Dream Theater - 9th Oct 2009 - Manchester Apollo

Having seen DT at the Leeds Academy in June this year, my brother (Roj M30 here on PA) and I were really looking forward to seeing them at the Manchester Apollo, not only because it’s local for us but because it’s a better venue (the way the floor slopes downwards towards the stage affords smaller people, like me, a better view!).

Despite missing the first two bands from the Progressive Nation line-up, Unexpect and Big Elf (due to our tickets giving the wrong start time) we were certainly not disappointed with the evening’s entertainment.

Fortunately we were there in time to see the full, 1¼-hour set of the impressive Opeth.  Don’t ask me what tracks they played, as this was the first time I’d heard them!!  Never have I heard a band play such starkly contrasting music, from the heaviest death metal to such lovely prog, with lead vocals to match from Mikael Akerfeldt - hard to believe that the growls and the smooth, clear vocals come from the same guy!  Throw in some really technical pieces too and there we had the perfect support band for Dream Theater.  We were most impressed and some of their CDs will be going on my Christmas list for sure.

Then, of course, came Dream Theater and as expected they were absolutely knockout.  They opened with ‘A Nightmare To Remember’, followed by ‘A Rite of Passage’, which had us thinking they were going to do BC&SL in its entirety.  This wasn’t the case, but later in their set they did also play ‘Wither’ and a surprise, superb encore of ‘The Count of Tuscany’.  Other tracks played were ‘In The Name of God’, ‘Sacrificed Sons’ and a section from SFAM consisting of ‘The Dance of Eternity’, ‘One Last Time’ and ‘The Spirit Carries On’.  We were pretty blown away by ‘The Dance of Eternity’ – they couldn’t have picked a more self-indulgent and technical track to play!!  Notably, the set was totally different from the one they played in Leeds earlier in the year.

The sound was excellent, perfectly balanced, and the musicianship as dazzling as ever.  Solo upon solo from Petrucci; LaBrie’s voice stunningly flawless; Portnoy’s drumming one long onslaught of brilliance; and we were treated to a flashy solo by Rudess who had the stage to himself for his showpiece.

All in all it was a brilliant night – come back soon, DT!!

(PS: This is my first review on PA - hope it's not too rubbish!)