Dream theater nomacs6/21/2023 The record released in January features 34 tracts with a few a minute or so long but fully comes in at around two hours of music. If any of the overheard pre-show chatter is believed, most of the fans appreciated the effort but it’s not a favorite. The Astonishing, the band’s 13 th, is a hard album to digest. He was accompanied by fellow founder and bassist John Myung, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and drummer Mike Mangini who aptly replaced longtime drummer and co-founder Mike Portnoy six years ago. Quite graceful, Petrucci ripped solid chords all night and peppered the evening with a number of solos that helped the audience to remember they were indeed at a rock show. Guitarist John Petrucci, the mastermind behind The Astonishing, is also a master on the fret board. His soaring and ultra-smooth vocals stole the show at times and he didn’t miss one note and sang strong throughout the evening. He only engaged with the audience at the end of the show when he urged them to stand for the final two songs but what he lacks in charisma he certainly makes up for in song. He’s pretty straightforward actually, bringing his vocals to the spotlight and letting the band fill in the rest. LeBrie doesn’t envelope the stage like other larger than life front men. Maybe that’s because it’s a new album and the only album played this evening but it just didn’t seem right to rock out. Meanwhile, the mostly male audience watched intently some head bobbing but no air drums, air guitar or even help with chorus singing. And on cue, LaBrie returned when it was his time. Singer James LaBrie singing his parts and often, if not always, leaving the stage as the supporting cast played their lines. The band? Merely the actors in this stage performance. In fact, the supporting video streamed during most of the concert felt more like a graphic novel on screen as it illustrated the plot of The Astonishing which Dream Theater carried forward in song. It even included rolling credits to end the show. But it was also very much a musical, or a play. Lots of lights, some strobes and a video played on a carefully crafted screen behind the stage just as you’d expect at most concerts. They opened with the first track “Descent of the NOMACS” which was pre-recorded then the band plugged in with “Dystopian Overture” and they cranked off the entire album, in order, all the way through to the final song, “Astonishing.” They took one break, a 20 minute intermission, after playing 90 minutes then returned for the second set, another 45 minutes, and then the final song for the encore which really was unnecessary as wrapping up the show to conclude the second set would have proved just as effective. Dream Theater Concert Reviewĭream Theater played no other songs from any other album. The casual fan, the mildly interested fan, even the old school fan still cranking out Images and Words and Awake on their way to work might have come away a bit less than inspired but the true fan – The Astonishing Live was for them. That’s exactly what Dream Theater did with their latest release The Astonishing and they brought it live to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, OR on Tuesday to the faithful. If you’re going to write and record a concept album you might as well play the whole thing, front to back and center the accompanying tour around it.
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