Pretty much the biggest progressive metal band in the world, Dream Theater have never done things in small measures. Well known for their expansive concept albums such as the legendary Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory, 2016 will see the release of a brand new concept album from Dream Theater titled The Astonishing. In the vein of another of their legendary albums, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, The Astonishing will be a double disc concept album and is being described as a “rock opera” with a full story being told over the course of both discs.
Anyone who’s been to Dream Theater’s website www.dreamtheater.net recently will have been invited to “select a side” (and choose carefully!) between the Ravenskill Militia and the Great Northern Empire. Once you’ve chosen your side in the conflict, the participants will receive a series of emails furthering the story (and we imagine there will be more on the website and on social media as well – though none of this is confirmed yet). The Astonishing will tell the full tale of the conflict between Ravenskill and the Empire.
A series of VERY special shows have also been announced in conjunction with the album news, where The Astonishing will be played in full. The first of these shows will be at London’s legendary Palladium on the 18th of February (let’s hope they have better luck with the logistics than Opeth did for their aborted attempt to play there in October). Full details of the European shows follow below:
Dream Theater “The Astonishing” European Tour 2016 – First Round Of Dates
FEBRUARY
18th – London, England – Palladium
22nd – Amsterdam, Holland – Carre Theater
28th – Oslo, Norway – Konserthus
MARCH
2nd – Stockholm, Sweden – Cirkus
5th – Paris, France – Palais des Congres
6th – Paris, France – Palais des Congres
18th – Milan, Italy – Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
Tickets for the tour (for which more dates will be announced) have gone on sale this morning (6th November 2015) at 9am. The London date at the Palladium has tickets priced approximately between £50-85 with booking fees – the £85 tickets have already sold out. Get your tickets from www.dreamtheater.nett and follow the links.
More news on extra tour dates or The Astonishing as and when we get it!