Saw John Myung / Dream Theater last night

[Mark Latimour]

Well, after being a big Dream Theater fan (and having waned considerably) since Awake, I finally got the chance to catch them live for the first time last night at Wembley Arean in London. I must say that I have pretty much not been able to get into their last two albums (Octavarium and Systematic Chaos) because I feel that for a "progressive" metal band, they just arn't progressing. However I still really enjoy listening to some of the more classic material and even everything up to Train of Thought.

Anyway, as expected, John Myung played both Bongo 4 and 5 basses the whole gig, with a HS silver Bongo 6 being the main axe of choice and swapping to a Silver H Bongo 5 for one song. Also, as expected, he was barely audible except for a few rare moments when the guitars / keys dropped away and then you could hear his town which sounds remarkably similar to the tone he has always had. Another observation on the bass itself was that it looks HUGE. They should prehpas consider scaling down the body size on the Bongo six because the body does look almost uncomfortably large. I though it was because John Myung is a smallish guy, but even when he walked next to James LaBrie (and his enormous gut) the size of the body on the 6 string Bongo was noticeable. Does anyone know if they are still rpototyping or is that the production size?

However, there was something that I would recomend to any John Myung haters out there. Go and purchase the DT Official Bootleg of Dream Theater playing Deep Purple's Made in Japan album from start to finish. If you ever doubted John Myung (and Dream Theater's ability generally) to groove and jam, you should seriously listen to this album. There is some great interplay just like the classic Deep Purple lineup and some really tasty walking bass playing and the tone is so easily audible you can tell that a bass player (Roger Glover) mixed the album. Defintely the BEST DT album to hear John Myung playing. I picked it up at the concert and its worth every penny.

In summary it was cool to finally see them live and when they played some of the more classic numbers (Lines in the Sand for example) it was awesome, but given the strength (or lack of it) in relation to their last two albums I am not sure I would seem them again.

[SixStrings]

Agreed w/ you on octavarium & systematic chaos...though there are some good songs...

IMO if you're a JM hater watch his instructional vid-he's an amazing bassist

[RickenBoogie]

Never seen them live, aside from DVD's, and I also waned after "Awake". Too bad though, cause they're really in a class by themselves, (I call it heavyprog).

[Rusty Chainsaw]

Originally Posted by SixStrings

Agreed w/ you on octavarium & systematic chaos...though there are some good songs...

IMO if you're a JM hater watch his instructional vid-he's an amazing bassist

I like JM, but just couldn't get into his instructional video - too heavy on theory and about three-quarters of the whole tape was just him going up and down scales in different modes. Extremely boring to watch.

For me, an instructional video has to have instructional content, but also a decent dose of entertainment value, and the JM vid is sorely lacking this.

[MoD_Scotty]

Originally Posted by Rusty Chainsaw

I like JM, but just couldn't get into his instructional video - too heavy on theory and about three-quarters of the whole tape was just him going up and down scales in different modes. Extremely boring to watch.

For me, an instructional video has to have instructional content, but also a decent dose of entertainment value, and the JM vid is sorely lacking this.

Do you have one that you'd recommend then? Something in the same area of style/difficulty.

[Yngwie 4String]

I dont like Dream Theatre very much. I like the drummer a lot though. There is no doubt that they got the talent. The problem is that Myung can play alll the craziness he wants, but I cant hear him so it doesnt matter. Also I just cant watch them live . They have no stage pressence with the exception of the drummer, they look bored on stage to me.

[fishtx]

I got to meet Myung Last year when DT came through Dallas and chatted with him for a few minutes. We mentioned to him exactly what was said above, about him being lost in the mix. He looked shocked when we brought it up, like he couldn't believe it...oh well..

I think Myung is a great player, but have never been a fan of how they mix live or on their recordings...

[El-Bob]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

I must say that I have pretty much not been able to get into their last two albums (Octavarium and Systematic Chaos) because I feel that for a "progressive" metal band, they just arn't progressing.

i loved octavarium, but i think systematic chaos is the worst album I've ever heard by any band from any genre

[Tbirdbassist]

John was probably shocked cause he hears himself in his ears, and not the overall mix.

[Rusty Chainsaw]

Originally Posted by MoD_Scotty

Do you have one that you'd recommend then? Something in the same area of style/difficulty.

Dunno really... instructional videos on prog bass are a little thin on the ground. Chris Squire from Yes did one, but it wasn't exactly educational... was mostly him showing off his bass collection and explaining why he chooses to play bass with a pick.

I suppose the nearest thing would be Randy Coven's old videos, if you can find them... if you can put up with the fact that his hair is huge in that way that only hair-metallers can achieve, and that he looks perma-stoned, there's some good proggy stuff on there to learn.

EDIT: Just remembered another one... Andy West's (Dixie Dregs, Zazen, The Mistakes) video is fairly prog-tastic. Not so much in the "teaching scales" sense, but it's got some interesting playing and compositional concepts covered nicely on there. He looked like a maths teacher at the time, but he rocks his six-string whammy-equipped Modulus righteously.

[TheButler]

I saw them on Thursday in Glasgow at the Braehead Arena. They were great. As usual i could hear bugger all when it came to the sound of Myung's bass, i believe it is said that the bongo sounds better than the yamaha how anyone can tell i don't know.

The Dream Theater set was pretty good, some songs were dragged out way too much tho' and they didn't play enough classics. I am not a fan of systematic chaos and therefore that somewhat effected my overall feeling for the night.

On the other hand, Symphony X were amazing. I LOVE the sound of the bass player and coupled with the really cool lines i was just taken a back. I am not as big a fan of the new Paradise Lost album but they played Damnation of off it, which will go down as one of their greatest songs for sure. They also played Fallen and Sins and Shadows which was great. I could've listened to Symphony X for longer than i could Dream Theater !

[SixStrings]

God I wish I was in Europe to see the Symphony X-backed DT tour...which brings me to this:

really in a class by themselves

No, they really aren't. Symphony X are the closest to them (compare The Death of Balance/Lacrymosa at 1:31 with The Mirror =p) musically but DT is very similar to the tons of other prog-metal bands that exist. I guess you could say they are in a class by themselves solely because with these last two albums they've strayed from the very metal sound they were getting on six degrees and train of thought. Strayed from a very prog sound too...into just kinda suckiness (aside from the two-three absolutely great songs per cd they're getting).

As for Symphony X...I can't believe you're not a big fan of Paradise Lost. It's their best album IMO (and I have them all) and probably my favorite album period. From the thrashy dave mustaine-esque vocals and solo at 2:20 in Serpent's Kiss to all the prog elements, especially in The Sacrifice and Revelation, the album encompasses all that is awesome about metal. Plus Russell Allen is my favorite singer, and he absolutely shines on the disc as well.

But you really needed to see them when they were headlining this summer...can anything top The Odyssey played live? At the end of a full set of Symphony X's best? I think not...

[El-Bob]

^ symphony X rules

[BrandonBass]

i dont think many people would doubt myung skills. but u juz cant deny the fact that his tone is bad