Dream Theater will hit the road in both 2024 and 2025 for an extensive 40th anniversary tour. The tour is Dream Theater's first outing since drummer Mike Portnoy's return to the lineup, joining vocalist James LaBrie, bassist John Myung, guitarist John Petrucci, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. The announcement comes ahead of Dream Theater's 16th studio album, which is well underway.
So far we've got the European dates, which consists of stops in 23 cities and kicks off on October 20. Tickets are available here.
"This tour is going to be incredibly special for all of us! Each show will surely be filled with anticipation and a variety of emotions," said Dream Theater. "We can't wait to step on stage together once again and begin this historic celebration of 40 years with everyone this Fall. This is just the beginning, and we will have plenty of more exciting Dream Theater news to share in the coming months."
10/20 London, England The O2
10/22 Berlin, Germany Uber Eats Music Hall
10/23 Koln, Germany Palladium
10/25 Milan, Italy Forum
10/26 Rome, Italy Palazzo dello Sport
10/28 Munich, Germany Zenith
10/29 Zagreb, Croatia Arena Zagreb
11/1 Budapest, Hungary Budapest Arena
11/2 Prague Czech Republic Fortuna Arena
11/3 Lodz, Poland Atlas Arena
11/6 Helsinki, Finland Metro Areena
11/8 Stockholm. Sweden Waterfront
11/9 Oslo, Norway Spektrum
11/10 Copenhagen, Denmark Poolen
11/12 Luxembourg Rockhal
11/13 Zurich, Switzerland The Hall
11/14 Lyon, France Halle Tony Garnier
11/16 Lisbon, Portugal MEO Arena
11/17 Madrid, Spain La Cubierta de Leganés
11/20 Stuttgart, Germany Beethovensaal
11/21 Frankfurt, Germany Jahrhundderthalle
11/23 Paris, France Adidas Arena
11/24 Amsterdam AFAS Live
On Dream Theater's coming live shows, Portnoy recently said in an interview with Pure Saturation that the band's move back to more chaotic setlists could very well happen.
"You pretty much nailed it right there [about having free reign with the setlists]. Back in the day, that was all my department and the guys were always so cool to give me free rein to — whatever my imagination could think up for the setlist, they went with it. If I said, 'Hey, I wanna cover a Queen song tonight,' we would do it. There was never any argument or resistance.
"So for all those years, the setlists and doing these crazy, unique ideas and shows, that was always my baby and something that I just really, really loved for the band, and I think the fans really liked it and appreciated it too. After I left Dream Theater, for the last 13 years or so, from my understanding — I haven't followed it too closely — but from my understanding, they've been more doing static setlists and things like that
"So in answer to your question, is it gonna be like the way it used to be? Like you just said at the end of your question, I think I need to just get in and get comfortable first and see where we are at this point in 2024. We're older. It's been a lot of time apart. So I think there'll probably be a process of just getting comfortable and everybody finding their place in the new chemistry.
"And that being said, I would have no problem with the static setlist for a little while, because it's been so long for me, I've been gone for so long, and there's gonna be a whole new generation of fans coming to these shows that never saw the band with me in it. So even if we went out for this first world tour with a static setlist of doing all the classics, it's been so long for me that each and every night is going to be special and exciting within itself."
Portnoy continued, elaborating that his Dream Theater bandmates are definitely down for the setlist to get a little weird night to night.
"For me, changing the setlist for all those years with Dream Theater, a lot of it was a reaction to me kind of — I don't wanna say 'get bored', but you get a little complacent playing the same songs over and over and over and over. So I would switch it up a lot, not only for the fans, but for ourselves to keep it fresh. But now, coming back after 13 years, it's gonna be fresh every night for me. So that in itself will be exciting.
"But all that being said, I think the band really does want to interject those kinds of things back into the live show. They have expressed to me that they kind of have been missing it and that they kind of want me to take the reins with the setlist and with the ideas of crazy sets and crazy shows and unique things.
"It seems to me — I mean, John Petrucci and I talked about it briefly. I think he really wants me to take those reins again. So fingers crossed that it will evolve naturally and organically to get to that point soon enough, because it really is such a unique thing, and I know a lot of the Dream Theater fans have missed it in the last decade or so, so it would be nice to interject it back in."
