The Dream Theater Tour Dates & Setlists Thread (UPDATED 04/23)

[A_Change_Of_Seasons]

Wow, Trial Of Tears, Space-Dye Vest, and Finally Free. It will be an amazing show. Although i really wish A Change Of Season (The best song i've heard in my life) to be the show closer for North America. They haven't played the song since 2004 (I think).

[Prog Snob]

You are correct; it was in Italy.

[Bargey]

My thoughts:

The first Act is epic.  It was always going to start with FAS into TES. Shattered Fortress is nice and metal, though I'd like to see them switch between it and The Glass Prison (easier in theory than in reality obviously). Angels ain't too bad of a song, and I would have been disappointed if they completely abandoned ADTOE already. The Looking glass ain't bad but I hope they rotate The Bigger Picture (by far the best song on DT12) and Behind The Veil through the setlists as well. I'm absolutely astonished The Bigger Picture isn't in the setlist, it's by far the biggest oversight. Trial of Tears will be great to see live, can't wait. Enigma machine is a crap instrumental and  I'm disappointed to see it in there but it was always going to get played, and I ain't got no time for solos, particularly drum solos. Along for the Ride I was hoping wasn't in the setlist to be honest, average track. Breaking All Illusions is brilliant and I'm glad it's still in there, by far the best song off of ADTOE and I'm glad it hasn't been dumped for this tour.

Act II... well here's where I get disappointed. Space Dye Vest well it's cool and all to get to hear it live after all these years, but not if it means a third of the concert is spent listening to the lesser half of Awake. The Mirror / Lie is a cool combo but not one I'd die to see (got to see it just two tours ago), LSOAD meh, Scarred would be cool to see live but there are much better DT 10min + epics I'd much rather see. Space Dye Vest well it's a cool song, but it's not a very DT song, and if it had been played on a semi regular rotation I don't think anyone would be hoping to see it. It's really in there for those fans who've seen DT 20 times and have yet to see it. Ideally if they wanted to pay tribute to Awake I would have much preferred A Mind Beside Itself + Space Dye Vest. Better tunes and taking a smaller chunk out of the concert time. Interesting that IT wasn't the closer for the first gig, it was always going to get played and it has really grown on me so I can't wait to see the boys smashing it out.

The Encore... I'm really glad to see Strange Deja Vu in there, it's a bit underrated IMO, and I like that they are leading in with 1928. Finally Free is a cool inclusion, TDOE I saw two tours ago so it could have been left out for something else.

I don't think no I&W is a bad thing, but I would have liked to see a bit more from other albums mixed through there, and a bit less from SFAM & Awake. Nothing at all from WDADU, I&W, SC, TOT, SDOIT, 8VM & BC&SL whilst playing 5 songs from a rather old album is kinda bizarre I think, anniversary or no. I also think it's a little strange that if you're paying tribute to a couple of albums that you don't play the most popular songs from those albums (SFAM: Beyond This Life, Spirit Carries On & Home, Awake: Voices), even if they've been regularly in the setlist rotation previously.

For my perfect setlist for this tour (sticking with the notion of getting a sizable chunk of Awake & SFAM in there) I would have liked:

1) From DT12 If they switched out TLG, EM & AFTR for TBP & BTV
2) Swap the first 4 Awake tracks for A Mind Beside itself
3) Ditch The Dance of Eternity (especially if MM's gonna screw it up LOL)
4) Rotate in six or so tracks here and there throughout the setlist from SC, TOT, SDOIT, 8VM & BC&SL

That said I'm still pumped to see this tour, for the most part the setlist is great. It's very much a setlist for hardcore fans who've seen the band many times, offering up some lesser known songs (to newbies) and some stuff that hasn't been seen in awhile, if ever.

[cramx3]

Well that's unfortunate

[?]

Um... Why is the Bad Larry cartoon in the Madrid setlist when it's explicitly stated that there were no videos?

[cyberdrummer]

You spotted the deliberate mistake

[jsds4293]

I have never been in the financial situation to drive to a DT show before, considering I am in Louisiana.  I really want to see these cats live, but I'm now worried since they've only announced so far, a one month tour and the closest place I can drive to would be Kansas City.  Is there any talk of a second leg?  Surely they wouldn't give the finger to the other 38 states?

[erikbojerik]

My ONLY gripe about THIS show's set...is the exclusion of... "Behind The Veil" ...

I have it on good authority that JP is spending half of every sound check STILL tweaking his rig to get that tone for the intro.   

Until he nails it, you won't hear BTV. 

[craig1928]

Quick question, do you guys reckon there will be a 2nd European leg or will it just be the one, they normally do 2 legs don't they?

[Ellinor]

Have they played Space Dye Vest live ever before? 

Haven't they said it would never be played without Moore?

[Prog Snob]

Jan 15th was the first time the full band ever played it live.

[Ellinor]

What about this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms7YbfHePZE

[BlobVanDam]

That wasn't at a Dream Theater show, that was just Jordan Rudess and James LaBrie at a one off thing.

[Prog Snob]

What about this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms7YbfHePZE

I did say full band.   

[El Barto]

That's actually a pretty nice setlist, AFAIC. I'd really like to see that. Probably not enough to fly somewhere, but still very nice.

[genome]

People generally have two legs, so I would expect so.

[Laughingplace56]

People generally have two legs, so I would expect so.

They are absolutely not going to do one European and one North American leg for an entire tour cycle. They've never done that nor will they start because that would be beyond idiotic leaving out 38 US states and however many European countries, plus South America, Asia and everywhere else they go.

[KevShmev]

What's really interesting is, they are only paying ONE song from the entire 00s: The Shattered Fortress.  Nothing from the four album run of 6DOIT through Systematic Chaos.

[?]

One thing I think is worth pointing out is that they're playing stuff from FII and BC&SL - these two albums weren't represented on the ADTOE tour after the album had been released, so maybe they're making up for that.

[Ellinor]

I just can't fathom that they are not playing The Bigger Picture or Behind The Veil...

[Tick]

I just can't fathom that they are not playing The Bigger Picture or Behind The Veil...

My fav is Surrender To Reason! They must play it in NYC!!!

[CodyWanKenobi]

I just thought they'd take the "evening with" opportunity to play the new album in it's entirety. That would have been a really cool thing. Kinda like the TOT tour.

[aprilethereal]

I just thought they'd take the "evening with" opportunity to play the new album in it's entirety. That would have been a really cool thing. Kinda like the TOT tour.

Yup, but what they decided to do instead is even cooler

[Dream Team]

I still say it's a little much to ask James to sing 4 nights in a row at this point in his career.

[RodrigoAltaf]

I just can't fathom that they are not playing The Bigger Picture or Behind The Veil...

Yeah,  I honestly think they`ll include more songs from DT12 as the tour moves on. And by the way, if the tour goes past 2014, it won`t be Awake`s and SFAM`s anniversaries anymore, right?

[Sad Wings]

This setlist is completely drool worthy.  "Scarred" deserves to be played at every show on a tour, and we get a very tasty block of tunes from Awake to go with it.  I was stunned, as they have never played more than one Awake song per night in recent years, "A Mind Beside Itself" not withstanding.  Hopefully they will keep the set the same for the US leg.

[?]

I was stunned, as they have never played more than one Awake song per night in recent years, "A Mind Beside Itself" not withstanding

Actually a lot of shows in 2012 included both 6:00 and The Silent Man in the setlist, and even on the BC&SL tour they often played either Erotomania and Voices or The Mirror and Lie.

[Sad Wings]

I was stunned, as they have never played more than one Awake song per night in recent years, "A Mind Beside Itself" not withstanding

Actually a lot of shows in 2012 included both 6:00 and The Silent Man in the setlist, and even on the BC&SL tour they often played either Erotomania and Voices or The Mirror and Lie.

Yeah, I was counting "The Mirror" and "Lie" as one, as they've treated them that way ever since the 8VM evening with shows.  Were "6:00" and "The Silent Man" played in the same night in America last tour?  I don't remember seeing that in the set lists.

As much as I love "A Mind Beside Itself", it's been played a ton over the years and I'm glad to see them giving time to the second half of the album.  The last three songs in particular have been criminally neglected.

[RodrigoAltaf]

"6:00" and "The Silent Man" were played in a couple of shows in the South american tour in 2012. One of the nights at Luna Park had both songs, and that was also the case at the show in Rio I went to.

[A_Change_Of_Seasons]

The setlist so far is great, but i think they should replace "The Looking Glass" "On The Backs Of Angels" and "Breaking All Illusions" with "A Change Of Seasons". They haven't played it live since 2004 (I think) With the change the setlist should look like this:

False Awakening Suite (intro tape)
1. The Enemy Inside
2. The Shattered Fortress
3. Trial of Tears
4. Enigma Machine (w/ drum solo)
5. Along for the Ride
Dead Poets Society
6. A Change Of Seasons
=======================
Bad Larry cartoon
7. The Mirror
8. Lie
9. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
10. Scarred
11. Space-Dye Vest
12. Illumination Theory
------------------------------
13. Overture 1928
14. Strange Deja-Vu
15. The Dance of Eternity
16. Finally Free
'Easter Egg' (outro tape)

I really hope they play it live when they come to Riverside, it's my favorite Dream Theater song, and my favorite song of all time.

[aprilethereal]

I'm 99.99% sure they won't. And I'm actually glad they won't

[Prog Snob]

The setlist so far is great, but i think they should replace "The Looking Glass" "On The Backs Of Angels" and "Breaking All Illusions" with "A Change Of Seasons". They haven't played it live since 2004 (I think) With the change the setlist should look like this:
*snip*

I have said it before that I wish they would play ACOS.  The last time they played it was  July 6, 2004 in Italy.   I was at the show in New Jersey when they premiered the new version. It was actually my first Dream Theater show.

[Shadow2222]

The setlist so far is great, but i think they should replace "The Looking Glass" "On The Backs Of Angels" and "Breaking All Illusions" with "A Change Of Seasons". They haven't played it live since 2004 (I think) With the change the setlist should look like this:

False Awakening Suite (intro tape)
1. The Enemy Inside
2. The Shattered Fortress
3. Trial of Tears
4. Enigma Machine (w/ drum solo)
5. Along for the Ride
Dead Poets Society
6. A Change Of Seasons
=======================
Bad Larry cartoon
7. The Mirror
8. Lie
9. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
10. Scarred
11. Space-Dye Vest
12. Illumination Theory
------------------------------
13. Overture 1928
14. Strange Deja-Vu
15. The Dance of Eternity
16. Finally Free
'Easter Egg' (outro tape)

I really hope they play it live when they come to Riverside, it's my favorite Dream Theater song, and my favorite song of all time.

That is a fantastic idea! It's a pity it won't come to fruition. I understand why OTBOA is being played (Grammy nominated), but I could really live without it and BAI. I saw both of them twice during the last tour.

[TAC]

Where does the Zen Riffer make an appearance in the set?

[jingle.boy]

I still say it's a little much to ask James to sing 4 nights in a row at this point in his career.

With 3 instrumentals, and a long break in Illumination Theory, this shouldn't be as taxing as it might seem.  3 hour set; 20 minute break + about 30 minutes of music where he's not singing... it's really not much more for him than a non 'Evening With' format.