DREAM THEATER @Wolverhampton Civic Hall 15/2/14

There's an episode of The Simpsons from back when it was funny (about 20 years ago) when Homer decides to take an interest in Marge's love of the (ironically given who this blog is about) theatre. Surveying the programme, he is trying to seem like he is keen to watch. "Oh this looks good," he says. "An evening with Phillip Glass....just an evening?"

That sort of sneering may well have been the reaction of many to the news that this tour is being billed as "An Evening With Dream Theater" and a three hour Prog Metal extravaganza is in the offing. The very term is enough to send some people running for the door and DT are a band that divides opinion. 20 minute long songs about a French aristocrat, songs about Freemasonry and 45 minute long songs about mental illness aren't for a lot of the general public. But plenty do get it and there are 3000 people packed into the Wolverhampton Civic Hall tonight, for the bands first appearance here in nearly three years.

At this point it might be wise for RTM to declare an interest. You see, your humble writer is one of those people that gets it. In 2009 the band released the "Black Clouds And Silver Linings" album. We didn't know much of them prior to it, but the record had a profound effect. Within weeks everything they had released was procured, from the tentative debut album, to the numerous live albums and EPs. Within months I was buying Steven Wison records and listening to Pink Floyd. "...Linings" is the album that has most shaped RTM's current taste, and I still consider it be the best of the last five years, so you better believe that this is a big deal.

What makes Dream Theater engender this emotion is hard to quantify. Yes, they are arguably the most technically gifted collection of musicians in any metal band but that doesn't explain why people that can't play a note (RTM has it's hand up here) get so excited, yes they have fabulous songs, but so do thousands of other bands.

For what it's worth, the best theory I have is this: that like Iron Maiden, everything about everything Dream Theater do is planned to the nth degree. You know exactly what you are going to get from Messrs Petrucci, Myung, Labrie, Rudess and Mangini and it has got quality writ large all the way through it.

That goes for the setlist tonight too. The same as it has been on every date of the world tour so far,(some people may say, "where's the spontaneity?" But you don't go and watch Hamlet and complain the plot is the same two nights in a row do you?) it not only acts as a showcase for the brilliant self-titled record that emerged last year, but also a homage to the 20th anniversary of the "Awake" album, as well as the 15th birthday of the concept opus "Scenes From A Memory."

Even the intro tape is a change from the norm. There is no "Thunderstruck" or "For Those About To Rock" here, instead the big screen shows a superb film involving all the groups album covers. Then the curtain falls to reveal the band, and "False Awakening Suite" is played before "The Enemy Inside" follows. Both of these are from the new album, which sees drummer Mike Mangini, - forever destined you suspect to be "the new guy" no matter how long he has the sticks- really find his feet, and his confidence shows tonight.

What follows is an assault on the senses, both musically and visually, with a big screen behind the band playing some films vaguely connected with the songs, interspersed with live concert footage, and it is quite, quite majestic. 

Act one lasts for 75 minutes and sees "Trail Of Tears" really come into its own, together with the instrumental "Enigma Machine," which allows the whole band to cut lose, with Mangini having a solo spot, while Keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess had earlier appeared stage front with that thing that makes a keyboard like a guitar (no I don't know what they are called ....) and rocked out like Jimmy Page.

Act two is made up largely of half of "Awake" but it is preceded by perhaps the first funny rock video since Ozzy dressed as Alanis Morisette. Theater - who wrongly get labeled po-faced - send themselves up brilliantly, Rush, take note, this is how you do it., 

The second part, happily, is just as good, "Lie" is just an incredible catchy metal song, while "Space Dye Vest" is brilliant and weird all at once, best of all though is the section's closing song. The new album's centrepiece epic "Illumination Theory" in all it's glory, is so good it provides the evenings highlight. 

They are back for an encore of four songs from "Scenes From A Memory," beginning with overture 1928 and ending with a glorious "Finally Free," before they say their goodbyes to rapturous applause.

An evening with Dream Theater? "About flippin time! " said James Labrie in his best Dick Van Dyke accent early in the show, and you know what? He was right. Three years ago, the show they played in this room was the first gig of the year on RTM. It's a little too early to say "gig of the year" in 2014 but anything that beats this will be a bit special.

Mind you. Dream Theater did promise to come back so you never know......

DREAM THEATER, Periphery @Wembley Arena 10/2/12

It’s a tough gig opening for a band like Dream Theater in the UK. Rather like Iron Maiden, Motorhead or Slayer, the fans are there only to see the headliners and you had better be damn good if you want a response.

If Washington six-piece Periphery didn’t know this before the start of this tour, they probably do now. They try – and hard – during their 40-minute slot, but a largely disinterested sea of faces greets them.

Periphery do have the advantage of public endorsements from DT men Labrie and Petrucci, and they are far from awful – indeed songs like “Icarus Lives” and epic set closer “Caravan” hint at immense talent, but the big stages aren’t quite for them at this point in their career.

The same is not true of the world’s biggest – and best – Prog Metallers. Dream Theater. They recovered from the shock loss of drummer and founder member, Mike Portnoy, in rather stunning fashion. First they recruited sticksman extraordinaire Mike Mangini and then unleashed their “A Dramatic Turn of Events” record last autumn. And in case you thought Portnoy might be just too big a void to fill, their show at Wolves Civic Hall last July was one of the great gigs of the 21^st century and if tonight’s festivities don’t quite measure up to that then you have to say its pretty close.

Kicking off with “Bridges in the Sky,” one of six songs aired from their new opus, the New York are on stage for over two hours of nigh on flawless metal.

Rather like last year it is (almost) a career spanning set, but as if to emphasise the quality and depth of their material, it features only one track (“On The Backs Of Angels”) that was played on the last jaunt.

Particular highlights are many, but “6.00” from 1994’s “Awake” album, “The Root of All Evil,” and “Outcry” sounded superb. However, it was perhaps “War Inside My Head” and “The Test Stumped Them All” that showcased the peculiar talents of the group best of all. Both these tracks originally featured as part of the 45-minute title track to “Six Shades Of Inner Turbulence” but here, separated and used as stand alone songs, they are phenomenal.

It hardly needs saying that the band are technically flawless musicians, but aside from Mangini’s jaw dropping drum solo and Petrucci’s blues licks to usher in a triumphant “The Spirit Carries On” they are content to allow the songs speak for themselves.

Frontman James LaBrie flexes his pipes during the short acoustic section, while keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess, perhaps the most extrovert of the group, performs his mad-conductor’s role with some aplomb – and of course bassist John Myung keeps his head down throughout and just gets on with the job.

The evening climax’s with “Pull Me Under” – the bands one big US hit – and whilst you can, if you like, have some minor quibbles – nothing from the “Black Clouds and Silver Linings” album is played and it could have been a touch louder, one thing cannot be argued about: Dream Theater are the best in the world at what they do, and tonight they were all but perfect.