DREAM THEATER's JOHN PETRUCCI Says Performing Entire 'Parasomnia' Album Has Been 'A Blast' Even Though 'It Might Be A Little Self-Indulgent'

In a new interview with Dream Theater Argentina, DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci spoke about the band's ongoing "An Evening With Dream Theater" tour, which sees him, James LaBrie (vocals),John Myung (bass),Jordan Rudess (keyboards) and Mike Portnoy (drums) perform their latest, 16th studio album, "Parasomnia", in its entirety, as well as the entire seven-movement masterpiece "A Change Of Seasons", for the first time since Portnoy's return to the band in October 2023, in addition to other classics and fan favorites from DREAM THEATER's catalog. Asked how the tour has been going so far, Petrucci said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, well, we started the 'Parasomnia' leg after the summer in the U.S., in the fall. And it's been great. It's been a lot of fun doing something different and creating a visual world of 'Parasomnia'. We really try to make it so that the fans that come to the shows are really transported into the world of 'Parasomnia'. And it's been a blast being able to play it in its entirety. And it's cool. I mean, it might be a little self-indulgent [laughs] — it's a whole new album — but, to us, [it's been a lot of] fun."

Petrucci went on to say that the reaction from the DREAM THEATER fans to the current tour has "been fantastic. It's been great. We just played Friday night in Mexico City to a big, big arena crowd there, and we opened that show with the 'Parasomnia' album," John said. "And it's essentially all new music, and the fan reaction was incredible. It was over the top. It was just as if we were playing deep cuts. So, very satisfying. Yeah. Very, very cool feeling."

Petrucci also talked about DREAM THEATER's recent announcement that the band's April 22, 2026 concert at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile will be professionally recorded and filmed for an upcoming Blu-ray. Asked how his preparation shifts when he knows the cameras and microphones are rolling versus just playing a regular gig, Petrucci said: "Well, really, the best thing is if it doesn't shift at all. You have to sort of approach it like… First of all, every show, we try to put everything into it, put our best, have our best performance. For me, the best mentality is it's just another show. Don't get too worked up about it. Don't get too anxious about it. That's the best approach. Because otherwise, yeah, you can kind of drive yourself a little crazy."

Petrucci continued: "Something keeps happening to me, which is a bit annoying, that I keep getting the worst-timed illness right before we film. Yeah, it happened to me many times. I'll never forget the 'Score' DVD from Radio City [Music Hall], I was sick as a dog. And then the Paris Blu-ray ['Quarantième: Live À Paris'], I got something horrible a couple of days before. I was on stage with a fever, but… I don't know why that [always happen]. [But] it's, like, the show must go on, right? So hopefully for Chile I will be okay."

Last November, DREAM THEATER released "Quarantième: Live À Paris" via the band's longtime label partner Inside Out Music/Sony Music. "Quarantième: Live À Paris" documented DREAM THEATER's November 23, 2024 concert at Adidas Arena in Paris, France during the band's 40th-anniversary headlining tour of Europe. The effort contained a setlist that spanned the band's entire career with classics like "Metropolis Pt. 1", "Panic Attack", "Octavarium" and "Pull Me Under" represented among other fan favorites.

DREAM THEATER played its first concert with Portnoy in 14 years on October 20, 2024 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The drummer, who co-founded DREAM THEATER, played on 10 of the band's albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours.

This past December, Portnoy spoke to Australia's May The Rock Be With You about DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour, which launched in late 2024. Asked if the milestone put more "pressure" on him and his bandmates or if they treated the tour as "more of a celebration", Mike said: "It's a celebration. There's no pressure. I mean, for me, it's surreal that it's been 40 years since we started this band. We were teenagers at college, Berklee College Of Music, back in 1985, and here we are 40 years later. We've been around the world dozens and dozens of times, and it's just been quite a journey and quite a trip. And if anything, it's just more surreal than anything. It's just hard to believe how quickly time has flown."

On the topic of the "discussions" which take place between him and his DREAM THEATER bandmates about putting together a setlist for the current tour, Mike said: "Well, there's not really any discussions. Those guys trust that in my lap. I've always been the guy that wrote the setlist in the band, at least in my time here, and for me, writing the setlist for this 40th-anniversary tour was actually easier than you would think. Coming back to the band after not having been in the band for over 15 years, whatever it's been, it was all a fresh, clean slate for me to work with. It wasn't like, 'Oh, I played this song a billion times over the last couple years.' I hadn't played any of these songs in so long. So for me, I was able to write with a clean slate."

"Parasomnia" came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP was produced by Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returned once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

"Parasomnia" is an eight-song, 71-minute set which was recorded at DREAM THEATER's DTHQ studio on Long Island, New York. It is the follow-up to 2021's "A View From The Top Of The World", which debuted at in the top 10 of Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts. Six songs on "Parasomnia" are over seven minutes and the closing epic "The Shadow Man Incident" clocks in at nearly 20 minutes.

Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung started DREAM THEATER as MAJESTY in 1985, after meeting at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. LaBrie came on board in 1991, while Rudess joined in 1999.

Prior to Portnoy's return to DREAM THEATER, the drummer and Petrucci worked together on the latter's 2020 solo album, "Terminal Velocity", and toured together. Portnoy and Petrucci also joined Rudess and bassist Tony Levin for a third studio album as LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT in 2021.