2011-07-22 - O2 Academy - Leeds, UK

Chrissalix · July 23, 2011, 07:16:21 AM

Quote from: tri.ad on July 23, 2011, 04:32:02 AM
It really seems like he's operating bass pedals or something like that. In the intro, you can hear a low-frequency sequence that is in unison with the other instruments, and somehow, I doubt that they are coming from JR.

Yeah I know the type of things. It's a bass pedal keyboard. The guy from Mastodon uses them as well.

Freko · July 23, 2011, 07:48:03 AM

wow

Labrie is a freakin beast! he´s top notch. I really hope they make a DVD from this tour.

Metropolis pt.-1 · July 23, 2011, 07:57:10 AM

Such a brilliant concert, JLB was at his best, MM is killer, and the fact i met JP in the street with his son topped it all off!

Lowdz · July 23, 2011, 08:05:23 AM

James sounded as good as I've heard him since the early 90s. Great gig and well worth the 2 hour drive and the late night.
Can't wait for the return with the new album and a different setlist- I have to say it's not the setlist I would have chosen prior to the gig but I enjoyed it all the same.

The Genie was awesome- I think I watched him more than anyone. I didn't miss MP at all- instead of his showboating and cheerleading we just got an awesome musician dedicated to his craft.

DarkLord_Lalinc · July 23, 2011, 08:09:57 AM

shit at 3:11 of that UAGM video

Dynia · July 23, 2011, 09:18:31 AM

I can't belive how good MM is. His drumplay in the UAGM video is just mindblowing

Also, JM seems to be having fun and JLB sounds killer.

One of the best DT videos i've ever seen and surely the best clip from this tour.

deadtotheworld · July 24, 2011, 04:43:36 AM

I loved every second of this show... Mike Mangini adds a whole new intensity to the band, I was mesmerized! Thought the sound and mix where great... I find its usually the people within the first 10ish rows who complain, you gotta walk around and find that sweet spot!
I love this venue too - dead small, just perfect to see and hear them.
Anybody notice a few of them laughing during The Count of Tuscany? a tech guy held up a small screen to JP and he laughed and started looking over at JLB and JM and he was laughing for a few minutes.
Edens curse where not bad - didnt like the singer too much and the songs are all samey, but a decent warm up. Ive seen that guitarist on youtube before and never realised he was in Edens Curse.

Overall the night was perfect for me... Although the only negative: Get a shower before you go to a concert! Ive been to hundreds of shows, festivals etc and you can smell alot of bad armpits, but jeez there where some of the worst at this Leeds show! So please be considerate to other people and shower before you leave the house - you know who you are! haha

nightmare_cinema · July 24, 2011, 12:07:36 PM

Quote from: deadtotheworld on July 24, 2011, 04:43:36 AM
I loved every second of this show... Mike Mangini adds a whole new intensity to the band, I was mesmerized! Thought the sound and mix where great... I find its usually the people within the first 10ish rows who complain, you gotta walk around and find that sweet spot!
I love this venue too - dead small, just perfect to see and hear them.
Anybody notice a few of them laughing during The Count of Tuscany? a tech guy held up a small screen to JP and he laughed and started looking over at JLB and JM and he was laughing for a few minutes.
Edens curse where not bad - didnt like the singer too much and the songs are all samey, but a decent warm up. Ive seen that guitarist on youtube before and never realised he was in Edens Curse.

Overall the night was perfect for me... Although the only negative: Get a shower before you go to a concert! Ive been to hundreds of shows, festivals etc and you can smell alot of bad armpits, but jeez there where some of the worst at this Leeds show! So please be considerate to other people and shower before you leave the house - you know who you are! haha

I'm always torn between walking around to find the sweet spot and wanting to be real up close and see the action... I always go for the latter, and usually end up whinging about the sound quality

but it's a tradeoff I'm happy to make.

I could not agree more with your comment about people not showering before gigs, or not wearing deodorant. I was a few people back from the front at the Leeds show and man, it was almost unbearable at times, same with the Blackfield/Pineapple Thief show I went to a couple months ago, some of the BO there transcended anything I've ever smelt before, it got to the point at that show where it actually semi-ruined my enjoyment of the gig because at the end of every song I was holding my breath knowing that the dude was about to raise his arms and clap and knock out everyone within a 5-person radius.

Luckily it wasn't as bad as that on Friday

Lowdz · July 24, 2011, 01:46:57 PM

It was funny that JR's big moment out front with the Zen Riffer was ruined by what I assume was the wrong patch- he certainly wasn't happy and he soon gave up and went back to the keys. The patch certainly sounded awful to me. Technology huh?

IdoSC · July 24, 2011, 02:44:51 PM

I just can't believe James still hits the highest note he ever publicly did (A5) at the age of 48.

adameastment · July 24, 2011, 05:22:53 PM

Quote from: deadtotheworld on July 24, 2011, 04:43:36 AMOverall the night was perfect for me... Although the only negative: Get a shower before you go to a concert! Ive been to hundreds of shows, festivals etc and you can smell alot of bad armpits, but jeez there where some of the worst at this Leeds show! So please be considerate to other people and shower before you leave the house - you know who you are! haha

I did have a shower!

On a serious note though (and this is pretty personal to me). I think this gig really made me realise how I cannot do crowds and lots of people, I'm a big guy (I was tall and ginger and fat) so naturally I'm gonna sweat more than others. But Jesus Christ I was sweating like a Lamb in a kebab shop, so if I did stink by the end of it - I apologise. I did put like half a can of Anti Perspirent on

.

Standing is not for me anymore...

deadtotheworld · July 25, 2011, 01:06:06 AM

Haha no its people who turn up smelling like stale sweat who clearly didnt shower before they came out i have a problem with! Anyway i dont want to ruin a thread of what was an amazing gig!
I keep having flashbacks of the night and remembering how i felt watching them... Most bands have a big finally that steals the show but with DT every song could be the big finally. Blu ray please!

The Curious Orange · July 25, 2011, 01:47:21 AM

That was as good as I've ever seen them. The venue is perfect, I found the "sweet spot" right in front of the mixing desk and I can honestly say I've never heard them sound better - every note crystal clear, I could hear all the instruments and the spaces between them. Acoustically damn near perfect.

A great setlist - for a band that's spemt the last few tours relying on newer songs and heavier songs, it was great to see the likes of As I Am and Constant Motion given a rest. They played one song from each album, so we got plenty of old stuff, and we got some melodic stuff too. The band played so well and so tightly this was like the end of a tour rather than the start. A few new arrangements, new keyboard parts and stuff, to keep things fresh.

And Mike Mangini was the star of the show. The guy was grinning like a loon throughout, clearly having the time of his life. His drumming was spot on, he bought a new energy to the band, the drum solo was humourous and thankfully short, and I've forgotten that other guy already.

Highlights - JP's solo in These Walls, lovely guitar tone, the new arrangements in Endless Sacrifice, particularly the piano on the 2nd verse, Ytse Jam, Great Debate (the only song here I'd never heard live before) and The Count of Tuscany, played with an enthusiasm that was missing at Wembley.

Let's hope DT manage to keep playing these smaller gigs for many years to come - I'd hate to see them go "arena only".

And staggering out of the venue and straight into a hotel is seriously the most civilised way of seeing a band - no worrying about whether to leave before the encore to catch the last train...

MajorMatt · July 25, 2011, 02:36:01 AM

Quote from: Chrissalix on July 23, 2011, 07:16:21 AM
Quote from: tri.ad on July 23, 2011, 04:32:02 AM
It really seems like he's operating bass pedals or something like that. In the intro, you can hear a low-frequency sequence that is in unison with the other instruments, and somehow, I doubt that they are coming from JR.

Yeah I know the type of things. It's a bass pedal keyboard. The guy from Mastodon uses them as well.

It's a Moog Taurus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moog_Taurus

He's been using it in studio too, JP put a pic up of a mixer or something and one track was labeled 'Taurus'

adameastment · July 25, 2011, 04:54:32 AM

Quote from: deadtotheworld on July 25, 2011, 01:06:06 AM
Haha no its people who turn up smelling like stale sweat who clearly didnt shower before they came out i have a problem with! Anyway i dont want to ruin a thread of what was an amazing gig!
I keep having flashbacks of the night and remembering how i felt watching them... Most bands have a big finally that steals the show but with DT every song could be the big finally. Blu ray please!

Fair enough!

But yeah, it was an amazing gig. My ears are what let me down, a few songs before TCOT my ears screwed up. Basically I wasn't able to hear anything in a decent pitch (it was really high pitched for me). I first noticed it around The Great Debate. Plus, like I mentioned before in the thread, standing is not something for me. My legs were aching so badly

.

All in all though, it was my first time seeing Dream Theater and I was mesmerised. The closeness of the venue was awesome, and I really enjoyed it. I even managed to get Eden's Curse's guitarists pick, which was cool since I actually enjoyed the band (unlike others apparently). My mum also spent some money on me (getting me a couple of shirts and a DT keyring - awesome!). There couldn't have been more than 300 people at the venue surely?

Mangini was amazing, the drum solo was mindblowing. I was like - holy shit this guy is amazing.

Something I didn't enjoy was the way people were pushing around so much, I tried to stick by my mum because she is partially sighted but people just came bargeing in and it really p*ssed me off!

The Curious Orange · July 25, 2011, 06:23:39 AM

Quote from: adameastment on July 25, 2011, 04:54:32 AM
My ears are what let me down, a few songs before TCOT my ears screwed up. Basically I wasn't able to hear anything in a decent pitch (it was really high pitched for me). I first noticed it around The Great Debate.

Try earplugs, my friend. Seriously, you have to protect your hearing if you're going to gigs like this. A good pair of plugs will block the distortion and the high-frequency white noise (which is what damages your hearing) while letting the music through. If anything, it cleans up the sound, and your ears aren't ringing for 3 days afterwards.

Seriously, you don't want to go stone-deaf in ten years time. If you're having any sort of hearing problems at gigs, take it as an early warning sign and do something about it now.

AtmosphericV · July 25, 2011, 06:37:13 AM

Only 300 people in the venue??

bad, UK, bad

petrucci07 · July 25, 2011, 06:46:42 AM

Quote from: AtmosphericV on July 25, 2011, 06:37:13 AM
Only 300 people in the venue?? bad, UK, bad

What? Where'd you hear that?

adameastment · July 25, 2011, 06:57:55 AM

Quote from: AtmosphericV on July 25, 2011, 06:37:13 AM
Only 300 people in the venue?? bad, UK, bad

It was a tiny venue, I was stood at the front ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nmsf5lbF-0 LOOK FOR THE GINGER HAIR) and I couldn't see many people. But it seemed full, but the venue was small.

Quote from: The Curious Orange on July 25, 2011, 06:23:39 AM
Try earplugs, my friend. Seriously, you have to protect your hearing if you're going to gigs like this. A good pair of plugs will block the distortion and the high-frequency white noise (which is what damages your hearing) while letting the music through. If anything, it cleans up the sound, and your ears aren't ringing for 3 days afterwards.

Seriously, you don't want to go stone-deaf in ten years time. If you're having any sort of hearing problems at gigs, take it as an early warning sign and do something about it now.

Cheers dude, I've already got tinnitus at 18 - pretty bad. Will definitely do this in the future

John94 · July 25, 2011, 07:05:28 AM

The place has a capacity of 2300.

adameastment · July 25, 2011, 07:11:18 AM

Quote from: John94 on July 25, 2011, 07:05:28 AM
The place has a capacity of 2300.

Really?! It's so small though!

7StringedBeast · July 25, 2011, 07:54:09 AM

Oh man that UAGM video is hilarious where JLB goes to run behind the stage into his little tent to dig holes during the instrumental break, but he realizes that part of the stage is all closed off and he looks like he freaks out for a second before running to the other side of the stage

The Curious Orange · July 25, 2011, 07:57:29 AM

It's got quite a big balcony that is much larger than it looks from downstairs, and they cram people into the raised area behind the mixing desk too. The place was pretty full, so 2300 people seems about right. It's larger than you think.

The Silent Cody · July 25, 2011, 08:32:22 AM

Quote from: 7StringedBeast on July 25, 2011, 07:54:09 AM
Oh man that UAGM video is hilarious where JLB goes to run behind the stage into his little tent to dig holes during the instrumental break, but he realizes that part of the stage is all closed off and he looks like he freaks out for a second before running to the other side of the stage

I don't noticed that. Funny though

petrucci07 · July 26, 2011, 04:36:38 AM

Did anyone tape the show (audio) for a bootleg or anything?

Raoul Sanchez · July 26, 2011, 06:25:17 AM

Quote from: The Curious Orange on July 25, 2011, 01:47:21 AM

And staggering out of the venue and straight into a hotel is seriously the most civilised way of seeing a band - no worrying about whether to leave before the encore to catch the last train...

I'll agree with that. Me and my friends missed the train back, then our place to stay fell through so we had an impromptu night out in Leeds, trying to find places that were open all night because it was cold outside.

Lowdz · July 27, 2011, 02:10:44 PM

I'd second the advice to go with earplugs. This was the first time I used them in nearly thirty years of gig going and how nice it was not to have that ringing in my ears for days on end. I bought some cheap ones and I lost a bit of the top end but it was a good trade off really. I wish it got them years ago.

adameastment · July 28, 2011, 04:23:29 PM

Quote from: Lowdz on July 27, 2011, 02:10:44 PM
I'd second the advice to go with earplugs. This was the first time I used them in nearly thirty years of gig going and how nice it was not to have that ringing in my ears for days on end. I bought some cheap ones and I lost a bit of the top end but it was a good trade off really. I wish it got them years ago.

Well, the next band I want to see is Megadeth depending when they're on tour. A must for them

News:

2011-07-22 - O2 Academy - Leeds, UK