Author Topic: Dream Theater (Read 166 times)

alembic_doctor · « **on:** July 29, 2007, 02:24:20 PM »

I say Dream Theater last night at the Berkeley Community Theater. They put on a great show. I'll post some pics if anyone is interested in seeing them.

Personally, the highlight of the show for me was John Petrucci playing the solo for Mother from Pink Floyd's The Wall while they were playing Surrounded from the Images & Words album. It's actually a perfect solo for that song.

I think I'm gettin' too old though. I don't seem to enjoy sitting or standing through a show until midnight anymore.

Their opening band, Redemption, was pretty good too. Their lead guitarist threw in the opening riff of Spirit of Radio durring one of his solos.

Great Tech too.

room037 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2007, 06:18:31 AM »

WOW !

Dream Theater is my favorite one.
I wanna play such a cool music.

PLEASE SHOW ME THE PICTURE !

Eiji

811952 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2007, 11:16:46 AM »

I saw them open for YES a few years ago, and spent a great deal of time chatting with their FOH engineer, who was also their road manager. We talked a lot about John Myung's (that's his name, right?) light technique and delicate tone, and the difficulties getting it to translate to live performance. We discussed acquiring an Alembic Superfilter to run at the board to give the FOH a chance in hell, given that apparently John is very not-open to adjusting his settings to make it not pure rumble and hiss out front. He's an incredible player, but it was absolutely impossible to hear what he was doing in the theater where I saw him. That was very disappointing, because it LOOKED like he was really flogging it good..

John

alembic_doctor · « **Reply #3 on:** July 30, 2007, 11:32:01 AM »

Eiji: I'll post some pics later.

John: They are running digital consoles now so they can get tons more control over things. I've never been a fan of his live sound at all either. Being a bass player and a FOH engineer, I am often dissappointed with the way bass is mixed. It's the same with Tower of Power. I've never once heard them live where you could actually make out what Rocco was playing.

Now, John's notes did stick out a little more than in previous shows, but it really is all up to the FOH Engineer. For most of them it's all about Kick, Snare, Guitar and Vocal. It's a real shame, but it it is reality.

Randy Lane is currently mixing Dream Theater and I thought he did a superb mix. Everything was clean and clear and it was a good mix. I would have put some 800hz on the bass to bring it out of the mix. But, hey, that's me.

811952 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 30, 2007, 06:52:30 PM »

The situation, as told to me, was that John won't allow a straight feed from the bass. He will only allow the post-EQ from his preamp to feed the house, and from what I was told, there probably is no 250-800hz in that signal whatsoever. This poor guy was really trying to carve a hole for the bass, but it wasn't happening. Everything else sounded good though..

John

dannobasso · « **Reply #5 on:** July 30, 2007, 09:18:18 PM »

Was he playing a Bongo or his Yamaha? He is an amazing musician.
Sound is so subjective. I always give respect to a engineer dealing with a difficult situation. Sometimes you just can't win. Whenever I gig I just roll with it. Let the man do what he does and ask fans later. DT has so much going on in the mix, it must be quite a challenge to get it all in. Just the drum mix alone must be a nightmare.
I love the new cd but whenever I see them live I always leave drained and a bit braindead. Holdsworth has the same effect on me.

88persuader · « **Reply #6 on:** July 30, 2007, 09:50:27 PM »

Holdsworth? A friend of mine saw Allen around 10 years ago in a small club in Boston and said his guitar was so loud it made is stomach sick. People had to YELL in the mens room to be heard over him.

Back to Dream Theater ... I saw them around 5 years ago in Boston with Joe Satriani (sorry about the spelling) and Kings X. My PERSONAL feeling was Dream Theater sounded like a CD where I was sitting and played a great show. The bass was right where it should have been in the mix. My only complaint was because there were 3 acts their set was kind of short for a headliner. Joe S. bored the hell out of me. Sorry ... I know he has chops out his butt but his song writing IMO is lame. Just simple tunes for him to show off playing over. (OK let the rock throwing begin!;-) ... Hey it's my honest opinion. And Kings X totally KICKED ASS! They really surprised me with their sound, singing and song writing. That night I became a big Kings X fan! With Kings X the attraction for me is the TEAM WORK, the harmoneys and WRITING, not the seperate musicianship. They have a way of writing and putting together hard rock tunes in an interesting and very original way. Again ... just my opinion. OH ... and their live sound was the best of all 3 acts. Perhaps because they were the simplist band to mix. Drums, Bass and one guitar.

In regard to John's sound ... seems to me he also uses a lot of distortion and effects. And that probably makes what he does blend a lot with the guitar and distorted synth sounds.

jet_powers · « **Reply #7 on:** July 31, 2007, 06:44:53 AM »

I agree with Ray...

Kings X kicks ass and has for years now.

Joe S.? Great player but... I saw him open for Bowie once. Adrian Belew was in Bowie's band and made me say Joe Who?

JP

dannobasso · « **Reply #8 on:** July 31, 2007, 08:57:37 AM »

Been a fan since Gretchen, even got me a 12 on inspiration.
Jelly Jam is pretty good with TY and John Myung.
I'm Sorry I never saw Shawn Lane, seen G3 a few times and Satch is great but not the greatest on that bill.

But, Bongo or Yammi? On the new cd he's using MM 4's and 5's in the DVD.

jubeas3eyes · « **Reply #9 on:** July 31, 2007, 09:00:49 AM »

Lately Myung has been using Bongo basses, although Honestly I have no idea why. I played a couple at Guitar Center and they play/sound awful. I've never been a fan of music mans.

lbpesq · « **Reply #10 on:** July 31, 2007, 10:18:17 AM »

Doc:

I know what you mean about creature comforts becoming more important as one ages. A couple of months ago I drove the hour up to Santa Rosa to see Willie Nelson at the Wells Fargo Center (formerly Luther Burbank Center) just so I could sit in a seat rather than go see him at the Fillmore where I'd have to stand all night.

Last Saturday night we went to see Greg Behrendt at Cobbs Comedy Club. He did a routine about rock concerts for boomers. Starts at 7:00, no opening act, play all the hits, play for one hour, no encore, home and in bed by 9!

Bill, tgo

olieoliver · « **Reply #11 on:** July 31, 2007, 12:21:06 PM »

I saw Kings X right after Faith Hope Love came out at Dallas City Limits. They were awesome.

I really got a kick out of seeing Doug come out for a couple songs playing an Ibanez 8 string just like the one I have.

They sounded so much better live than on CD.

Not to mention they're some good ol Texas boys.

Olie

mikedm · « **Reply #12 on:** August 03, 2007, 11:38:41 AM »

Nokia Theater, DFW, last night. Sadly, the ?John Myung: Lost in The Mix? fears were realized. Almost every solo gone, nada, nichts-nein Frankenstein. What I did hear sounded like rapid-fire burps, what a shame, it looked like he was nailing it, too. On a six string Bongo.

Aside from that, as my youngest daughter would say, ?They?re not good. They?re scary good.?

jacko · « **Reply #13 on:** August 06, 2007, 01:11:16 PM »

I have tickets to see them in Glasgow later this year. Hopefully they'll have the sound right by then;-)

Graeme