DREAM THEATER Plays First Show With Drummer MIKE MANGINI; Video Footage Available

July 5, 2011

Progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER played their first concert ever with new drummer Mike Mangini last night (Monday, July 4) at Ippodromo Capannelle in Rome, Italy.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Under A Glass Moon
02. These Walls
03. Forsaken
04. Endless Sacrifice
05. Drum Solo
06. The Ytse Jam
07. Peruvian Skies
08. The Great Debate
09. On The Backs Of Angels (new song)
10. Caught In A Web
11. Through My Words
12. Fatal Tragedy
13. The Count Of Tuscany

Encore:

14. Learning To Live

The first fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.

Photos of the concert by Luigi Orru can be found at this location.

"On The Backs Of Angels", a brand new song from DREAM THEATER, is available for streaming at the Roadrunner RecordsYouTube channel. The track comes off "A Dramatic Turn Of Events", which is scheduled for release on September 13 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was mixed by Andy Wallace, who has previously worked with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, WHITE ZOMBIE, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, SEPULTURA, SLAYER and NIRVANA, among many others.

In a recent interview with Music Radar, guitarist John Petrucci and Rudess were asked if the band's new drummer, Mike Mangini, contributed to the songwriting on the forthcoming CD. "Mike didn't write with us," Rudess replied. "Basically, we got in the studio and did our thing. We wrote songs and sent them to him. He came in and just nailed his parts. He's incredible. I'm finishing my keyboard parts right now, and I'll go to the computer to see how things are lining up, and I'm just speechless. The guy doesn't mess up!" [laughs]

"We had the demos, had them fully written out, and he learned them and added his own stuff," Petrucci stated. "But every time he would do something, if I said, 'Hey, can you do that again?' he'd do it, and it would be perfect. The guy is he's out of his mind! [laughs] People are not going to believe how great he is."

"But what's really special about him is, he's not just a technician," Rudess added. "Yes, he plays his parts perfectly, but he comes at everything as a total musician. Everything he does has real soul and a depth of feeling."

When asked how not having DREAM THEATER's former drummer, Mike Portnoy, in the recording and writing process changed the band dynamic, Petrucci replied, "It was a lot quieter. [laughs] Mike Mangini's playing style is different. He plays very hard, but he's got a very deep groove. He almost plays behind the beat just a little bit even through he's right on the money. He's extremely locked in, but if he does do something technical, he's still right there."

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