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2014-07-18 DE – Gelsenkirchen - Amphitheater
 

For the second time after 2009, the theater of dreams lifted its curtains at the Amphitheater in Gelsenkirchen. This evening brought best conditions for a memorable concert experience: A hot Friday night with plenty of sun and a corresponding summer feeling, relaxed arrival and looking forward to an extended show from the Grandmasters of Progressive Metal:: DREAM THEATER ::. In addition the location couldn’t be chosen better for an Open Air as the amphitheater offers a great atmosphere, well known from the annual Rock Hard Festival.

Therefore it was a bit disappointing that only about 2000-2500 visitors (roughly estimated) found their way into the semicircle. Was it a good idea to return to Europe shortly after the regular tour in January/February (including appearance in Dusseldorf) without new material and exactly the same setlist? In addition the date was in the middle of the holiday season and even DREAM THEATER fans cannot print the money and are seemingly oversaturated (about 50 Euro for 2 ¾ hours playing time was okay, but the prices for merch and beverage were settled beyond evil).

Anyway, everyone who showed up won’t regret it as they had the chance to come very close to their heroes, or could sit on the steps with good sight following the concert quite relaxed. The Awake- and Metropolis Pt. 2 Scenes from A Memory Special sets, already known from the tour, with five, respectively four songs provided an extra incentive for fans of these formidable albums. The current strong self-titled release Dream Theater was represented with five pieces including show entry False Awakening Suite (with a history flashback and all previous album covers on the video screen) followed by the rough The Enemy Inside. Later, my personal highlight The Looking Glass and Long Track Illumination Theory were presented from the "Black Album". With the soulful (13-minute) Trial Of Tears even a piece of Falling Into Infinity was put into the setlist as Breaking All Illusions (great!) from previous A Dramatic Turn Of Events set the final chapter before a 15-minute break guessing that this was just the prelude to further exploits. Disbelief regarding the incredible tightness and playing technique was already written in everyone’s faces. This includes that the "new" magician on drums, Mike Mangini (who will always remain the “new one” presumably), fits in the band context better and better and whose smooth and song-orientated play wins the fan hearts. He also added an entertaining drum solo between Enigma Machine and Along For The Ride.

During the break, the video screen was used to show funny and amazing (You Tube) clips of supporters and musicians, playing DREAM THEATER songs, partially mimicked the band members with a wink. Together with the black and white video clip for Enigma Machine, in which the five protagonists found themselves as cartoon characters in a Jump & Run-world, the band proved a lot of self-irony, very symphatic. These approaches were reminiscent of Rush and their live performance. But compared to them the DT stage setup was kept relatively unspectacular.

On the tick after 15 minutes the show was continued brilliantly - with the powerful, equally dramatic The Mirror which initialized the mentioned Awake feature, followed by the cool Lie. Yeah, that made the people more active and the atmosphere became more intense. Besides meanwhile the sun was gone thus the light show evolved its impression. Scarred and the atmospheric Space-Dye Vest continued this trend and the good mood remained until the end of the concert. Finally the fantastic Metropolis Pt.2-encore gifts (Strange Deja Vu The Dance Of Eternity and Finally Free) stimulated the audience even more showing the excitement by clapping and loud singing along. After nearly three hours full of concentration the band really deserved this resonance. All five musicians not only presented their huge technical playing skills again but mixed it with a lot of joy on stage. Obtaining Key Wizard Jordan Rudess with his gimmicks as he dueled the solo parts with guitar god John Petrucci, is always a great entertainment. Singer James LaBrie was in a good shape (just the very high notes strained sometimes), plus John Myung, the introverted excellent bass player, who navigates the whole thing with his ingenious deep tone lines.

In fact it turned out a memorable evening with great emotional music, crystal clear sound in a beautiful venue and happy people, exhausted after this three-hour-demonstration. DREAM THEATER performing like that, are always welcome, in a pinch the same setlist again will do!

Setlist: False Awakening Suite (Intro), The Enemy Inside, The Shattered Fortress, On The Backs Of Angels, The Looking Glass, Trial Of Tears, Enigma Machine, Along For The Ride, Breaking All Illusions // The Mirror, Lie, Lifting Shadows Off A Dream, Scarred, Space-Dye Vest, Illumination Theory // Overture 1928, Strange Déjà Vu, The Dance Of Eternity, Finally Free

 

story © Terry