10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Live Bands Of 2017
9. Dream Theater / Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress
Before our comments section fills up with angry rants and lots of caps lock, it is worth acknowledging that, yes, having two bands in one entry is cheating. However, not only are both Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress operating on two sides of the same coin (in that both are playing Dream Theater songs), but each act also had amazing advantages going for them in their 2017 live shows.
Ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, for a start, was performing his former band’s Twelve-Step Suite in its entirety, which is a prospect die-hard fans have been yearning for since it was completed on Portnoy’s last album with the group, 2009’s Black Clouds & Silver Linings. He was also joined on-stage by the experimental Brits Haken, who are truly one of our best bands going today.
On the other hand, Dream Theater drew huge crowds this year due to their ‘Images, Words & Beyond’ world tour, which saw the progressive titans play their best-selling, continually acclaimed breakthrough album Images and Words (1992) in its entirety to mark the disc’s 25th anniversary.
Thus, whichever is the better live performer between the two is purely subjective, and remains a matter of intense debate among progressive metal loyalists.