Marc drove down from Vermont on Friday afternoon and we headed over to Harborlights (err, the Bank of America Pavillion) to see Gigantour. The one bad thing about the Boston date is that it was a single stage show, so we missed out on Symphony X, Life of Agony and some others.
When we got there, Nevermore was on the stage. I ended up bumping in to some folks and didn't really pay much attention to them. Next up was Dillinger Escape Plan. I had heard a number of good things about these guys coming in to this show, so I was somewhat psyched to see them. Sadly, they totally disappointed. There were a couple of times when I thought they may start doing something good, but mostly it was a lot of screaming and jumping around.
The next band on the stage was Fear Factory, who I was very excited to see. For some reason, I thought all the original members were back, but it was very obvious that Dino was not on the stage. He is very, ummm, noticable :) Doing some research after the show, it turns out three original members got back together, with the bass player moving to guitar and then they added a new bassist. I have to say, I was disappointed with their set. What I've heard of their new album, I have been less than impressed with and it didn't really get any better live. The worst part of their set was when they started off doing Pantera's Walk and then stopped and the singer said something like "We miss you Dimebag" or something. Rather weak.
Next up was the real reason I was at this show, Dream Theater. Marc and I actually headed to our seats for this set. We were in like the 10th row, right below the speakers, so it was VERY loud. Their set was pretty good. Too much of the newer stuff for my tastes. I would have like to have heard a little more old stuff. More because I know it better than anything else. They did seem to be having a lot of fun up on the stage. The most amusing part of the evening came during their set. As we were standing in our seats, Mike and John P's wives, along with what seemed like about a dozen kids and another woman I didn't recognize were 2 rows in front of us. The kids cracked me up waving to their dad's up on stage. John even waved back at one point. Marlene left and a few minutes later, Max was crawling around on the drum kit taking pictures of Mike. If you noticed Mike looking down or back during the set, he was hamming it up for his kids. Overall, they sounded ok, too loud where I was, but ok. I'll be patiently waiting for a US "Evening With" tour, so I can hear a lot more than a 75 min set.
After DT, we headed back to the back to hang out and watch the headliner Megadeth. Overall, they put on a good show. The sound didn't sound great from the back, but that may have been because my ear drums were a bit blown out from DT. Heard some good older stuff mixed in with a bunch of the newer stuff. Marc and I were laughing our asses off about the large amount of pyro and explosions :) The comment of the night came from Matt from Event when at the end when the raining sparks pyro happened. Matt said, "Now it's a Poison show".
Overall, I enjoyed myself. I think I would have enjoyed a DT show more, but it was a good time. Good to see some friends I haven't seen in a while as well.
