Sound: Dream Theater played at Festival Hall in Melbourne. Any band who plays there is already behind par in the sound catergory, probably because the venue somewhat resembles a giant she'd so you will probably get what I mean. The overall sound lacked a bit of lowend but Dream Theater pull off a pretty good sound anyway considering the venue. James LaBrie demonstrated his vocal skills with incredible Precision by hitting all the high notes whilst making it look easy. John Petrucci (as usual) played all the solos to album standard to the amusement of the crowd and Jordan Rudess in some cases joined Petrucci and bass player John Myung out the front with his keyboard guitar. // 9
Perfomance: The audience were wild. The floor area threw their fists into the air in every heavy section and the crowd brought out the lighters and mobile phones to sway through the air during the ballad "The Spirit Carries On". The was always silence during Petrucci's intense solos but one completed the crowd roared with applause. They played a 3 and a half hour set with one intermission and an Encore. They also mixed up the set with a nice balance of ballads and heavier songs. The set list was as follows:
01. Constant Motion
02. Panic Attack
03. Endless Sacrifice
04. Surrounded
05. Dark Eternal Night
06. Forsaken
07. As I Am
08. Take The Time
09. Overture 1928
10. Strange Deja Vu
11. Through My Words
12. Fatal Tragedy
13. Erotomania
14. Voices
15. The Spirit Carries On
16. In The Presence Of Enemies (Pt1 and 2)
Encore:
17. Trial Of Tears I: It's Raining
18. Finally Free
19. Learning To Live
20. In The Name Of God
21. Octavarium V. Razor's Edge
It was incredible to watch such great performers and even after 3 and a half hours it still felt like it should have been longer. // 10
Impression: This peticular concert was in Melbourne, Australia on the 29th of January 2008. It was what Dream Theater call "an Evening with Dream Theater" concert, so this meant that there was no support act, and they were supposed to be on stage at 7pm on the dot. The tickets were $110 AUD and were worth every cent. The only thing which I was upset by was that I would have liked to have been closer to the stage but I had a great seat anyway. Dream Theater ranks as one of my most favorite bands and it was incredible to see them come to Australia for the first time. I've been to heaps of gigs before but this was definetly my favorite and I would kill to see them play again. I hope the come back soon. // 10
