Dream Theater

Palladium, London. 18.02.16

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)

Call the literal-police – it’s Dream Theater in a theatre!

Words: Amit Sharma

Tonight is the opening night of Dream Theater’s world tour in support of their 13th full-length, The Astonishing. Somewhat ludicrously, they’ll be performing their new opus in its entirety. All 34 tracks of it. That’s 130 glorious minutes. To some, it’s musical lunacy at its most self-indulgent, and, to others, the act of gods among men. In any case, the all-seating Palladium theatre – the Grade II-listed home for the Royal Variety Performance, feline musical Cats and a whole lot more – couldn’t be a finer setting for their progressive metal mastery.

Strips of screen around the stage bring the double-album’s conceptual narrative to life beyond the music, making it almost feel like being stuck on a really good level of Zelda, with magnificently bearded guitarist John Petrucci as one of the wizard helpers. It’s no surprise the band sound positively life-affirming – Dream Theater do not have off-nights, even when facing the most challenging performance of their career to date. ‘The Gift Of Music’ and ‘A New Beginning’ lift spirits in the first half, and though the second act dips slightly halfway in, ‘Our New World’ sees the audience rise to a standing ovation. It’s been a hell of a musical journey, although next time, lads, bring an orchestra and some ballet dancers, would you?

inset

Star Shout! James LaBrie (Vocals)

Three hours! How did you manage that?

“It was frighteningly thrilling! There was just so many things going on, all these different cues, every single one of us had to be focused and also remember there’s an audience to engage and make a connection with!”

How do you prepare for a gig like this?

“I started around the middle of November, memorising all the words and songs to a point where it felt really natural. It was a mammoth undertaking!”