... for the second time in as many years. The first time was the first time they came to Australia, too.
I left Canberra at 1:30 PM this afternoon, arrived in Sydney around 4:30 PM. Went to a friend's place, freshened up and then drove to the Hordern Pavillion. Show started at 8 PM, and ended at 11:30 PM. Then, the long drive home. I got home at 3:20 AM. It's been a long day!
I initially wasn't going to go until I found out that Pain of Salvation was opening for Dream Theater. I have wanted to see Pain of Salvation for so long, and, finally, they came to play just for an hour as an opening act. It was incredible. Daniel Gildenlöw was in full flight displaying his four octave range flawlessly.
Then, the main act.
If any of you appreciate progressive, technical, provocative, soul-soaring music, and, aren't afraid to listen to very long compositions (actually, I've never understood why people complain a song is too long -- do you complain that there's too many colours in a painting?), I'd recommend listening to the musical virtuosos that are, collectively, Dream Theater. Warning: it took me 2 years to appreciate their music. It's not easy to get into, but, when you realise what they're doing, and, how they do it, you can't help but be impressed. When they released Images and Words in 1991, there was absolutely nothing out there like it. Their music was beyond their time.
Last night's concert was even better than the first time around. Such soaring and epic music performed without a single mistake is a sight to behold.
Highlights for me included seeing Jordan Rudess (keyboards/synthesizers) using his iPhone as a musical instrument (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFG7-Q0WI7Q) -- unreal -- and, John Petrucci's superclean guitaring and technically-perfect musicianship.
Here is a clip from a concert in New York, in 2000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhedP71N9gQ
That is one of the tracks they played tonight, but, it was a little different -- it was so much more powerful. I hope that someone either bootlegged the show or there is an official release of it as I've never been to a concert where the mix was so good!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4WEAHRLorM
Plenty of videos on YouTube, if one is interested.
Sorry for the off-topic post, was heaps excited and am still buzzing.
Regards,
Humayun
