Dream Theater's 3-Hour Osaka Marathon Praised
Dream Theater's Osaka concert (March 1-2) is exploding with praise for Mike Portnoy's return — delivering an epic 3-hour set with the last two songs totaling 50+ minutes. The Shadow Man Incident (19:32), Octavarium (24:00), and A Change of Seasons (23:09) showcased tight snare, wild fills, with fans calling James Labrie's rising vocals the MVP performance.
Mike Portnoy's return marks the reunion of the band's most commercially successful lineup. This tour is the first time he has played with the band in 14 years, following his departure in 2010. His return was officially announced in October 2023, and the band has since embarked on their 40th Anniversary Tour. During Portnoy's absence, Dream Theater released five studio albums with drummer Mike Mangini, including "A Dramatic Turn of Events" and "The Astonishing". The band also won their first Grammy Award for the track “The Alien” from the 2021 album "A View from the Top of the World" during this period. The inclusion of "Octavarium" and "A Change of Seasons" in the setlist is a nod to the band's legacy of long, complex compositions. "Octavarium," the title track from their 2005 album, is a 24-minute multi-part suite. Similarly, "A Change of Seasons" is a 23-minute epic that was originally written in 1989. The current 40th Anniversary Tour setlist is divided into two acts and an encore, featuring a mix of classic tracks and new material. Alongside epics like "Octavarium," the band has been debuting new songs such as "The Shadow Man Incident" during this tour.
