Review: Dream Theater @ Hindley Street Music Hall 10/02/26
“In a live environment, Dream Theater’s music transcended the sum of its parts, transforming meticulous precision into visceral spectacle and technical mastery into genuine emotional weight.”
Words & Images Michael Lockheart
Dream Theater @ Hindley Street Music Hall 10/02/26
Now in its third year of international touring, Dream Theater’s 40th Anniversary Tour proved on the opening night of its Australian leg to be not merely a retrospective victory lap, but a profoundly powerful reaffirmation of legacy, ambition and creative vitality.
Few bands in modern music could claim a catalogue as influential or as uncompromising, and fewer continued to evolve with this level of conviction. In a live environment, Dream Theater’s music transcended the sum of its parts, transforming meticulous precision into visceral spectacle and technical mastery into genuine emotional weight.
Opening the Australian leg of the tour in Adelaide, the band found themselves in an unusually intimate setting for a group whose music was engineered on a seismic, arena-level scale. No compromise was made for the reduced footprint of Hindley Street Music Hall. The production, volume and physical presence of the band remained fully intact, resulting in an experience that felt confrontational, immersive and at times almost overwhelming, even for the initiated. Dream Theater were very much in your face, and they clearly relished it.
With founding drummer Mike Portnoy back behind the kit, the night carried a renewed camaraderie and a deserved sense of occasion. His presence immediately restored a vital piece of the band’s rhythmic DNA. Portnoy played with authority and mischief in equal measure, frequently interacting with the crowd and exchanging knowing glances with his bandmates. The chemistry on stage was unmistakable and a joy to behold. Smiles were shared, silly nods fired across the stage, and there was a visible sense that this was a band genuinely enjoying being in each other’s company again.
The opening ‘Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper’ set expectations sky high. John Petrucci wielded a truly gargantuan guitar tone, while his interplay with John Myung remained astonishingly precise. At times during the first set, Petrucci’s sheer sonic weight and Portnoy’s enormous kit, complete with three kick drums and what felt like two dozen cymbals, threatened to overwhelm the lush textures laid down by Myung and Jordan Rudess. These moments of sonic warfare were gradually ironed out, coming into full balance as the night progressed.
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A deep dive into Scenes From a Memory formed the backbone of the first set, with ‘Overture 1928’, ‘Strange Déjà Vu’ and ‘Fatal Tragedy’ unfolding with cinematic fluidity. The clear highlight, however, arrived with ‘Peruvian Skies’.
Expanding far beyond its studio form, the track wove together excerpts of Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘Wherever I May Roam’, alongside Pink Floyd’s ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ and ‘Welcome to the Machine’. It was daring, reverent and thrilling in equal measure, and easily the most electrifying moment of the opening set.
Jordan Rudess, while forgoing his trademark keytar this time, delivered a visual spectacle of his own. His hydraulic keyboard rig, wrapped in LED ribbon screens that displayed a two-dimensional layout of keys mirroring the notes he played in real time, was both hypnotic and revealing. It stood as a striking showcase of virtuosity, as if further proof were needed. There was no need for humility at a Dream Theater concert, and such a demonstration only added to the giddying sense of superhuman ability this five-piece seemed to conjure effortlessly.
The second set tightened its focus, particularly during selections from the band’s latest release, Parasomnia. Audio and visual production became noticeably more dialled in, with ‘Night Terror’ delivering pure exhilaration and ‘The Shadow Man Incident’ unfolding as a complete roller coaster of tension and release. By this point, the band’s sound had fully locked into place, every element working in unison.
Then came ‘Octavarium’. Riveting, breathtaking and genuinely staggering, it stood as a single performance likely to endure as the most impressive and emotive live music experience I have ever witnessed. Even for a casual fan, it alone was worth the price of admission. The performance was a masterclass in showmanship and restraint, building patiently before unleashing wave after wave of cathartic, epic jams, solos and crescendos. Time seemed suspended as the piece unfolded, the audience held in collective awe, mirroring the song’s own pensive introspection.
An encore of ‘The Spirit Carries On’ and ‘Pull Me Under’ provided release and celebration in equal measure. James LaBrie’s vocals were pin-sharp throughout the night, matched by an assured and charismatic command of the stage.
Forty years on, Dream Theater were not merely honouring their past. They were actively reinforcing why they remain one of the most formidable and vital forces in heavy music today.
Want more pics of the Dream Theater? Check out our full photo gallery here.
