Dream Theater -- Austin, TX -- July 7th, 2012

[cristianrock]

source: setlist.fm

In July 7th, 1992, Images and Words was released, so this show had a special vibe from what I heard, even Petrucci played with a Cowboy hat a Steve Ray Vaughan song, he loves SRV, and also a little surprise at the end of the show.

Intro: Dream Is Collapsing (Hans Zimmer song)
------------------------------------------
Bridges in the Sky
6:00
The Dark Eternal Night
This is the Life
The Root of All Evil
Lost Not Forgotten
Surrounded
On the Backs of Angels
War Inside My Head
The Test that Stumped Them All
The Spirit Carries On
Breaking All Illusions
----------------------------------
(Preceded by Commemorative Video of the 20th Anniversary of the release of Images and Words)
Pull Me Under
Another Day
Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper

[MPF]

Damn I would have loved to have seen that.

[LIVEtoROCK86]

Definitely a fun show although it would have been sick if they played Images and Words in its entirety. I feel like the band has done cool things like that in the past. You can also see the band's popularity heavily waning. The place was barely half full. Kind of sad. But it is what it is. They were solid.

What needs to be brought to attention is the opening act which, in my opinion, was more enjoyable than Dream Theater. It was the Crimson Projekct which consists of Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and other past members of King Crimson (not Fripp or Bruford). Here's the set:

B'Boom
THRAK
Dinosaur
Elephant Talk
Red
Frame By Frame
Thela Hun Ginjeet
Indiscipline

[makethemsuffer12]

Holy shit, Another Day?! I praaaaay to god that they'll play that when I see them. My favorite DT song.

[Sanitarium78]

Originally Posted by LIVEtoROCK86

You can also see the band's popularity heavily waning. The place was barely half full. Kind of sad.

Do you know what the capacity of the venue they played in was? I've noticed that they got booked in some bigger venues this tour that they have no chance of selling out now or even at the height of their popularity in the past. The venue they played in Rochester has like a 6,000 capacity and only 1,000 showed up. The show I saw last month fits about three thousand and again, only about 1,000 showed up. They've also been booked to play some amphitheaters this summer. I'm not sure what their management is thinking but there's just no way they could ever sellout those venues on their own. Not now, not ever.

I guess their popularity might be waning a bit but still it makes a band look bad when they're booked to play venues that are too big for them and there ends up being a lotof empty seats. Maybe losing Portnoy lost some fans, the vaule of him as the bands spokesman was huge and maybe him not being there talking the band up all the time is hurting them to. It could also be possible that everyone just decided to spend their money on Maiden this summer and skip seeing Dream Theater.

[leglessmoof]

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

Do you know what the capacity of the venue they played in was? I've noticed that they got booked in some bigger venues this tour that they have no chance of selling out now or even at the height of their popularity in the past.

It's probably cheaper for the promoter (Live Nation) to book them into the venues that they own (mostly large theaters and amphitheaters), instead of booking them into appropriately-sized venues that they don't own.

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

I guess their popularity might be waning a bit but still it makes a band look bad when they're booked to play venues that are too big for them and there ends up being a lotof empty seats. Maybe losing Portnoy lost some fans, the vaule of him as the bands spokesman was huge and maybe him not being there talking the band up all the time is hurting them to. It could also be possible that everyone just decided to spend their money on Maiden this summer and skip seeing Dream Theater.

I mentioned this in another Dream Theater thread, but I think there could be other reasons for the decline in attendance:

• They aren't varying the setlists anymore, so there's no incentive for fans to attend multiple shows. I used to go to 2 or 3 Dream Theater shows every year, now I'm only going to 1 per year.

• Increase in ticket prices. When I saw them in 2006/2007/2008, ticket prices were $55. Now they're $80. That's a 45% increase. Granted, they do have a bigger stage/light show now. But I'm not sure a 45% increase in ticket prices over a 4-year period is warranted during an economic downturn.

[Sanitarium78]

$80?

Where are you seeing them that is costs that much? The most expensive ticket for the show I went to was like $60 for the ochestra pit and the rest were in the $35-$45 range. The one I got was only $40, i've never paid more than around $50 to get good seats for Dream Theater.

You bring up a good point about them not switching the setlist up but I don't think there were that many people going to multiple shows because of that. At least not enough people to sell a couple thousand extra tickets to each show. I didn't know that about why live nation was booking them in bigger venues but it does make sense if they own those places. Still, you would think that the band playing to venues that are half full or less would still cause live nation to lose some money with the lack of ticket sales.

[leglessmoof]

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

$80?

Where are you seeing them that is costs that much? The most expensive ticket for the show I went to was like $60 for the ochestra pit and the rest were in the $35-$45 range. The one I got was only $40, i've never paid more than around $50 to get good seats for Dream Theater.

03/26/2006 - Paramount Theater, Asbury Park, NJ - $53
03/28/2006 - Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA - $52
04/01/2006 - Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY - $55
08/26/2007 - Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA - $53
05/21/2008 - Terminal 5, New York, NY - $55
05/22/2008 - Terminal 5, New York, NY - $55
05/26/2008 - Warner Theater, Washington, DC - $56

10/16/2011 - Merriam Theater, Philadelphia, PA - $76
07/21/2012 - Caesars, Atlantic City, NJ - $80

All prices include the added fees.

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

I didn't know that about why live nation was booking them in bigger venues but it does make sense if they own those places. Still, you would think that the band playing to venues that are half full or less would still cause live nation to lose some money with the lack of ticket sales.

Generally speaking, Live Nation makes more money from parking and concessions than they do from ticket sales. Which they only get if they use their own venue.

For more info, read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Ticket-Masters.../dp/1550229494

[electrocute1031]

Tickets here in Boston (including service fee's) range from $39-85.50. I definitely think the ticket price has a lot to do with it, there are a couple sections with barely any seats sold. I wouldn't be going to this show if it wasn't for the Crimson Projekct opening personally.

[smearCampaign]

Originally Posted by Sanitarium78

Do you know what the capacity of the venue they played in was?

I wasn't at this show, but the place they played here in Austin is a 2,700+ capacity venue. It's the ACL theater, where the ACL Live TV show is taped. I don't think this concert was recorded for the TV show.