 On the "20th Anniversary World Tour" Rudess has even thrown in a short "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" theme in a break during "Endless Sacrifice," and during a concert in Israel he started a spontaneous "Hava Nagila" later accompanied by the rest of the band.In Mumbai during the 25th Anniversary tour celebrating the album, Images of Words, the band closed the tune 'As I Am' off the album ' Train of Thought' with Metallica's song Enter Sandman

Perhaps the best example of Dream Theater's unpredictable concert structure came during Derek Sherinian's time with the band.At selected shows the band members all swapped instruments and performed an encore as the fictitious band dubbed Nightmare Cinema.