new JP interview discussing MP's return and changes in band

[Setlist Scotty]

Hey all - here's a new interview that was just posted that discusses some of the things we've been wondering about with MP's return to the band. Worth checking out!

https://www.loudersound.com/features/dream-theatre-wembley-arena

Enjoy!

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Sounds like JP really didn't want to make the set lists any longer. I wonder why though.... How difficult could it have been for him to come up with a crowd pleasing list of songs?

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I could be totally wrong here - please tell me if I am - but I don't think I've read any interviews since Mangini left where anyone from the band was like "Mike Mangini was friggin' awesome with us". I've seen a lot of PR speak and stuff like "We survived! We won a Grammy!" but nothing more... I don't know how to say it... From the heart?

I understand it's a delicate situation and there are a hundred potential reasons why. But it does strike me as a bit odd.

[MoraWintersoul]

I wouldn't have MP in my band and then not have him make the setlists Easy way to show goodwill to Mike and win points with fans.

I found that the touring together portion of his response was interesting, where he said he noticed the fans were thinking about it before they started thinking about it. Maybe that was the first brick.

The two of us have a very special relationship, we think so alike. It's such fun having him back, like having an extra person in your life that's completely on your wavelength.

This was also heartwarming. They were really that person for each other always, and no one else gets on that level of musical partnership for them.

I could be totally wrong here - please tell me if I am - but I don't think I've read any interviews since Mangini left where anyone from the band was like "Mike Mangini was friggin' awesome with us". I've seen a lot of PR speak and stuff like "We survived! We won a Grammy!" but nothing more... I don't know how to say it... From the heart?

I understand it's a delicate situation and there are a hundred potential reasons why. But it does strike me as a bit odd.

Yeah I wish they talked about it a bit more. Now granted, I haven't listened to all of those longer James inties that came out, maybe he said something more about it? The initial comments between Mike and Mike were very warm. Hope they meet up on tour or something.

[devieira73]

I thought kind of surprising JP lefting the door open for DT playing classic albums live in the future. I know he's always very political, but I was expecting he saying something more like "since our catalogue got larger we probably will stay focus only on it from now on".

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I could be totally wrong here - please tell me if I am - but I don't think I've read any interviews since Mangini left where anyone from the band was like "Mike Mangini was friggin' awesome with us". I've seen a lot of PR speak and stuff like "We survived! We won a Grammy!" but nothing more... I don't know how to say it... From the heart?

I understand it's a delicate situation and there are a hundred potential reasons why. But it does strike me as a bit odd.

I think James made a positive comment and Jordan said something similar to his press release statement in his interview with Doug Helvering, but I think you have a point. I think the reality is they just don't want to utter the name because they really want to focus on the MP reunion side of the coin. They're in marketing mode so everything they want to talk about is on the future and how they've made the best possible decision on all fronts. If you're going to praise Mangini to high heaven at this point it raises the logical question I doubt we'll ever get a straight forward and complete answer to: why isn't he still in the band?

John Petrucci has not said the name Mike Mangini since the Decision. Actually seems like he tried hard not to say his name in that interview. Did talk about the Grammy win though which is indelibly linked to Mangini.

I found Jordan's survival comments to be very odd but I'm just understanding it as part of the marketing package. We were surviving but now that we have MP we'll be thriving. Based purely on how the ticket sales have been going he might be right.

[devieira73]

This one is very nice from JLB:
https://roadiecrew.com/dream-theater-james-labrie-comenta-a-saida-de-mike-mangini-para-retorno-de-mike-portnoy/

[devieira73]

One of the most celebrated news in heavy metal in 2024 was the return of Mike Portnoy to Dream Theater. Despite the excitement about the return of the drummer, who had been away from the band for 14 years, fans also recognize Mike Mangini's talent, charisma and dedication throughout this period. Expressing gratitude for Mangini's work and friendship, vocalist James LaBrie commented on the drummer's farewell in an interview with issue #281 of ROADIE CREW (buy here) and highlighted his class, understanding the reason for his departure from the band.

"Look, I'm particularly happy that you remembered this, because Mangini really has a lot of class," the singer told reporter Daniel Dutra, who highlighted the drummer's elegance in dealing with the situation, especially publicly. 

"Believe me, he's a real gentleman!  And as if his education wasn't enough, he's also a phenomenal drummer," he continued. LaBrie commented on the feeling he got every time he watched Mike Mangini perform at Dream Theater shows. "It's crazy how good Mangini is. Every night on stage, I was like, 'Man, what planet is he from?' (laughs). He's an amazing drummer, one of a kind, and a great guy! I'm proud to have worked with Mangini both in my solo career and with Dream Theater, and the way we all worked together on one thing: music. That's always been the most important thing in bands that paved the way for all of us, like Led Zeppelin."

[Dedalus]

I also remembered this interview with JLB. He is very kind to MM.

I think that besides this aspect regarding the former band member, John, John, James and Jordan cannot completely sideline this period of DT, as if it were a moment that should be forgotten. I see it as their obligation.

I don't like the idea of "we are starting over where we left off", as if nothing had happened in the meantime. It makes it seem like those of us who were together along for the ride were wrong and those who spent thirteen years spitting on the band were right all along.

I hope they can find a middle ground between the future and the past (the whole past, not just the past up to 2010).

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Don't forget that James hired Mike three times to work on his solo records. He's the only one in the line up who had some type of relationship with him when he was hired. I think he really liked having him in the band and was relieved to no longer be in an uncomfortable relationship with a band member.

And based on only speculation I think he was genuinely conflicted about replacing him but likely didn't have any choice but to accept it.

[KevShmev]

I also remembered this interview with JLB. He is very kind to MM.

I think that besides this aspect regarding the former band member, John, John, James and Jordan cannot completely sideline this period of DT, as if it were a moment that should be forgotten. I see it as their obligation.

I don't like the idea of "we are starting over where we left off", as if nothing had happened in the meantime. It makes it seem like those of us who were together along for the ride were wrong and those who spent thirteen years spitting on the band were right all along.

I hope they can find a middle ground between the future and the past (the whole past, not just the past up to 2010).

While I agree, has anyone in the band said that besides Portnoy? Petrucci specifically said in this new inteview, "Mike understands that this is not the same band that he left."  That said, Petrucci's interviews often sound so vanilla and "by the book," almost like the band's PR firm is whispering in his ear what to say, while Portnoy is usually more off the cuff and talking like he is saying what he is actually thinking rather than being told what to say, so I would trust Portnoy's view on this more than Petrucci's, to be honest.  Petrucci can talk a good game about how proud he is of the work they did with Mangini, but if the tour starts and there is very little representation of that era in the sets, that will say a lot.

[Dedalus]

While I agree, has anyone in the band said that besides Portnoy? Petrucci specifically said in this new inteview, "Mike understands that this is not the same band that he left."  That said, Petrucci's interviews often sound so vanilla and "by the book," almost like the band's PR firm is whispering in his ear what to say, while Portnoy is usually more off the cuff and talking like he is saying what he is actually thinking rather than being told what to say, so I would trust Portnoy's view on this more than Petrucci's, to be honest.  Petrucci can talk a good game about how proud he is of the work they did with Mangini, but if the tour starts and there is very little representation of that era in the sets, that will say a lot.

In fact, no one has said anything like that (besides Portnoy).

Furthermore, I think you are correct in your analysis.

[MoraWintersoul]

Petrucci can talk a good game about how proud he is of the work they did with Mangini, but if the tour starts and there is very little representation of that era in the sets, that will say a lot.

Which is why I think MP will get into it and include three or four songs. Even though he's the last person who should be keeping track of that

If you're going to praise Mangini to high heaven at this point it raises the logical question I doubt we'll ever get a straight forward and complete answer to: why isn't he still in the band?

We've gotten the complete answer in one sentence MM wrote: this was an original band member returning to the band. He's not in the band because he's not Mike Portnoy.

And you know, that stings. We've all been there in our personal and professional lives where we enter new relationships, friend groups, jobs and become parts of families where we haven't done anything wrong, but we're replacing someone who's still widely liked so no one makes that special connection with us.

At the same time, none of the Mangini albums charted high with me, and they haven't managed to make a splash in the wider prog or metal circles either, except with the (on some level legacy award) Grammy noms and the win. Everyone had to hear ADTOE to form an opinion, and the reception was mixed to good. Then you have people plugging off during the S/T era because it was another album in a row with a bad drum mix. Then you have A LOT more people plugging off during the TA era, both for the album and for the shows because they only played the album. Then you have a decline of people coming to shows because James lost his recovered vocal form, so a slightly more warmly received album could not save them, and the way they wanted to save attendance was yet another SFAM anniversary set, which a lot of people have seen. Then you have the economy going in decline, a decently-received-but-more-of-the-same release, weaker attendance resulting from all of this yet again...

Bands get a shot in the arm from certain people joining and these regular lineup shakeups have mostly been a good thing for bands who are starting to go into their legacy era. It wasn't Mangini's fault that a lot of these things happened, but if MP was there all along, they would have had better drum mixes, more exciting performances with a fan-minded guy putting them together, and maybe James needs to feel less comfortable in the band in order for his performances to improve, maybe TA needed another brain working on it, etc. MM is not that guy who would have been that brain - though it sucks that he never got a chance to try and be that guy either - and MP was burned out, so we got an era of a slow decline of wider influence, even if fans really appreciated some of those albums.

[Shadowmangini]

I like Mangini as much as the next average Joetrucci but I don't think there's any problem with their interviews. Mangini had a good ride for over 10 years with them, it's time to revel in having your friend and founding member back though!

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Which is why I think MP will get into it and include three or four songs. Even though he's the last person who should be keeping track of that
We've gotten the complete answer in one sentence MM wrote: this was an original band member returning to the band. He's not in the band because he's not Mike Portnoy.

And you know, that stings. We've all been there in our personal and professional lives where we enter new relationships, friend groups, jobs and become parts of families where we haven't done anything wrong, but we're replacing someone who's still widely liked so no one makes that special connection with us.

At the same time, none of the Mangini albums charted high with me, and they haven't managed to make a splash in the wider prog or metal circles either, except with the (on some level legacy award) Grammy noms and the win. Everyone had to hear ADTOE to form an opinion, and the reception was mixed to good. Then you have people plugging off during the S/T era because it was another album in a row with a bad drum mix. Then you have A LOT more people plugging off during the TA era, both for the album and for the shows because they only played the album. Then you have a decline of people coming to shows because James lost his recovered vocal form, so a slightly more warmly received album could not save them, and the way they wanted to save attendance was yet another SFAM anniversary set, which a lot of people have seen. Then you have the economy going in decline, a decently-received-but-more-of-the-same release, weaker attendance resulting from all of this yet again...

Bands get a shot in the arm from certain people joining and these regular lineup shakeups have mostly been a good thing for bands who are starting to go into their legacy era. It wasn't Mangini's fault that a lot of these things happened, but if MP was there all along, they would have had better drum mixes, more exciting performances with a fan-minded guy putting them together, and maybe James needs to feel less comfortable in the band in order for his performances to improve, maybe TA needed another brain working on it, etc. MM is not that guy who would have been that brain - though it sucks that he never got a chance to try and be that guy either - and MP was burned out, so we got an era of a slow decline of wider influence, even if fans really appreciated some of those albums.

Do we know that the D/TV tour attendance was poor? I was under the impression that it was a successful tour.

[MoraWintersoul]

Do we know that the D/TV tour attendance was poor? I was under the impression that it was a successful tour.

I'm not sure of the numbers right now, maybe you're right and I'm conflating the attendance with the increasing discourse about how it's not worth it to see DT anymore. Some of the people who said it was not worth it still went in the end So I'm not sure about that one, but the first time I definitely remember a lot of people skipping the show in my circles after TA is The View tour, and that was even before Dreamsonic. Dreamsonic was a misstep - you can't count on DT fans to show up in huge numbers on a second leg of a tour if you're giving them LESS DT - but I think people still would have went with more exciting setlists and James being more on point in the preceding years. Just, something different.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I'm not sure of the numbers right now, maybe you're right and I'm conflating the attendance with the increasing discourse about how it's not worth it to see DT anymore. Some of the people who said it was not worth it still went in the end So I'm not sure about that one, but the first time I definitely remember a lot of people skipping the show in my circles after TA is The View tour, and that was even before Dreamsonic. Dreamsonic was a misstep - you can't count on DT fans to show up in huge numbers on a second leg of a tour if you're giving them LESS DT - but I think people still would have went with more exciting setlists and James being more on point in the preceding years. Just, something different.

Even I skipped the Astonishing tour. I guess they perceived there was enough demand to justify a D/T DVD. Contrast with View which as you point out a lot of people skipped. No friggen DVD feels like a kick in the balls right now. They didn't even do ancillary merch like song books, which I always buy. Some people think Mangini got replaced because DreamSonic didnt do well but I think that's incorrect. As you correctly point out there was a prolonged period of decline starting with or possibly even ignited by the Astonishing. It's really hard to argue that from where we stand today the trajectory of the band as measured by ticket sales, streams/views, social media activity hasn't done a complete 180.

[MoraWintersoul]

It's really hard to argue that from where we stand today the trajectory of the band as measured by ticket sales, streams/views, social media activity hasn't done a complete 180.

That's where we agree on the flaws of JP's leadership - I really don't think he NEEDED MP all of these years to make the band seem more fan-friendly, think of exciting things to do and play, or make better decisions, but none of those things really happened in the years MP was gone. And I personally wasn't missing MP, and I like MM a lot as a guy, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that the band has changed for the worse and that we are never going to get some of those things back. And yet now there's a small dark cloud hanging above this reunion, because was it really necessary to take 13 whole years and five albums, and get attached to a whole new guy in the band, to come back to where we left off?

tl;dr lots of feelings as per usual

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I was scrolling on the FB page earlier and the number of people making comments like 'it only took them 14 years to make another good song' is more than I thought it would be.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Mora - just want to confirm one thing. When you say you 'like MM a lot as a guy' did you mean that you're the guy and like him guy to guy, or that you just like his personality, or that you are female and like him as a guy meaning you wouldn't mind dating him? Just curious.

I'm in all three camps personally.

[nobloodyname]

I was scrolling on the FB page earlier and the number of people making comments like 'it only took them 14 years to make another good song' is more than I thought it would be.

There are about the same number of comments saying DT has now lost it because Mangini has gone.

[MoraWintersoul]

Mora - just want to confirm one thing. When you say you 'like MM a lot as a guy' did you mean that you're the guy and like him guy to guy, or that you just like his personality, or that you are female and like him as a guy meaning you wouldn't mind dating him? Just curious.

I'm in all three camps personally.

I'm a woman and I like his personality, I'm in my early thirties and I don't routinely have crushes on people who could have fathered me. JP is the big exception*   Your feelings are valid though

*because when I got into DT he looked like this:

Swoon!

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

There are about the same number of comments saying DT has now lost it because Mangini has gone.

I didn't see that to the same extent. Seems unlikely the numbers would be proportionate given how well the single is doing.

[MoraWintersoul]

We could count them

[KevShmev]

I was scrolling on the FB page earlier and the number of people making comments like 'it only took them 14 years to make another good song' is more than I thought it would be.

All that demonstrates is that while Mike Portnoy has seemingly mellowed out, some of his hardcore fans are as annoying as ever.   

[MoraWintersoul]

All that demonstrates is that while Mike Portnoy has seemingly mellowed out, some of his hardcore fans are as annoying as ever.   

It's also a bit funny that some of his fans are like "you're spoiling the reunion fun by talking about Mangini", as if they haven't been spoiling the MM-lineup fun by talking about MP all these years

[Dedalus]

It's also a bit funny that some of his fans are like "you're spoiling the reunion fun by talking about Mangini", as if they haven't been spoiling the MM-lineup fun by talking about MP all these years

I saw people complaining about some negativity. As if we hadn't spent 13 years wallowing in tons of negativity.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

It's also a bit funny that some of his fans are like "you're spoiling the reunion fun by talking about Mangini", as if they haven't been spoiling the MM-lineup fun by talking about MP all these years

EXACTLY!!!! There are so many of these posts like 'can't we all be happy' or 'what gives with all the negativity?' As though the last 14 years was entirely absent of complaining, negativity, and even frivolity.

[Evermind]

JP is the big exception*

*because when I got into DT he looked like this:

Swoon!

I'm a straight guy and that's about how I feel about this particular JP look. Swoon indeed.

[Setlist Scotty]

I could be totally wrong here - please tell me if I am - but I don't think I've read any interviews since Mangini left where anyone from the band was like "Mike Mangini was friggin' awesome with us". I've seen a lot of PR speak and stuff like "We survived! We won a Grammy!" but nothing more... I don't know how to say it... From the heart?

I understand it's a delicate situation and there are a hundred potential reasons why. But it does strike me as a bit odd.

https://youtu.be/YzSlHHqkDjs?t=136
 
 

I thought kind of surprising JP lefting the door open for DT playing classic albums live in the future. I know he's always very political, but I was expecting he saying something more like "since our catalogue got larger we probably will stay focus only on it from now on".

Yeah, that was one of the things most surprising to me as well.

[geeeemo]

I'm a woman and I like his personality, I'm in my early thirties and I don't routinely have crushes on people who could have fathered me. JP is the big exception*   Your feelings are valid though

*because when I got into DT he looked like this:

Swoon!

Ya, I am totally with ya there! 

[TAC]

Dreamsonic was a misstep - you can't count on DT fans to show up in huge numbers on a second leg of a tour if you're giving them LESS DT - but I think people still would have went with more exciting setlists and James being more on point in the preceding years.

Yup.

[Setlist Scotty]

Dreamsonic was a misstep - you can't count on DT fans to show up in huge numbers on a second leg of a tour if you're giving them LESS DT - but I think people still would have went with more exciting setlists and James being more on point in the preceding years. Just, something different.

Ah, but they did. In winter 2002, they went through North America on their first Evening With tour and then returned that summer on a co-headliner with Satriani and King's x opening. Likewise, they did a headlining run through North American in the summer of 2007 and then did Progressive Nation 2008 almost a year later. AFAIK, they had good turnouts for both package tours. So there *was* a precedent. And the setlist DT did for DreamSonic was almost completely different from what they did when they toured through North America the year before (save for The Alien and TCoT being repeated). So on the surface, it should have worked, but perhaps because of the economic landscape post-pandemic, the price of tickets, JL's vocals and/or other unknown factors, the attendance levels were down.

[TAC]

Likewise, they did a headlining run through North American in the summer of 2007 and then did Progressive Nation 2008 almost a year later.

For the record, I skipped the '08 show.

[axeman90210]

For the record, I skipped the '08 show.

I assume because that's when they stopped advertising their shows in newspapers and started doing so online instead?