Dream Theater
Score - 20th Anniversary World Tour

THE REVIEW

20 years of music. 20 years of memorable songs. 20 years of musical art. For the detractors, these praises may seem exaggerated or misplaced. For the die-hard fans, they might seem the most fitting to describe a very honored career, which is still not over.

Dream Theater, heralds of the progressive rebirth in metal form, pioneers of a new evolution of metal, followed closely by many bands afterwards. Dream Theater return to our ears with the ultimate celebratory live: "Score" aims to celebrate twenty years of this great band's career. And they couldn't have chosen a better stage to celebrate this anniversary: the concert takes place at the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York, one of the most famous and prestigious theaters in the world, which has hosted artists such as Frank Sinatra, BB King, Ray Charles, and many others. The five performers, in this wonderful concert, delight us with a setlist that at first glance might seem out of place, but upon reflection, is excellent: it retraces the band's steps from their beginnings as Majesty (hence the new track like "Another Won"), moving from When Dream & Day Unite to the band's latest phase with Octavarium. A chronological setlist, therefore, that is flawless throughout. Naturally, the concert begins with "The Root of All Evil". Right from the start, you can see how excellent the band's performance is: Labrie is back in form (forget the poor LaBrie from the live @ Budokan). Naturally, it's also unnecessary to dwell on their technical perfection, since DT has long accustomed us to their incredible precision during live performances. "I Walk beside You" instead gains enormous value live, more emotional, more heartfelt. But the real concert, after this introduction, begins with the band's chronological setlist: it starts with "Another Won", the first track ever written by Portnoy and co. A fast song, renewed in this unique live version. It's emotional to see how our guys started. It continues with "Afterlife" taken from When Dream & Day Unite. Impeccable unison part and the vocal performance of an inspired Labrie. "Under a Glass Moon" presents us with a slightly tired Labrie, but the band's performance is amazing and continues to excite. The first surprise comes with "Innocence faded", which they've not offered live for ages, and it returns to very high-quality levels, with a live rendition nothing short of perfect. The second surprise comes with the unreleased "Raise The Knife", a song discarded from Falling Into Infinity made even more grand with the keyboard inserts of Jordan Rudess. The first part of the concert closes with the marvelous "The Spirit Carries On". A band classic, an engaging song, it's a shame to miss Theresa Thomason's ethereal voice, but it's even more fascinating and similar to the record. The second part of the concert opens with the orchestra, which further enhances the magnitude of the suite "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Overture is entirely performed with an orchestra of 30 members, continuing throughout its duration with all suite chapters executed impeccably and flawlessly. It breaks with the melancholy of "Vacant" performed exclusively with the orchestra (a goosebumps moment) and moves to the peaceful "The Answer Lies Within". Energy returns with the exhilarating notes of "Sacrificed Sons", with the usual orchestral background to thrill at the finale with a wonderful "Octavarium" further enriched by the string and wind section and the final Metropolis, arranged for orchestra. It's difficult to describe the emotions that Octavarium, in its duration, can evoke, but even harder is to describe the majesty of Metropolis with the orchestra enhancing what is already a great masterpiece.

A wonderful live performance. The concert ends. And I don't regret it: great emotions, a great performance as usual, a great sound spectacle. Naturally, as is classic, criticisms or fake disappointments will arise, related to the tracklist mainly: perhaps not worthy enough to celebrate an anniversary. But when you have such a vast repertoire, it's challenging to choose perfectly. But believe me, listening to this triple live CD, you will be impressed by such executive and emotional beauty. DT doesn't miss a beat, a note, but they don't fail and never stop exciting, especially live. DT continues to be a point of reference, both in the studio and live, and this is undeniable, but they are also masters in knowing how to excite, in creating atmospheres, and in giving life to truly incredible soundscapes.