Going to a Dream Theater concert in 2024
It’s 8pm sharp when, after an intro taken from the theme of “Psycho”, the tarpaulin with the logo with the Roman numerals of the forty years is lowered revealing the band, on tour to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of its foundation, which starts with ” Metropolis”, one of the flagship songs of his repertoire.
The roar of the fans that fills every seat of the Forum is immediately felt: an audience made up mainly of over 40s who grew up listening to this music in the 90s, is at the Forum to enjoy an evening with very few cell phones in their hands and with their arms in the air to applaud and not to make videos to post on social media. Because .Dream Theater’s forty years of activity are an important milestone, especially in these times where music runs fast between streaming and artists who struggle to emerge. The American band has created a relationship with its fans that few others can enjoy: a visceral affection that was born way back in 1985 – the forty-year anniversary will therefore fall next year, but the group has decided to carry on with the celebrations with this “40th anniversary tour”, with the first line-up but which in 1992 with the recording of “Images and words” made Petrucci and his companions literally take center stage in the progressive metal genre in vogue in those years. At the Assago Forum, in Milan, where the tour stopped last night, there is not only the celebration of their career sanctioned by numerous studio and live albums but also the ideal embrace of the public with the drummer and founder Mike Portnoy returned after ten years in the band.
The first part of the concert flows non-stop between songs taken from “Scenes from a Memory” and “Awake”. Only at this point does James turn to the audience asking if they recognize the person behind the drums, namely Portnoy dressed in a basketball jersey with the number 40 and the name on the back. James remembers that exactly one year ago today it was announced that he was returning to the band, or rather his “return home”. The technical virtuosity of John Petrucci on guitar and Jordan Rudess on keyboards cannot be counted through a succession of solos that perfectly match the songs recorded in the albums.
As in a theater show, the evening is divided into three acts. The first act ends after an uninterrupted hour and for this reason the second act resumes after a 20 minute break to allow the band to catch their breath and above all for James to rest his voice which has been put to the test this evening. In the second part, there is also space for the new single “Night terror”, freshly released and already much appreciated by the public who anticipates the album “Parasomnia” which will be released in February.
Dream Theater are known for being a band that built their career through the influences of Genesis and Pink Floyd and in the 25-minute “Octavarium” you can hear all these homages such as the psychedelic keyboards of the 70s, the continuous drum tempo changes and Petrucci solos. The third and final act takes us back to 2001 with “Home” introduced by a video on the screen of the Wizard of Oz with the protagonist Dorothy with the red shoes returning home and by “Spirit carries on”, a ballad that the audience underlines illuminating the forum with the lights of the cell phones taken out just for this occasion.
The ending is everything for “Pull me under”, the flagship song of “Images and world”, as well as their most celebrated and appreciated song that the whole forum sings at the top of their lungs. After three hours of concert, Dream Theater bid farewell to the Milanese public, ready for this evening’s date at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome.
