Dream Theater Setlist at Hard Rock Live, Orlando, FL, USA

Metropolis was not played at last night's Orlando show...it was dance of eternity.

I went to see Dream Theater in Orlando last night and I have two words for those of you thinking about checking out the Prog Nation 09 Tour – Don’t Go!!
First and Foremost are the seating arrangements. What made a Dream Theater concert experience special in the past was that it usually was general admission and you were able to get close to the stage and truly enjoy your favorite band. Not so anymore! If you want to get on the floor, you’ll have to shell out at least $25 more per ticket for a floor seat. And, with that floor seat, you still cannot get close to the stage. It makes you kinda wonder what’s been going on in the band’s heads when they plan their tour – “Let’s see, how can we make as much money as we can per show off of our loyal fans?” Half of the floor seats were empty during the entire concert and the $35 general admission area (only on the sides of the bar behind the pillars) were packed! It really sucked watching my favorite band from the sidelines while the entire stage seats were taken by gray haired Zappa fans who were sitting down looking at their watches the whole show.
Secondly, the line up was terrible. The first band from Texas was an instrumental garage band. The second band (Big Elf?) was a pretty good (but not great) set and the third band Zappa doing Zappa was long and boring.
Finally, Dream Theater came on with a Nightmare to Remember and I started feeling good again. Being a fan of them since their “Awake” album, I truly feel that Black Clouds and Silver Linings is a special album that, in my mind, resurrected Dream Theater from the last, mostly terrible CD (Systematic Chaos). Everyone was rocking and then, lo and behold, they played their political, anti-war song, Prophets of War (Are we profiting from our fans?). Then, afterward, they went through the motions of playing a tired setlist (save The Dance of Eternity) and broke for the encore. Then they came back and played the Count of Tuscany and it was excellent - Watching JP play the solo sent chills down my spine. Then after approximately one hour and twenty minutes they left the stage.
The thought process for DT now, in my opinion, it’s a money thing. All business. No more heart and soul. Fans came out, young and old to watch them play, pay $8 for a beer and $4 for a coke and enjoy them mostly from the sidelines. Each opening act could’ve been better and truly was painful to get through (last year I saw four aweome and entertaining bands including Between the Buried and Me, 3 and Opeth). If you want to see Dream Theater live, wait for their new DVD, which I am sure Portnoy and the boys will have made since, obviously, no money is left on the table for the fans.

John, I was at Hard Rock Live in Orlando too and the seating has nothing to do with Dream Theater. That is just how the seating is done at Hard Rock Live, regardless of who is playing. Yeah it sucks but I still had a good time. I didn't care for Big Elf really but I thought Scale the Summit was pretty good. I also really enjoyed Zappa Plays Zappa. I was a little bit disappointed in DT's setlist though. Two songs that really shouldn't have been played were Sacrificed Sons and Misunderstood. I like both of the songs on the albums but they aren't really good live songs. Both of them use lots of harmonics and feedback which is extremely difficult to replicate, even for Petrucci. I was extremely suprised to see them play Take The Time though. That was a real treat. The other songs from BC&SL we're also great. Prophets of War & Dance of Eternity were both good too, particularly DOE. I still think it was money well spent but if I had to complain, it would be about those two songs and obviously they should have played longer.

Not True! I saw six concerts this year at the Hard Rock in Orlando (including Progressive Nation 08) and they were all general admission stand on the floor. The balcony seating was extra. This is a Dream Theater thing and I hope that they have different seating arrangements at other venues.

John is right - the seating sucked. Dream Theater usually allows you to crowd the stage at this venue. However, the music was great and I personally enjoyed the setlist. The music world today, with online music downloading, has shifted its focus to concert tours and the money machine that they are. You can't blame Dream Theater for this. At least they continue to tour and to play great music!! I also am disappointed with the Hard Rock and I probably won't pay the money I did to see them again at this venue or with these seating arrangements.

I was at this show, I have been to quite a few DT shows in the past (Probably around 15 or so since 1997), the performance was superb as usual, my only complaint is my buddy saw them last time at the Hard Rock (and told me they rarely play down in FL) and they played his least favorite DT song of all time 'Misunderstood' (Which is weird considering Portnoy prides himself on updating setlists so they never play the same set in the same city twice) So I laughed when they played it after he laughed when they played 2 of my least favorite DT songs, 'Sacrificed Sons' and 'Prophets Of War' LOL And they played those songs in a row, 2nd, 3rd and 4th!! It was not looking good and could easily have been my least favorite DT show of the many I have been to. However, all of the other songs made up for it, especially The Count Of Tuscany, what an amazing song and an amazing encore!! As for the seating, I payed a whopping $75 per ticket to sit at a table on the balcony, which was really awesome, but not so much for my pocket...