The Official Greek DT Fan Club is organizing its 3rd convention on Sunday 20th May 2001. The event will be hosted at CAMEL CLUB in Athens and opening time was set at 21:00.

All members of the Fan Club will have 1000 DRS discount on the original entrance price, on the production of their member card.

There will be two live appearances by the acclaimed bands of "BLIZZARD" and "BREAKING SILENCE".

Special Guest of the event: MIKE PORTNOY

There have been reports from Norway and France that there are synchronization problems with the PAL version of the "Metropolis 2000" DVD. Apparently, the audio is a slightly out of synchronization with the video, especially during "Scenes From A Memory".

We do not know if all PAL versions are affected by this problem. It may or may not be restricted to certain countries.

The synchronization problem was one of the errors that caused the release date to be postponed to April 24th. It seems that someone accidentally used the wrong master for manufacturing some of the PAL versions. Mike Portnoy corrected and approved the NTSC version, and there is no problem with the NTSC version at all.

If you have already bought a PAL version that has the synchronization problem, please read the following message from Mike Portnoy:

"We are awaiting an "official" word from the label on how they are planning to proceed...hopefully they will do the right thing by recalling the defective run, refund buyer's money and reprint a new PAL version from the correct (and Director approved) NTSC master."

"I cannot apologize enough for this ridiculous error and it seems to be typical for the type of crap I have had to deal with in order to release this DVD *correctly*...believe me, nobody is more pissed about this than me..."

"The good news is that the NTSC version FUCKING RULES!"

Please remember that not all PAL DVD's may have this problem. There is still a chance that it is restricted to certain countries. BlackStar in the UK, for instance, has received no complaints and no returned copies so far.

In response to this incident all PAL versions of the DVD are being recalled..... They will be remastered with the director approved transfer and a new release date will be announced ASAP....(none of this effects the US release) Here's the info the label sent me this morning:

1. Warner Vision has put a hold on all finished stock in the local distribution companies, including those that have shipped and have not shipped and they will be recalled to the plant and then destroyed
2. Warner Vision is destroying all finished discs at the plant
3. Warner Vision is asking all retailers with stock to refrain from selling this package and will replace all with finished stock when ready
4. Warner Vision replace all consumer purchased copies with new version when available

If and when there is any further info or press releases from the label, I will pass it on..

Nicole Stachowicz (DTIFC/USA) will be organizing a "Metropolis 2000" DVD release party in Houston, Texas, on April 24th:

It's official! Set your calendars for Tuesday, April 24 for a night of Dream Theater indulgence! (And a little cake, too!) We'll hold the Houston, Texas Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory DVD release party at Diamondhead Records. The fun will begin at 7:00 PM and will include cake, prizes, and a screening of the DVD.

Diamondhead Records is located on the north side of Houston, TX at 5020 Louetta Rd # 110 just west of Kuykendahl Rd. From downtown Houston, take I-45 north, exit Louetta. (Watch the construction signs! It's a mess up there!) Go West on Louetta for approx. 7-9 miles. Diamondhead will be on your right just past Kuykendahl.

See you there!

Sunday April 29 - 9.00pm
will take place the 5th national subscribers convention of Italian Dreamers.

"Strange Deja Vu"
Official Dream Theater Party

the venue is:
"The Monet"
Traditional Belgian Pub
Via Losanna, 35
47900 Rimini
Italy

Highlight of the evening:
View on megascreen of the new Live DVD of Dream Theater
"Metropolis 2000 - Scenes from New York"
Rare material and gadgets contests
Directly from "Disma Music Show 2001" live show of:

FOUR TILES
(Mogar Band)

Cesareo (Elio e le Storie Tese) - Guitar
Roberto Gualdi (PFM, Lucio Dalla) - Drums
Christian Meyer (Elio e le Storie Tese) -Drums
Guido Block - Bass - Voice
Stefano Xotta - Guitar

Simone Fabbri
Italian Dreamers Staff

Here is an announcement from the official French Dream Theater fanclub Your Majesty:

"The Dream Theater French official fanclub, Your Majesty, will hold its 2nd convention on May, Saturday 19th, in Paris (venue : Elysee Montmartre). Mike Portnoy will specially take a break in the recording of the new album to attend the convention.

The event will actually take place from 4pm to 10:30pm as follows:

- from 4pm to 7pm : the convention in itself with : meet and greet with Mike, many stands with collectibles and memorabilias, a special stand with the new John Petrucci's signature guitar...

- from 7pm to 10:30pm : a special concert with an exclusive headlining concert of PAIN OF SALVATION (the Swedish prog metal geniuses), and the mighty French prog metal band REGENCY as opener.

It's not impossible at all to see Mike ending up on stage for a memorable jam... who knows !

To attend the convention in the afternoon, you must be a current subscriber of any of the Dream Theater international fanclubs. The concert in the evening is open to everyone.

DTIFC has notified its members of the delayed Xmas CD by sending them a postcard. This card has been sent out on March 8th and mentions an expected shipping date of March/April, as well as important messages about payments.

As mentioned in the DVD delay press release, the new tentative release date for the "Metropolis 2000" DVD is April 24th, 2001. The record label still wants to release the DVD and VHS simultaneously, which means the VHS will be released on April 24th as well.

CDNow is currently cancelling all pre-orders, and other online stores are expected to do the same very soon.

As soon as CDNow starts taking pre-orders again, an announcement will be posted right here and on the weekly Dream Theater newsletter. The newsletter is also used to send out press releases and news flashes, so you might want to consider subscribing, if you haven't done so already.

Pre-orders for the Region 2 DVD and the PAL video at BlackStar in the UK will not be cancelled. So if you can order from them without any problems (they offer free shipping worldwide).

Here is a press release from Mike Portnoy about the upcoming "Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York" DVD release:

I am extremely sorry to announce that due to errors in the DVD authoring process, the release date of Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York has once again been delayed to April 24th, 2001.

I am furious over these errors which were out of my hands and I am just as disappointed as any of you in having to wait to share this great DVD with you all.

I must stress that the delay has absolutely nothing to do with any errors or dissatisfaction on mine or the record company's behalf......they were stricly technical errors in the authoring process which forced me to pull the plug on production until the errors were corrected.

I know what a disappointment this is, but it will be worth the wait when the product is finally released in April.....In the meantime to tide you over, keep an eye on dreamtheater.net in the coming weeks for an M2000 Trailer to give you all a sneak preview!

Patiently,
Mike Portnoy

PS - A very special thanks to all the great, dedicated DT fans who pre-ordered the DVD and made it #1 at CDnow......We will let you know when it is available to pre-order once again!

Hi all,
Just wanted to fill y'all in:

Dream Theater will enter Bear Tracks studios in New York at the beginning of next month (March 2001) to begin work on the follow up to "Scenes From A Memory". The new album will once again be self-produced and the band will once again be using engineer Doug Oberkircher who has worked with the band on "Scenes...", "Images and Words" and "A Change Of Seasons".

The band is planning on writing in the studio as they did for their last CD as well as the 2 "Liquid Tension Experiment" CD's. Studio time is booked through the summer and there is no release date yet scheduled.

In the meantime, the long-awaited DVD and VHS release of "Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York" which was directed by Mike Portnoy, will be released next month on March 20th 2001.

Here is a message from the Dream Theater International Fan Club:

IMPORTANT!!

Hey you! Just to let you know that fanzine 19 has been shipped and that the forthcoming issue will be right at its tail. And more important...this fanzine nr. 20 will contain your FREE Xmas CD!! Expect it January/February, so if you are not a member yet then you better subscribe and if you are a member...have you renewed your subscription? Mind you...it will be worth it!!

DTIFC

Finally, here is the information you have all been waiting for:

The upcoming Dream Theater DVD / video release will be called "METROPOLIS 2000: Scenes From New York".

As already reported, the tentative release dates are:

Europe: Monday, February 26th, 2001
USA: Tuesday, February 27th, 2001

The contents of the VHS video will be "Scenes From A Memory" in its entirety from its final performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on August 30th, 2000.

The contents of the Special Edition DVD will be:

1. SFAM in its entirety from its final performance in New York City
2. Audio Commentary throughout SFAM by all 5 members of Dream Theater
3. Over 1 hour of bonus live material
4. Behind The Scenes Documentary
5. Metropolis 2000 World Tour Photo Gallery

Both the video and DVD were Directed by Mike Portnoy

Here are the tentative release dates for the DVD / Video of Dream Theater's performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on August 30th, 2000:

Europe: Monday, February 26th, 2001
USA: Tuesday, February 27th, 2001