Dream Theater: Ready to dream, raring to play

MANILA, Philippines — Rock music fans don’t have a lot of concert choices these days. Save from multi-band festivals and other local shows in small venues, the rock community has been left wanting. MyMusicTaste.com, a company designed to be a sort of crowd-sourcing venture that asks music fans online who they want to see in a concert, has somehow made the dreams of many Pinoy prog rock fans a reality.

Last Monday, Sept. 25, Dream Theater performed in Manila for the first time at Kia Theatre, Araneta Center. Launching this leg of its current tour, Images, Words & Beyond in Japan just this month, the band has so far played in Korea, Australia and Taiwan.

“It’s been really exciting,” keyboard wiz Jordan Rudess told The STAR. “We were in Japan for a little while, enjoying riding around on bullet trains, stuff like that (laughs).” As for the shows, “It’s fun to see the differences in reactions in the different countries.”

Dream Theater has been together since 1985, starting out under the name Majesty. “When we wake up each day, I just feel very privilege to do what we do,” said soft-spoken bassist John Ro Myung. Having former the band with guitarist extraordinaire John Petrucci, and exceptional drummer Mike Portnoy in 1985, Myung has seen it through successes and challenges.

“Our sense of purpose is to write music. It’s like our mission,” he said thoughtfully. “And we love what we do; we’ve been given the privilege (to keep doing it).”

Dream Theater’s Images, Words & Beyond tour celebrates the 25th year of the band’s second and biggest album to date, Images and Words (1992). It gave them one of their most enduring songs, Pull Me Under. While others really feel the brunt of having to perform hit songs over and over for years, Rudess loves it.

“I kind of feel like, every time we play them, I can maybe refine them a little more, bring something else into it and have some fun. So for me, it’s a pleasure. And the album was very meaningful to me, so it’s all positive,” he happily admitted.

From left: Jordan Rudess, John Ro Myung, James LaBrie, Mike Mangini and John Petrucci. —Photo by Jimmy Fontaine

With a tour setlist of older material, favorites from Images and Words, and a host of songs from albums that followed, including — as vocalist James LaBrie said — A Change of Season from 2005’s Octavarium, it should be a night to remember.

“It’s an honor to be out here and be able to say that you’re still relevant in the music industry,” LaBrie said. The vocalist, who lists Freddie Mercury as an all-time favorite, enjoys playing three-hour concerts for fans but said, “I have to really watch myself.” 

He added, “Freddie went on stage and (knew how to) conserve himself (and his voice); he altered his melodies throughout the night. So that’s exactly what I’m doing and it gives me that ability to be able to knock out Learning to Live and some other songs...”

Live shows can be quite an experience for both the fans and the artists. This is the reason artists still tour despite the fact that they can now reach out to fans online.

LaBrie weighed in. “When I was growing up, like if I had known I was (going to be) speaking to some of my favorite artists, I would have been flipping out. Nowadays, it’s a given. I appreciate it but there’s another part of me that thinks it has desensitize us. I think there’s some magic lost because the borders are no longer defined.” He knows fans think they should always be accessible at any given time, but noted, “That’s not realistic.” Having said that, he is on Facebook and Twitter. The band is active online as well.

The importance of social media these days likewise isn’t lost on Rudess; he knows fans use it to get closer to their favorite artists. “It means so much to the band. I think it creates more engagement and a bigger audience,” he said. Talk about being social media savvy — he admitted, “I was actually doing a Facebook Live thing right before I got on the phone with you, showing some new sounds and instruments.”

However, for those that make a living out of writing and performing music, the inherent disadvantage is when people somehow think music is free. “There should be a balance there. I think it’s being sorted out. Hopefully we get there,” he said optimistically.  

Still, there are still a good number of fans who know how to support their favorite artists — and they will turn up at the show, ready to keep the dream going and watch the band play on.