Venue: O2 Arena, London

Date: 20/10/24

Wow. Just wow! It’s been a typically miserable October Sunday, but the heat is certainly rising inside the cavernous O2 Arena as Dream Theater kick off their 40th Anniversary tour in London. And it’s a spectacle to behold.

Venue-wise, it’s a considerable step up for a band who were doing one night at Hammersmith Apollo just two years ago, and, although not sold out, the O2 is more than respectfully busy. But then it’s not just the opening night of the band’s 40th anniversary, but their first gig with drummer Mike Portnoy for 14 years (5,177 days, if anyone’s really counting!). And although in reality you probably couldn’t claim just one man is entirely responsible for the increase in audience size, the promise of Portnoy-chosen setlists awash with older material has clearly ignited the imaginations of older fans. And many of tonight’s song choices are greeted with delighted ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ from the audience.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the band open with material from what is probably one of their best-known pieces, namely the epic Metropolis suite, a snippet of ‘Part 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper’ from 1992’s Images And Words album, segueing into ‘Overture 1928’ and ‘Strange Déjà Vu’ from the 1999 epic Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory.

What is immediately striking is the clarity of the screens adorning the stage as they blast out all manner of images from the band’s album artwork, and, certainly from where Prog is seated, the impressively crystal-clear sound emanating from the stage – although we’re later told from someone on the floor that, at least as far as they were concerned, it was not as good.

The DT audience isn’t shy of coming forward, as keyboard-player Jordan Rudess mentioned in the last issue of Prog, saying, “Let’s be honest, in the Dream Theater world, you’re always going to get someone expressing some dissatisfaction.” And sure enough, the wonderful world of web was just hours later full of people digging out James LaBrie’s vocals, a bugbear for a certain section of the fanbase, and passing judgement on poor quality video recordings online – such is the gift the internet has granted bands of any stature. What we will say is that after a slightly wobbly beginning, on the opening night of the tour, on what is hardly easygoing material, LaBrie’s voice got stronger and stronger throughout the three-hour set, with Classic Rock’s reviewer, seated next to Prog, commenting, “I’d like to see them doing that for three hours a night at his age!”

Awake’s ‘The Mirror’ and Octavarium’s ‘Panic Attack’ draw those ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’, but the arrival of ‘Barstool Warrior’ from 2019’s Distance Over Time comes as a delightful surprise – later we’ll get ‘This Is The Life’ from A Dramatic Turn Of Events – showing Portnoy’s unafraid to dip into the Mike Mangini-era, a move that clearly further delights the crowd.

It’s a decidedly unshowy performance from the drummer, huge triple bass drum kit aside. Keeping his head down, his beat spectacular but rock steady, much like fellow rhythm section ally John Myung on bass, a static, stoic presence, while John Petrucci’s strident riffs and soloing and Rudess’s rushes of scintillating keyboards supply the flash that drives forward the likes of ‘Hollow Years’, ‘Constant Motion’ and ‘As I Am’. As a whole, it’s powerfully effective.

That power is more than evident as they start the second half of the show with brand-new single ‘Night Terror’. It sounds terrific and gives the feeling that, as Dream Theater power through ‘Vacant’ and ‘Stream Of Consciousness’, there’s a definite peak they’re all concertedly aiming for. And it arrives with the closing full 24 minutes of ‘Octavarium’s whopping title track, the first time it’s been played in full for 18 years! It sends the crowd into raptures, an epic climax to the set proper.

There’s more, though. They dip back to Metropolis... for ‘Home’ and ‘The Spirit Carries On’, the latter proving Dream Theater can do schmaltzy rock as well as they can intricate prog metal. And then, just as you reach the point where, somewhat disappointedly, you are readying yourself for the thought they might not play it, suddenly Petrucci peels out those well-known notes, ‘Pull Me Under’ rings forth, and the O2 goes crazy once more.

A suitably fitting, thrilling end to three hours of a dazzling spectacle of music and lights. A majestic assault on the senses.

—Jerry Ewing