Riverside + Dream Theater

Clermont-Ferrand, La Coopérative de Mai, June 26th 2007

La Coopérative de Mai is a small venue that can only host about 1500 people. So it was a rather unexpected location for Dream Theater’s only french date of the summer (at the exception of the Hellfest festival where the band played a short cut set).

So let’s make the trip to Clermont-Ferrand, rooted in the center of France and in the middle of the monts d’Auvergne, a city more famous for the Michelin tires and its rugby team than for rock and roll.

Therefore, the gig was logically sold-out and I was one of the happy few, standing in the pit about fifteen meters from the scene. The crowd was very diverse in age and looks, from the young metalhead to the mid-40’s progrock fan (as I am). It seemed to me that there were not so many pure metal fans, though.

Riverside opened the evening with a 40 minutes set consisting of five songs. Most of the audience had never heard of them and, since they rather play some kind of ethereal prog metal than in-your-face heavy stuff, they didn’t raise much enthousiasm but their looked quite good and nice to me. I only know their LP Second Live Syndrome and I must confess that I didn’t recognize the first two songs. The last three were Second Life Syndrome, Reality Dream IV and The Curtain Falls. Before playing Reality Dream IV, the bassist/vocalist explained that this song -the fourth chapter of the instrumental suite initiated on their debut album- will feature on their third album to be released this year. I guess this should be a pleasant new for some people on this forum.

Then came the traditional half-an-hour of equipment change and checking. I could feel the excitement slowly grow through the crowd. To kill time, I discussed with my unknown neighbours of various subjects such as «Are they going to play the complete I&W like they did before on the tour ?», «Did you enjoy the last Symphony X album ?» or «Was Marillion better with Fish ?».

The first question got an apparently negative answer when the first notes of Overture 1928 stroke me. «Let’s go for the «regular» setlist instead of I&W», I thought. The overall sound was very good, loud but still clear. Of course, the band moved on with Strange Déjà Vu and I got my first real good surprise with James’voice and presence. The guy is more of a showman than I thought and he nailed his first vocal intervention perfectly. The crowd was very pleased with those first songs since SFAM seems to be the favorite album of many fans (but not mine). Then John Myung stepped into the light for the intro of Panic Attack. A few words from James to announce the new album and we were on for Constant Motion and Forsaken. The crowd responded very well to those songs. We didn’t know so far that they were the only ones of Systematic Chaos to be played this night. After the last notes of Forsaken James took the micro and started to tell something like «Fifteen years ago in July, we released …». The crowd got the message instantly : we were on the way for the entire I&W. Old fans were raved, new fans were puzzled : the intro of Pull Me Under put everybody back in the right direction, headbanging and hands up became more noticeable. A killer version that led to the only low point of the evening. Believe me, I do love Another Day but, as always, the band simply slaughtered the song. Obviously, James, who had been brilliant so far, just can’t sing this one and the rest of the band didn’t help much since I had the feeling that the various instruments were out of tune … At least, you can give James credit for not refusing to sing it and assuming this embarrassing moment. The vocal task on Take the Time is also hard to handle but it’s less annoying when the crowd sings the chorus ! The band was great on this one, too. Surrounded was played in an extended version with a smooth and spacey floydian intro leading to the regular piece followed by another smooth passage where I recognized … Could this be ? Yes, it was part of Marillion’s Sugar Mice, in a very moving rendering. When James whispered «Blame it on me», the old Marillion fan in me was overwhelmed by a deep emotion. I guess that’s all music is about … The second half of I&W flew like in a dream. Perfect renderings of Metropolis Pt I, Under a Glass Moon, Wait for Sleep (they finally decided to play it without Kevin Moore) and Learning to Live. From the beginning of Metropolis, I felt carried away in a kind of out-of-this-world mood made of excitement, happiness and fatigue. A mood where you are deeply receptive to the music. I began to headbang with an ecstatic smile, I raised my arms in (supposed) rhythm and extended my hands in an imaginary attempt to connect with the band. At the end of Learning to Live, the guys left the stage quickly and the lights turned off. The crowd was extremely pleased and loudly begged for more. It didn’t take long for the band to come back and start The Spirit Carries On. The communion with the audience was spectacular, people singing not only the chorus but also the verses. At that point, we all felt that there was only one last song to come. When John Petrucci nailed the first riff of As I Am, the crowd went literally mad or at least did I ! There has been so much criticism about this song and its lyrics : the audience’s reaction proved the band had been right to record it. «To those who understand, I extend my hand» and all the hands went up. «I won’t change to fit your plan, take me as I am» and the whole crowd embraced the band’s credo … I really got the sensation that everybody was in trance for the entire song. I thought I caught a fake note in the guitar solo that made John grin but at this point nothing could affect anybody anymore.

The song ended, leaving the audience breathless. The band gathered in front of us and saluted. 3000 arms raised in their direction in some sort of communion. A roadie, apparently impressed, was taking pictures from the back of the stage. I got the feeling that even the band was moved : John Petrucci, especially, seemed to go through deep emotion. But maybe it was just me …

Of course, there were mistakes, fake notes, approximations but, hey, this was real live music in a small venue, one of those venues that tighten the link between the audience and the musicians. My first DT gig and an unforgettable night. I can’t believe I waited so long to go and see them…

To share a part of this night’s mood, forgiving the poor sound of some videos and the unknown crowd singer : http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dream+theater+clermont - http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dream+theater+clermont