It all started way back when I was working for an web development company that specialised in IRC software. I had been listening to Dream Theater for a little while and they were fast becoming one of my favourite bands, and I was particularly impressed with their new keyboardist Jordan Rudess who had just recorded on their latest album Scenes From A Memory. I had visited Jordan's website a number of times and had noticed that there was space there for a chat room, but it always said 'coming soon'. I decided that I may as well contact his webmaster and find out what they were doing with that, because with my work on the IRC network I was doing, I could provide a chat room with full moderation and the facilities to do big fan chats where Jordan could answer questions and interact with the people.

Little did I know where this would lead to. To completely nutshell this story, I was put in direct contact with Jordan and our relationship began. I went from running his chat room to eventually designing and maintaining his official website which I did for a number of years. Throughout all of this however it wasn't just work, we chatted regularly and kept in close touch, talked about all sorts of things from music to the most bizarre and spaced out things that you could ever imagine a mind like Jordan's to come out with. So we built a cool friendship over the years that was great, although separated by thousands and thousands of kilometers.

Fast forward to the end of 2007. In that time we had seen the rise of OzProg, and its continual growth and finally the announcement of a Dream Theater Australian tour. It was on! OzProg was made an official co-presenter of the tour, which was a dream come true for us and almost a fulfillment of our original reason for being.

I will now take up a journal type writing for the events that occurred from January 29th to February 1st.

January 29th, 2008

I woke up super early to get my 6:50am flight to Melbourne for the first show of my mini Dream Theater tour. With arrival at 10:10am, my plan was to chill out for the morning and early afternoon and then head down to Festival Hall a bit earlier than doors as Jordan had arranged for me to come along to sound check for the show.

I arrived at the venue and found it completely shut up with roller doors, so I had no idea where I was supposed to go, so I began a circuit of the building. I found a truck and some guys with tour laminates so I figured I must have been in the right place. I approached one guy and explained who I was and what I was doing there, and he pointed to another guy who was outside named Matt who he said I should go and talk to. I need to take this opportunity to say a MASSIVE thank you to Matt, who made my experience at all of the Dream Theater shows so easy while all of the hired venue and event security staff were trying to make it SO hard. The guy is an absolute champion.

Matt said he would sort me out and took off into the venue. About two minutes later a white van rolled up to the back entry and inside I could see the band members. As it rolled past me one of the first things I noticed was Jordan looking out waving at me. I had been standing there talking to a local press guy and one of the girls from Roadrunner Australia who I had dealt with a lot and when the band van pulled up and Myung and Petrucci zipped straight inside the venue, Jordan broke away from the van and strolled up the footpath to where we were (security made us get away from the door area) to greet me which I thought was cool. We had a quick chat while the people around us looked on sort of shocked at how we were obviously pretty good friends. It was kinda funny and I fielded questions like "Oh man how do you know Jordan so well!?".

So Jordan went into the venue and said that Matt would be out to sort me out shortly, and a couple of minutes later he come out with a working pass for me so I could go into the venue and hang around. So I wandered through the little backstage maze of corridors and dressing rooms until I entered the venue next to the stage. Everything was set up and people were scuttling around getting things ready. I kinda made myself a bit unnoticed by standing to the side or at the back of the room not wanting to get in anyone's way. Petrucci was on stage endlessly adjusting his gear and mucking around with stuff, and Myung was sitting off to the side on some crates seemingly warming up forever. And I have to say... for as fast as he plays in the actual music... the runs and trills he was warming up with were easilly 10 times as fast as anything he does in songs... it was incredible to watch.

Jordan came out from his dressing room after a bit and we had a chat and then headed up onto the stage where I had a bit of a tour of keyboard world. It was awesome seeing all of that gear up close. The Zen Riffer is absolutely massive! I met his tech Robert who was a cool guy, he was getting everything ready for the show. I went back out onto the floor and stood by the sound desk as Portnoy got up on stage so they could sound check. They ran through a bit of "The Ministry Of Lost Souls" and then some of "Constant Motion". Their sound guy had them dialed in so quickly, it was awesome.

I wandered back over to the stage as Portnoy was coming off and said hello to him. I interviewed him before G3 in 2006 so he knew who I was. We had a bit of a chat which lead to beard comparison due to the fact that I had dyed my beard blue like his was. He did concede that my beard was longer than his though. Victory!

After sound check I snuck Brad in a side door to meet Jordan and hang around inside for a bit which was cool, then he took off to sort out our tickets and passes while I went into the VIP Platinum Meet and Greet thingo. That was something that made me feel quite special actually. There was this massive line of punters waiting to have their photo taken and get things signed, and I was walked straight in and introduced to Jenny the girl who ran the meet and greets (such a cool chick) and given a seat against the wall right next to the band table. So here's me just sitting there hanging out, while everyone was lining up to get their photos and autographs. It was great. I never got a photo taken, it was offered but I didn't want to hold the band up longer than they had to be. I did get my working pass signed by everyone though which was cool. Was introduced to everyone in the band, MP and JP remembered me from G3, I'm surprised JP did because we met so briefly. JM was really pleasant and said a few words which was cool and then James who I had interviewed not long ago and also spent some time talking to over the net greeted me with a huge "SALTY! FINALLY!".

I then had to go outside and sort out some issues with one of my groups after show passes. This was one of those situations where Matt was the saviour of the day. The absolutely horrendous BITCH behind the guest pass window (and I hope by some twist of fate you're reading this, because you were the worst person I think I've ever had to deal with, and I used to work in prisons) wouldn't give us an after show pass that belonged to Nick, who after the meet and greet had been ushered straight to the barrier, so couldn't go outside to get his pass. The girl, who I'll just call BITCHAZOR wouldn't have a bar of us trying to explain it even though she could see the envelope right there with his name on it. I even did the arsehole thing of flashing my WORKING pass to try and pull some importance points but she just stone faced refused. It was at that point, after arguing with her for a couple of minutes that I saw Matt walk by in the background. I yelled out to him and he come over. I explained what had happened in about two sentences and he said something along the lines of "give them the pass" and it was sorted. You could tell by her face that she hated it.

Anyway into the show we went for three hours of absolute brilliance. There are enough reviews and set lists on the various related forums about it so I won't go into an actual show review, needless to say it was AMAZING.

After the show we went back for the after show meet and greet and Jordan, Petrucci and James all came out and had a chat, signed some stuff and took photos with people. It was cool hanging back there with them and just chatting. Of course they were all considerably tired being that they just played for three hours, so it was just as awesome that they actually come out to talk. The girls from Roadrunner were back there too so I got to have a chat with them and catch up which was good.

So tired... so sweaty... back to Mike's (Template) house for some sleep and recovery.

January 30th, 2008

Today started off like every other. I woke up and got myself sorted out and then was confronted with a dreaded phone call. "I'm sorry to inform you Mr Saltmarsh that your flight today has been cancelled." - "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" - "The earliest we can get you on a flight is 3:15pm.". OK, so not as bad as if they had said tomorrow. But it screwed all of my plans of being at the venue for sound check again. I let Jordan know that I'd be getting in late and would keep him updated and just hung around a bit longer at Mike's until it was time to hit the airport.

I got to Sydney airport and checked in and went to my gate to wait for the flight. I noticed a couple of Dream Theater shirts in the departure lounge which was cool. I went to look at the screen and there was a couple of people there, one who had a Dream Theater shirt on and the other who I recognised purely because she had bright pink hair. The guy, who's name was Corey made mention of my OzProg shirt and guessed that I was flying to Sydney for Dream Theater. The girl he was with, who I feel horrible about not remembering her name, when I asked her twice... I think it was Lucy. If you're reading this, I'm so sorry... I just suck sometimes with names. Anyway they were supposed to be on the earlier flight that got canceled too. So we got to talking and when she found out I was going to get a taxi from the airport to the venue she volunteered her dad to give me a lift with them, which I thought was extremely cool.

When we arrived we raced across Sydney to get to the venue and were dropped off a short walk from the venue. Half way there Jordan rang me wondering where I was and I let him know I was in visual distance from the venue. He said he'd sent Matt outside to get me and all was cool. Anyway I got to the venue and there was a number of entrances... so I had no idea where I'm supposed to meet Matt. I went from one gate to another, before being sent to the back gate where the truck entrance was because the security guard there had a radio.

I got around to there and the guy had no idea who I was or what was going on but did his best to contact someone. He could only get in touch with certain people, none of which were in any way in contact with Dream Theater's production crew, which is who I needed. After standing around for ages trying to find someone on the radio who could help me, this security chick come up the drive asking if i was Salty. Problem solvered! So I followed her inside and she led me through behind the stage and pointed out Matt who was standing on the floor while the band were doing the meet and greet thing. I said hi to him and he went off to get me a VIP pass, which basically meant "go anywhere you want". Once I had that on, the security couldn't have been nicer to me. I said a quick hello to all of the guys in the band as they left the meet and greet and saw Jordan's tech Robert who the night before in Melbourne had worn an OzProg shirt during the show, which was awesome!

Jordan stashed my backpack in his dressing room and went to get ready. I met up with Andy (LORD) before the show and got his ticket and after show pass sorted and met him inside. I spent most of the show hanging out with pink haired Lucy (bah I wish I could remember if that was her name or not...may have been Sally) and rocking out to what for me, was the best of the three shows I went to. I say that in terms of the fact that I got the most enjoyment out of that show and rocked out the hardest.

We hung around for the after show and this time only Jordan came out for a few minutes. I got my backpack back and had a chat with Jordan and Andy. Jordan was arriving in Brisbane the next day about an hour before I was, so we organised to meet up and have dinner on their day off.

Back to Andy's (LORD) house for some sleep and recovery.

January 31st 2008

Day off. Got to chill and hang out with Andy which was cool. Just hung around, went to Newtown for a cool Irish pub lunch. Then eventually off to the airport.

Sitting in the departure lounge... watching the lightning off in the distance... very ominous sight. The flight was delayed 15 minutes at first. I had let Jordan know that I had flight delays and he had pushed our dinner reservation back half an hour. Little did I know what was to come.

They herd us onto the plane, and THEN make the announcement that the flight has been grounded for who knows how long because policy says that they can't have anyone on the tarmac if there is lightning within 10 nautical miles. Great. I get my phone out again and tell Jordan, and we make the decision that dinner is a wash out and plan for lunch the next day before the show. Cool, plans have changed, but are still on... so now I'll just sit here and wait to take off.

They left us sitting on the tarmac in the plane for an hour and a half or some bollocks until we could take off. It seems that we were lucky to even get out because later they completely shut down all flights out of the airport for the rest of the night.

Finally home for some sleep and recovery.

February 1st, 2008

The Brisbane show! Time for the old hometown to show its prog colours and really shine!

I woke up and headed in to the city to meet Jordan at their hotel. We decided that rather than venture out into the city we'd just eat in the hotel restaurant. It was a great afternoon that was both fun and very inspiring to me, I can't thank him enough for his words that day, very encouraging. A funny thing happened at lunch. This waiter come up to us and sort of sheepishly said "Good afternoon sirs, I have a kind of strange, request of sorts... there are two gentlemen over there who say they have flown here from Hong Kong to see your band play tonight and they would like to pay for your lunch". Score! Free fancy restaurant lunch! They come over and said hello after which was cool. I think it was a father and son, they were Australian but lived in Hong Kong. My guess is he's some sort of big shot corporate guy or something. It was really cool though and Jordan appreciated the gesture.

We spent just over two hours at lunch talking and catching up on 7 or 8 years and talking about things that had happened, and plans for the future and how things were going for me and OzProg. It was really great.

I left lunch on a real high and went to pick up some fliers I had printed for the afterparty that night at Club Phoenix, and then home for some chill out time. As soon as Kylie got home I went and picked up Pete and we took off in to the gig. Drove past Club Phoenix first and threw the fliers out of the window at Trav from Sky Pi who went down to the Dream Theater gig to give them out.

We arrived after doors were supposed to open, but for some reason they weren't. Picked up our tickets and after show/VIP passes and went to check out the line. It was MASSIVE. I've never seen anything as crazy as that line. Pete pushed in with some mates at some stage but Kylie and I decided to hang back and wait for it to go down a little. We stood there for nearly an hour and even after doors opened, the line moved so slowly and was so massive that it seemed to go on forever. I saw Liam in the line and we decided that we'd just push in as well. Lucky we did because just as we got inside we could hear the crowd roar as the intro tape started. We got into the gold section and hung out around the top of the hill just as they began the show.

Now for all three shows I went to, the crowd vibe at Riverstage was definitely the best of all three. It was outdoors, and the crowd went down a sloping hill to a flat surface, so from the top of the hill it was like a sea of heads flowing down towards the stage. It was awesome! The band were great and the show rocked.

We hung around for the after show again and after a while Jordan come out. There was only my group of three and a girl called Mel from Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors who was getting a khaki shirt signed by a zillion and one celebrities to be auctioned and the money used on conservation. I met her at G3 when she got MP and JP to sign it, and she had contacted me about Dream Theater so I put her onto the people she needed to talk to about getting more of the band to sign. Jordan come out and come straight up to me and said "Hey so I think I'm up for coming along to this after party. Where's your car?". I was gobsmacked. I had told him about it, but never in a million years thought that after playing a show like theirs he'd actually be into coming along. So we headed to my car and drove in to Club Phoenix.

I called ahead to Geeks who was down there and made sure that everything was sorted for us to go straight in the doors and into the VIP room which was all smooth and sorted when we got there, thanks Geeks! Also have to say a huge thanks to Ashleigh who was at the venue earlier on making sure things were running smoothly, coolest chick ever. I owe you two coffees now!

So I took Jordan into the VIP room where he met and spoke with a bunch of local band members, guys from Arcane and Sky Pi and other people who were in there hanging out. Eventually we moved into the DJ booth where I put on some Pain Of Salvation and Ziltoid while Jordan stood and signed things and got photos with punters. I really have to hand it to that guy... he played a near 3 hour show, and then stood around in a loud club in the city, and talked to a huge line of drunk and loud fans and took photos and was really pleasant. What a champion.

After around an hour I drove him back to the hotel and wished him a bon voyage, a great wrap up to four days of insane amounts of awesome, that was matched by a similar amount of frustration, but all in all was a brilliant time and one I won't soon forget.