I’m reading a lot of excuses here. The bottom line is that this guy cannot get the job done and it’s been this way for the better part of 30 years. They have 4 insane virtuosos getting up there on stage with a guy who wouldn’t make the cut on a cruise ship karaoke night. It’s actually insane and insulting to the fans to allow this.

All the pre-2000 stuff is basically impossible for him to sing now. It must be pretty devastating on an artistic level when he remembers how he used to sing.

"This complex deliriu -" "This program has stopped working. You can either close it or wait for the program to respond."

3:10 SUMWEA, LIE A SIN FOM A MEMEEEEE

2:19 "Dude, you're filming the wrong way, flip your phone" 2:27 "Never mind"

No doubt, DT killed JLB with their expectations. You cannot sing that high all the time, in almost every song! Listen to the very early live stuff - he was incredible, but that effort took its toll very soon. JLB is a great singer, but his band never understood how to support his natural range.

No wonder John disables the vocals in his earpiece during live performances.

0:47 WAH WO WO WAH BLA BLA BLO BLOH

1:30 Heaven mest be mere than thes When angels weken weth a kess Sacred herts wen't teke the pein Bet mene will never be the seme He stends befere the windew Hes shedow slewly feding frem the well And frem an ivry tewer he hears her cell "Let the leght serrend yee" I did not know, they changed the lyrics ^^

The Ulrich of dream theater

He is like about 90% of aging singings: Can sing fairly well when rested and only for short durations of time unless the music is tuned down and changed. That is why he sounds good still on albums. However, once in a while he still sounds good live. He sang in Dallas a week ago and he sang better than he had live in like 15 years and only made a handful of mistakes. Plus he sang for like 3 hours straight and did the whole Metropolis Part 2 album.

When you age, your skin, your voice, changes,everything changes,it's normal, nothing's wrong with that,, yes, he used to hit that high notes, well now he is not young anymore... We just have to accept that fact that everyone gets old.. he is a legend, I still admire him up until now. It's just sad that some people make fun of his voice now and forget how great he was before.

0:05 When you're a singer but you need an excuse for technical difficulties so you mimic a kill switch.

Now we know why portnoy left the band

2:36 Sweeming in a lêkê êf FÊêÊêRÊ

It's like whenever James sings, the music behind him disappears and it's just an egotistical seagull screaming to itself on stage

Feeling a little bit sorry for the man. Can't imagine this leaves him untouched. Labrie was a good singer in his very early DT years. It became quickly less and less during Awake and afterwards. The problem is not just with the high notes. It is his entire voice.

There are death metal singers with clearer vocals than the mumbling LaBrie does nowadays.

You cant comprehend a single word he utters.

Is this guy even singing words?

"...overwhelmed by this complex deliiiiiiriu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-um!!!!!!!" Wow, I wonder what he had in mind with that one, SMFH.

0:05 pretty sure that just listening to that kill switch... "effect" took some years of my life.

In what language is james singing ?

the thing people don't understand about Dream Theater is how damn hard that music is to sing. Very few of the melodies are written by LaBrie, and you can tell--they're melodies a non-singer would write. Because they're all kind of upper-midrangey and don't have many piercing high notes, a lot of folks think they're sort of ordinary and thus LaBrie's frequent live struggles are a real indictment, but speaking for myself at least, I think it'd be easier to go out and sing two hours of Crimson Glory or something than to sing two hours of Dream Theater. The never-ending upper-midrangeyness is taxing as fuck, and so LaBrie's vocal strategy for the last 20 years has been to prioritize stamina at the expense of pretty much everything else. That's why he always sounds so thin and wavery, with the weird vowel pronunications--that's how you'd sound if your top priority was "don't go into voicecrack mode." Except for the first tour without Portnoy, when he clearly had something to prove and went out and tried to turn the clock back to 1993 (with some success, actually! But also perhaps damaging his voice, which has gotten progressively worse since). Listening to LaBrie's solo material, or even his guest slots elsewhere, is a far better view of how good of a singer he actually is. Heck, even on the last DT album, he's pretty awful for the first six songs, and then suddenly you get to "At Wit's End" and "Out of Reach," where he wrote the lyrics (and presumably thus had more melodic input) and all of a sudden he's solid again.

I believe the "Cuban Pork Incident of 1994" is what permanently damaged his voice.

Thank you so much. I was feeling a little down since I had not a great vocal day today. Now I feel much better. Thank you.

I couldn't hear the 'Black Hole Sun' cover at the end - the sound of Chris Cornell spinning in his grave was too loud

I read In some 2017 interviews that John Petrucci disables vocals channel on his headphones during the shows, obtaining only the instrumental part of the show for himself. He stated that kinda was for his own "comfort" so he concentrates while playing but, listening to this, I wonder, how truth is this? I mean, yeah, it certainly sounds more comfy when he doesn't hear how hurting James vocals are.

Labrie sounds like the aliens from Mars Attacks

1:29 - 2:00 Absolutely atrocious 😳🤐😂

3:56 tells it all.

When James and fails unite.

2:00 Damn... At this point I just feel bad for him. He’s trying to do as best as he can.

20 years ago he was amazing. Now he's just painful to listen to. I think Dream Theater still has a lot to say, but they need to move on from Labrie and get a proper replacement. It's sad, and I will always love Labrie for his work on I&W, Awake, Metropolis Pt. II, but he can't sing anymore, it's not even a matter of taste it's just a fact.

3:33 poor Chris Cornell, man.

Its like he plays a little game with himself seeing how many times he can change the first letter of a word.

0:17 I can't tell if that lady is moved by the song, or grimacing and covering her ears up over LaBrie's ear rape. And look at that kid smirking. He knows. He knows he's witnessing a train wreck.

2:00 Not a single note was in tune. Quite impressive, but Anders Friden is still worse. Keep trying, James!

0:58 "...And wwwahhh wahhhwahhha wahhh one maAAaaaAn!!" The sound of a dying dog.

James provided us with outstanding vocals over the years. Hats off to him! James is the man!

Did James say “shit” there at the end? Yeah. He didn’t think it was good either...

This ain’t Dream theater this is nightmare house 💀

how come they fired Portnoy for wanting the band to take a break, but keep on going with labrie with these shits? there's a ton of better vocalist out there....

1:33 legend says CIA use this to torture suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay

0:18 I feel bad for the woman there. She clearly annoyed by his vocals. lol

LaBrie needs to step down. This ego trip is not helping anyone, DT is an amazing band, one of my favorites. But this is nonsense, LB has no voice left, he NEEDS to step down for everyone's sake.

Man this is actually rough to hear I saw them at Gigantour in 2005 and he was not like this. Now, at that point I already had a bunch of DT bootlegs that hadn't received a studio touch-up like some of their official live albums, so I kinda knew what to expect if he had an off night. After all, he had sang his ASS OFF on the first two albums, toured hard on that material, and put in great performances afterward in the studio despite even dealing w/ vocal ruptures. That night - think it was Corpus Christi, TX? Had the Dimebag tribute - he was pretty on and hit the notes I was worried he wouldn't. But even the worst bootlegs from the '90s and early 2000s were amazingly better than some of these segments. His voice is really struggling these days, I mean badly. I worry for his ability to sing (like, physical capability to do so at all) if he continues. DT wrote such soaring melodies back when that this man's voice is shot. It's Steve Perry all over again except they didn't shitcan him, they fired Mike instead.

He sounds like everyones first attempt of trying to sing like Steve Perry

This is the funniest shit I have ever heard.

He's good in studio albums, but this is ear rape lol

I hate singers who do lipsync when doing live concerts, but it looks like DT needs this.

This makes me sad. Once one of the most powerful tenor voices in metal and now this. He should really take a year or two off and build his voice back up, if he can.

Surprisingly, LaBries vocals were actually pretty good for the Distance Over Time tour. He had this major rough point but he actually bounced back

Its eerie when the backing vocal tracks echo him onstage. Almost like the ghost of the past mocking him.

Get ready guys, with the recording from 1:29 - 2:00 the entire live album is coming out soon on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.

Interesting enough, the first dream theater concert I ve been in (like 3 months ago) James actually did a really amazing live show, I was really scared of what his voice was gonna sound at the started but it turned out actually decent, not super good or good to begin with but defenitly decent at the point that I actually liked

ahh, and i was thinking that James’ microphone was messed up during the Images and Words and Beyond tour.

LaBrie looks like a power-prog version of DarkSydePhil

One of my favourites is the overdubbed "F#" in the Learning to Live 2013 Happy Holidays bootleg. Fucking hilarious.

James used to be one of my fave vocalists.this is pretty hard to watch but it's difficult for some people to maintain this style.

Not sure what's worse, this or The Astonishing.

Labrie destroyed my favorite band of all time.

I always thoguht the non-stop "Write Record Tour" cycle they did since Six Degrees is to blame for James not recovering from his voice. Would you agree?

The man is near 60 years old, I'm honestly impressed with the amount of touring he does it doesn't happen more often. I've seen them several times, he was stable in each. On disc, obviously he's excellent. I have nothing but respect for singers. It's no easy task, especially live, show after show. I couldn't imagine any other singer taking his place.

James Labrie is slowly becoming the Vince Neil of progressive Metal.

THIS IS SAD. WHY DONT THEY RETIRE TO AN ELDERLY HOME ?

DT are making a new album, that inevitably means that a tour will follow. I dread to think what James LaBrie will sound like. Can he possibly get any worse?

Were those the original studio recording backing vocals for Metropolis at 3:15?

I mean...does he not hear himself? He sounds like a blackout drunk, middle age woman singing karaoke at the local dive bar. I don’t know how it’s possible to hear yourself making those sounds and not know you’re terrible.

rip all those people who went dt concert recently.

When did Vince Niel start singing for DT?

I just saw Dream Theatre in November at the Ottawa NAC. OMFG his freaking singing was just like the sound my son used to make when he was taking a wiz in a piss-pot. Why is he still employed? Sad because I quite like his studio work but this last live outing was brutal and frankly hard to watch given the efforts at perfection that the rest of the band members strive for. Was it the end of a long tour? Was he just having a tough day personally? All good questions however in the final analysis when your frontman/ vocalist is subpar, don't ask why the band hasn't the brand or name recognition that say a band like Rush has. BTW even Geddy knew when to hang it up.

Vince Neil: Love your tone James!

Sometimes singers lost their voice and worsen their performances, but they offset with great stage presence and charisma (Think about Hansi of Hansi Kürsch, or Ian Gillan). But James, specially in the last 8 years, just walks around the stage, looking around....and when he doesn't sings, he goes beside the drum (to drink his "magic potion") or behind the stage to rest. If you can't be a good singer, you must be at least a good performer. But if you can't be none of them, then you are James La Brie.

not a dream theater fan but I like pull me under, learning to leave and silent man- what has happened to this band to fall so far down so that even their own fans criticize them now?

Whats the name of the song in the 4th clip? I can only make out one word which is "na"

Ok can anyone tell me why they held onto him all those years?

1:32 literally killed me omg 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

0:46 What is that song ? please someone tell me

every Dream Theater concert is a sequence of hundreds of fails and cringes by James LaBrie. That's why my last DT concert was in 2009. Its unbearable now.

It's not just about age or the food poisoning incident. The guy needs serious vocal coaching on technique and tone. This is really sad to listen to. Unfortunately there's a huge ego in the way.

don't the band realize what the problem is ?? and why suffer the embarrassment??

I am big fan from DT since Images ands Words. It breaks my heart again and again when I hear James live...

2:00 ... just wow, i like dt a lot, and mad respect to all of them for being awesome musicians (including labrie), but that hurts

I absolutely love the band with all my heart but this is fucking hilarious

2:38 Is it just me or does LaBrie sound like a really bad skeletor impersonator?

I watched the first few minutes of their Wacken performance a few years ago, hadn't seen them live since the Systematic Chaos tour. I refused to watch more, opting to watch/listen to Cradle of Filth instead. LaBrie's voice was beyond horrid and to then have him being topped by Danny Filth with pitched screams and such was, frankly, a revelation at how bad LaBrie's gotten

Are there any DT side projects featuring other singers?

I've read their history of how the other members, particularly Portnoy were very meticulous with their former singers. We got this story of them firing Dominici mainly because they felt that his voice doesn't fit the band's style. Then, there's this infamous "Scream For Me, Long Beach!" gig that made Steve Stone's first show also his last, not just because of poor stage antics but also due to very bad singing. I've also read about this singer that they were about to hire who was next in line before Labrie (Chris Cintron?). The band was hesistant about him due to his looks and VOICE resembling Dominici's Fast forward to this present time, I now wonder if the band really became a softie by allowing this kind of performance from Labrie. It's understandable that not all shows will be perfect. Unfortunately, based on what I've observed from the uploads of their peformance (the entire year of 2017), Labrie seems to be consistently poor on majority of them. It's as if there is poor effort given even if I&W songs are a half-step down. I still do respect their decision to keep him and still do like him as a singer (maybe they should do more songs similar to that of Impermanent Resonance) but come on! I think the band should give him that same "wake-up call" Portnoy gave him back in the 6DOIT days (not sure if it was Portnoy or if it was that era, but it doesn't matter! As long as it gets done)

Agreed, came to this video after watching that "the downward spiral of james la brie" video and holy fuck, i love DT (but i have hated the last 2 albums cause meh... with the exception of illumination theory song) but yes he should have been fired loooooooooong ass time ago. It's painful to hear and now they have to tune half step down on their concerts cause he can't hit high notes :) fucking great. I can't sing for shit but damn, he's at a point where it's painful to listen to.

I'm just wondering, after reading your description, do you get any money out of it if he gets fired? What's in it for you? We get it, he's done, it happens, life sucks. But what do you get out of such an aggressive advocacy for a man to be pushed aside from his life?

The Back to Budokan Surrounded was frightening to put it mildly.

My grandma may not be able to sing better than him but she can sing exactly like him...

This lady’s and gentlemen is why Portnoy left he couldn’t take it anymore

My God people, just leave the dude alone...

but how to replace him. some of these performances are horrendous, but his voice has such a signature sound

"Images, Words & Beyond 25th Anniversary Tour" Maybe drop the "Words" part, unless you think "HeeeeEEE HoOoO hEEEeee WAnAnA" count.

This is nothing more than very sad

LaBrie has picked up his performance quality in 2019. I attended a dream theater concert back in april and was pleased that he only went off-key twice that i could count as opposed to the countless times he went off key at the wacken performance in the first two clips.

Does anyone if JLB solo tour announced in 2018 has ever took place? I can't find anything about it on the internet: no video, no report, neither a single announcement of the cancellation of one or more evenings. Ut is not even clear how many concerts he should have done and where. Did someone attended at one of this concert? Or they was all canceled? Did someone bought tickets for these gig (and been refound) or have they not even been sold? I know that James made some brief appearance with other bands, but it seems that his solo concerts has disappeared from the web, maybe expecting that people would forget that news. I've read that even on Dream Theater Forum the threads about JLB solo tour was deleted.