So here is the late review for the two sold-out Dream Theater shows I had been waiting for. On Thursday night I drove down to the Grove of Anaheim for the first show, and on Friday night I went to the L.A. date in Hollywood as well. And boy was I glad I went to both!

( Intertwined double review of the shows, with cool pics! )

March is going to be a busy month for concerts. Going to see Opeth on this Tuesday, and I still haven't found a buyer for my extra tickets. This weekend there are some gigs with CAB or Which One's Pink I may go to. I found out that Ryo and NDV from Spock's Beard will be playing at the Baked Potato in support of a Chinese violonist, Weiwei Wuu. That should be interesting.

Well, I managed to drive my ass back to Hollywood tonight for the in-store performance of Marillion! The peak hour traffic sucked balls, and I really thought I had missed most of it by the time I finally parked near the store more than one hour after I left from LAX, and yet I was lucky to get in just a couple of minutes before the performance actually began!

As I expected the performance was short, just a few songs for less than 30 minutes. The main difference from last night was the lack of a piano, but they had their acoustic guitars and basses. I grabbed a copy of their live DVD and went back in line after the show for the meet and greet with the band. There was not that many people, really. A hundred at most.

The line was moving really slowly but I realized why when I finally got back in the store. These guys are great, and really took the time to talk to the fans, signing everything and getting pictures taken. So of course it was taking longer than if they were just mechanically signing everything, but it was definitely worth the wait !! These guys are awesome, and so incredibly friendly! Steve Hogarth spent a few minutes talking about their travel issues on this tour. Apparently he almost got arrested for complaining to United Airlines about something. :)

I got my DVD signed, Steve Hogarth picked up on my accent when I told him I enjoyed the show from yesterday, and asked me where I was from. :) I'm pretty sure they must have toured through Lyon at one point. Of course the best part of all this was when I got my picture taken with the band ! Woohoo!


Pete Trewavas, myself, Steve Rothary, Steve Hogarth

In short, most definitely worth the hassle of driving to Hollywood ! :-D