Newsgroups: alt.guitar.bass
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 13:02:10 -0500 
From: Harry Powell Watson <hw26+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Dream Theatre


Mike Branciforte's post contains:
"In article <EfKBMsu00iUxQ5IVYS@andrew.cmu.edu>, hw26+@andrew.cmu.edu
(Harry Pow
ell Watson) writes:
|> I had the pleasure of witnessing one of the greatest bands ever last
|> night at the Metropol in Pittsburgh. This Dream Theatre is so tight, and
|> individually proficient that it boggles the mind.  A future Vai from the
|> guitar end, and a future Peart from the drums. Vocals rival Steelheart.
|> Keyboards reminiscent of Floyd and Journey, somehow. But the BASS?!!!!!
|> I'm a bass player and all I have to say is the rest of us have some work
|> to do! Only in concert up close can it really be understood how
|> incredible John Myung is!! I would go as far as to say that I think he
|> is the best bass player in the world! I believe he is Jaco Pastorius on
|> a six string. He surpasses Stu Hamm, Les Claypool, Flea, Geddy Lee, and
|> John Patitucci!! His raw speed matched with his perfect articulation and
|> masterful knowledge and application of music theory combine to create 
|> exiting and stunning lines!! If you have the opportunity, SEE THIS BAND!!!
|> My friends and I are confinced that he either has his talent on loan from
|> God, or sold his soul to the Devil!! It's just too much!! Later.
|> -Lestat 
|>  
|> -Lestat
 
-- 
 
Harry, Harry, Harry ... give up the drugs, my man.  Tunes are just tunes.
 
Mike Branciforte   
 
Technical information management is the key to concurrent engineering,
time-based competitiveness, higher quality, and lower costs.
 
email brance@music.Kodak.com"
 
   Mike, my friend, It is so unfortunate that you possess no intellect
or sense of reasoning, or for that matter any tact. I suggest that you
read the netnews.alt.rock-n-roll.metal.progressive b-board. You will
find that all of about five of these posts are of the band (YES! THAT'S
RIGHT!) Dream Theater (notice my correction of the typo-my apologies,
pal). If you have seen this band from the front row then you are
entitled to your opinion. However, if not, please restrict your
criticism to an area where you hold equal or surpassing knowledge of the
subject. If you have indeed seen this band from about 5 feet away, and
were, in fact, not inspired, then, well, you must be the one on the
drugs. All I can say is...see Myung up close and learn. I suggest giving
the 6-string tapping bass solo in "Metropolis" a listen. However, I
would like to extend my argument with support from others. So, I shall
quote the above mentioned b-board. (In case you are unable to find it,
or are just too busy trippin'). The following are a sampling of that
board, which I suggest you read, to hear even more support for my
opinion. Thanks and have a great day!!

" I saw them in December and they were FANTASTIC!!!
 
NadsteR"From: ntruelove@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu 
 
" Basically Dream Theater is just FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!!(pardon my
french) I saw them when they came to Metropol in Pittsburgh. The
Guitarist was totally amazing. Truly he has the makings of
Vai,Satriani,Eddie,Nuno,Becker,Friedman, 
Skolnick,and Zakk Wylde. He played flawlessly and incorporated his soul
into his music. He was articulated very well and had the accuracy of a
sniper's bullet. The drumer was in a realm of his own. His style is very
much like Neal Pearts and his attitude is like that of Alex Van
Halen.The keyboardist is amazing in his song writing and in the way he
incorporates the keyboard into the music. Now the singer is expressive
in his vocal leads. His purity of voice is refreshing in the this pool
of today's rock stars who usually scream and go falsetto to hit certain
notes. It's nice to hear a truly new voice in this industry. 
 
     O.K.!!!! I'm not a bassist,but I am a guitarist and I know a
bassists when see one. Basically John Myung is the best thing seen since
Stu Hamm. The man kicks ass on a bass. He makes it look almost easy. He
was doing shit that I'd never seen before or used in that fashion. He
uses his hands like he was the reincarnation of Jaco Pastorious on a six
string. He has the accuracy which in tiself could beat Les Claypool and
the originality in terms of bass line writing of Geddy Lee.Personally I
think he sold his soul to the Devil, kinda like in CrossRoads.
 
       Basically to sum all it all up. Band-Fucking Amazing. Songs-Unbelievable
       Images and Words-In as class of it's own 
 
                       Dream Theater-FUCKING AWESOME
 
 
                                                             Evets Iav
                                                             ( Dirk
Torrijos)" From: Dirk Benton Torritos <dt28+@andrew.cmu.edu>

"I was at this show too, and was very impressed.
 
The venue for the show was an old warehouse in the warehouse district
of Pittsburgh which has been converted into a very cheesy (in my opinion)
flashy nightclub (supposed to have an "industrial" flavor).  At any rate,
because the place is a cavern, the sound is always very muddy in there.
A band like Dream Theatre really should be booked into small theater
type settings, 1500-2500 seat venues where everyone can see everything,
and the sound can be mixed properly.  The keyboards were barely audible
most of the evening.
 
The band was excellent.  They all seem to really enjoy playing, but did not
seem pretentious at all (a rarity for musicians of their calibre!).  Some 
excellent dual guitar/keyboard lines.  I could have done without the long
drum solo.  I was expecting more from a solo by that drummer.  Obviously
talented, why did he have to play the same drivelly drum solo that most
rock drummers play?  He certainly could have played an interesting one.
But, this does not take away from his performance during the songs 
themselves.  I was not close enough to the guitarist to see what he was 
using for equipment (unfortunately), but he had a wide variety of sounds
available to him in his setup.  
 
The vocalist's range was excellent, and he did something I thought was
really cool.   When the band was in the long instrumental sections in the
middle of their tunes, he often walked off the stage to leave the spotlight
to musicians, and to let them to their thing, then he'd resurface just before
he had to do his next vocal part.  He was the only member of the band that
did any singing by the way.  No background vocals at all.
 
I'd really suggest seeing these guys before they get bigger and start
playing even larger places.  I think it'd be kind of a drag to have to see
them in an arena, miles away from the stage.  They're a band you really
want to have a good view of when you see them.
 
Enjoy.
 
--Tom"From: Thomas.Sullivan@cs.cmu.edu


"And speaking of videos, MTV has just put "Pull Me Under" into "Stress
Rotation",
which means it will be played at least 4 times a day (weekdays only I believe)!
Remember to call 1-800-DIAL MTV between 4pm and 5pm Eastern and request
the vid!
 
Ender"From: ender@triryche.UU.NET (Pete "Ender" Walsh)

"As a guitarist, all I can say is HOLY SHIT!!!
Tom Waltz"From: Thomas James Waltz <tw26+@andrew.cmu.edu>

   " I just to see these guys at Metropol here in Pittsburgh.
 
        WOWWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!
 
   They were purely incredible.  They really knew how to jam and play
their instruments...they were clean sounding but also loud(my ears are
still ringing)
 
          To anyone who is even considering going, I recommend they rush
for these tickets...just plain beautiful."From: "Youssef D. Tuma"
<yt22+@andrew.cmu.edu>

Hey, I wonder if Mike bothered to read down this far, or if he felt so
undereducated, and without defense in his criticism that he gave up...
I sincerely recommend this band to all bass players. Objectively, the
songwriting, and music are not to everyone's taste, as it rings of time
changes, synchopation and is rather hard. However, if one is looking to
find the best bass players in order to learn and improve one's skills I
can't recommend John Myung of Dream Theater enough. And, no, Mike, there
are no drugs involved. Thanks!  Later.
-Lestat



                    


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