Dream Theater
Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02 DVD
Review by Greg Olma
Dream Theater have decided to beat the bootleggers by releasing their own material and cutting them out of the picture. Now, I know that you can't do that completely because the band tours constantly and they only have a limited amount of product on their label Ytsejam Records. Nevertheless, bootleggers cannot compete with items like this DVD. The concert was originally broadcast in Romania but I have not seen this concert, let alone in this kind of quality. The band played in an outdoor arena on the World Tourbulence Tour 2002. Like a well oiled machine, the show was great from start to finish without a mistake to be found (by me at least). Obviously, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence gets quite an airing but there are plenty of other tunes played like "Home," "Lines In The Sand," and the etermal crowd favorite "Pull Me Under."
Mike Portnoy always makes sure that there is plenty of bonus material and for this release there is so much that it is put on a separate disc. The main bonus is part of a show from Mexico City in March 2002. You can see how the sets change with each show as this one has parts of other band's material sprinkled in; like sections of "Master Of Puppets" and "Working Man" to name a couple. There is a Bulgarian Documentary from 2002 added after that. To make the set complete and give the gear heads their wishes, the band goes through their gear in detail and we get to see some of their soundcheck.
I have always been a fan of these types of products. Bands getting the money they deserve for their art and fans getting a quality item is how the music industry should operate. Since it doesn't. my hat goes off to Mike Portnoy and Dream Theater for taking matters in their own hands and giving us fans a great momento from an often overlooked tour.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2008 Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.
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