DREAM THEATRE: THE REPORT

The doors of the theatre of dreams reopen. The location chosen for the first of the three dates in our country was the Forum in Milan (Bologna and Rome being the other cities), where more than 8000 fans eagerly awaited them.
Inside we find a very sober stage with three screens, a large one in the centre and two smaller ones at the sides, which will accompany the show with images and a camera system also placed on the semi-movable keyboard.
For this 'Train of Thought World Tour 2004', the band decided to do a special edition of the self-celebrating concert called 'An Evening with Dream Theater', without any backing band and with more than three hours of music.
At 8.30 p.m. on the dot the screens start the countdown:
-'1989' the year of their first album 'When day and dream unite' with images and sounds of the period
-'1992' Images and Words;
-'1994' Awake;
- "1995" Change of Season;
-'1997' Falling into Infinity;
-'1999' Scenes from a Memory;
- "2001" Scenes fom New York;
-'2002' Inner degrees of inner turbulence;
- "2004" today...the lights come on and we start with "As I amthe new single. The first thing that strikes you is the wall of sound from the air monitors, thanks to great production and the excellent acoustics of the venue.
You can tell right away that they are in great shape, in particular James La Briewho, despite being weighed down by a few extra kilos, gives us a thrilling performance.
The show is divided into two one-and-a-half-hour parts with a 15-minute intermission and features five tracks from the latest studio album, which was released a few months ago. ('This Dying Soul,Endless Sacrifice,Honor Thy Father,In The Name Of God') which, although lacking the inspiration of their best days, acquire a particular charm in live performance, with very modern sounds close to bands such as Tool and Machine Headthanks to the seven strings of John Petrucci.
In the first part of the show, closed with a wonderful version of "Finally Free", songs from the band's entire career are performed: from their first album we find "Only A Matter Of Time", through the emotional "Another Day" warmed up by the lighters and the choruses of the audience, followed by "Beyond This Life", "Hollow Years", "War Inside My Head" and "The Test That Stumped Then All".
The show comes alive with the entry on stage of John Miyung and his stick bass for the intro of "New Millennium", followed by "Caught In A Web", with Mike Portnoy in the spotlight, at the end of which he's left alone on stage for a daring drum solo, to be honest a bit superfluous as every song is a solo in itself. In the next track, Jordan Ruddes' keyboards (looking more and more like Tony Levin) take centre stage.
Then came the triptych of songs taken from Awake, the instrumental "Erotomania", "Voices" and the semi-acoustic "The Silent Man". Finally, the aforementioned "In The Name Of God", at the end of which Dream Theater left the stage to come back after a few minutes, attracted by the screams of the fans, who were even more excited when the notes of "In The Name Of God" rose in the air. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" of the immortal Iron Maiden, played frighteningly.
The crowd is now in a frenzy and the five of them return to the stage, where their masterpiece "Metropolis closes a fantastic evening that will remain etched in people's hearts for a long time.
The performance confirms Dream Theater in the Olympus of the greats, endowed with such immense technical preparation that they appear to be aliens, except that the wacky choruses of Mike (our friendly hero wearing the Italian national football team jersey) and John bring the mythical aura that hovers over the stage back to more human levels.

A BolognaAs is their custom, they completely overturn the setlist from the second track, Mirror. During the show, impeccable from a technical and musical point of view, we find a splendid piano solo performed by former enfant prodige Jordan Ruddes, who gives us an unexpected fragment of "September Impressions of our P.F.M. and a long jam during which a medley is performed where we recognise 'Summer Song' by Joe SatrianiFoxy Lady' by Hendrix and the never enough praised genius of Frank Zappa, who also appears on the screens.

WAITING FOR ANOTHER DREAM...
In the Images section you will find live photos and tour memorabilia!