Finally got myself set up and new to the forum!!!
I, too, was one of the first 50 who was able to get into the studio!!
Here's my rundown......
I got there about 10:30 and was the 7th or 8th person there. We were all hanging out across the street and not directly in front of the studio. It seemed we weren't sure how things were gonna pan out as far as how they were gonna let people in.....should we hang out on the corner, circle the block a few times, stand across the street but not DIRECTLY across from the studio, were all of us gonna wait nearby then bum rush across the street at exactly 1pm, was the studio gonna try and remember who was standing outside before 1pm and not allow those people to come inside, these were the thoughts running through my head at least. It was FREEZING...and I was standing out there taking a chance, not knowing what to expect. (BTW...for those that were there to see it, how about when the bottle was thrown over that tall fence and landed directly upright on it's head!!! Was that maybe a sign of good luck or what?)
While we were outside talking things over...Someone from inside the studio walked over and asked if we were here for Dream Theater (Uhhh.....Dream Theater?.....Maybe?.......Why do you ask??) He said we could line up outside the studio (Yes....of course! Dream Theater)....uh oh....(Was this a set-up? Should we trust him? An easy was to eliminate those that arrived before 1pm?) Not sure exactly, but let me get moving before other people get in front of me.
While waiting online we were handed envelopes, and instructed not to open them as you know...Portnoy pulled up in a cab and moved pretty quickly to get inside while greeting a few of us up front.....My numb hands fumbled to get a picture of him but the delayed shot took a picture of myself instead....damn!
It was close to 1pm...The line grew long and I noticed a few people standing across the street where a few of us had started out earlier that morning.....I noticed them continually checking the time....exactly 1pm.....they walk across the street and a NEW line is formed.....damn...nooooo...it's the 1pm line!!....but we have envelopes in our hands......were these envelopes given out to eliminate those that arrived early?......The new line seemed confident...following the instructions given....True fans with the DT symbol prominent on some jackets....only to be confronted and told that they were not gonna get inside without an envelope.....there was only ONE line.......the look of anger, disappointment and disbelief falls upon their faces as they sharply stated how unfair it was and that they were folllowing the instructions.....I couldn't help but think that if it was me, I would have felt the same.....
We finally get to enter the building, up 2 flights of stairs and directly into the studio.....we all piled in and kept our jackets on....A few moments later, Portnoy came out.....he was the only member present.....welcomed everyone and told us we would have a meet and greet afterwards for signatures and pictures....
We opened our envelopes and inside was a greeting letter to those being fortunate to be a part of this DT history.....a second page had the Big Bold words we would later be chanting as a group.....
They played a sample of the music where we would later add our chants on top of....Mike stood in front of us like a conductor...giving us a "run through"....our voices "mouthing" and "softly" chanting along as Mike helped us practice our "ques"....finally, it was recording time....Mike had to be reminded not to count "Out Loud" as his voice was being picked up by the Mic's....
We added chants to 2 songs.....the first song we would all scream "A" or "Hey" repeatedly.....we recorded it 3 times as a group...then recorded us another 3 times using our "Cookie Monster" voices
the second song was the same.....we would chant the bold words printed on the paper handed out to us...again, recorded 3 times in normal chants, and then another 3 times in our best "Cookie Monster" voices we could muster.....need less to say, i lost part of my voice....
as a bonus.....we also recorded an "Ass and Balls" chant just for Mike which may appear on some special fan club cd or dvd
And finally, so we could each have our own individual distinct voice, we all chanted one final time with our own "personal" chants...what ever we chose to scream out along witht the beats...
To end the day, (we were only in the studio for an hour), Mike said he was gonna play the first 8 minutes of the album..... ......Mike PLEADED that if anyone had a recording device, not to use it out of respect for the band and not to post it on the internet....he was trusting his fans to allow us in the studio and did not want to regret having opened the doors to us........
Everyone anxiously waited to hear the new song....It began....a "Rush" influence came to mind, did not start heavy like in Train of Thought.....possibly more similar to how FII started using a lot of keyboards....nice long intro before the vocals came in .......cool guitar part........can't elaborate anymore...this is what stood out in my head....sorry!
Everyone applauded as the song ended!!
Mike, then randomly handed out the new Fan Club DVD called "Romavarium" which was a concert recorded in Rome, containing Octavarium played in full...whoever had envelopes #1 and #50 got one, the oldest fan the youngest, and who drove the furthest, and I was able to get one myself after I stuck my tongue out at him from the back of the studio
Mike then signed autographs and we were able to take pictures as well, I'll have mine posted soon.
A couple of notes about what was said that day and the new album....
--Yesterday was the last day of recording
--James was upstairs finishing his vocals
--There is a 24 minute song (which includes our chants)
--Possible release date will be ~June
--One song title is "Profits of War" or "Prophets of War"
--They will be touring over the summer as well
Definitely a GREAT EXPERIENCE....Hopefully there will be fan club dvd or cd showing us on line and in the studio recording.....They were taking pictures of the crowd outside and also had some video footage as well....there was a camera running the whole time behind us as we were inside the studio.....
Mike thank you sooo much for this opportunity I'm glad to have been a part of it
It was cool to meet some of you guys on line, and hopefully at future events
I hope this was enough good info to add to the memories of that day......and that I was able to paint maybe a clearer picture of what it was like for the rest of you who could make it.
All the best
Keith