The Mike Portnoy Appreciation/Discussion Thread (merged)

[bosk1]

There are tons of musicians MP can find that can easily play all parts of the suite. Hell, if he decided not to go with anyone known, he can find hundreds of people just on youtube.

And yet, you could go onto YouTube right now and find plenty of no-names pulling off pretty impressive covers. 

Man, when I clicked on this thread there was like 15 unread posts. I was bound to miss something. 

That's okay.  But if you and I agree, it must be true.  ...or it is a sign the world is getting ready to end.  But surely, that can't be it.  I don't think.  Um...

I really doubt MP is going to do this with a band of unknowns.

I agree, but that wasn't the point either me or Adami were making.  The point is simply that the talent exists to pull this off, and the talent we already know about on the ship is more than enough to do it, even if Mike didn't bring any other musicians (which I think he will).

[Progmetty]

Let's not be blinded by MP hate and just dump on everything the guys does just because you don't like him.  He's doing something he wants to do, that a lot of fans would want to see, and that other musicians can clearly help him pull off.  There's no need to bash it just because you aren't interested.

I like MP.. my point isn't about his person at all.

I disagree, I think there are some things on TGP and TDS that would demand -at least- JR.

To be clear, you are saying that the only person in the entire world who can play the keyboard parts of TGP and TDS is Jordan Rudess? Literally no other person can play it, on the face of the entire planet?

I'm saying it won't sound right at all, it'll be something I can take from a youtube cover band.

[425]

Most likely lineup (assuming nobody from DT shows up)?

Gildenlow from PoS - Vocals
Richard Henshaw from Haken - Guitar
Diego from Haken and/or Sherinian - Keyboards
Don't know much about the bassists on this cruise, maybe Connor Green? But now it's just turning into Haken + Mike Portnoy. Which is likely too I suppose.

I mean, Haken is the most natural fit, if you had to pick one band to do it. But I agree, he'll probably mix it up a bit more. I'm sure there are people we haven't even thought about who could and would want to do it.

I'm saying it won't sound right at all, it'll be something I can take from a youtube cover band.

Okay, so what you actually mean is that for it to sound right to you, it would actually have to be played by more than one member of DT. That's a fair opinion to have, but that's totally different from "there are some things on TGP and TDS that would demand -at least- JR." Maybe they demand JR for you personally to be satisfied with the performance, but they don't demand JR to actually be able to play them correctly. Others could do so.

[Progmetty]

425 That's a good halfway point to meet, yes.
I also don't see why it would be too far fetched to think that maybe JP and JR would be the surprise guests, they could also do some Liquid Tension Experiment stuff while they're at it, so they won't be there at the capacity of Dream Theater, so as not to create an awkward vibe with JM, JLB & MM.

[425]

Okay, sounds fair.

I could completely see JR doing it. I think he and Mike are still good friends and, if asked, he'd want to go play those songs. I think JP is considerably less likely—as far as we know, he and Mike never really repaired their relationship. Also, JP likes to be the leader of the band. I don't know that he'd want to go play his songs under a big "Mike Portnoy Presents" banner.

[bosk1]

I also don't see why it would be too far fetched to think that maybe JP and JR would be the surprise guests, they could also do some Liquid Tension Experiment stuff while they're at it, so they won't be there at the capacity of Dream Theater, so as not to create an awkward vibe with JM, JLB & MM.

For the record, as I said above, I think that is entirely possible.  I think it is unlikely, just because of the logistics of it being a cruise.  But it is possible.  And I would extend that to the other two members as well.  Although I think it is less likely, I would not be shocked if I ended up hearing that any of the DT guys were there.  I think the speculation of "bad blood" among fans is likely way overblown.  I'm not saying there wasn't conflict or tension at times, but I'm not sure we can draw any significant conclusions beyond that.

[Adami]

Do DT have any tour dates for early 2017?

[bosk1]

Not yet, as far as I know.

[Mosh]

I actually heard DT on Eddie Trunk awhile back and it sounded like they were all on good terms, JP mentioned getting a nice Christmas card from MP. In general they seemed a bit more open to talking about MP than they were just a couple years ago. I agree that the bad blood is overblown, I think it's more that JP has never been one to publicly discuss grievances with other musicians or really discuss his relationships with any former members or collaborators. The DT guys are pretty private compared to DT so it makes sense. I also think JP is really trying to push this incarnation of DT as the definitive version (which is fair) and doesn't want to entertain the idea of them going backwards. I could also see that as a reason for him not to do this cruise, but I hope that's not the case.

Frankly, the only DT guy I'd be surprised to see make an appearance is JLB.

[Nel]

Love Neal Morse but I do giggle a bit thinking of him trying to sing The Glass Prison or This Dying Soul. His singing just always seems so... gentle?

...Hell, I'd pay to see that.

[425]

I actually heard DT on Eddie Trunk awhile back and it sounded like they were all on good terms, JP mentioned getting a nice Christmas card from MP. In general they seemed a bit more open to talking about MP than they were just a couple years ago. I agree that the bad blood is overblown, I think it's more that JP has never been one to publicly discuss grievances with other musicians or really discuss his relationships with any former members or collaborators. The DT guys are pretty private compared to DT so it makes sense. I also think JP is really trying to push this incarnation of DT as the definitive version (which is fair) and doesn't want to entertain the idea of them going backwards. I could also see that as a reason for him not to do this cruise, but I hope that's not the case.

Frankly, the only DT guy I'd be surprised to see make an appearance is JLB.

Ah, okay, this is new information to me! Last I remember hearing, things between MP and JP seemed pretty tense. In that case, I'd say he's more likely than I would have previously said.

And honestly, I'd rate JLB more likely than JM. Yeah, he and MP had some serious tension, but they also used to be really good friends. Maybe without the pressures of being in the same band, the friendship has reasserted itself over the tension. I'll be the first to admit to having no idea what John Myung is thinking at any given time, but the combination of the general assumption that he and MP didn't get along near the end and the fact that he has done by far the fewest side projects and guest appearances of anyone in the band makes me think that he'd be less likely to take an invitation.

[Prog Snob]

I also don't see why it would be too far fetched to think that maybe JP and JR would be the surprise guests, they could also do some Liquid Tension Experiment stuff while they're at it, so they won't be there at the capacity of Dream Theater, so as not to create an awkward vibe with JM, JLB & MM.

For the record, as I said above, I think that is entirely possible.  I think it is unlikely, just because of the logistics of it being a cruise.  But it is possible.  And I would extend that to the other two members as well.  Although I think it is less likely, I would not be shocked if I ended up hearing that any of the DT guys were there.  I think the speculation of "bad blood" among fans is likely way overblown.  I'm not saying there wasn't conflict or tension at times, but I'm not sure we can draw any significant conclusions beyond that.

"entirely possible"
"would not be shocked"
"it is possible"

Do you know something we don't? Besides Hef's cup size, of course.

[Progmetty]

A fan on FB:

I honestly wish you would just have a mini reunion with DT and play the 12 step with them.
Wouldn't feel right without all of you guys doing those songs.

MP:

Surely I'd rather be playing it w them as well, but sadly it's not in the cards for them...
But as this is a "career retrospective" concert, of course DT material needs to be represented...
I figured this was the right time and place to finally do it...the fans deserve it...and I am just as entitled to play those songs just as DT continue to play those songs without me...
Life's too short...I can't wait around for a reunion that may never happen...

[The Letter M]

Thinking upon it, I'd say Eric Gillette would be pretty good to cover some of JP's parts, as well, swapping out with Haken's guitarist. Eric's got some mean chops, and if you've heard either of his solo albums, he's got a JP-esque sound and tone, as well as writing style and chops. I'd be surprised if Mike didn't get Eric to play at least just a LITTLE bit of the suite.

One thing I did just think of, though, is that if we get a nice, high-quality recording of this concert, we'll finally get a consistent, full version of the suite. I had always hoped that somewhere down the line, maybe via YtseJamRecords or even from MP himself, that there'd be a remastered set of the suite, mixed together and done up with proper crossfades and segues and such, but now that he's going to perform it live, at least once that is, we'll get that. Sure, it won't be DT, but it'll be one whole performance, so that's something, right?

Either way, being a career retrospective concert, I can't imagine it being any longer than 3 hours, and so already one-third of that is taken up by the 12 Step Suite, which will likely cover his Dream Theater-portion of his career (although he might throw in The Ytse Jam, The Best Of Times, or even A Change OF Seasons, among other MP-penned tracks).

This leaves me wondering what other portions of his career he will, and won't feature. With Neal on board (literally), he'll likely do some medley of Neal's solo music, and/or a medley of Transatlantic music, not to mention Flying Colors as well (honestly, between Mike and Neal, they could fill out 2 more hours of music just between those three bands).

There's also stuff from LTE and OSI, which would be neat to see, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't feature either of them. Then there's also A7X and Adrenaline Mob, for as brief as they were for him, and of course, his "main" band, The Winery Dogs, though I don't know if all three of them will be on the cruise.

It would be neat if Mike managed to play 1 song from each year of his career, though that would mean anything from the 80's to 1997 would all be Dream Theater music, and considering he's already allotted 2002-2009 for the 12 Step Suite, I doubt he'd do that. He could also perform 50 songs, but if that were true, he'd have to pick some VERY SHORT ones if he wanted the concert to be shorter than 5 hours (especially since the suite of 5 songs already reaches close to an hour).

-Marc.

[Adami]

Who would you guys like to hear doing vocals?

I'm a bit bias toward Russell Allen for these songs specifically, but I'd also love it if they used multiple singers.

[Darkstarshades]

He's just going to play it by himself, Keyboard/Guitar/Bass/Voice and everything else will be tapes.

[Kotowboy]

MP:

Surely I'd rather be playing it w them as well, but sadly it's not in the cards for them..
I am just as entitled to play those songs just as DT continue to play those songs without me...
Life's too short...I can't wait around for a reunion that may never happen...

[Cyclopssss]

The day you knew would come.....

[Kwyjibo]

I don't think all of the parts of the suite are really great, but I wouldn't mind hearing it performed complete. I can't and won't go on the cruise but I hope he releases it as an CD/DVD/BlueRay/whatever.

And I think it would be more interesting when he uses different musicians for different parts, there are enough who can pull it off, and they don't have to play it note by note. More often than not I like it when songs performed live are a little bit different from the studio versions.

[Darkstarshades]

Please don't be retarded, the suite uses plenty of whahíbrido pickingant, none can play that but Petrucci. Now stfu.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Please don't be retarded, the suite uses plenty of whahíbrido pickingant, none can play that but Petrucci. Now stfu.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I could see Jordan showing up but that's the only member of DT that I could imagine doing this. Of all the members of DT though, I think Petrucci being there would mean the most to the fans. Even though it came out during this album cycle that Jordan has been the primary songwriter with John since he joined the band, when most people think of DT, they think of the JP-MP partnership. Seeing him up on stage playing some good prog metal with his former brother in arms would be an amazing sight and possibly give the fans the closure that many of them have wanted for what will be over six years at that point.

[Lax]

I think he is going to play it alone, with kind of a backing track like he would use for an instructionnal dvd, with 12 gopros filming him on every angle.
Playing it with people would be unexpected for me.

I won't do troll jokes because I loved what he did on many DT albums and he was dedicated to fans, but I could

[mikeyd23]

I still can't get over a 50-year old man throwing himself a birthday party of this magnitude.  Seems like something Kayne West or Terrell Owens would do.

Good lord, this.

[Ad134]

I like the idea of Haken + MP. I could imagine JR also joining (considering the two of them have played together with Haken in the recent past) and doing keyboard duels with Diego.

[KevShmev]

Wouldn't surprise me if initial ticket sales for this cruise weren't that good, causing them to now start promoting the suite with the words 'Dream Theater' in the promo picture. Considering Portnoy never advertises beforehand what he is going to play live, you can't help but wonder.  These kind of cruises are hard for most fans since it requires a lot of money and dedicating anywhere from 3-7 days most of the time to go on one of them.

[bosk1]

I still can't get over a 50-year old man throwing himself a birthday party of this magnitude.  Seems like something Kayne West or Terrell Owens would do.

Good lord, this.

  Why?  What's the issue?  This is very different than a celeb doing a private birthday bash that is publicized, but not open to the public.  I have been to and/or heard of plenty of birthday bash shows for musicians, and they are oftentimes pretty cool.  Dave Meniketti's 50th birthday bash was one of the best, most fun concerts I have ever been to.  I don't see what the problem is with celebrating such a big milestone.  And for someone whose career is performing in public, it makes sense that he would want to celebrate it by performing in public.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Sammy Hagar does it at Cabo Wabo Cantina all the time and it's a big deal.

[bosk1]

Yup.  Another great example.

[hefdaddy42]

Yeah.  I mean, he's a professional musician.  It's a gig.  Use the birthday as an excuse to do (sell) a special gig.  No worries.

[kaos2900]

I have mixed feeling on this. Part of me hates the idea while part of me is intrigued to see these songs possibly performed by some of my other favorite artists (Sheehan, Allen) etc. If it's released on a Blu-Ray I'll probably buy it unless it turns into a huge mess.

[bosk1]

It would be awesome if Symphony X were added to the cruise.  In that case, it would be easy for Mike to do an AMob song in his birthday set (not saying that would be a "good" thing, but just in terms of completeness for him wanting to represent his career) AND for Russ to sing on the 12SS (not to mention maybe having SX captured live on DVD).

[mikeyd23]

I still can't get over a 50-year old man throwing himself a birthday party of this magnitude.  Seems like something Kayne West or Terrell Owens would do.

Good lord, this.

  Why?  What's the issue?  This is very different than a celeb doing a private birthday bash that is publicized, but not open to the public.  I have been to and/or heard of plenty of birthday bash shows for musicians, and they are oftentimes pretty cool.  Dave Meniketti's 50th birthday bash was one of the best, most fun concerts I have ever been to.  I don't see what the problem is with celebrating such a big milestone.  And for someone whose career is performing in public, it makes sense that he would want to celebrate it by performing in public.

There's no issue. It just screams "look at me, look at me". If others want to look, that's cool I have no issue with that, I just don't want to.

[425]

A fan on FB:

I honestly wish you would just have a mini reunion with DT and play the 12 step with them.
Wouldn't feel right without all of you guys doing those songs.

MP:

Surely I'd rather be playing it w them as well, but sadly it's not in the cards for them...
But as this is a "career retrospective" concert, of course DT material needs to be represented...
I figured this was the right time and place to finally do it...the fans deserve it...and I am just as entitled to play those songs just as DT continue to play those songs without me...
Life's too short...I can't wait around for a reunion that may never happen...

Seems fair to me. Look, again, I know some people just don't like Mike Portnoy. Kotow is clearly among them, as he's now nitpicking Mike's use of pronouns, apparently—something that no other musician would get nitpicked about on this forum (imagine Steven Wilson or Mikael Akerfeldt or another forum favorite using the word "I" a whole two times in a comment! no one would care at all).

But anyone's negative opinion of him aside, this seems completely fair. He really wants to play this suite. It's personally important to him. Dream Theater clearly doesn't want a reunion right now. He's exactly right that if he really wants to play the Suite, he "can't wait around for a reunion that may never happen"—it is his 50th birthday, after all, he doesn't have a limitless amount of time in which he will be physically capable of playing This Dying Soul.

[mikeyd23]

Right, and again, I personally don't have an issue with him playing it. I just don't have an interest in him playing it without DT. That's all.