Author: Jernej Vene
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Pordenone / Palasport Forum / Italy
Concert date: 20.02.2012
Attendance: 2200
Ticket price: €46.00 (presale) / €48.00 (day of the show)
Deciding to go to this show was a no-brainer. Seeing the champions of technical prog metal again is always a thrill, especially when they play close to home. Last time, we saw them on the way too, but only as far as the Italian border, where the Mediterranean vibe made short work of it.
It’s an old Italian habit: organizers announce the start time days in advance, then push it back by a whole hour. So support act Periphery only took the stage at 20:30. The young guys from Maryland do try hard and are instrumentally pretty solid, and interesting in that they don’t use amps, plugging their guitars straight into the mixing desk. The sextet leans on three (!) guitarists who play their seven-string axes with a lot of commitment. One of them was definitely redundant. When I think that Petrucci does it all by himself in Dream Theater…
They clearly believe in the music with real enthusiasm. Singer Spencer Sotelo is even interesting in the “listener-friendly” registers, but the metalcore growling and screaming was too much and unnecessary for plenty of people. Many sought relief at the merch stand and drowned their boredom at the bar. Periphery will also need a shake-up in their musical direction if they want to leave a lasting impression.
With John Petrucci’s very first notes, Dream Theater of course made sure Periphery became nothing more than a bad memory. The fingers of all four instrumentalists in the band fly about as light as the wind.
I saw them in the same hall almost fourteen years ago (April 1998) and I can’t escape the comparison. It’s not so much about experience as the fact that they haven’t aged musically the way many do over such a long career. That concert was very convincing performance-wise, but the sound was the worst of all the seven times I’ve heard Dream Theater. This time, John Myung’s bass was a bit smeared at the start, but by the third song everything worked just as it should.
What is surprising, though, is that despite the proverbially devoted Italian fans, there was room in the hall for at least another 500 heads. The crisis has clearly stretched out its tentacles…
The crowd, mostly male, didn’t fall into a trance, but knew how to reward the instrumentalists’ standout solos in true jazz fashion. Quite a few times the audience chanted Pe – Tru – Cci and Man – Gi -Ni. Once again, it’s hard to single anyone out, because their brilliance easily captured our senses and carried us away from the real world. The apparent simplicity of the performance makes it feel incredibly effortless despite the complexity. But it’s much more than that. Years of work, rehearsals and accumulated experience still put them on the prog metal Olympus, and together with the choice of songs, the way they delivered the music showed a love of performing that’s still huge, and, to be clear, not showing off. Mike Mangini, as the newcomer, actually comes across as completely integrated. Of course Mike Portnoy’s legacy is surely deep and weighty, but Mangini was more than convincing. He completely subordinated his playing to making the band’s sound as compact as possible. So just as much as was needed – and that was a lot. Dream Theater’s musical density is mostly extremely saturated, but the masters ease it up at moments with wonderful lyrical passages.
Dream Theater gave an in-depth showcase of the current album A Dramatic Turn Of Events. It doesn’t even matter much why exactly these songs and that many; what matters is that live they’re fully on par with any of the older ones. Those of us who are longtime admirers of the American masters enjoyed ourselves mostly during 6:00, Surrounded, A Fortune In Lies, and the two gems from Images And Words, Wait For Sleep and Surrounded. I’m amazed again and again by Petrucci’s incredible control of tone, and the drama he conjures with the guitar is unbelievable. It’s clear to him that the guitar is an extension of his boundless musical ideas, and God forbid he should ever be unable to play, for whatever reason. He’d probably be done for out of sheer grief…
Jordan Rudess gratefully complemented the melodies in most of the songs and provided a generous curtain of sound. Despite the demands and complexity of the music, bassist Myung easily kept pace with Petrucci, and the two of them unleashed some hellish unisons, with Rudess occasionally helping out too (Outcry). A Fortune In Lies of course showcased Petrucci’s whole arsenal: tapping, string skipping and lightning-fast glissandi are just the three most obvious techniques.
Petrucci helped singer James LaBrie with his voice a few times, but on that front he came across as more or less faint . Not enough power, or too low in the mix, I guess. Still, playing a complicated guitar line while singing at the same time deserves nothing but praise. As for LaBrie, he still commands the stage with total confidence. He proves the saying that looks can be deceiving. The sturdy guy with the piercing gaze is nothing like what you might picture. His friendliness and approachability are a welcome part of Dream Theater’s whole image. The amount of audience interaction was just right, and LaBrie made more of an effort than he had to. Early on he quickly explained that the band had gained new energy with its new member and was writing a new, important chapter. The years show on him a little; it’s time to slowly refresh the hairstyle and get rid of the inch of regrowth. He did the vocal job with distinction, and even treated us to three or four piercing screams worthy of a young Roger Daltrey.
Drummer Mangini showed off his mastery and versatility with the obligatory solo. Well, if he lectures at Berklee, we know what’s what. Dream Theater really needed a drummer like that. He blew a fresh wind into their sails, and the little ship sails on. A complexly compact but far from soulless machine, Dream Theater stride confidently into a new decade of musical life. The perfect proof of that came on the stage of the Pordenone arena.
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
Dream Is Collapsing (by Hans Zimmer, taped intro)
1.Bridges in the Sky 2.6:00
3.Build Me Up, Break Me Down
4.Surrounded
5.The Dark Eternal Night
6.drum solo
7.A Fortune in Lies
8.Outcry
9.Wait for Sleep
10.Far from Heaven
11.On the Backs of Angels
12.War Inside My Head
13.The Test that Stumped Them All
14.The Spirit Carries On
15.Breaking All Illusions
—encore—
16. As I Am
Photo gallery
