The Mike Portnoy Appreciation/Discussion Thread (merged)

[OpenYourEyes311]

Clearly it's not gonna happen with DT. MP has made that clear. But I keep thinking it would be more feasible for the entire band to come out and play with MP, MM included. Imagine seeing the 12-Step-Suite performed as Dream Theater and two drummers! Maybe a drum battle, too?

[devieira73]

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.

I don't if you are aware of, but did you see PSMS perform live Acid Rain from LTE? Personally, I loved that version of the song and because it's totally similar to the original arrangement and, at the same time, the differences of styles between Derek, Billy and Tony compared to JP, JM and JR, makes that version specially unique. I guess that capability and chemistry of PSMS as musicians would work very well too for a 12 Step performance. With Russel Allen of course!

[mikeyd23]

I don't if you are aware of, but did you see PSMS perform live Acid Rain from LTE? Personally, I loved that version of the song and because it's totally similar to the original arrangement and, at the same time, the differences of styles between Derek, Billy and Tony compared to JP, JM and JR, makes that version specially unique. I guess that capability and chemistry of PSMS as musicians would work very well too for a 12 Step performance. With Russel Allen of course!

I haven't heard it, but I'm sure it was a killer version, those guys are all monster players. I'm sure he will get monster players to cover the 12SS on the cruise, but it honestly doesn't interest me that much to see Mike play drums to DT or LTE songs with none of the other guys from those groups. Clearly it interests a lot of other people, which is great!

[devieira73]

Cool, now I understood you point By the way, Tony Levin, not JM.

[Madman Shepherd]

Mike is so into doing this one off special shows that I think the performances suffer.  Sure, when you get a bunch of Grade A musicians together, you can make it sound great, but a day or two of rehearsals does not substitute perfecting a song (or 50 minute suite) over the course of several weeks. 

[ReaperKK]

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.

This is true. My girlfriend took my on the Train cruise earlier this year because she is a huge Train fan and I won't lie, it's a lot of fun but sitting down and seeing how much it cost. We could've gone to Costa Rica again for 10 days, or have done an incredible non-music cruise. It was a great experience but we won't do it again.

A little off topic but people really build a community on these boats, we kept running into people that new each other from previous cruises, it was pretty cool.

[KevShmev]

Yep, given the time and the money it takes to go on one of these, it seems like it is one of those things that would be awesome to do once for most fans, but to do it every year just isn't feasible, and this is, what, the third year in a row?  Not every fan has the money and vacation days at work to take off for a week to do something like this every year, and not everyone wants this to be the one vacation they splurge on once a year.  So, given that, promoting the suite is the hook needed to draw some fans who were probably thinking, "I don't need to go this time..."  Granted, I can't see it making that big of a difference - if you worship at the alter of Mike Portnoy, you were probably leaning towards going anyway - but it's worth a shot.

[black_biff_stadler]

I think the irony of the fact that someone is much more likely to buy tickets to this drunk than sober is lost on MP.

[lucasembarbosa]

Mark my words: MP will play the entire suite with JP+JR, plus some LTE stuff aaaaaand they will release a new LTE album in late 2017.

2017 will be the year for parallel projects, as Petrucci is going to play with G3 next year (and wants to release his second solo album) Rudess could also play with LMR, JMX with JJ and LaBrie could release another solo album with his band...

[Kotowboy]

Mark my words: MP will play the entire suite with JP+JR, plus some LTE stuff aaaaaand they will release a new LTE album in late 2017.

Quoting this for future reference.

[SebastianPratesi]

Mark my words: MP will play the entire suite with JP+JR, plus some LTE stuff aaaaaand they will release a new LTE album in late 2017.

2017 will be the year for parallel projects, as Petrucci is going to play with G3 next year (and wants to release his second solo album) Rudess could also play with LMR, JMX with JJ and LaBrie could release another solo album with his band...

Plus, Mike Mangini said recently on his Facebook that he is working on some new music by himself (someone asked if DT related or for a solo project, and he answered "both", if I'm not mistaken).

[Adami]

Mark my words: MP will play the entire suite with JP+JR, plus some LTE stuff aaaaaand they will release a new LTE album in late 2017.

2017 will be the year for parallel projects, as Petrucci is going to play with G3 next year (and wants to release his second solo album) Rudess could also play with LMR, JMX with JJ and LaBrie could release another solo album with his band...

I think it's pretty obvious that they will play the entire suite with all of DT, including MM playing with MP on a double kit. On top of that, Dominici, Sherinian and Moore will join them. On top of that, the guys from Rush will come and play a Rush medley with them too. On top of that there will be fireworks and free cake for all.

Also everyone gets laid.

[Prog Snob]

And the keyboardist who auditioned for them that later died will also play.

[Adami]

And the keyboardist who auditioned for them that later died will also play.

Will he die again during the show?

[Prog Snob]

Only when he tries to play Dance of Eternity backwards and flips the time signatures upside down.

[Zydar]

Remember that death is not the end, but only a transition.

[King Postwhore]

Only when he tries to play Dance of Eternity backwards and flips the time signatures upside down.

Leave that to the 80's ZZ Top albums.  We swore as teens it was one song recorded and play it fast, slower, on its side or backwards and it's other songs on those albums.

[v_clortho]

Cake? Did someone say that there will be cake?

[Mladen]

The band Cake?

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I've already seen some comments on how 'MP SHOULD SING IT GIVEN HE'S BETTER THAN JLB!' in some discussions of this.

Oh, my. I love MP and most of the music he's been involved with but his diehard fans can be quite a handful.

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.

I don't if you are aware of, but did you see PSMS perform live Acid Rain from LTE? Personally, I loved that version of the song and because it's totally similar to the original arrangement and, at the same time, the differences of styles between Derek, Billy and Tony compared to JP, JM and JR, makes that version specially unique. I guess that capability and chemistry of PSMS as musicians would work very well too for a 12 Step performance. With Russel Allen of course!

I kindly disagree. To my ears, the PSMS versions of DT tunes (or Acid Rain) didn't sound nearly as good as the originals. I love Tony MacAlpine, but he didn't quite grasp the JP vibe at all (nor the playing or the sound) and Billy Sheehan overplays stuff. Listening to Lines in the Sand with Derek's original sounds is awesome, but it fails to give me the awesome vibe the DT versions give me every time.

I didn't expect the PSMS versions of the DT tunes to beat the originals (nor I think it was their intention to do so in the first place), but hardcore MP fans never miss a chance of stating something like: 'Better than DT! MP soul & heart of DT 4 ever!'. I'm usually very chill with differing opinions, but that's kinda a soft spot that annoys me to some extent.

That being said, I think the Planet X  and Billy tunes sound amazing in PSMS.

[Mosh]

Tony MacAlpine is a somewhat sloppy alternate picker. His notes are way less precise than JP. Not sure if I want to hear him doing stuff like The Glass Prison where alternate picking is so vital.

[BlobVanDam]

Mark my words: MP will play the entire suite with JP+JR, plus some LTE stuff aaaaaand they will release a new LTE album in late 2017.

2017 will be the year for parallel projects, as Petrucci is going to play with G3 next year (and wants to release his second solo album) Rudess could also play with LMR, JMX with JJ and LaBrie could release another solo album with his band...

I think it's pretty obvious that they will play the entire suite with all of DT, including MM playing with MP on a double kit. On top of that, Dominici, Sherinian and Moore will join them. On top of that, the guys from Rush will come and play a Rush medley with them too. On top of that there will be fireworks and free cake for all.

Also everyone gets laid.

You know you almost had me convinced until the bit about prog fans getting laid. Everything up to there seemed plausible by comparison.

[425]

I've already seen some comments on how 'MP SHOULD SING IT GIVEN HE'S BETTER THAN JLB!' in some discussions of this.

Oh, my. I love MP and most of the music he's been involved with but his diehard fans can be quite a handful.

I would be fine with and not surprised by MP taking a bit of a higher profile vocally in this performance. I could see him singing more of Repentance, doing some of the spoken/rapped parts in This Dying Soul, and maybe doing a couple lines in The Root of All Evil (he already sings a harmony on "never could have just a part of it" on the album, I could see him taking a lead on that). I also think him singing along with whoever the lead singer is on "I am responsible..." is almost a given.

But the whole thing? Not even close to possible. So much of it is beyond his capabilities in a perfect studio environment, let alone live while also playing some pretty intense drum parts. And he knows it. I'm sure he'll get a singer or singers who are capable of doing the lines as written. Daniel Gildenlöw, as people have pointed out, is a solid candidate.

[Adami]

I've already seen some comments on how 'MP SHOULD SING IT GIVEN HE'S BETTER THAN JLB!' in some discussions of this.

Oh, my. I love MP and most of the music he's been involved with but his diehard fans can be quite a handful.

I would be fine with and not surprised by MP taking a bit of a higher profile vocally in this performance. I could see him singing more of Repentance, doing some of the spoken/rapped parts in This Dying Soul, and maybe doing a couple lines in The Root of All Evil (he already sings a harmony on "never could have just a part of it" on the album, I could see him taking a lead on that). I also think him singing along with whoever the lead singer is on "I am responsible..." is almost a given.

But the whole thing? Not even close to possible. So much of it is beyond his capabilities in a perfect studio environment, let alone live while also playing some pretty intense drum parts. And he knows it. I'm sure he'll get a singer or singers who are capable of doing the lines as written. Daniel Gildenlöw, as people have pointed out, is a solid candidate.

Honestly, I can't see Daniel wanting to even learn that much. He seems much more of a "I sing what I write" kinda guy. Learning the entire suite? I doubt it. Learning some small part of it? Sure.

[Kwyjibo]

Gildenlöw was on tour with Transatlantic and played on records by The Flower Kings and Ayreon's 01011001, performing songs that weren't written by him and he did the Hammer Of The Gods thing with Portnoy, Gilbert and LaRue, a whole concert of Led Zep cover tunes. So if he is asked by Portnoy to sing the suite, I don't think he will refuse because he hasn't written it.

[Adami]

I'll give you the Zeppelin thing. That seemed pretty out of character for him. The rest though were relatively small parts. Like I said, I can see him doing part of the suite. But outside of the Zeppelin thing I've never seen indication that he'd learn over an hour of another bands material for lead vocals.

[jammindude]

I vote Russell Allen.   All in favor say aye....

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

You know you almost had me convinced until the bit about prog fans getting laid. Everything up to there seemed plausible by comparison.

[Nick]

For those who may have missed it, MP will be playing the 12-step Suite in its entirety on Cruise to the Edge 2017.

The two cruises I've been on have been two of the best weeks of my life, but the lineup for this still is far inferior to the two I was on, and this doesn't really push me into must go mode quite yet. I fear finances just will not be there, and I will unfortunately miss this.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

For those who may have missed it, MP will be playing the 12-step Suite in its entirety on Cruise to the Edge 2017.

[Nick]

Sorry, didn't realize I had opened this up to a non current page last time. 

[King Postwhore]

You know you almost had me convinced until the bit about prog fans getting laid. Everything up to there seemed plausible by comparison.

Ahem.

[Prog Snob]

I've already seen some comments on how 'MP SHOULD SING IT GIVEN HE'S BETTER THAN JLB!' in some discussions of this.

Oh, my. I love MP and most of the music he's been involved with but his diehard fans can be quite a handful.

I didn't expect the PSMS versions of the DT tunes to beat the originals (nor I think it was their intention to do so in the first place), but hardcore MP fans never miss a chance of stating something like: 'Better than DT! MP soul & heart of DT 4 ever!'. I'm usually very chill with differing opinions, but that's kinda a soft spot that annoys me to some extent.

It's one of the reasons I left MP's forums. If people think the DT-side forums here are bad, they haven't spent any time at mp.com. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Ahem.

Outlier.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I've already seen some comments on how 'MP SHOULD SING IT GIVEN HE'S BETTER THAN JLB!' in some discussions of this.

Oh, my. I love MP and most of the music he's been involved with but his diehard fans can be quite a handful.

I didn't expect the PSMS versions of the DT tunes to beat the originals (nor I think it was their intention to do so in the first place), but hardcore MP fans never miss a chance of stating something like: 'Better than DT! MP soul & heart of DT 4 ever!'. I'm usually very chill with differing opinions, but that's kinda a soft spot that annoys me to some extent.

It's one of the reasons I left MP's forums. If people think the DT-side forums here are bad, they haven't spent any time at mp.com. 

Yeah, I think I've only been twice over there. I can't hande it lol.