BobbyTheNinja's Last.fm Journal

The Opeth / Dream Theater Experience (Progressive Nation 2008)

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 04:51:58 +0000

Fri 30 May – Progressive Nation
This was my second time watching Opeth and Dream Theater perform. Opeth started with the same incredible intro which can be heard from their latest live album, The Roundhouse Tapes. Then opened with Demon of the Fall which just blew me away. They then continued with The Baying of the Hounds which around the last two minutes of the song, they had a Spinal Tap moment in which a curtain started to come down. From my view it looked like it was going to land on top of Fredrik Åkesson, Mikael Åkerfeldt, and Martin Mendez's heads, but the curtain ended up landing right behind them, in which drummer Martin "Axe" Axenrot and keyboardist Per Wiberg were completely out of sight for the rest of the track.
Mikael Åkerfeldt seemed surprised and was laughing about it. He was prepared for the next song and he said "who cares about drummers and keyboard players anyways right?". They backstage crew told them to get off stage and had us wait while they tried fixing the curtain issue, which took about 20 minutes. Mike came back and said "Intermission's over" and started playing Wreath which just blew me away again. After that they played To Rid the Disease, then Heir Apparent from Watershed which was incredible. They then ended the show with The Drapery Falls, which was a great way of closing. Mike mentioned that they will be back for a North American tour in September, which I will be looking forward to.

Opeth Set List:

Demon of the Fall
The Baying of the Hounds
Wreath
To Rid the Disease
Heir Apparent
The Drapery Falls

Earlier in the day, I went to the Sam Ash music store to meet Mike Portnoy, and got his autograph. Dream Theater had a movie intro, which was a montage that contained live footage of them performing songs from each of their albums. It was all played in order from the first album, When Dream And Day Unite to Octavarium. Then the album art for their latest album, Systematic Chaos came on the screen and that's when they came out and started to play Also Sprach Zarathustra which is known as the intro to one of the best movies ever, 2001: A Space Odyssey. On the screen they also had a picture of earth as if it were a reference to the movie.
They then opened with Constant Motion which was great, except for the part where John Petrucci was doing the solo. I was so excited to actually watch him do the solo for that song, but then someone accidentally unplugged something in the back and he couldn't be heard. Soon after JP ran to the back to try and fix the issue. The rest of the band continued and then Jordan Rudess started his solo for the song. After he finished the solo, Mike Portnoy did a solo himself for a minute while everyone else ran off to help JP. Then everyone came back and Mike pointed to Jordan indicating John Myung and JP to start again from Jordan's solo. Later on, Jordan did a keyboard solo, which ended up being the intro to their next song on the set, Blind Faith. JP did a 10 minute solo a little bit later, which was incredible. Around the end of the solo, he started to play the solo from Pink Floyd's Mother with the rest of the band following, and showing The Wall album art on screen. They played a lot of great classics like Surrounded, Take the Time, and Strange Deja Vu. The encore was phenomenal. Jordan came out by himself holding some type of device in his hand which was sort of like his fingerboard in which he touches the surface, making sounds. It made many different type of sounds which you can hear in the beginning of the masterful Trial of Tears, which is the song they were getting prepared to play when JP came out and started making sounds on his guitar. At one point, JP started to play which sounded like the beginning of Rush's epic, Cygnus X-1 Book II. It's just amazing how Dream Theater does this kind of stuff in their shows all the time. After playing Trial of Tears for a bit, they changed it to Finally Free, and that's when I realized they were playing a Medley. The transition was incredible. I didn't expect that at all. They then changed yet again to another song, Learning to Live, which is another classic. Next song was In The Name Of God, and then closed it with the ending of Octavarium. Ending the Medley and the show with Octavarium totally surprised me and blew me away. After the show, I went to the back of The Fillmore and found Mikael Åkerfeldt, Fredrik Åkesson, and Martin Mendez.

They told us they will be back and Fredrik Åkesson added "without the curtains". Overall, Opeth and Dream Theater's performances were incredible. I will be looking forward to the next time Opeth or Dream Theater come down here again.

Dream Theater Set List:

(Intro Video / 2008: An Ant Odyssey)

Constant Motion (with Impromptu drum solo while guitar amp went down in the middle of the song)

Strange Deja Vu

Blind Faith

Surrounded ‘07

The Dark Eternal Night

Forsaken

Take the Time

Encore:

Shmedley Wilcox

I. Trial of Tears

II. Finally Free

III. Learning to Live

IV. In The Name Of God

V. Octavarium

Rush April 13 2008 @ 7:50 pm

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:19:01 +0000

Sun 13 Apr – Rush
This was my third time watching Rush. They opened with the same video intro, following Limelight, as the last time I saw them back in June 15 2007. They also played other classic which they didn't play the last time I saw them, such as Red Barchetta, The Trees, and 2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx. Instead of watching them in an outside venue, this was my first time watching them in an inside venue. Their sound was incredible along with the several different types of lights, and their performance. The song I got the most crazy for in this concert was for 2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx. As soon as I heard the beginning intro to the song, I went berserk and screamed at the top of my lungs along with my other friends who were with me and the rest of the crowd. Pretty much lost my voice from that one scream. It has been about 4 years since I last saw them perform that song and I was so grateful. The encore also ended up being the same as the last time I saw them and I didn't mind that at all. Watching Rush again was the best experience I've ever had in a concert. Rush is definitely something you have to experience at least once in your lifetime, or as many times possible!

(Snakes & Arrows Dream Sequence same as 2007 leg)
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro)
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels

INTERMISSION

(Video intro "What's That Smell")
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer (with "South Park" intro)

ENCORE

One Little Victory
A Passage To Bangkok
YYZ ("Harry Satchel" video outro, same as 2007 leg)

My Dream Concert

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:49:18 +0000

First band: Angra
1. In excelsis
2. Nova era
3. Acid rain
4. Millenium sun
5. Heroes of sand
6. Unholy Wars
7. Rebirth
8. Judgement day
9. Deus Le Volt!
10. Spread Your Fire
11. Angels and Demons
12. The Temple of Hate
13. The Shadow Hunter

Second Band: Blind Guardian
1. War of Wrath
2. Into the Storm
3. Battlefield
4. Mirror Mirror
5. Under the Ice
6. Imaginations from the Other Side
7. I'm Alive
8. The Script For My Requiem
9. Bright Eyes
10. Another Holy War
11. Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)
12. Punishment Divine
13. And Then There Was Silence

Third Band: Tool
1. The Grudge
2. Eon Blue Apocalypse
3. The Patient
4. Mantra
5. Schism
6. Parabol
7. Parabola
8. Ticks & Leeches
9. Lateralus
10. Disposition
11. Reflection
12. Triad
13. Faaip de Oaid
14. Stinkfist
15. Eulogy
16. H.
17. Useful Idiot
18. Forty Six & 2
19. Vicarious
20. Jambi
21. Rosetta Stoned

Fourth Band: Dream Theater
1. 6:00
2. Erotomania
3. Voices
4. Scarred
5. Trial of Tears
6. Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
7. Under a Glass Moon
8. Wait for Sleep
9. Learning to Live
10. Fatal Tragedy
11. Home
12. The Dance of Eternity
13. The Great Debate
14. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
15. In The Presence of Enemies
16. Octavarium

Fifth Band: Symphony X
1. Prelude
2. Evolution (The Grand Design)
3. Fallen
4. Transcendence (Segue)
5. Communion And The Oracle
6. The Bird-Serpent War / Cataclysm
7. On the Breath of Poseidon (Segue)
8. Egypt
9. The Death of Balance / Lacrymosa
10. Absense Of Light
11. A Fool's Paradise
12. Rediscovery (Segue)
13. Rediscovery (Part II) - The New Mythology
14. Set the World On Fire (The Lie of Lies)
15. Paradise Lost
16. Eve of Seduction
17. The Walls of Babylon
18. Seven
19. The Accolade
20. The Accolade II
21. The Divine Wings Of Tragedy
22. Candlelight Fantasia
23. Awakenings
24. The Odyssey

Sixth Band: Porcupine Tree
1. Fear of a Blank Planet
2. My Ashes
3. Anesthetize
4. Sentimental
5. Way Out of Here
6. Sleep Together
7. Signify
8. Waiting
9. Even Less
10. Don't Hate Me
11. Hatesong
12. Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled
13. Russia on Ice
14. Radioactive Toy
15. Nil Recurring
16. Normal
17. Cheating the Polygraph
18. What Happens Now?

Seventh Band: Opeth
1. Ghost of Perdition
2. The Baying of the Hounds
3. Beneath the Mire
4. Bleak
5. Harvest
6. The Drapery Falls
7. Dirge for November
8. Closure
9. Reverie/Harlequin Forest
10. April Ethereal
11. When
12. Deliverance
13. A Fair Judgement
14. Benighted
15. Moonlapse Vertigo
16. Serenity Painted Death
17. Demon of the Fall
18. Blackwater Park

Eighth Band: Led Zeppelin
1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
3. You Shook Me
4. Dazed and Confused
5. Your Time Is Gonna Come
6. Black Mountain Side
7. Communication Breakdown
8. I Can't Quit You Baby
9. How Many More Times
10. Ten Years Gone
11. Kashmir
12. No Quarter
13. Since I've Been Loving You
14. Going to California
15. When the Levee Breaks
16. Whole Lotta Love
17. In My Time Of Dying
18. Achilles Last Stand

Ninth Band: Pink Floyd
1. Speak to Me/Breathe
2. On the Run
3. Time
4. The Great Gig in the Sky
5. Money
6. Us and Them
7. Any Colour You Like
8. Brain Damage
9. Eclipse
10. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
11. Pigs on the Wing, Pt. 1
12. Dogs
13. Pigs (Three Different Ones)
14. Sheep
15. Pigs on the Wing, Pt. 2
16. Comfortably Numb
17. Atom Heart Mother Suite
18. Echoes

Encore
19. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
20. Welcome to the Machine
21. Have a Cigar
22. Wish You Were Here
22. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX)

This would probably be a 3 day concert.

What would be yours?

My 6000th track

Mon, 2 Jul 2007 01:54:00 +0000

Blind Guardian's epic, And Then There Was Silence from their epic album, A Night at the Opera. This song is a MASTERPIECE and one of the best songs ever written. PERFECTION is how this song should be described.

Rush June 15 2007 @ 7:45 pm

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 20:15:04 +0000

Fri 15 Jun – An Evening With Rush
The first Rush concert I went to was 3 years ago for their 30th anniversary tour. The concert last night was just as amazing as it was 3 years ago. It was great how they started the show with Limelight. They played 9 songs from their new album which was great because that album is amazing. After playing Witch Hunt Geddy Lee said "It's time for some Malignant Narcissism" and right after playing that song, Neil Peart started with his drum solo which was PERFECT. They also did a little intro movie for Tom Sawyer with the South Park kids. They were trying to cover the song in their own cover band with a poster behind them that said "Lil' Rush". I found the entire thing hilarious. For the encore they actually played A Passage To Bangkok which I never thought they would play that song. Then they ended it with YYZ which was also PERFECT. The following is the set list from last night:

Limelight
Digital Man
Entre Nous
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl
Secret Touch
Circumstances
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

INTERMISSION

Far Cry
Workin Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
Summertime Blues
The Spirit of Radio
Tom Sawyer

ENCORE

One Little Victory
A Passage To Bangkok
YYZ

Roger Waters May 18 @ 8 pm

Sat, 19 May 2007 07:59:18 +0000

Fri 18 May – Roger Waters
This concert was amazing with Roger Waters playing mostly Pink Floyd music. He played 3 of his solo songs and THE REST Pink Floyd songs. During the song Sheep they brought out this giant pig balloon and it had these two people walking around with it through every hall way around the seatings and the lawn where I was, holding on to it with strings:

One side, "Habeous Corpus Matters (Kafka rules)". On the other, "Religion Divides Us All" (Under that says "Is that Democracy?") and "Tony Blair, good riddance!" On the Bottom, "Free At Last", The rear, "Impeach Bush Now".
They also had this giant prism appear OUT OF NOWHERE during Dark Side of the Moon:

The following was the set list and it was an AMAZING set list:

1. In the Flesh
2. Mother
3. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
4. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
5. Have a Cigar
6. Wish You Were Here
7. Southampton Dock
8. The Fletcher Memorial Home
9. Perfect Sense (Part I)
10. Perfect Sense (Part II)
11. Leaving Beirut
12. Sheep
13. Speak to Me / Breathe
14. On the Run
15. Time
16. The Great Gig in the Sky
17. Money
18. Us and Them
19. Any Colour You Like
20. Brain Damage
21. Eclipse
22. The Happiest Days of Our Lives
23. Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2
24. Vera
25. Bring the Boys Back Home
26. Comfortably Numb

My Top 10 Albums As Of 5/9/07

Wed, 9 May 2007 05:43:11 +0000

1. Porcupine Tree – In Absentia

2. Opeth – Ghost Reveries

3. Tool – Lateralus

4. Mastodon – Blood Mountain

5. Opeth – Blackwater Park

6. Pink Floyd – Animals

7. Porcupine Tree – Deadwing

8. Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera

9. Pink Floyd – The Division Bell

10. Dream Theater - Octavarium

How varied is your music taste?

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:48:05 +0000

First, make a list of your top-20 artists overall. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, count up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.

Top 20:

Porcupine Tree
Opeth
Dream Theater
Pink Floyd
Tool
Rush
Mastodon
Blind Guardian
Symphony X
Steve Vai
Joe Satriani
Rhapsody
Genesis
Deep Purple
Angra
Hans Zimmer
Death
Gamma Ray
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
John Williams

Similar Artists:

Blackfield
Pain of Salvation
Riverside
Spock's Beard
Ayreon
Katatonia
Dark Tranquillity
In Flames
Arch Enemy
Children of Bodom
Dimmu Borgir
Liquid Tension Experiment
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Megadeth
Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
The Doors
Jimi Hendrix
Radiohead
Queen
The Who
The Rolling Stones
A Perfect Circle
Nine Inch Nails
Deftones
Rage Against the Machine
System of a Down
Alice in Chains
Queens of the Stone Age
Yes
Van Halen
Black Sabbath
Queensrÿche
King Crimson
Isis
Meshuggah
Lamb of God
The Dillinger Escape Plan
Slayer
Strapping Young Lad
Neurosis
Demons & Wizards
Iced Earth
Hammerfall
Helloween
Sonata Arctica
Edguy
Kamelot
Evergrey
Yngwie Malmsteen
Eric Johnson
John Petrucci
Luca Turilli
Stratovarius
Avantasia
Peter Gabriel
Phil Collins
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Marillion
Jethro Tull
AC/DC
Guns N' Roses
Rainbow
Klaus Badelt
Howard Shore
James Horner
Harry Gregson-Williams
James Newton Howard
Alan Silvestri
Thomas Newman
Morbid Angel
Carcass
Nile
Kreator
Atheist
Deicide
Testament
Cryptopsy
Primal Fear
Manowar
Eric Clapton
The Allman Brothers Band
B.B. King
Cream
Buddy Guy
Danny Elfman
Ludwig van Beethoven

Musical Score: 88