Montreal’s legendary Salle Wilfred-Pelletier at
Place Des Arts was the scene of a special musical reunion that has been several
years in the making. Dream Theater was
back in town and with them was legendary drummer Mike Portnoy, making his
return to the band after a 13 year absence.
Everyone loves a good family reunion.
Smiles are in abundance, people we haven’t seen for years get the chance
to reconnect and if you’re lucky, a grandmother brings you favourite dish and
hides an extra serving for you before the rest of the family gets to it. There were no special biscuits on this
evening, but rather serving after serving of the technical musical wizardry
that Dream Theater has been bringing to their fans since 1985. Yes, it’s another of those anniversary tours
that makes your friendly neighbourhood photographer realize that
the sands of
time continue to flow as the days of our lives suddenly turn to years in the
blink of an eye. In this case, DreamTheater are celebrating their 40th Anniversary Tour and have
prepared a huge show for the occasion.
They also released a new album, Parasomnia, back in February, their first new music since Mike Portnoy returned to the band.The concert is split in to two acts with a brief intermission between
them. Though mostly known for being
technical masters of their instruments, they showed a humorous side as well by
playing the animated “Let’s all go to the lobby” short in between acts. Altogether,
the band played for a rather incredible three hours, which is truly impressive
when you consider that most headliners play for 
only half that amount of time
and I’ve seen some that spend even less time than that on stage. Hosting this even was possible one of the most
prestigious music rooms in our fair city.
Place Des Arts’ Salle Wilfred-Pelletier is used to hosting classical
music concerts for a more buttoned down crowd, but it was rapidly transformed
in to rock and roll Mecca on this evening.
There were more than 3000 tickets seats sold for this show, but they
were didn’t suffer much wear and tear on the evening as the crowd quickly rose
to their feet as the first notes played, and remained on their feet for the
duration of the show. It was interesting
to watch the ushers, who under normal circumstances would have probably been
rushing to get offenders back in their seats, just stand back and take part in
the fun as well. As previously mentioned, this tour
marks the
return of Mike Portnoy to the band that he helped form with other original
members John Myung and John Petrucci.
Going back several years now, he has been probably one of my favourite
drummers. If you will indulge me for a
moment, allow me to share a quick story from a previous concert. Dream Theater was in Montreal opening for
Iron Maiden back in 2010 and the power suddenly went out on the stage. While everyone else exited, Mike Portnoy
remained and entertained the crowd with a bunch of drum solos and the drum
parts from some Iron Maiden songs as well.
I was immediately a fan for life, and I am very happy to now have a nice
Mike Portnoy photograph to add to my collection. Dream Theater put on a show that stimulated all
of your senses. Watching John Petrucci
play guitar is mesmerizing. He is such a
master, yet makes it look effortless. Keyboardist
Jordan Rudess is great fun to watch as well.
His keyboard is equipped with more toys that Batman and he knows how to
play all of them. Sonically with their
music and visually with a wide variety of videos that played on the large wall
behind them, Dream Theater gave the fans the kind of show that will not be
forgotten. All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using several different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths. Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Dream Theater while they performed at Salle Wilfred-Pelletier.
If you would like to find out more about Dream Theater and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website. A big thank you goes out to Kevin Chiaramonte of PFA Media and Chirstopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show. As always, it is very much appreciated. The concert really had everything that any Dream Theater fan could possibly want, and still more. The 40th Anniversary tour continues through the Fall. Don’t dare miss Dream Theater when they come to your town.
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