Four bands.  Four hours worth of heavy music.  Seven hours without sitting down.  One incredible concert.

That may sound like some kind of advertisement, but it best describes my evening.  I was fortunate enough to catch the Progressive Nation 2008 concert on May 21, as it rolled through New York City for the first of two nights.  I was keen to watch Dream Theater live, especially after I’d missed them last summer while I was home in India.  Initially, I was skeptical about the concert, considering that four bands were sharing the bill.  However, I’ve started to like Opeth and watching them play with DT was, quite frankly, fucking amazing.

I’ll skip the performances by 3 and Between The Buried And Me since I’m not familiar with their material.  One point I’ll make about 3 though - their mix was a lot better this time around, compared with what they had when they opened for PT last May.  BTBAM played only two songs, each about 15 minutes long.

The crowd really got into the groove as Opeth were about to come on.  A huge cheer went up when the Opeth banner was raised and the crowd brought down the house when the guys took to the stage.  Mikael Åkerfeldt is a funny man.  He kept the crowd entertained in between songs by making jokes and small talk.  He pointed to the drummer, introduced him, and then said he was like a girl, except with a painted-on mustache and no tits.  After one of the songs, some guy in the crowd yelled out “I love you!” to which Mikael responded, “I love you too, sir.  No, I really do love you.  If you want, we can hook up after the show.”  He’s also not afraid to poke fun at his own music, introducing “Wreath” as being a song about death (he said it three times), referring to “The Drapery Falls” as a cock-rock song and calling the upcoming album as having happy songs (Sunday morning tea songs) before breaking into the seriously heavy “Heir Apparent” from the new album.  I was disappointed that they didn’t play “Windowpane” or “Blackwater Park.”  But their set was pretty good, and I’m glad I got to hear “The Drapery Falls,” which might be my favorite Opeth track.  Mikael did tease us with “Harvest” as he tuning his guitar in-between songs, and then immediately said no-no.

Right, so Opeth rocked the venue for roughly an hour.  After that, it was time for DT to take the stage.  During the Opeth set, I noticed traffic lights that had been suspended from a structure in the middle of the venue, with two giant ants on them.  I realized that was for DT and sure enough, the red light was on while the stage crew set up everything for Dream Theater.  Mike Portnoy’s drumkit was behind a curtain until the band took the stage.  The red light gave way to a yellow one as a video started playing.  Then, as the band took the stage, the light went green - it was time for the headliners to strut their stuff.  The band got a great reception and John Petrucci immediately kicked things off with the opening riff from “Constant Motion.”  It’s one of the songs off the new album that I really like and I was happy they played it.  Before DT came on, there were three songs I was hoping they’d play:  Pull Me Under, The Glass Prison, and Endless Sacrifice.  They haven’t been playing the first two on this tour, and my show was no exception - although we did get Endless Sacrifice.  DT is a band full of extremely talented musicians and at times, their music appears showy but it’s part of their persona.  They’re dramatic and theatrical on stage as well with Portnoy standing up while drumming at times, throwing drum sticks up in the air, and doing other random crazy shit.  At the end of one of the songs, he mocked Petrucci by playing air guitar, and then made a gesture to suggest that Petrucci was just jerking off.

Jordan Rudess brought out his keytar on some of the songs and it was great fun to watch him do duels with Petrucci.  John Myung is a brilliant bassist - his basslines are fast and meaty and supplement Portnoy’s outstanding drumming.  Talking about drumming, in the middle of DT’s set, we were treated to a fucking drum battle.  First, the drummer from 3 joined Portnoy on his ginormous drumkit.  I thought, why doesn’t he call all the drummers at once?  Surely his kit is big enough to handle all 5!  After giving the drummers from BTBAM and Opeth a chance at his kit, Portnoy did exactly that.  The drummers from all four bands, plus the percussionist from 3 were on stage together.  Two of them were on stools hitting all the drums they could while two went around banging on the cymbals and hi-hats, as the percussionist from 3 supplied cowbell and other sounds.  It was fucking epic.  Got my money’s worth right there.  That drum battle took away the disappointment of not seeing Pull Me Under and The Glass Prison.

DT ended their set with “Ministry of Lost Souls” and took a short break.  During the break, the audience got to see the video called “Dark Nintendo Night” which was basically Super Mario Bros with the DT guys and synced to the song “Dark Eternal Night.”  It was hilarious with Portnoy playing Mario, Rudess playing Koopa, and the vocalist playing the Princess!  They also had an animated video for Dark Eternal Night while they played the song.  After the break, they played a Medley with two songs from Images and Words, a keytar/guitar duel, and one song from A Change of Seasons.

So overall, DT put on a great show in their hometown.  All the instrumentalists were spot-on and while James LaBrie sounded a little hoarse, he did his job as a vocalist.  Portnoy signed off by joking that they were going to take a 22-hour intermission and be back after that for another set.  He was, of course, referring to the second night in NYC on the 22nd.  Knowing DT, they will play a lot of different songs the second night - I just hope they don’t do any that I would’ve loved to see during my show!  Also, this was my first heavy metal concert, and I came back in one-piece.  Woo-hoo!

Pictures from the show (not mine):  http://pictures.leglessmoof.net/v/concerts/2008_05_21/

Opeth Setlist:

Master’s Apprentices
Baying of The Hounds
To Rid The Disease
Wreath
Heir Apparent
The Drapery Falls

Dream Theater Setlist:

Constant Motion
Panic Attack
Fatal Tragedy
Dark Eternal Night (w/ N.A.D.S. animated video)
Endless Sacrifice
Percussion Nation 2008 (a.k.a crazy drum battle)
As I Am
Ministry of Lost Souls

(break w/ Dark Nintendo Night)

ChaosMedley

1. Metropolis
2. JR Keytar/JP Duel
3. Learning to Live
4. A Change of Seasons: The Crimson Sunset