In the beginning
Well, I’m going to write ｍain artist of DOWNLOAD JAPAN 2022, “Dream Theater”.
My feet were killing me, but fortunately I’m not the type of person who listens to their live show with a rampage.
Also, I had predicted the set on Youtube, so I’m looking forward to seeing how well that turned out to be right.
The lights go down and the crowd cheers.
The video projected in the background looked like a movie.
I feel tightened up.
The Alien
As expected, the first song was the lead track from the new album “A View from the Top of the World”.
This is the “Dream Theater” song, with its intricate beat that pulls me into their world with gusto.
It’s a perfect song that doesn’t feel like it’s 9.5 minutes long at all.
As soon as this song started playing on my iPod, my wife turned around to see how cool it was.
The performance was a sure thing.
The unison of John Petrucci and John Myung, who spend all afternoon practicing, was like watching a duet.
Jordan Rudess’ tone was brilliant.
Mike Mangini keeps the rhythm despite the complexity of the music, making for a perfect lineup.
James LaBrie’s vocals are reverb-heavy, but he still has his old beautiful voice.
It’s cute how they run to the sleeves to leave and then run back to reappear at each interlude.
I can count on this gig!
6:00
Wow! This is an unexpected song choice.
It is the opening track from the third album “Awake.
I love this song with its intricate and bizarre riff in the intro.
Due to the complexity of its musicality, the band’s members do not move around much, but that makes it all the more spectacular.
Rudess is the only one who likes to show off, spinning his keyboard around and around.
When did I notice that Rudess’s keyboard is black, even the white keys are black.
What an amazing keyboard!
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to start playing the piano.
Also, LaBrie’s mic stand handling is very familiar and cute.
I don’t know why, but I would describe him as “cute” rather than “cool”.
Oh, he has been using the same mic stand since the last tour, the one with the robot hand holding the skull.
Awaken the Master
I missed my guess.
I was right to the point where I thought they were going to play one more song from the new album.
I guessed “Transcending Time,” but it turned out to be this one.
It’s a good song, too, with lyrics by Myung.
This new album has many highly progressive songs.
It is hard to count the beats in this song, too.
The progressive part is followed by a beautiful part that sounds like a sunny day, which is “Dream Theater”‘s specialty.
The guitar solo is one word: beautiful.
Endless Sacrifice
Next is a long song from the seventh album “Train of Thought”.
This is the heaviest album in the history of “Dream Theater”, but it is one of the catchy song.
I can’t get enough the beautiful arpeggio intro.
By today’s standards, the drum sound on this album may seem light.
For me, this is just fine.
The first half of the song, which starts off calm and gradually gets more and more intense, I can’t take it!.
The riffs in the middle of the album are especially catchy and cool.
And what is utterly beautiful is the guitar and keyboard harmonies towards the end of the song!
Bridge in the Sky
A long song follows.
I guess it’s not surprising since there are a lot of long songs.
The next song is from their 11th album, “A Dramatic Turn Of Events”.
The opening of the song is like a movie, and my eyes and ears are glued to it.
I can’t resist the detailed, complex, and hard-to-count riffs.
Then, the beautiful melody explodes in the chorus.
This kind of thing is not called mannerism, it is called a specialty.
The progressive middle part of the song starts out more beautiful than the other songs, then turns heavier, jazzy, and spacy, and shows a variety of expressions.
It is a development section that makes me want to listen to it more, rather than making me feel it is too long.
That’s a killer song!
Invisible Monster
This song was predictable.
It is less progressive than the other songs in the new album, and the chorus is catchy.
If not for the corona disaster, everyone in the audience can sing along to.
As I recall, the last song completed on the album, and without it, the album would have lacked balance.
It gives me a pleasant feeling of shimmering, like floating on the surface of water.
A View from the Top of the World
Here it comes!!
The title track of the new album is over 20 minutes long.
In the sense of a normal band, playing a 20-minute song would be extremely tiring, but in their case, they play it so casually that I felt numb to it.
The middle part (or is it the beginning?) I loved the progressive parts that came out and stirred my heart, and I enjoyed them well.
It seems to get progressively more plodding, and then it wraps up with a beautiful melody or something, forte of “Deram Theater”.
One listen to this song and you’ll feel as if you’ve just finished watching a whole movie.
The Count of Tuscany
I didn’t expect another long song from “Dream Theater”.
I applaud the cool attitude of the band for doing something that no ordinary band can do.
The intro arpeggio brought a surprised cheer from the audience.
The concert was almost at the end, the unison of each part of the band became stronger and stronger.
It was a manifestation of a band that was completely united.
Although the band started with a progressive part that made me want to hold my head in my hands, the main parts were “rather” easy to sway to the rhythm.
The verse appears with a different structure in the first and second time, well done!
The silence in the middle part, with Petrucci’s cool string-like guitar sound, had everyone in stitches.
Not many metal bands have such a wide range of sound.
The main part of the show ends with a big, lingering ending.
Pull Me Under
After the band members left for a while, they gathered again and started playing this song.
The opening number from the second album “Image and Words,” it was a perfect song for the last song, with less irregular beat for a “Dream Theater” song, and everyone could sway their bodies and sing along together.
The introduction of the song made me feel sad that the festival was already over, but the members’ dignified appearance cheered me up.
I can feel their pride as musicians and professionals, and all I can do is bow down to them.
At the end
One hour and 50 minutes.
Nine songs.
It may not add up, but this is “Dream Theater”.
It was a great feeling to be swallowed by such a torrent of sound, both difficult and catchy at the same time.
It sounds good to say that my predictions for the set were correct for four of the nine songs, but in reality, they were not correct at all.
Because these four songs would have been predictable to anyone.
Finally, it was announced that DOWNLOAD JAPAN would be held again next spring, which was greeted with cheers.
But first, KNOTFEST.
Whatever the case, festivals are fun.
The Corona Disaster taught me that it is not a matter of course to enjoy festivals.
I just hope that all subsequent festivals and live concerts can be held safely.
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