Previous to the concert, a day before to be exact, I had the chance to meet DREAM THEATER in person, me and my girlfriend had to run like one mile in less than five minutes, all for the sake of taking a picture with them, and maybe saying to them only a greeting, only a moment of time that will never be erased from my memory, and here are the proofs.

(Just for the record, I'm the sweaty idiot on the left, in case you don't note the big difference between the special and the rest). It was very interesting to be part of the concert of these "Gods" of music; one of the best bands in the world has come to Colombia... Again, which speaks very good of this scene, that has been growing along the years, although the prices seems to grow as well. The doors opened one hour and a half before, but me and my friends where on the line like 3 hours previously of that, even I skipped my job telling lies, but the occasion was something worth for, moments like these may never come back and will remain for the rest of my insignificant existence.

The Concert:

The first one to play is a well-known guitarist in my country, well at least if you´re into the underworld of Metal and Progressive style, named Tom Abella. He had the chance to play 3 songs making the best of what he has. He has a lot of talent, pretty fast, and with a very good technique where you could easily see the long years of training, practicing and fighting in this country where many talented guys are much underrated for some shit that becomes "for exportation" (I won't say names, ok Juanes and Shakira?).

After Abella finished, there was another half hour of waiting, people started to become impatient, and began to scream "DREAM, DREAM, DREAM", emulating and giving meaning to that moment, a dream came true for me, another fan in his largely amount of them, having one of the happiest moments of my, as I said, "insignificant" life. Then... lights out, the moment has arrived, and "Dream is Collapsing" From Hans Zimmer began to play, while in the tridimensional cubes images appear, of DREAM THEATER in caricature, telling a story that I hardly could understand, not because it was complicated, it was because I was in shock, I could not believe what I was seeing, and what was about to become, it was by far exceeding my imagination.

A roar shivered the place, announcing that "Bridges In The Sky", was the first song in a set list that was a recurrent theme of conversation while waiting, and all the speculations, well, went down to hell. Among the ecstasies lived in that moment the components of this unbelievable band began to appear on stage, and from the first moment you didn't know which one to look at, while you're making yourself understand that they are humans and what you're seeing is real. Almost impossible to follow the hands of that monster that is John Myung, or the great white one in the keys that is Jordan Rudess, James Labrie sings like an angel, and encourages the people to sing along with him, which apparently worked very fine, because there were too many people who knew all the songs, even the recent ones, Mike Mangini made a perfect job with both hands and feet, making a good statement that he's here not as a replacement, he is the drummer of one of the biggest bands, and I left for last, but never least, Mr. John Petrucci, that is the most admired musician of that band here in my country, people (ok we) gave ourselves such a feeling that only the ones that were there we'd be able to express, he was the one.

The classics made their appearance in this show, with "Caught in a Web", where we sang the chorus with all of our hearts; afterwards the new album began to promote itself, with "Build Me Up, Break Me Down", that if I may say, was one of the those that I know by heart, and "This Is The Life", that on live made me a very good impression. "These Walls", from that magical "Octavarium", and the recent "Lost Not Forgotten" continued the show, not without making Labrie and Petrucci ask the people for all they had, and in response were given more.

Mangini had his moment with his drum solo, greatly performed, and very well received, obviously without forgetting the best in the world. Then again another classic hit our hears, "A Fortune In Lies" took us in a journey back to the past, that was followed by the extremely well performed by Rudess's "Wait For Sleep", making the place unite in a one voice sing along. "Far From Heaven" continued this slow interval, which was abruptly and magnificently interrupted by "Outcry", only to be the introduction to one of the favorites of all time: "Surrounded" made us sing all the way, screaming our lungs to the brink. Again the latest album appears with his Grammy-nominee "On the Backs of the Angels", a song that put all the people to jump, and release all the energy kept for that concert.

"War Inside My Head" And "The Test that Stumped Them All" shocked in a mix of the two of them, where, as it was mentioned, the people never stopped to sing and gave all their might. As of that moment we all wanted more and more, and they had this amazing idea of making a special moment, more special: Labrie took a poster from the back of the stage, and opened it, only to read this: "Mike, I dream with your Drums", with no words needed, and all the people overwhelmed by this action, "The Spirit Carries On" began for the joy of the auditorium, cameras came out (again), and voices raised up high, just to feel the tranquility and longing that this songs makes a fan feels.

The end was near, and "Breaking All Illusions" was more than perfect for the final of this amazing show, they said goodbye and the lights went out... but we wanted more, we screamed for them, and they heard our prayers, because they hit the stage once again, to encore and close this concert, with their greatest hit of all time: "Pull Me Under" was the perfect zenith of this unforgettable demonstration of talent and passion, we all went crazy, sang once more and jumped for a great end.

Epilogue:

DREAM THEATER showed respect to the fans, and vow to us, like if they needed to do that. We are the ones that must vow to a group like DREAM THEATER, that along with troubles, has managed its way to take the bull for the horns, give the fans what they needed, not what they wanted, and became one of the biggest bands in history of Rock / Metal.

Tired to the bones, with no voice, and no strength even to walk, I say, as a fan that had one of the most memorable moments in life, something that I will never be tired to talk to something that will remind me of who I am, another insignificant fan, fan of the best ones.

SETLIST:

1. Dream Is Collapsing (Hans Zimmer song)
2. Bridges in the Sky
3. Caught in a Web
4. Build Me Up, Break Me Down
5. This is the Life
6. These Walls
7. Lost Not Forgotten
8. Drum Solo
9. A Fortune in Lies
10 .Wait for Sleep
11. Far from Heaven
12. Outcry
13. Surrounded
14. On the Backs of Angels
15. War Inside My Head
16. The Test that Stumped Them All
17. The Spirit Carries On
18. Breaking All Illusions

ENCORE:
19. Pull Me Under