The progressive metal giants Dream Theater rocked the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, PA, on Friday (9/5) to kick off their ambitious Parasomnia Tour.
Parasomnia, the group's 16th studio LP dropped in February and was the first new material recorded with their north star, Mike Portnoy since Black Clouds & Silver Linings in 2009.
The 1,800 fortunate souls in attendance got to experience the entire Parasomnia album, handpicked selections from across the group's 40-year catalog, and for an encore: a full performance of their 23-minute long epic single, “A Change of Seasons," that came out 30 years ago in 1995.
The current lineup featured James LaBrie on vocals, John Petrucci (who produced Parasomnia) on guitar, John Myung on bass, Jordan Rudess on keyboards, and Portnoy - who rejoined the band in 2023 after leaving in 2010 - on drums.
The first act of the, essentially, three act presentation began with the entirety of Parasomnia - the first time the group rocked it out live from front to back. That meant live debuts for “In the Arms of Morpheus,” “A Broken Man,” “Dead Asleep,” “Bend the Clock,” and “The Shadow Man Incident.”
The album title is something Petrucci says he has been holding on to for a while and would fit in beautifully with the group's vibes.
"We're called Dream Theater, how come we never thought of this?" he said on the Ultimate Classic Rock podcast.
"It kind of calls for a darker, heavier album," he said. "It was Mike who [pointed out], I know there's the parasomnia theme lyrically, but what if we took it a step further and made the album more conceptual? So weaving in all of the different themes throughout the album that reoccur and repeat and connecting the songs and having interludes to make it more of a special experience, that developed as we were in there working on the album."
Act II was a nod to their deep catalogue. It included “The Enemy Inside” off Dream Theater (2013); “A Rite of Passage” from Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009); “Through My Words” and “Fatal Tragedy” off Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999), among others.
During Falling into Infinity's “Peruvian Skies” (1997), the group peppered it with familiar bits from Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" and "Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica.
It's hard to say which the fans loved the most: the formal introduction to the new joint, the sweet ride through Act II, or the unexpected bonus of hearing "A Change of Seasons" all the way through as the encore.
Maybe it was just having Portnoy back, where he belongs, behind the kit in the group he's best known for.
Portnoy is more than just the dude shredding behind the drums giving the spirit of Neil Peart a run for his money. He's a founding member of the Grammy-winning Dream Theater and was one of the group’s most visible creative forces for over two decades.
He left in 2010, looking for a break. The band chose to keep recording and touring, replacing him with Mike Mangini, of several Steve Vai albums, who holds five World's Fastest Drummer records.
Between 2010 and 2023, Portnoy held it down for several groups including Sons of Apollo, and Flying Colors, among others.
His return to Dream Theater was announced in late 2023 after he had reconnected with Petrucci and Rudess during a Liquid Tension Experiment reunion, and all was good again in the world of heavy prog.
Dream Theater will be headlining gigs around the US (sorry Canada) as well as dropping in on some festivals in Kentucky and Sacramento.
Tickets available on the Dream Theater website.
Parasomnia USA Tour 2025
Sep 12, Hard Rock Live Orlando, Orlando, FL
Sep 13, Coca-Cola Roxy, Atlanta, GA
Sep 14, Coca-Cola Roxy, Atlanta, GA
Sep 16, Ovens Auditorium, Charlotte, NC
Sep 18, Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
Sep 19, Louder Than Life, Louisville, KY
Sep 21, Fox Theatre, Detroit, MI
Sep 22, Prairie Home Alliance Theater, Peoria, IL
Sep 24, Miller High Life Theatre, Milwaukee, WI
Sep 25, Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
Sep 27, Vibrant Music Hall, Waukee, IA
Sep 29, Pikes Peak Center For The Performing Arts, Colorado Springs, CO
Oct 3, Aftershock Festival, Sacramento, CA
Oct 4, Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, CA
Oct 5, Long Beach Terrace Theatre, Long Beach, CA
Oct 7, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
Oct 8, Abraham Chavez Theatre, El Paso, TX
Oct 11, Tulsa Theater, Tulsa, OK
Oct 13, The Midland Theatre, Kansas City, MO
Oct 14, The Factory, Chesterfield, MO
Oct 17, The Venue at Horseshoe Hammond, Hammond, IN
Oct 18, Palace Theatre, Columbus, OH
Oct 20, Landmark Theatre, Syracuse, NY
Oct 22, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Providence, RI
Oct 23, Proctors Theatre, Schenectady, NY
Oct 25, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
