Progressive Cult: Dream Theater

On July 30, 2007, the Long Island-based progressive-metal band had a performance in Salt Lake City as part of its “Chaos in Motion” summer tour. The concert, however, turned out to be anything but ordinary as Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed a proclamation to officially designate the day “Dream Theater Day” in Utah.

“When we heard that management had gotten an e-mail about it, we didn’t really know what to think,” recalled vocalist James LaBrie. “We sort of asked, ‘Wait, is this real?’ But [Governor Huntsman] came to the show, and he took some pictures and we met him. We were talking to him, and he’s actually a big fan of the style. It was cool because I don’t really think I ever pictured a politician sitting at home listening to Dream Theater.”

Although the event was unusual, it is not atypical for Dream Theater to meet people that are completely fanatical about the band. The two most noticeable stylistic influences on Dream Theater‘s sound – progressive rock and heavy metal – are two genres known their almost cult-like fan followings. As the undisputed leader of the progressive-metal subgenre, Dream Theater commands a massive fan base outside the mainstream radar, and the band is capable of packing venues as large as Radio City Music Hall.

Twenty-two years into its career, Dream Theater still doesn’t take its fans for granted.

“I think at first [changing set lists] was tough on us, but now we definitely prefer it,” LaBrie said. “It keeps things fresh, it keeps things from becoming boring and mechanical for us on stage, and it’s cool for the fans. Mike [Portnoy, drummer] has lists of everything we’ve played, so, for example, when we come to Pier Six later in the month, he can look and see what songs we’ve played in the Washington area and make sure that, except for maybe a few songs that we keep in the set throughout the tour, we play a totally different show there than we have in the past.”

Dream Theater’s current tour – which does indeed make a stop at Baltimore‘s Pier Six Concert Pavilion on August 14 – is in support of their ninth and latest studio album, “Systematic Chaos.” The CD still sounds like the Dream Theater that people have come to either love (or hate) by this point. “Systematic Chaos” combines the technical displays, high-end musicianship and epic song structures of classic progressive rockers Yes and Genesis, as well as the heaviness and drama of metal icons Metallica and Iron Maiden and the catchiness of U2.

But the CD also marks a new chapter in the band’s impressive history: It’s the band’s first album for Roadrunner Records.

“We were at Atlantic [Records] for a long time, and we actually hoped for a while that they would drop us,” LaBrie said. “But they didn’t, and they knew they could just let our albums sell and not really promote them. But now we are in a situation where we knew what we wanted, and at Roadrunner they are actually doing what they are supposed to and using resources to make sure people hear about it when we have an album out.”