click my nickname to go to the main page
WARNING : some things on some of my pages haven't been updated in over 3 years, so don't take anything too serious :)
Band : Dream Theater Date : July 19th, 2000 Venue : Petofi Csornok Open Air Theater, Budapest, Hungary The concert was stated to begin at 8 PM local time. We got inside at around 10 minutes before 8. I was surprised to see the very strict checks for audio/video recording devices, even during the concert people got thrown out if the security guys noticed there was something going on. Near the entrace there was a merchandise section with really big prices. I payed 5000 Ft (around 20$) for a Met2000 Tour T-Shirt. Unfortunately, that was exactly the amount of money I had left at that time (If I would've refrained from drinking those 8 beers before the show I could've had more money left :) ). There was this really cool DT picture book that I didn't get (1985 - 2000, 15 years of DT, or something like that), and that really sucks. But anyway, after I bought the T-Shirt, I looked for a place with a good view, and I got a pretty good one. The soundcheck was still taking place and at around 8.30 the crowd started to lose its patience a little. I was hoping for an opening act, actually I was expecting one, but around this time, I realised that there wasn't going to be any, especially because you could see the guys getting ready in the back. Before the actual show started, we got the chance to hear a song either off the new Spock's Beard album, or some new TransAtlantic stuff. I'm tempted to think that it was off the new Spock's (Neal Morse was on vox in any case, that I'm sure of :) ), because the guitars and bass sounded alot like Spock's. So, on to the show, which started at around 8.40. Here's the playlist : all of SFaM : Regresssion Overture 1928 Strange Deja Vu Through My Words Fatal Tragedy Beyond This Life Petrucci solo / Through Her Eyes Home The Dance of Eternity w/ Rudess solo (AMAZING!) One Last Time The Spirit Carries On Finally Free followed by : The Mirror Just Let Me Breathe Acid Rain Caught In A Web (a version that sounded alot like Caught In Alice's 9 Inch Tool Garden) parts of Lie and Voices encore : Pull Me Under, segued into middle part of Metropolis Part 1, which finished off the show (with everyone shouting out 'Love is the dance of eternity' :) ) After having seen that there wasn't any opening band, the fact that I didn't see any projection screens anywhere added to my frustration. I really wanted to see the show as it was played in the first leg of the tour, but I guess I'll have to get a video tape of one of those shows to see it. However, all my frustrations ended when, after the Twing Peaks intro, John Petrucci came on stage and started to play the opening chords of 'Regression', with LaBrie's voice on tape (LaBrie didn't join the band until his opening lines on 'Overture 1928'). Maybe it's better that there weren't any screens after all, I got to see alot more of the band this way then I probably would've if they would've shown the whole SFaM movie on some screens. What followed were without any doubt the most amazing 130-140 minutes of music that I've ever witnessed (and I have no idea how anybody is going to top this in the future either). The performance was astounding (I still can't believe how they managed to perform the whole SFaM live the way they did), despite quite a few technical difficulties. Talking about those difficulties, the mixing was very poor at times... You'd think that after 45 minutes of calibration, the guys would get it right, but there were quite a few problems during the show. The only one I haven't seen complain about his sound was Myung, but I don't think he ever complains about anything anyway :) As far as individual performances, LaBrie sounded very good, his voice was in excellent shape. It's great to hear LaBrie singing this good again, after all he had some horrible live performances the past couple of tours. Petrucci was excellent as usual, with only 1 or 2 minor mistakes (one on 'The Spirit Carries On', and a really small one which I'm not totally sure of on 'The Dance Of Eternity' his solo was really great, a bit different from the solo I've heard on Met2000:Tradewinds, but in the same vein. Myung was as usual very good and very quiet :) The ones that impressed me the most were Rudess and Portnoy. Rudess' performance was flawless and his solo was the most amazing keyboard solo I've heard anybody do live, combing bits of LTE, a Chopin-esque classical piano bit, some electronic-influenced stuff and some SFaM-inspired improvs (variations on different leads off the album). Portnoy was the other highlight of the show, his performance, especially during the last section of 'Finally Free' leaving no doubt in my mind that at this moment he is, in my opinion, the best drummer on this planet (whether he is off this planet or not, that's another discussion :) ). After SFaM, LaBrie asked if we were ready for the 'old shit', after having heard 'the new shit'. After the crowd's response (do I have to say what the response was ? :) ), Petrucci started playing the opening riff of 'The Mirror' and the whole place exploded :) After an amazing performance of 'The Mirror' (during which I noticed that I was beginning to lose my voice :) ), the band played 'Just Let Me Breathe' off 'Falling Into Infinty'. That was the only song that I wasn't too excited over off the entire playlist, the rest of the audience responded quite well to it tho (the chick that was next to me seemed particularly pleased with them choosing to play this song, she seemed to enjoy this one alot more than other songs...oh well, de gustibus...). So, I was a bit bummed after 'Just Let Me Breathe' (which I still think is a very weak song for DT standards), but then out of the blue, the band started playing 'Acid Rain'. Again, the response from the audience was amazing, most of them being as surprised about this as I was (I didn't know they were playing any LTE songs live... I was expecting bits and pieces at best, but a whole song...). That was simply amazing, and I hope that on future tours we'll hear more of LTE and/or LTE2 played by DT. After that, the band played a slowed-down version of 'Caught In A Web', much like the 'Caught In Alice's 9 Inch Tool Garden' , followed by instrumental bits and pieces off 'Voices' and 'Lie'. That was the end of the regular show, but after all a good couple of minutes of cheering, the band came out and played an amazing encore consisting of 'Pull Me Under', followed by the last half of 'Metropolis Part 1' (beginning with the amazing instrumental part right after 'The third arrives...'). If I had some voice left, I lost it completely when they played 'Pull Me Under', most of the crowd singing the entire song together with LaBrie. The whole concert finished with 'Love is the dance of eternity', after which LaBrie thanked everybody for being there and being part of such an excellent audience (and the audience was really excellent, everybody knew the music and the lyrics very well and the behaviour was ecstatic, but very civilised) and promised to come back on the next tour. Well, that was it as far as my very first live DT experience is concerned. Even now, 18 hours after the concert, I still can't believe that I actually had the fortune to see such an amazing display of genius. I still am a bit dissapointed that they did a 'light' version of their show (sans opening act and sans screens), but I think they managed to compensate it with playing the old songs in their entirety, not just a 15 minute medley of old stuff. DT rules the world ! :)