Dream Theater @ MetropolisPerth 12/12/09

Tue 15th Dec, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Eagle Eye’s Gallery

As hard as it is to differentiate musos from everyday music fans by look alone, it’s safe to assume that a hefty portion of the punters that almost packed metropolis were some of the most gifted music nerds in the state, reflecting the band they’d come to experience.

From the young and pierced to the old and permed (and the vast swathe of 30-something longhairs in between), shred-addicted prog-metal nuts of all forms gathered to watch Dream Theater meld mainstream pop choruses with ultra-technical instrumental excursions in ways that shouldn’t work but do.

Four levels of fans cheered an empty stage that boomed out a dramatic movie-score intro. At its end, a veil fell to the floor, revealing guitarist John Petrucci in the spotlight. It was fitting, as most punters were probably there to see him.

He had a magical minute to himself to set the tone before singer James Laurie arrived and A Nightmare To Remember began in earnest.

It was strange to see a largely metal audience of thousands frozen in place for minutes at a time. Everyone was concentrating so hard: drummers were studying every movement of a pigtailed Mike Portnoy attacking his million-piece kit. Petrucci fans stayed glued to big-screen close-ups of every slick finger blur. Random punters were blinded by light beams gleming off bassist John Myung ’s Pantene-model hair.

Almost nobody was singing along at this early stage, a dead giveaway that most of the crowd weren’t there for the lyrics. James Laurie was the complete opposite. He was only there for the lyrics, quickly heading backstage each time his part of a song was over. It’s a situation that works well, not because he’s surplus to requirements, but because – well, what’s he gonna do for five minutes while the band goes all math-metal? The big plus for Laurie is the round of applause he gets each time he appears back onstage to belt out a chorus.

The whole gig was a comparatively low-decibel and crowd-lit affair. Dream Theater obviously like to watch the fans as much as the fans like to watch them. Well-judged volume levels had clarity and brutality balanced to perfection from most places in the venue.

It was also great to see things get less static and more emotional as the gig went on. People started to throw devil horns with increasingly passionate regularity. Eye contact picked up and Laurie started working the crowd more than the stick-twirling, cheekily grandstanding Portnoy.

DT moved through tracks like A Rite of Passage, Hollow Years and The Spirit Carries On, putting on a show that inspired fans but wasn’t inspired. They just went about their business, which isn’t to say that Dream Theater were going through the motions – far from it – it’s that they make it look so easy. The effortlessness gave an illusion of low intensity that disappeared if you closed your eyes and listened.

When the time came for solos (sometime around Pull Me Under) it was bliss. A high-speed bluesy face-off between keyboardist Jordan Rudess (stalking the stage with some sort of synthaxe) and Petrucci redefined the term shred-tastic. The bass solo was all too brief.

DT wrapped up the main set with Laurie telling the crowd how great a time they’d had in Australia, especially at this last gig of the tour. Portnoy threw his sticks into the crowd, then grinningly asked for them back, and he was indulged. He threw them out again. They came straight back. The stick-tag went on until he threw them at Petrucci’s guitar tech.

Eveyone knew an encore was on the cards, but a chant went up anyway when DT had left the stage. They came back for Count of Tuscany with a gorgeous volume-swell solo from Petrucci.

DT’s two-hour set helped fans get over DT’s problem-plagued gig in January 2008 (shifted from Challenge to Burswood, and then stopped due to technical probs with in-ear monitoring) and ended with some very happy campers on both sides of the stage. The band spent several minutes thanking fans, acknowledging all areas of the crowd, palm-slapping the front row and generally being diamond geezers before taking their final bow.

Eagle Eye’s Gallery