Dream Theater may be kicking off their 40th anniversary celebrations in Europe next month (a year ahead of schedule since their founding in 1985), but they'll be celebrating their ruby anniversary properly in their home country next year (their actual 40th anniversary).
The prog metal band, who recently reunited with founding drummer Mike Portnoy, will kick off a North American concert series in Philadelphia on February 7. The trek, which has been billed as “An Evening with Dream Theater” (meaning no opening act and more Dream Theater), will conclude in late March with a concert at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, near their Long Island home.
Ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. local time on Friday. Full details are on the band's website.
“The excitement we’ve felt from fans since the first tour announcement has been overwhelming! Now we can bring the show to our home country and play in a bunch of cities we haven’t been together in over a decade,” the band said in a statement. “We can’t wait to continue this historic 40th anniversary celebration with everyone in North America next year. We still have a lot of exciting news about Dream Theater to share in the coming weeks.”
In April, the entire band met with Rolling Stone Speaking about their reunion with Portnoy and how they overcame a bitter war of words in the press, Portnoy said: “Pre-COVID, if you had asked me or any of these guys, were we ever going to get back together? I probably would have said, ‘I doubt that’s going to happen.’ I think if the lockdown hadn’t happened, you guys would probably have been on tour, and I would have been on tour with one of my 48 bands.”
But during the lockdown, several Dream Theater members reached out to Portnoy and slowly melted away the rivalry. Since then, they’ve been recording and preparing for the tour, which officially kicks off in England on October 20. Portnoy said he’s already feeling the pressure of this gig. “We expect the first show to be an emotional experience — not just for the five of us but for everyone in the audience,” he said. “I have a feeling that there will be people coming from all over the world to be at the first show together. It’s scary because under normal circumstances, it takes a bunch of shows to get your strength back. But in this case, we need to get down to business. This first show is going to be dissected with a magnifying glass in the age of YouTube. We can’t afford to be bad.”
An Evening with Dream Theater's 40th Anniversary Tour Dates:
February 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
February 8 – Raleigh, NC @ Martin Marietta Center
February 10 – Nashville, TN @ Opry House
February 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
February 12 – Biloxi, Mississippi @ Hard Rock Café
February 14 – Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
February 15 – Dallas, TX @ Texas Trust CU
February 16 – San Antonio, TX @ Majestic
February 18 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Center
February 19 – Highland, CA @ Yamava Theater
February 21 – Las Vegas, NV @ Chelsea
February 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
February 24 – San Jose, CA @ San Jose Civic
February 25 – Sacramento, CA @ Safe Credit Union Performing
February 27 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
February 28 – Portland, Oregon @ Keller Hall
March 2 – Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra
March 4 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Maverick Center
March 6 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
March 8 – Chicago, Illinois at Chicago Theatre
March 9 – Cleveland, Ohio @ MGM Northfield Park
March 11 – Toronto, Ontario @ Coca-Cola Coliseum
March 12 – Montreal, Quality Control at the Place des Arts
March 14 – Wallingford, CT @ Oakdale Theatre
March 15 – Boston, MA @ Butch Center
March 17 – Rochester, NY @ Kodak
March 18 – Wheeling, WV @ Capitol Theatre
March 19 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Brady Music Center
March 21 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
March 22 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
