JORDAN RUDESS: DREAM THEATER Has Had 'One Of The Best Years Of Our Career' Since Launching 40th-Anniversary Tour

In a new interview with The Keyboard Chronicles, DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess was asked about the fan response to the progressive metallers' latest studio album, "Parasomnia", which came out in February. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Live, we've only played two of the songs, 'Night Terror' and 'Midnight Messiah'. And they're really, really fun to play live. You don't know until you do it, but they have a lot of power. There's a lot of energy in those songs, and you can feel it. It's very tangible. So that's what I've experienced live as far as feedback from people. Other than that, the album has been very well received, which is so exciting."

Referencing the fact that DREAM THEATER completed a 2025 40th-anniversary sold-out North American tour Radio City Music Hall in New York City in March, Jordan added: "It's really a great time for DREAM THEATER, and it's really unusual because, think about it: we were just out there celebrating the 40-year anniversary — I've been with [the band] for 26 [years] — but [it's been] 40 years since the [some of the other DREAM THEATER] guys met at Berklee [College of Music, a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts], basically; this celebrates the day they met, I think, in the Berklee halls, that kind of thing. But it's been incredible — after 40 years, to have one of the best [runs], if not the best run, or the best year of our career. So we're just doing it, enjoying it and kind of trying to take it in at the same point."

Later this summer, DREAM THEATER will embark on another run of dates in the United States. The upcoming tour will be "An Evening With Dream Theater" that will celebrate "Parasomnia". The tour is scheduled for 30 cities across the United States, kicking off September 5 in Reading, Pennsylvania and running through October 25, when it wraps in Long Island, New York. The tour will make stops in Orlando, Floria; Detroit, Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri and Providence, Rhode Island, among others. DREAM THEATER will be performing its latest album in its entirety as well as classics and fan favorites from the band's catalog in what promises to be an unforgettable evening of music.

"Parasomnia" came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP marked DREAM THEATER's first release with drummer Mike Portnoy since 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".

"Parasomnia" was produced by guitarist John 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.

Portnoy co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with Petrucci and bassist John Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER 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.

Mike Mangini joined DREAM THEATER in late 2010 through a widely publicized audition following the departure of Portnoy. Mangini beat out six other of the world's top drummers — Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Thomas Lang, Peter Wildoer and Derek Roddy — for the gig, a three-day process that was filmed for a documentary-style reality show called "The Spirit Carries On".

The North American leg of DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour kicked off on February 7 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trek was "An Evening With Dream Theater" and was the first tour of North America since Portnoy's return to the lineup, joining Petrucci, singer James LaBrie, Myung and Rudess. The tour concluded on March 22 in New York City.