Dream Theater Bring Their Spectacular 40th Anniversary Celebration to Rochester

*Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy in Rochester, NY*

This week marked my fifth time seeing Dream Theater, but only the second time attending an "evening with" event. For anyone familiar, you know this means a full three-hour set loaded with deep cuts. I generally try not to get too familiar with setlists before a show, but I made an exception for this one. As most fans are well aware, Dream Theater songs are typically ten-minutes long or more, often going well beyond that, so I wanted to be sure I was ready for any of the bigger songs. More to come on that later.

I, like most fans, was particularly excited for this tour. Dream Theater was not just celebrating their 40th anniversary, but also the release of a new album, 'Parasomnia,' but also the return of legendary drummer Mike Portnoy after a 14-year absence. It's worth noting right away that his sole replacement during his absence, Mike Mangini, was a fantastic addition to the band and contributed to some great albums over the last decade and a half. That said, seeing this band performing with Portnoy again just felt right.

The show opened with "Metropolis Pt. 1" before segueing directly into the songs from "Scene Two" of the concept album 'Scenes from a Memory,' one of my personal favorite albums of theirs. During the first fifteen-minutes that were available to capture images from this show, the screens on stage were used minimally, but they shortly added an incredible visual element to the performance.

Explaining to anyone who's not already a fan of Dream Theater or progressive metal in general the not the easiest task. Most people simply don't have the patience for long, complex arrangements. For those of us who get it, though, what a treat we were in for.

Dream Theater has three very long songs that are on my "must see" list, consisting of "A Change of Seasons," "The Count of Tuscany" and "Octavarium." I was fortunate to see "The Count of Tuscany" back in 2010 on in a small club in Buffalo. Tonight, however, we got "Octavarium" and it was phenomenal. James Labrie is still an absolute powerhouse on vocals, but he really let it all out during the final moments of this song. The crowed responded in thunderous cheers, acknowledging how demanding the end of "Octavarium" is to sing.

A few other huge highlights of the night included hearing the brand-new tracks "Night Terror" and "Midnight Messiah" live. This new album is insanely good, by the way. The back-to-back performances of "Vacant" and "Stream of Consciousness" from 'Train of Thought' were another huge moment in the set. The visuals were reminiscent of a Tool concert during these songs. The easy at which John Petrucci plays his guitar on these arrangements will always be impressive.

One observation that I'm certain fans have taken note of during this tour is the inclusion of a few "Mangini-era" songs. The band could have easily overlooked that chapter and stuck to other material, but it was so cool to see them perform a few songs like "Barstool Warrior" to pay homage to that era.

Sadly, this leg of the tour is coming to a quick close just a few days from now. I'm hopeful we'll get another run of dates later in the year as I would love to catch another show during this celebration. I will not miss an evening with Dream Theater if they come within reasonable driving distance ever again.