be.

The only only in common with the first night was the opener, the root of all evil. Knowing that the second set was going to be more prog based, the band laid down some level tunes in the first set, with The mirror, followed by Lie and Afterlife. Of the rest of the set, my peronal highlight was Raise the knife. This song was left over from the Falling into infinity sessions. Until this tour, it had never been played live and was only known to the fans because it had been included on the 1999 fan club CD, Cleaning out the Closet. Given that there are only 7,300 worldwide copies, it was not surprising that many of the crowd did not know it. At 11 minutes long, and with its progressive elements, it was always my favourite off Cleaning out the closet, and I was at the front of the stage singing my head off.

The band were all in good form, engaging with the crowd and giving it a good show. They were far enough into this tour that all the wrinkles had been sorted.

The first set finished with In the name of the Father and as the band left for the break, the anticipation began to rise. The second set was always going to favour Jordan, and would give him a chance to shine with his new toys, including the analogue synth. As the opening chords of Speak to me from Pink Ployd's Dark Side of the Moon were played, the crowd went wild. There had been some debate as to how faithful John Petrucci would be to Gilmour's tone and style, but I am glad to say that John nailed it, without noddling all over the top of it. In my opinion, Dream Theater are one of the few bands with the potential to do justice to the Pink Floyd original and I was there to see them deliver that potential. Fortunately, the whole thing was captured on DVD and released through Ytsejam Records.

The band also brough two special guests. Theresa Thomason (who was the vocalist on Live Scenes from New York) provided the background vocals and Norbert Stachel from the Roger Waters band filled in on the sax.

With Theresa on board, the encore was always going to be something from Scenes from a memory, and we got The Spirit Carries on, which was powerful and emotional. The final encore was Learning to Live with an extended instrumental section. This provided the perfect end to the best Dream Theater gig ever.

Setlist

• The root of all evil

• The mirror

• Lie

• Afterlife

• Just let me breathe

• These walls

• I walk beside you

• Raise the knife

• In the name of God

Break

• Speak to me

• Breathe

• On the run

• Time

• Breathe (reprise)

• The great gig in the sky

• Money

• Us and them

• Any colour you like

• Brain damage

• Ecilpse

Encores

• The spirit carries on

• Learning to live

Dream Theater, London Hammersmith Apollo, 24th October 2005

This was the first night in London on the Octavarium tour. It had been over 20 months since they had been in the UK and the long wait was finally over. Tuesday night was always going to be extra special, but an ordinary night with Dream Theater is always extraordinary compared to most bands. For me, the day started in the loacal pub with a big gang from Voices UK. For most of us, the highlight was meeting Vinnie who had flown in from India. Now that is dedication.

There were a few of us at the gate when the band arrived. Mike and John said a quick hello, but then the had to get in. We did have a laugh as one fan from Japan (I think) was trying to persuade us to chrage the security. This is England, you know, we don't do that here.

Given it was seated, the queueing was not so bad and I took my seat in the front row, just in front of MYung. This is the only time that I have been on that side, as I have always favouredthe Petrucci side. I have always been a huge fan of Myung, but to be so close and to see that dazzling finger speed and precision up close, lifted that to another level.

For the Octavarium, the band had billed it as a 20th Anniversary Tour. This meant that they opened with a couple of songs from Octavarium and then a song each from each album in tour. This meant that there were going to be songs that would be unfamiliar to some of the crowd. The first of these was Another Won from the Majesty demos. A Fortune in Lies from the debut was more familiar, particularly to boot collectors. From Images and Words, we got Under a Glass Moon, which is a great song, especially as it allows Petrucci to treat us to some stunning fretboard action. Peruvian Slkies was probably the highlight from set one, as it contained exerpts from Wish you were here (Pink Floyd) and Wherever I may roam (Metallica).

Set two opened with some balls and chunk, As I am, followed by Endless sacrifice. This has always been my favourite song off Train of Thought, so by then I was hoarse with singing. By the, many of us were looking forward to Octavarium. After, Never Enough and Sacrificed Sons, we got it. The song starts with Jordan on the Haken Continuum and the Lapsteel. This was the first time we had seen it live and the close ups from the video screens were excellent, although I was close enough to see it. I am not sure how many bands would be brave enough to put an epic like Octavarium on their albums, let alone attempt to play it live, but Dream Theater can pull it off.

The encore was the great crowd pleaser, Pull Me Under that moved into Metropolis Part 1.

A few days before the gig, I had jokingly asked Jordan on his forum, what the secret sign to attrach his attention. He got the joke and suggested that I stand on my head and wave my bare feet in the air. As it happened, I chickened out, and just put my shoes on my hands and waved them around. Luckily that worked and Jordan came over and said hello.

The problem with the first gig was that it was always going to be overshadowed by Tuesday night, but as an standard evening with gig, it was the best I had been to. As it happens, the Tuesday gig did surpass it, and the Wednesday night in Wolverhampton raised the bar even higher.

Setlist

• The root of all evil

• Panic attack

• Another won

• A fortune in lies

• Under a glass moon

• Caught in a web

• Peruvian skies

• Fatal tradegy

• About to crash

• Losing time / Grand finale

Break

• As I am

• Endless Sacrifice

• Never enough

• Sacrificed sons

• Octavarium

Encores

• Pull me under / Metropolis Part 1

Dream Theater, Manchester Apollo, 16th January 2004

I was very fortunate to get to this gig as it involved a long road trip and I had already used my brownie points in getting tickets for London! However, I bought a single ticket a couple of weeks before the gig and got one in the second row. As had happened with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Dream Theater had decided to start the world tour for the new album in Manchester and, as before, the place was sold out, a fact that James acknowledged to the crowd.

Manchester was also special as it was the first significant coming together for members of VoicesUK, and it was also a great opportunity to gain new members by leafleting the line. I arrived in reasonable time and met up with lots of the club members.

Once inside, there was a lot of milling around until it was time to start. We got the first listen of the Stream of Consciousness Song writing contest winner. Then the video screens kicked into life for the now famous video montage. It was quite noticeable how the crowd cheered along to clips from their favourite album. Luckily the montage has been preserved for perpetuity as a bonus feature on the Live at Budokan DVD. As the screen dimmed, we got the opening chords of As I Am and the hammer came down.

The gig kicked off with As I Am, which was loud and thunderous. Obviously, the whole crowd were on their feet and stayed that way until the very end. This Dying Soul followed. It was simply amazing to be in front of John Petrucci and see him replicate live the crazy finger speeds required for these two songs.

After James said hello, they launched into Endless Sacrifice, which is my personal favourite off Train of Thought. By now, it was apparent the power that the new material had when played live. I am sure that many of these tracks will remain crowd favourites for years to come.

After Honor Thy Father, James grabbed a stool and sat down to sing Vacant. This was somewhat of a surprise as it is not an obvious live track and given it is so short, it can break the mood.

James then got a break as we were then treated to Stream Of Consciousness. It was quite fun to watch Jordan get some of the trickier bits of the piece which were probably recorded in sections in the studio, but when played live would be better suited to having four hands!

James LaBrie was looking fantastic. As had been reported from the Queensryche tour in 2003, he had shed a few pounds and he was looking great. In addition, when I spoke to him afterwards, he said he had been taking vocal lessons again and he was sounding great. On this tour, he dispensed with the percussion stand, and had reverted to his practice of leaving the stage during the instrumental sections. However, he did have a light on stage that he could control via a foot pedal so as to create an atmospheric look during the quiet sections of This Dying Soul.

Jordan was off to the left, still with his rotating keyboard. This time, he had a new toy fitted to it which provided him with the music as he played along. There was also a small camera fitted to the keyboard which provided live images to the video screens throughout the show. I think there had been questions prior the tour as to how he would react to having so much heavy stuff from Train of Thought to play. In reality, it was obvious that he was having a great time. When I spoke to him afterwards he said he was enjoying it.

John Petrucci had updated his look and spent the whole evening in dark shades, looking very mean and cool. He had also changed his gig, so that he had two metal boxes either side of his pedals. Later on the tour, we learnt that these were just for resting one foot on, in order to get the true rock pose.

John Myung was in his customary place and did not seem to have made any changes to his look, or on stage persona, but when one can play as well as he does, what does it matter.

Mike Portnoy was touring with the Siamese Monster once again. For this tour, the colour scheme had been changed with the heads bearing a picture of an on-coming train. Unfortunately, for Manchester, the spotlights that were part of the design were not working.

The first set closed with In The Name Of God, which was a stunning piece, and once again John Petrucci was on fire. As the band left the stage for an interval, there was the collective sound of jaws being lifted from the floor. No-one had expected them to play the whole of the new album in its entirety, and it was not repeated on the rest of the tour. How would the second set follow that?

I was in seventh heaven at the start of the second set as John Myung took the stage with his Chapman Stick. It is such a cool instrument and New Millennium is one of my favourite songs because of it.

We were then treated to Under a Glass Moon, Through My Words, Fatal Tragedy and The Mirror. At that point, John Petrucci played the opening chords of Hollow Years, which I have always had a soft spot for. What I did not know was that it had been updated and had new guitar solos added. Again, jaws hit the floor, as we were treated to a masterclass of guitar playing. After four movements from disc 2 of Six Degrees, the set was closed with Pull Me Under. I never tire of this song and the whole crowd sang along, needing no encouragement from James.

The encore was Learning to Live. The beauty of this song makes you wish that John Myung would contribute more to the song writing duties in the band. As it happens, this was a rare treat as it was not played often on this tour.

Overall, it was a fantastic gig, with a successful introduction of the video screens. There were a couple of bum notes as Petrucci hit the clean pedal when he actually wanted a distorted sound and vice versa, but these were very few in a gig that lasted over 3 hours. James voice was on top form and everything was set for a fantastic world tour.

Afterwards, I was very lucky to meet the band. Even after such a long show, all five made time for the fans. John Petrucci said that his solo album was due soon. Twelve months later, we were still waiting. Myung was very cool and we chatted about the stick. In addition to some rarities, I also got the set list signed.

Manchester Apollo Photo Gallery

Setlist

• As I am

• This dying soul

• Endless sacrifice

• Honor thy father

• Vacant

• Stream of consciousness

• In the name of God

Break

• New Millennium

• Under a glass moon

• Through my words

• Fatal tragedy

• The mirror

• Hollow years

• War inside my head

• The test that stumped them all

• Goodnight kiss

• Solitary shell

• Pull me under

Encores

• Learning to live