Due to stress at work, the terrible weather - it was raining cats and dogs - and of course, those awful Dutch traffic jams I arrived at the Ahoy-venue at eight ‘o clock in the evening. Just in time to hear the last three songs of Opeth. Fortunately, I was able to witness the entire Dream Theater set, which I came for in the first place.

The venue was almost sold out, but right from the beginning, the atmosphere was quite good. The band opened with A Nightmare To Remember from their latest album Black Clouds And Silver Linings (see review). The sound quality was very good and even James La Brie’s vocals sounded crystal clear from the first until the last song. During the second track A Rite Of Passage, 7000 ‘Dutch’ throats joined James in the super catchy chorus, giving me goose bumps for the first time that evening. DT then came up with Hollow Years from Falling Into Infinity, which, in my opinion, is their weakest album. This time John Petrucci dominated the song with an amazing guitar solo. Then it was time for a drink, because Jordan Rudess’s redundant keyboard solo came up next.

After that, Prophets Of War, one of the best songs of the Systematic Chaos-album, set Ahoy on fire. The resting point of this set - for our necks and heads - was of course the bittersweet Wither. The Dance Of Eternity followed by Take The Time with Mike Portnoy partly on lead vocals, was another highlight of the show. Before I could even realize, the concert was already over, but for the inevitable encore we got the almost twenty minutes prog metal epic The Count Of Tuscany from their latest album. A great ending of a splendid concert, however it was far too short. Next time I expect at least a performance of three hours, but anyway: Dream Theater rules!

Martien Koolen (edited by Peter Willemsen)