John D. Head aka "Starfish"

Tuesday night I got a chance to see one of the best package concert tours of the summer, Progressive Nation 2008. Headlined by Dream Theater, the bill included Three, Between The Buried And Me (BATAM) and Opeth. A progressive punch of 5 hours of music. Here is what I thought about each band:

Three

Three are by far the most 'pop' flavor of the four bands. Lots of melodies that you could hear on the radio, I would compare them to I Mother Earth crossed with Coheed and Cambria. The keyboard player is also a percussion player, adding a deeper percussion and adding an almost Latin flavor to the music. What blew us away was the lead singer, who also plays guitar, played most of the music without a pick. His acoustic playing was more like slap bass ... and he literally destroyed the strings on his guitar at the end of the last song. If you have a chance to check these guys out, they put on a killer live show.

Between The Buried And Me

If Three were the pop progressive band of the bill, BATAM would be the aggressive progressive band. I would liken BATAM to Dillinger Escape Plan more than any other band ... but more technical than so angry. The vocals were cookie monster all the way, and the guitars were more Korn like than. In your face and aggressive. Their progressive side showed because they played 30 minutes and 2 songs ... yes, just 2 songs! They added keyboards and a drummer who did not stop. Their musical time changes would put even Dream Theater to shame. Great band but for many Dream Theater fans, it was a bit too much in your face. I totally enjoyed them.

Opeth

Opeth is one of those bands that cross the boundaries of progressive and death metal. The best way to describe them would be to call them progressive black metal. Heavy guitars and bass, a foundation drum line, cookie monster vocals, but that heavy keyboards that sound more like opera than anything else. Opeth have a major following and their music is very very dark, but man can they play. If it was not a theater setting ... the mosh pit would have been out and in full force. If you have a chance, every Dream Theater fan should check out Opeth .. only to see why DT is not what I consider a heavy band :-)

Dream Theater

I don't need to tell anyone that I am a DT fan in a major way. I think this was concert 32 for me. So here is the set list:

1. 2001 Overture then straight into In the Presence of Enemies Part 1
2. Beyond this Life from Scenes from a Memory
3. Misunderstood
4. Forsaken
5. Scarred
6. Erotomania
7. Voices
8. As I am
9. Ministry of Lost Souls

Encore:

1. Metropolis Part 1 ... thru the end of the instrumental section
2. Learning to Live ... thru the bass solo
3. Change of Seasons Part 6 and 7

Old School Dream Theater fans should look at that set list and drool. That being said, I think the band was a bit off tonight. James seemed to be pushing his voice, the mix wasn't perfect, and the band looked a bit tired. Still a killer show, but after seeing them 30+ times, I nitpick.

Final Thoughts

The show was great. Awesome to see DT using it's success to bring progressive bands out on the road and introducing their fans to them. I hope this is the first of many versions of Progressive Nation. 9 out of 10. Go see it!