DREAM THEATER - Europe leg of the 40th Anniversary Tour 2024-2025

[Stadler]

"LaBrie: What's funny about that is when I saw you guys [John and Mike] in Toronto, I remember thinking, "Fuck, that's undeniable." It's just like the connection was just boom."




Some of you need to read that article.  I'm sure there's SOME license with it, and the message/narrative is that "we're a team", but they DIRECTLY answer several of the (nagging) questions that were persistent in the thread we had right after the announcement.  It seems they ended up having a number of the conversations that were outstanding at the time of the first announcement.

And not going to lie, as someone the same age and in many ways in the same station of life as them, some of that was emotional (in a good way) to read.

[DAYAFTERDAY]

The first show is London and it is a Sunday! I will be there!  I wonder where they may be playing at this time. 

It's at the O2 Arena!

[devieira73]

This RS interview is really excellent!! Indeed I think it adresses a lot of questions we are discussing here.
About the new album, they plan to release it before the tour starts.

[OpenYourEyes311]

One thing I took from the RS article is it said JP was producing, and NOT JP & MP. I thought that was interesting, though it may have just been pointing out JP's role and not necessarily diminishing MP's.

[MinistroRaven]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dream-theater-album-tour-interview-1234998171/

DT whole band interview. Hadn't seen something like this in a while...

I'm glad that MP isn't a control freak now. Better dynamics.

This interview was a great read, cool bits of info.

James don't want to sing the Alien.
MP open to play the MM material.
The new album will be 60+ minutes long
MP will craft the setlist
They all love being together.

[Eroma]

I'm counting my €'s. Thinking of going to Cologne, Luxembourg and Holland, all within 3 hours drive. 3 Times DT in 1 month. Really thinking of it ...

[skydivingninja]

Honestly the idea of an R40-style backwards journey seems pretty cool. That said, after seeing so many videos of James not doing a great job I'm really concerned by them doing Evening With shows unless they do a bunch of instrumentals to let him rest, do excerpts of epics, or downtune and slow down a bunch of songs, eg if you listen to Rush doing "Circumstances" in 07.

[devieira73]

This interview was a great read, cool bits of info.

James don't want to sing the Alien.
MP open to play the MM material.
The new album will be 60+ minutes long
MP will craft the setlist
They all love being together.

Was this said in this interview? In which part?

[MirrorMask]

Honestly the idea of an R40-style backwards journey seems pretty cool. That said, after seeing so many videos of James not doing a great job I'm really concerned by them doing Evening With shows unless they do a bunch of instrumentals to let him rest, do excerpts of epics, or downtune and slow down a bunch of songs, eg if you listen to Rush doing "Circumstances" in 07.

I would be VERY surprised if both of the two halves of the show wouldn't have (at least) an instrumental.

[Setlist Scotty]

I can't see them knocking out 5 out of the 6 (now 7) albums that this "classic" lineup has on a medley, or even on the whole Suite. My guess is if it ever happens, it won't be on this tour.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you. But I could see the medley being a secondary option, too. Had they separated a proper tour in support of the new album from their 40th anniversary, I'd have expected the 12SS to be featured on the 40th anniversary tour. But because they're combining the two together, it's not a realistic option.

I do agree with you that a good way to do this would be to copy Rush's R40 tour. I loved that backwards chronology of the setlist they did, and it will give them a good reason to finally end a show with Only a Matter of Time! (selfish want )

I thought the same thing. They could even tack the end of March of the Tyrant on to the end of OaMoT as they did in 1993 to include just a taste of the Majesty demo as well!   

All nice points!

Thanks! 

Also, I don't want to be disrespectful to the debut album, but WDADU kinda kills the chronological thing, either in order or backwards. Imagine that Images and Words is their first album -  you either start with Metropolis or end with Learning to Live or Pull Me Under. There are great songs on WDADU but starting with Afterlife (like they actually did in 2015) or closing with Only a Matter of Time just isn't that strong, especially with the big shadow of Images and Words looming over it.

I thought about that too. I still maintain that OaMoT could be a good track to end on. But then again, just as they bookended the 20th anniversary shows with tracks from 8v, they could do something similar with the upcoming tour. Something like:
new song
new song
The Alien
d/t track
....
IaW track
WDaDU track
new epic
~~~encore~~~
classic track (Metropolis, PMU, LtL, ToT, ItNoG, 8v, etc.)

One thing I took from the RS article is it said JP was producing, and NOT JP & MP. I thought that was interesting, though it may have just been pointing out JP's role and not necessarily diminishing MP's.

I picked up on that as well. Very interesting if JP is producing without MP. I wonder if that will be the way it is going forward, with MP taking more of a back seat in some areas, or if he'll co-produce future albums again.

[Awaken]

The show in London is going to be insane.  I know it's the first show back - but for the energy I anticipate will be there - I really hope they record/release it.   It will be an experience for many, I'm sure.

Great interview, really excited to hear the space they're in is so positive.  Totally agreed w the part about the chemistry at John's solo shows, watching them together again was special.   My hopes for the new record are as high as possible right now.

Edit:  lol - Myung: We should sell tissue boxes.

[MinistroRaven]

Was this said in this interview? In which part?

My bad, I think I misread something.

[devieira73]

My bad, I think I misread something.

No problem, we're all too excited with the news to judge!

[Azyiu]

It's at the O2 Arena!

Yeah, I just found that out too. That is an awesome place for a concert. There is virtually no bad seats in the arena, even in the upper level.

[krands85]

Two things: 1) the O2 in London is massive. That's a Maiden/Metallica venue. DT historically haven't even been to fill Wembley Arena without it being half closed off. The promoter sure is taking a gamble on MP being back and it being a 40th anniversary show

Being the only UK show (😢)  should help with filling it up a bit I suppose.

[Trav86]

Being the only UK show (😢)  should help with filling it up a bit I suppose.

They also mentioned that it being the first show, they expect people to come in from all over the world.

[hefdaddy42]

Cool, time to hope for some good new tunes.

Holy shit, ZGF!

[Anguyen92]

That's the ADTOE clown, I can't find anything for WDADU or View either though.

Exciting news, though I'm a little bummed this means there probably won't be any American shows until 2025!

I thought the sandcastle looks like the part of mountain from A View From the Top of the World, but that seems a bit stretching.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

This plus bringing Portnoy back represents a great set of business decisions by the band. They're going to make a killing. I hope they come through my area when they do the American leg!

[Dream Team]

Great news, but I'm very surprised they didn't kick it off in NYC. Must have been a reason.

[El Barto]

Great news, but I'm very surprised they didn't kick it off in NYC. Must have been a reason.

This. I certainly would have been there.

[emtee]

Great interview! So glad they all agreed to include the non MP albums to be represented. The positive energy seems legit and not manufactured. And yes, being the age I am...and they are, discussions of, "how much time do we have left" hits hard. They ended up back together where they all belong and that's how the DT story will eventually end.

[Azyiu]

Great news, but I'm very surprised they didn't kick it off in NYC. Must have been a reason.

I could be wrong on this, but it seems like they almost always start their tours in Europe and wrap it up in the US at the end.

[EvantheMotel6Owmer]

I could be wrong on this, but it seems like they almost always start their tours in Europe and wrap it up in the US at the end.

Traditionally, yes, but that hasn't been the case the last few tours.

[Samsara]

Anyone send me the article? It's behind a paywall. I am not paying to access it.

[EvantheMotel6Owmer]

Anyone send me the article? It's behind a paywall. I am not paying to access it.

The Rolling Stone article? I didn't have to pay to access it.

[Zantera]

Considering its a 40 year anniversary tour celebrating the legacy of the band it would be bizarre to ignore a decade of music with a different drummer which still amounted to 5 studio albums. They're not playing my city unfortunately but I would have gone if they did! Like others have suggested I think it would be cool if they did some rotation from night to night for more song choices.

[gzarruk]

Anyone send me the article? It's behind a paywall. I am not paying to access it.

Here's the PDF

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-5TGTFeGKNNkj9kFS8R7E5Bu6DUnkISg/view?usp=sharing

[nobloodyname]

Considering its a 40 year anniversary tour celebrating the legacy of the band it would be bizarre to ignore a decade of music with a different drummer which still amounted to 5 studio albums.

They're not going to ignore a decade of music, the interview covers it.

[goo-goo]

Loved the Myung humor!

[emtee]

The interview was not behind a pay wall for me.

[Samsara]

Thanks! I DID have it on a paywall. Not sure why.

p.s. Myung and his DT tissue box! There's a market! KISSTheater lol

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

The Rolling Stone article? I didn't have to pay to access it.

Welcome to the Forums!

[Polarbear]

I'll me there Nov. 6th in Helsinki!

The venue is a bit questionable though. Last time DT was in Finland, they played my hometown of Tampere. The venue here is brand new, and the best multi purpose arena in the country. I guess they couldn't book it this time.

Oh well, into the capital I go...

[jimgolf]

It just feels so great to here the guys together and doing well. I'm confident the album is going to be great and the tour is going to be a treat for longtime fans and new fans alike. Also, I'm kind of with James if they decide to shelve The Alien. They played it every single show the last two tours.

I'm very excited they are doing an Evening With show and that Portnoy seems like he's going to be doing some mixing of the setlists instead of a static setlist each night, but I do hope they take consideration with James voice and their own pacing. They should probably throw a couple instrumentals in and an acoustic section or something to give everyone a breather. It was very obvious towards the end of the last tour that James was just running out of steam and they were playing too difficult a setlist.

Anyway, I'm excited for DT in a way that I haven't been in a long time. Even though I really loved Distance Over Time and A View from the Top of the World, I think this album and tour have a chance to be something special.