On The Download: Dream Theater At The Greek

For close to 25 years, Dream Theater has brought their eclectic and kinetic style of progressive metal to the masses, and on August 29 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, they turned it up a notch.

With an impressive set list spanning the band’s entire career, and a surprise solo showdown between six string guitar gods, John Petrucci and Steve Vai, this performance will definitely go down as one of the most exciting shows LA has seen in a while, and a fitting end to the North American leg of the Progressive Nation tour.

The evening kicked off with “A Nightmare to Remember,” the monster opening track off their newest album Black Clouds and Silver Linings, and an aural feast for any metal head. Recounting the tale of a brutal car crash, “Nightmare” is filled with gothic riffs, extreme solos, and even the occasional blast beat or two from uber-drummer Mike Portnoy.

After 16 minutes of pure metal bliss, DT kept the engine rolling and transitioned into the second track from “Black Clouds,” the east-Asian themed rocker “A Rite of Passage.” Being the album’s main single, its structure is more traditional (verse-chorus-verse) and radio-friendly when compared to others from the band’s repertoire, but the musicianship and technicality are still present and the driving riffs come at an unrelenting pace.

Melancholy ballad “Hollow Years” was up next, followed by fast paced anti-Iraq hymn, “Prophets of War,” providing the mandatory chorus for the audience to chant along to. This also made the night for the 20-something-year-old fan sitting in front of me, who constantly related to his friends how badly he hoped to see this performed live.

The up-tempo acoustic based “Solitary Shell” was the penultimate song of the performance. Its ethereal extended keyboard jam showed off both the talent and technology of keyboardist Jordan Rudess and helped usher in what would soon become the night of one hundred solos, each one more impressive than the last.

“Beyond this Life” served as the band’s finale. Halfway through the 11-minute thrasher, Portnoy took over the stage and invited out the remaining three drummers on the Progressive Nation tour for an impromptu, thunderous, jam session, culminating with all four playing on his massive kit.

Returning to the stage afterwards, the other DT members were joined by surprise guest and veteran guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. With bassist John Myung and Portnoy locking into a heavy rhythm and increasing speed with every measure, guitarists Petrucci, Vai, and Dweezil Zappa (also on the Progressive Nation tour with his band, Zappa plays Zappa), and even Jordan Rudess on keytar, participated in what can only be called a duel for the ages, as each musician performed solo after solo, attempting to out-metal each other.

Dream Theater would return once more after exiting the stage for an encore performance of “Black Clouds’” closing track, “The Count of Tuscany.” Another epic, starting with a haunting synthesized guitar solo and ascending into a twisted, uplifting rock grove, it perfectly complemented the evening’s darker opener “Nightmare.”

Truly a fantastic performance, and one you can experience again very soon — next spring. If you’ve never heard of the band, I encourage you to check them out, preferably live, because there’s no way this review can possibly capture the energy that the band displays live on a constant basis.