Well, I'm back.
I just attended ProgNation 2009 in Miami Beach on friday. The experience was quite good. This time no curtain felt down so we enjoyed the whole concert!
Scale The Summit didn't impress me more than i expected it. They play good instrumental metal, should be very good on album. Live, they lack stage presence though it's clear they'll be there soon. The main guitar player is very skilled as is the bassist. The songs sounded ok though it should be easier to appreciatte the band even more with repeated listens.
I only watched three Bigelf songs as we had to go meet Dream Theater again (my girlfriend and two friends who came from Ecuador wanted to do it, so I had to meet the band again... with a serious blow to my economy). They played "Elvis of Rock'n Roll" and "blackball" from Cheat The Gallows and another song I didn't recognize. they're the opposite of Scale the Summit: they play simple retro-hard-rock-metal but their stage presence is amazing. The sound was ok. I had a chance to meet Damon Fox:
After this we got to watch Zappa plays Zappa. I'm no expert on his father's music, but man did this band rock! They're all masters in their instruments and the music blew me away, so much that I have since bought a couple FZ albums. They played for about an hour, including recognizable songs like "Montana". This band had it all: presence, sound, skills, and the music to back it up. DZ is a great director, since that's really what he does in this band besides playing guitar. Live, he turns into an orchestra director. I can't name names for the songs they played except Montana, but believe me, this is a band worth seeing.
Finally the main band. After half an hour or more of nothingness DT came to the stage. They looked in good shape (I won't include details of my meeting them here, I will post my pic in my sig when i receive it). The stage was simple, with silver linings falling from the top.
Their performance lasted for about 80 minutes, as long as a very-long cd really, which kind of disappointed me since it felt way too short. They played only 7 songs!! But the song choice was great:
They opened with "A Nightmare to remember", in full. Excellent playing, all the way down to the weak growling by Portnoy. The sound was not that great, but being on first row doesn't help I think.
They immediately followed with "A Rite of passage" which draw a huge reaction from the full theater. the chorus was chanted by everybody. The guitar sounded too loud on this song, barely leaving room for anything else. Only the bass drums were able to compete in loudness, and every time they were hit it was like a blow to my chest. The solo section was great.
The next choice was unexpected. After an excellent slow solo by Petrucci, a solo full of FEELING for those who call the guy "cold", "Hollow Years" from FII started. The song, never a favorite of mine, sounded actually very good live. Labrie was on a great night, with his melodic voice shining when the guitar allowed him to (I insist: it was way too loud, especially on distortion.)
Now it was time for Rudess to do a solo with the help of an IPhone (?!) with a very cool video on the screen. "Erotomania" from AWAKE started, to my utter delight. The song was played exactly like on record except for the middle part where they introduced an instrumental section for Petrucci to shine. Portnoy, curiously, was not the star of this show, though as always he was goofing around from the back of his gigantic NeilPeart-sized set.
What followed was pure heaven: they didn't stop and they continued all the way to "Voices", full! Amazing, every detail, every solo, every fabulous riff. Magnificent. I couldn't ask for much more. yet they gave it to me at the end.
The obligatory duet between Petrucci and Rudess was missing. But we got another mammoth-sized song they played: "the Count of Tuscany", FULL! Terrific performance, even the weak instrumental part was easy to digest. Down to the very note, the song was played exactly like on record. The apotheosic end was the end of the concert. It felt way too short. I couldn't, though, have asked for a better encore.
The superb sound of a synth reminded me of one of the greatest songs in DT's catalogue: "Metropolis pt 1". The band carried on with the song and I was expecting a medley any time soon (they were doing that in Europe). But when the first vocal part ended and the band continues with the instrumental section, I almost cry. My throat suffered badly on this track. Halfway during the magnificent section, we got the obligatory duet between Petrucci and Rudess pictured above. It blew everybody away. The song resumed and the concert ended with complete and total ovation from the fans.
We left the theater, all of us, complete happy but not 100% satisfied as the concert felt way too short at only 7 songs. Of course, these 7 songs lasted more than an hour 20 minutes, but I would've loved more. They ignored the Rudess-era DT except, obviously, BCSL, and they played a couple of masterpieces of their most golden years. I suggest going to a DT concert before judgning this band. Live they're even better. And now I know (what I always did )I don't give a damn what people say about these five fantastic musicians. They're ther best at what they do. PERIOD.
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