Celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band, Dream Theater released their sixteenth (16) studio album, Parasomnia, earlier this year on February 7th through Inside Out Music. In support of this new studio album, Dream Theater announced the Parasomnia Tour, which started September 5th at Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Parasomnia Tour will conclude on October 25th at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. As I scrolled through the dates of the Parasomnia Tour, I noticed the two Atlanta dates (September 13th & September 14th) at the Coca-Cola Roxy near Truist Park. As promised to all of their fans in Atlanta, Dream Theater added an extra date in Atlanta for the Parasomnia Tour to make up for a postponed date earlier this year while touring on their 40th Anniversary Tour.

Dream Theater is a progressive metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. As noted, Dream Theater started this band in 1985, and since then they have released sixteen (16) studio albums, one (1) EP, nine (9) live albums, one (1) compilation album, nine (9) singles, nine (9) video albums, and twenty-one (21) music videos. Dream Theater currently consists of James LaBrie (lead vocals), John Petrucci (guitars/backing vocals), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums/percussion/backing vocals), and Jordan Rudess (keyboards/continuum/occasional guitar).

Dream Theater

I remember the first time I heard an album by Dream Theater; it was my senior year in high school, and a friend of mine had two CDs that he wanted me to listen to. Those CDs were Images and Words (1992) and Awake (1994) by Dream Theater. The debut of James LaBrie as the vocalist was Images and Words, which had some classic Dream Theater tracks like “Pull Me Under”, “Take the Time”, and “Metropolis—Part I: ‘The Miracle and the Sleeper’” to name a few. Awake is another stellar album from Dream Theater featuring some heavy fan favorites like “6:00”, “Caught in a Web”, and “The Mirror.” Over the years, Dream Theater would release some incredible records as well, like Falling into Infinity (1997), Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999), Octavarium (2005), Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009), Dream Theater (2013), and Distance Over Time (2019).

Now, fast-forward to the release of Dream Theater’s brand new, sixteenth studio album, Parasomnia, which also features some instant masterpieces that are added to the Dream Theater discography. I already knew that Dream Theater would perform this album in its entirety, and I was excited to listen to the album before the event. Some notable tracks off Parasomnia that I feel were incredible live were “Night Terror”, Midnight Messiah”, “Behind the Clock”, and “The Shadow Man Incident.” Finally getting the opportunity to see these virtuoso musicians perform live was such an amazing feeling. Legends at their craft, John Myung, Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess, and John Petrucci exceeded every possible expectation that I had going in. This Evening with Dream Theater was a bucket list event for this concert hopper.

Dream Theater

After the performance of the Parasomnia album, Dream Theater took a very small break right before coming back to the stage to perform a second set of fan favorite songs from their massive discography. Some of the songs performed in ACT II included “As I Am”, “Panic Attack”, “Act I: Scene Three: I. Through My Words”, and “Act I: Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy.” I know I was not the only person in attendance in awe at how perfectly these songs were being performed by Dream Theater.

And just when you thought Dream Theater was coming out to perform a one to two song encore for the fans, you hear the opening chord to “A Change of Seasons: I The Crimson Sunrise” and remember Dream Theater is also performing their 1995 EP A Change of Seasons in its entirety. In addition, this is the first performance of A Change of Seasons with drummer (and founding member) Mike Portnoy since 2004, and since his return behind the drum kit in 2023. Fitting since the lyrics for the EP, A Change of Seasons, were written by Mike Portnoy. What a phenomenal job by Dream Theater shredding through A Change of Seasons with such ease and skill. Hands down, Dream Theater has proved that they are still a force to be reckoned with in the progressive metal scene with one of the best releases in 2025 - Parasomnia.