After the controversial summer open-airs, Dream Theater will return to Europe for indoor concerts at the beginning of 2020 to finally present the opulent three-hour "Scenes From A Memory" shows on the old continent. In January/February the Progmetal-Kings want to take the opportunity to reconcile their fan community at seven concerts in German-speaking countries. We talked to singer James LaBrie in advance.
eclipsed: James, let's start with the negative. Many fans had assumed that you would already come to Europe this summer with the "Scenes From A Memory" show. We at eclipsed also jumped on this information in the beginning.
James LaBrie: I can assure you that we never planned to perform this show at the summer festivals. At which point the communication went wrong, be it with promoters or concert organizers, we honestly cannot understand. But everyone who knows Dream Theater must also know that it is almost impossible to play such an album within the framework of a festival, especially since you only have 90 minutes as a headliner anyway.
eclipsed: But some of the shows were announced as your own festivals.
LaBrie: Yes, but even then we never announced "Scenes From A Memory". At that time it was already clear that we would return to Europe for headlining shows at the beginning of 2020. It went very unlucky overall, and as a band we read the negative comments of the fans. Why should we play games with our fans? For financial reasons? Certainly not. So once again: It was not our fault, and the situation has also made us very angry, believe me!
eclipsed: What can we expect from the upcoming show?
LaBrie: We will definitely scratch the three-hour mark again. In the first part we will play a mixture of songs from "Distance Over Time" and older albums. After a 20-minute break gibtʼs then "Scenes From A Memory" complete plus an encore. We have developed a spectacular light show and also a special stage design. So the shows will also be very exciting from a visual point of view. She will be remembered for a long time. So far the reactions of the fans have been absolutely outstanding!
