Hey folks,

Well, as always, it's great to meet up with the group. The pre-show gossip, post-show commentary is always the best (we're usually deer-in-headlights during the actual show, right?)

Some thoughts:

1. What Part of My Body. Okay, so last year we got to hear the piano only version. Sounded spectactular. We all left hoping this would be the next "big" epic piece. Add another verse, some vocals, huge sound, etc. At Mohegan, Body certainly had...well, more body to it. And for me, I don't think the Bova-esque is all that bad. It tells me that work is being done with Body and that it's going somewhere. Rinkoff knows he's got a hit here. It needs that Wall of Sound, though, to convince us fans. I'm all for Jim and Rink playing around with this one. I wanna hear a huge version of it and sometimes the synth sounded nice.

2. Braver. Subscribing to his own mantra, Jim seems to think that "if it ain't broke, break it." Well, that's certainly the case here. What's great about the original Braver Than We Are was that it was a universal love song. It could be removed from the context of TdV/DOTV and stand on its own. Incredible song. Shouldn't be about politics. If Jim wanted to write a war song from one of his previous pieces, at least do it with something halfway mediocre. Basically, he could fiddle-faddle with Speaking in Tongues all night long and I wouldn't care. Start to tamper with Braver...well, that's something else.

Jim & Rink, consider this:
Braver has yet to get a proper "studio" recording. Why "release" it to the public as a war song? If it ain't broke, break it. Not here. Please.

The Steinman group seem to always say that The Dream Engine is a work in progress. Weren't we told the same thing last year at OTT? What have they accomplished in the last year? The show was disorganized and a bit sloppy at parts. Everything after Future Just Aint was supposed to be about the war? And the reprise closed it up? Was the whole show supposed to be a concept show against the war? Then what the hell was Dirty Job doing there in the middle? Ugh.

Now, the plus side was hearing Dirty Job live. Great song. Loved hearing Future live. Great song. Rink, I'm all in favor of bringing back some "forgotten" Steinman classics and less Meat-related songs, but not at the expense of damaging today's classics (Braver) in the wake.

I wish TDE all the success and look forward to the future of the show and a studio album. Hopefully, Jim and Rink are just testing the audience here (and we're an especially tough audience, I'm sure).

I hope you all have fun in March and I'll be running into a few of you in Tokyo this summer I'm sure!