THIS RELEASE : The intent of this release is to document the shows that Dream Theater did in December of 1998. This series of shows continues the "Home for the Holidays" tradition that the band began back in 1995. One of the reasons why these shows were very special is that they were "pseudo-unplugged" - just as the fan-club gig in Rotterdam, Holland (played earlier in the year) was. What this meant was simply a way for the band play in a relaxed atmosphere, without the expectations of a "rock concert." This meant, among other things, that the band played their mellower songs along with some mellow covers (no "balls 'n' chunk" here kids) and Mike Portnoy played his smaller kit, which was positioned close to the edge of the stage.

Although unknown to the fans at the time, these shows also marked the last time that Derek played with Dream Theater in a live setting.
 

THE TRACKLISTING : Instead of having equal amounts of each show, it was found that the Poughkeepsie show had the longest setlist, best performance and sound, and so it was decided that the entire show would be used for the original release of 5DiaL. Then, tracks not played at Poughkeepsie were added from the other holiday shows, and finally, duplicate tracks were added where there was a difference between it and the Poughkeepsie track or due to its rareness.

THE WAIT : Originally intended as a Scarred Records release in 2000, Scott Hansen lovingly created a beautiful 16 page cover package with original artwork/photography from the actual shows, as well as extensive liner notes. The project was shelved after the taper (and his untouched master recording) dropped off the face of the earth. The Poughkeepsie show sat in the hands of 3 people for 3 years with a Do Not Distribute sticker on it, and became one of the most requested and sought after bootlegs of Dream Theater's career.

Now, for the Holiday 2003 season (the 5th anniversary of this show), Grateful Dreams Trading would like to offer you this amazing package, complete with the original artwork prepared by Scott. Freshly remastered by our audio magician Matthew Johnston, and sporting the third disc with the bonus material from the best possible source recordings, we are very pleased to be the ones to get this show out to the public.

The show is complete, and includes a disc of bonus material

Based on a grading curve against the bootlegs in my collection, I would give this a listenable "Audiance Source - Rated A"

This is by far my favorite DT bootleg, amazing quality, incredible cover versions and a good selection of DT's own songs.