Note: All details correct, except for the text in red, which was too blurry to confirm. Immediately below is from Google Translate – despite the Xs (showing where there are characters I just cannot decipher in the original scan that were too blurry), it seemed to fill in the blanks regardless. Dunno how trustworthy, but still impressive.

Don’t know for sure which magazine, but Google AI strongly suggests it is Marquee magazine #50 – Oct 1993 based on who wrote the review, the photographer and the lack of page numbers

Dream Theater

August 23, 1993

Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan

Text: Yuji Okumura

As the lights went down, the intro to ‘Metropolis’ began playing over the PA. The band members wandered onto the stage, and drummer Mike Portnoy was the first to kick things off, laying down a rhythm while riling up the crowd. Then – with a massive explosion of sound as the whole band launched into the song – it felt as though the rest of the show flew by in a single, breathless rush. That is just how intense it was.

Their performance showed remarkable growth compared to their debut Japan tour, where their lack of stage experience had been apparent. Vocalist James LaBrie – who previously seemed to kill the mood with his overly typical American-style antics – appeared to have learned to dial it back a bit. That said, he still had a habit of carelessly unleashing shouts with excessive, unnecessary strain. The high notes, which should have rung out cleanly, sounded muddy and labored to my ears – though that might simply have been due to where I was sitting.

The song selection from the 2nd album was exactly the same as last time, as you can see from the setlist. The songs from the 1st album were changed, except for the instrumental ‘Ytse Jam’. Personally, I was disappointed that ‘Only A Matter Of Time’ and ‘The Killing Hand’, which I consider to be among the best tracks on the 1st album, were left out. While ‘A Fortune In Lies,’ included on the Japan-exclusive album, was fine, seeing ‘Afterlife’ live for the first time was simply breathtaking. In short, from the opening ‘Metropolis’ to the three consecutive attacks, and the MC leading into ‘Under A Glass Moon’ in the first 30 minutes, I didn't hear any of the cheers around me; I was simply overwhelmed by Dream Theater’s aggression, power, and technique, literally glued to the stage.

Incidentally, the second track, ‘Mission: Impossible’ – the theme from the TV series – was a short instrumental originally recorded as a demo in late 1988. This pattern of tracks that seem like new material but turn out to be something else appears frequently this time around. ‘Puppies On Acid,’ for instance, was a heavy, chugging instrumental (reminiscent of Pantera) lasting only about two minutes, serving merely as a bridge to ‘Take The Time.’ Similarly, ‘Eve’ was a ballad-style piece lasting around five minutes, but it too was an instrumental. While the eleventh track, ‘Improvised Jam,’ is a guitar solo – and thus doesn’t really count – the vocal track leading into it, ‘To Live Forever,’ was actually completed back in 1988; it would be more accurate to call it an unreleased track rather than a new one.

In that sense, the same applies to ‘A Change Of Seasons’ – a track clocking in at over twelve minutes that they had already played in the US (though not on this particular day). Like ‘Metropolis,’ it was originally demoed as an instrumental in 1989. It seems we will have to wait quite a while longer for a truly “new” song – one written after James joined the band.

The stage dynamic was a balance of different personalities: James and Mike, who worked to hype up the crowd; Kevin Moore (keyboards) and John Myung (bass), who maintained a cool, understated demeanor; and John Petrucci, who fell somewhere in the middle.

There was hardly any of that “signaling with the eyes” sort of interplay between band members; this was likely because Mike kept laying down a rock-solid rhythm, sticking faithfully to the arranged cues rather than engaging in free-form improvisation.

That said, the sheer intensity of their technical prowess was beyond words – so much so that the vocal parts seemed to stand out awkwardly, far more than they do on the studio albums.

Does this mean the outcome remains the same regardless of whether the vocalist is the shaky Charlie Dominici or the skilled James, provided the fundamental vocal approach doesn’t change? Ballads aside, the instrumentalists – typical of an American band – go wild even while accompanying the vocals; trying to compete with that level of skill and power is a losing battle. Or perhaps the plan is to increase the number of “sing-along” songs in the future?

With bass and keyboard work that rivals – or even surpasses – the guitar, their future evolution will hinge on how effectively they can weave vocal melodies over that dense wall of sound.

Note: all correct except red which was too blurry to confirm

Dream Theater

Aug. 23. ‘93

東京・厚生年金会館

文・奥村裕司

写真・古田賢

暗転と同時に、"Metropolis" のイントロがテープ

で流れる。バラバラとメンバーがステージに現われ、

まずはドラマーのマイク・ポートノイがリズムを踏み

出しながら客を煽り始めた。そして――ドカンと全員

のプレイが吐き出されると、後はラストまで一気に行

き過ぎたような気がする。それ程までに凄まじかった。

ステージ慣れしていないことを露呈してしまった初

来日公演からは、格段の成長がパフォーマンスに見

える。典型的アメリカ人のノリでどうも空気をブチ壊

していたように感じたシンガーのジェイムズ・ラブリェ

も、幾分引くことを学んだようだ。但し、必要以土に力

んだシャウトを不用意に放つのは相変わらず。もっと

締麗に出るはずのハイ・ノートも、濁って苦しそうに思

えたが、これは観ていた席のせいでそう聴こえただ

けかもしれない。

2nd からの選曲は、セット・リストを見て頂ければ

わかるように、前回と全く同じ。1st の曲は、インスト

の "Ytse Jam" 以外が入れ替わった。個人的には、

1st収録曲の中でもl、2を争う出来だと思ってる

"0nly A Matter Of Time"と"The Killing Hand"

が外されたのは痛かっ内たが、来日記念磐に入ってい

る"A Fortune In Lies" はともかく、初めて観た生の

"Afterlife" は、強烈の一言に尽きる。とにかく、オー

プニングの"Metropolis"からの3連続攻撃、MCを

XXでの"Under A Glass Moon"へと続くアタマの

X30分聞は、周りの歓声も何も耳に入らず、ただひ

XXらにDREAM THEATERのアグレッションとパ

ワーとテクニックに圧倒され、ステージに文字通り釘

付けとなっていた。

ちなみに2曲目の"Mission:Impossible"とは、

わの『スパイ大作戦』のテーマで、'88年末のデモに

XXられていた、短か目のインスト。今回は、新曲と

思わせた曲にこのパターンが多い。まるでPAN-

TERAみたいにザクザクでメチャ重い"Puppies On

Acid"も2分ぐらいのインストで、次の"Take The

Time"へのつなぎ的な使われ方をしていたし、ア

つコール"Eve"は、一応5分ぐらいのバラード調

だったが、これまたインスト。11曲目の"Improvised

Jam"は、単なるギター・ソロなので論外として、そこ

へつながる歌入りの地味な"To Live Forever"も、

Xは‘88年には完成していた曲で、新曲というより

は、未発表曲という方が正しいだろう。

そういう意味では、結局この日はなかったが、アメ

リカでは既にプレイされた12分余に及ぶ"A Change

Of Seasons"も、元々は"Metropolis"と同じく'89

年にはインストとしてデモ・レコーディングされていた

曲で、実質的な、ジェイムズを加えてから書かれた新

曲というべきものは、まだ当分先の話になりそうだ。

ステージは、煽り派のジェイムズとマイク、淡々派

のケヴィン・ムーア<key>とジョン・ミュングくb>、そして

中道派のジョン・ペトルーシのバランスで進められ

ていく。

"眼で合図"といったコンビネーションも殆どなか

ったが、これは、マイクが堅実なリズムを叩き出し続

け、フリー・フォームよりもキメに忠実なプレイに終始

したためだろう。

とは言え、テクニック・バトルの凄まじさは筆舌に

尽くし難く、その分、ヴォーカル・パートが、スタジオ・ア

ルバムで聴くよりもずっと浮いていたように思った。

不安定なチャーリー・ドミニシから、うまいジェイム

ズにチェンジしても、根本的にヴォーカルのやろうと

することが変わらないと結果は同じということか。バ

ラード・ナンバーはともかく、アメリカのバンドにして

は、結構歌のバックでも好き放題やりまくる楽器群

に、うまさとパワーで対抗しても負けるだけだ。それと

も、今後は"観客と一緒に歌える曲"が増えていくの

だろうか?

ギターと対等・・・いやそれ以上のベースとキーボ

ード――このぎっしりつまった音の上に、どうやってう

まく歌メロを乗せていくかに、彼等のさらなる進化を

期待したい。