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Dream Theater leaves Bangkok fans satisfied
Bangkok metalheads clad in black demonstrated their allegiance to Dream Theater, back in Thailand for a third time last Tuesday at Impact’s Thunder Dome, even though the American progressive metal band came with a new drummer, Mike Mangini, who has replaced veteran Mike Portnoy.
Over pre-show beers, there was talk of guitarist John Petrucci who has long been an inspiration for such Thai guitarists as Jack Thammarat, Pop Worawit and Ae Wizard, but the main topic was whether Mangini had the chops to take over for founding drummer Portnoy.
“Mangini is great at pounding every piece of the drum kit,” commented the young drummer of New Sound, which covers several Dream Theater songs.
Like everyone at the show, he was astonished by Mangini’s huge set comprising four bass drums, 11 toms and a towering rack cymbals, smaller drums and accessories.
Promptly at 8pm, acoustic guitarist Andy McKee opened with an amazing set that received loud applause.
Then it was time for Dream Theater, who thundered into numbers from their latest album, “A Dramatic Turn of Events”, including “Bridges in the Sky”, “Build Me Up, Break Me Down”, “Outcry”, “Beneath the Surface”, “On the Backs of the Angels” and “Breaking All Illusions”.
They also dusted off a few older songs including “A Fortune in Lies” from their 1989 debut “When Dream and Day Unite” and “The Root of All Evil” from 2005’s “Octavarium”.
Singer James LaBrie, guitarist Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudress then took the stage for an acoustic sing-a-long interlude where they returned to 1994’s “Awake”, performing “The Silent Man” as well as “Beneath the Surface” and drawing loud screams from the audience.
The crowd sang along to “The Spirit Carries On” from “Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory” and the passion and energy between band and audience was both powerful and genuine.
The band returned to the stage for an encore, choosing to play their greatest hit “Pull Me Under” from “Images and Words” in 1992, before leaving their fans with wonderful memories of an amazing show.
Once again, Dream Theater proved masters of their craft and we can only hope they make it back to Bangkok soon.
