The whole “Images and Words” album was a surprise success as it was released in a market that was very anti-technical. But “Pull Me Under” was not technical at all. It was actually pretty simple, with riffs that could have come from a Metallica or Maiden album.

So when an act is successful, the label is keen to capitalise on more sales. The best way to do that between studio albums is to release a live album.

Enter “Live At The Marquee”, released in 1993, on the back of the failure of the “Another Day” single. The music video for “Another Day” was totally ignored by MTV and never played on the music network.

There would also be a live video release of this period called “Live In Tokyo” from this tour. But that release would be covered a bit later.

In case people are not aware, The Marquee Club is a small venue in London. It’s a rite of passage for a lot of artists to play at The Marquee.

The band is the same as the “Images and Words” album with James LaBrie – vocals, Kevin Moore – keyboards, John Myung – bass, John Petrucci – guitars and Mike Portnoy – drums.

In relation to how live it is. All the music is live as captured on the night and most of James LaBrie’s vocals were actually re-recorded in a studio. In the book “Lifting Shadows”, Portnoy jokingly said the album should have been called “Dream Theater Live At The Marquee But With James LaBrie Live At Bear Tracks”.

The actual set list as found on Mike Portnoy’s concert database is as follows;

• Metropolis Part I (released on “Live At The Marquee”)
• A Fortune in Lies (released on “Live At The Marquee”)
• Under a Glass Moon (not released)
• Surrounded (released on “Live At The Marquee”)
• Ytsejam (w/ Drum Solo) (not released)
• Bombay Vindaloo (released on “Live At The Marquee”)
• Another Day (only released in Japan, replacing “Surrounded”)
• Another Hand (released on “Live At The Marquee”)
• The Killing Hand (released on “Live At The Marquee”)
• Pull Me Under (released on “Live At The Marquee”)
• Take the Time (not released)
• Wait for Sleep (not released)
• Learning to Live (not released)

Metropolis—Part I: “The Miracle and the Sleeper”

The show opened with this and the CD release also did. The abilities of Petrucci, Portnoy, Myung and Moore are evident here.

The comments I read on a YouTube video of this song all mention the vocal performance of James LaBrie on this track. And it is a great vocal performance, regardless if it was recut in a studio.

A Fortune in Lies

I heard James LaBrie singing the debut album songs before I heard Charlie Dominici. Sort of like how I heard Bruce Dickinson sing the Paul DiAnno songs first.

The production sound of this song is a lot better live than what was captured in the studio. Especially the machine gun snare section before the solo break and then Petrucci nails his lead which has fast tapping, sweep picking, alternate picked lines and legato playing.

Bombay Vindaloo

Named after a vicious curry that played havoc with the band. It’s an improvised instrumental performed live only six times and never recorded in a studio. They really set the mood of India here with the use of exotic scales to highlight the themes of the song.

I’ve read reviews that mention “La Villa Strangiato” as an influence.

Petrucci again shines with his emotive leads as he builds and builds on em, very Al DiMeola like. It’s rare tracks like these, that make these kind of EP’s special.

Surrounded

The best part of this song is Petrucci’s digital delay lead, however the effect wasn’t as prominent live as it was on the studio cut. And for some reason it sounded very Van Halen’ish this time around.

If you are a fan of Marillion, then you will like this.

Another Hand / The Killing Hand

The newly written major key intro titled “Another Hand” that bridges “Another Day” with “The Killing Hand” is beautiful. Press play just for that.

And LaBrie delivers a great vocal on this. And yes, I don’t care if it was recut in the studio.

Pull Me Under

Could there be a Dream Theater set list without “Pull Me Under”?

Of course not. It’s their title winning MVP.

I have seen Dream Theater perform live on a few occasions in Sydney and they are excellent.

This release captures all of that.