Mangini is a smart guy. I remember this video where he spoke about how he sometimes plays things in a particular way live to get people upset regarding his drum placement, just because. Lol.
Then he goes on to explain, that when people actually sit on his kit, they realize the cymbals are not that high at all.
Shows, it is all perspective, because Mangini is usually positioned high and center, it makes his Kit look taller than it really is.
So he goes out of his way to set up his kit to deliberately annoy some people - just so he can post a lengthy explanation of WHY he sets his kit up a certain way ?
Just play dude.
Artists sometimes do weird things. It happens and it should not a big deal. I cannot imagine any of the other drum candidates to replace Portnoy would've poured so much energy into this band, and that is enough for me. DT is alive and well because of him, and any other little MM gimmick becomes really irrelevant after taking that into account. I really, for one, cannot imagine why his choice on how to play his drums is still an ongoing debate. Are we really out of things to talk about regarding this band? Maybe we should talk again about how DT died after the departure of Kevin Moore.
Artists like to fuck with people. And I find it hilarious when they play with the gullible mind.
It's why I find it funny during the Distance Memories, and that entire tour, MM's drum solo for Finally Free (Finally Free ends with a drum solo), he makes musical comedy and messes with the entire band, by playing in rhythms and time sigs that are just on that line of being in time and not really on time, but they really are in time, and tries to throw them off, and us the audience as well. He knows the majority of Dream Theater fans have musical knowledge, and would notice the stuff he is doing. JP, JM, and JR really have to make sure to stay in time, as the tides have turned and now they are the ones subjected to keeping time, and MM is now the soloist.