Last week, an eager congregation of mostly Gen X-ers — some even with teenage kids in tow — marched to the Kia Theatre to make their progressive metal dreams come true.
Dream Theater’s concert was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that couldn’t be missed by the die-hard fan or the casual listener who at one point recognized how pretty damn good this band was.
And it still is. John Petrucci is basically a god with his axe. When he plays the guitar, the audience doesn’t just listen. Everyone watches, eyes trained on this virtuoso who shreds and slays when he plays. Seeing him play is a visual spectacle on its own; hearing him almost hypnotic.
And while guitarists — apart from frontmen — are known to draw attention with a guitar solo or two, Petrucci, on quite a few instances, stole the show on this particular show.
Keyboardist Jordan Rudess is yet another show-stopper. A rotating keyboard stand allowed him to turn 180 degrees while playing, but this little trick didn’t do as much for his performance as much as those chime-like intricate yet haunting arrangements, some of which were done on an iPad as opposed to a real musical instrument.
And then there’s John Myung on bass guitar and Mike Mangini on drums; a combustion of rhythmic patterns, with beats that are sometimes steady, sometimes urgent. Myung’s composed demeanor is in direct contrast to Mangini’s animated facial expressions when playing.
As individual musicians, these four are beyond above average, and each could play his instrument for minutes on end and still keep the audience mesmerized. Everyone plays with precision, blurring the lines between technical proficiency and God-given talent.
It would have been easy to simply get lost in Petrucci’s riffs or Rudess’ melodies, but vocalist James LaBrie knits everyone together — his bandmates and the audience included.
LaBrie brings life to the lyrics of crowd-pleasers like “The Big Picture” and “Pull Me Under,” as well as “As I Am,” which somehow included a portion of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” driving the crowd wild.
He calms the audience with the first three stanzas of “Surrounded” in balladeer fashion with only Rudess to accompany him; and returns to singing like a metal god in the succeeding verses as Petrucci, Mangini and Myung sound off.
Mayhem returns with “Metropolis” and fists and the sign of horns shoot up in the air again. People in their late 30s and 40s revert to their teenage selves, banging their heads and jumping.
The concert was held as part of the band’s Images, Words, and Beyond World Tour, which in turn is a celebration of Dream Theater’s 1992 album, “Images and Words.”
