Make Your Best Prediction For Mikes Future/based on these choices

[Tick]

I have been thinking in my mind what course Mike will chart for his future. My heart says he will rejoin the band at some point in the future. If not, I hope he chooses to start his own band from scratch instead of possibly becoming the full time drummer for A7X. I think Mike likes to control things too much to be happy in that situation for the long haul. Plus I think he would want to carve his own nitch in a band tailor made to make his musical dreams and aspirations become reality.

[?]

I'm sure he'll rejoin DT at some point in the future. It was his band for 25 years, he'll probably miss those times and want to rejoin the band.

[wolfking]

Fulltime AX7 member, but will return to DT in approx 2 years.

[Zydar]

My heart wants option #3 but I guess he'll be playing with A7X quite some time.

[ariich]

I expect A7X to offer him the full time gig, but I can also see him doing loads of other side projects and also re-joining DT in some capacity further down the line. So, pretty much all of them.

[zxlkho]

He'll join A7X permanently. He won't rejoin DT, but he'll be back for a 30th anniversary tour and a farewell tour (hopefully this never happens).

[Tick]

I'd like to make an analogy if I can...
 I feel Mike with A7X is like a guy in a relationship with a woman, married or long standing relationship. You know each other too long. That romantic spark is not what it once was. You don't appreciate  each other like you once did. You take each other for granted. You get under each others skin more.
Then you have an affair with someone. Its exciting and new. That spark is there. You have that feeling you once had with your wife/girlfriend. There is no fighting. You have so much to talk about. The sex is great. Its a hard lure to walk away from.
Thus my feelings about Mike in A7X. Its all the above in a different sense. I think you get my point. Its new, its exciting. It feels like that honeymoon love. He feels appreciated at the highest level. Its an awesome feeling as we all know.
It won't last in my opinion. Mike is going to want more for himself then the role of the new guy replacement drummer. He will want his own direction cause that is Mike.
Right now Mike is in love with his current situation. Its exciting and new.
I don't expect this to become his permanent residence.
This is just one guys opinion on the matter.

[fsh3702]

MP certainly won't rejoin DT anymore.

[Tick]

MP certainly won't rejoin DT anymore.

and he would never leave them either.

[RuRoRul]

I just said he'll rejoin DT at some point in the future. I was tempted to just say he'll do his own thing and play one show, but I think it's more like he'll do his own thing then come back properly eventually.

I'm surprised so many people think he'll fully join A7X. To be honest I wouldn't really mind that since it would mean A7X keeps going and if Mike plays more of a role then it could get better, while DT continues on as well. I just don't see it as a good fit though - Mike wants to do loads of side projects and stuff, and DT was probably a better place for him to do that from than A7X. A7X are an active band and aren't really a part of that prog-rock, jamming session crowd in the same way members of DT were.

I think his A7X experiences definitely contributed to him leaving the band but I'm not so sure it was just so he could do the same thing he did with DT but with A7X.

[TempusVox]

I think he'll continue his side work with Winton Marsalis, and start on that project of high school choir songs with Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes.

[contest_sanity]

I think it's possible he'll put together a thrash metal project, though probably not as a full time band.  Perhaps to record an album at least and tour.  I know when he did HAIL! He spoke of his desire to play full-on thrash and even A7X doesn't really give him that.

[MykeHavoc]

I believe he'll be back in 3 years. A7X till then.

[Aniland]

I don't ever want him back. It would seem really lukewarm and melodramatic for him to come back after all this.

His own awesome band? He had his own awesome band.

Projects. Lots of em. Keep him busy but without long-term commitment. That's what he needs.

[The Letter M]

I expect him to work on side-projects. As for returning to DT? Unlikely, but if for anything, maybe for a special show or two.

I'm sure A7X will offer him the position, but he'll probably decline, stating his need to spend more time with his family, and that the whole thing with them was only temporary to begin with. Let's face it, he's in his 40's an a family man, the rest of the band are much younger and live a different lifestyle than Mike does/should at this point in his life.

With that, I'm sure Mike will reconvene with Neal Morse at some point in the upcoming year after he finishes his book about his life. Neal has stated that once his book is done, he'll probably start work on his next album, whatever it may be. However, I'm sure Mike will be there to drum, be it another solo album or Transatlantic, or even covers.

And speaking of covers, Mike did say had FIVE albums he had in mind to cover, four of which were done with Dream Theater. Now whether or not he'll reveal the fifth one is up to him, but I'd like to see him form another cover band, covering a full set of songs by that band, as well as whatever album he wanted to cover. He certainly has more than enough connections to do something like that, and I'm sure Paul Gilbert would LOVE to play with Mike again.

And speaking of Paul, what's he up to these days? Perhaps Mike can start his own band with Paul, be it a cover band, or perhaps some new music. Honestly, I wouldn't mind it if Mike and Paul did tons of tribute/cover shows and albums. Mike has always shown he's a music fan above all else, and his prior tributes were all spectacular. Doing such shows would definitely keep him as busy as he'd like, and give him enough variety in playing styles and genres.

-Marc.

[hefdaddy42]

I don't see him coming back to DT.  It's not just a drummer leaving a band.  They will have to change a huge amount of their lifestyle as a band, as they attempt to pick up the slack for all the things MP has always done.  After they make that adjustment, especially if their next album and tour are successful, I don't see any way they would want to make another huge adjustment by bringing him back.

I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to start his own new band.

[moffatt]

I think he will go for A7X but with all the side projects. I can see him going for a one off show with DT some day down the line as well.

[KevShmev]

I'd like to make an analogy if I can...
 I feel Mike with A7X is like a guy in a relationship with a woman, married or long standing relationship. You know each other too long. That romantic spark is not what it once was. You don't appreciate  each other like you once did. You take each other for granted. You get under each others skin more.
Then you have an affair with someone. Its exciting and new. That spark is there. You have that feeling you once had with your wife/girlfriend. There is no fighting. You have so much to talk about. The sex is great. Its a hard lure to walk away from.
Thus my feelings about Mike in A7X. Its all the above in a different sense. I think you get my point. Its new, its exciting. It feels like that honeymoon love. He feels appreciated at the highest level. Its an awesome feeling as we all know.
It won't last in my opinion. Mike is going to want more for himself then the role of the new guy replacement drummer. He will want his own direction cause that is Mike.
Right now Mike is in love with his current situation. Its exciting and new.
I don't expect this to become his permanent residence.
This is just one guys opinion on the matter.

Heh, that is basically the same analogy I made the other night.

[King Postwhore]

Mike just does several different projects and never looks back at DT.

Mike has ants in his pants and will be a gun for hire.

[Tick]

His own awesome band? He had his own awesome band.

Consider that after 25 years with the same mates, he may want to bond with a new group of guys with different ideas. Starting something new can be exciting.

He will not stay with A7X long term That honeymoon will run its natural coarse.

[skydivingninja]

I think he'll just dick around with side projects like Neal Morse solo albums, Transatlantic, Hail!, etc.  He may be good friends with A7X, but I will be really annoyed if he decides to be the full-time A7X drummer after telling us for months that its a temporary situation.  The A7X guys need to move on and find a good replacement for the Rev, and it would just be weird seeing Mike play with these 20-something guys who look like they just came out of a hot topic explosion.  I picked the second to last option, but I could see him returning to DT later on. 

[Tick]

I'd like to make an analogy if I can...
 I feel Mike with A7X is like a guy in a relationship with a woman, married or long standing relationship. You know each other too long. That romantic spark is not what it once was. You don't appreciate  each other like you once did. You take each other for granted. You get under each others skin more.
Then you have an affair with someone. Its exciting and new. That spark is there. You have that feeling you once had with your wife/girlfriend. There is no fighting. You have so much to talk about. The sex is great. Its a hard lure to walk away from.
Thus my feelings about Mike in A7X. Its all the above in a different sense. I think you get my point. Its new, its exciting. It feels like that honeymoon love. He feels appreciated at the highest level. Its an awesome feeling as we all know.
It won't last in my opinion. Mike is going to want more for himself then the role of the new guy replacement drummer. He will want his own direction cause that is Mike.
Right now Mike is in love with his current situation. Its exciting and new.
I don't expect this to become his permanent residence.
This is just one guys opinion on the matter.

Heh, that is basically the same analogy I made the other night.

Cool! I didn't read your thoughts and plagiarize them, I promise!

[rumborak]

My concern about MP's future is that, while it all looks rosy right now, might fizzle away. A7X are all below 30, whereas Mike is 43. That might become an issue at some point. Transatlantic's last album was nowhere as popular as the previous two, so who knows how long that will continue.
So, remaining option after that would be to start a new band. But that, more often that not, doesn't work. Look at Chickenfoot for example.

rumborak

[KevShmev]

Cool! I didn't read your thoughts and plagiarize them, I promise!

It's all good.

[The Letter M]

My concern about MP's future is that, while it all looks rosy right now, will fizzle away. A7X are all below 30, whereas Mike is 43. That might become an issue at some point. Transatlantic's last album was nowhere as popular as the previous two, so who knows how long that will continue.
So, remaining option after that would be to start a new band. But that, more often that not, doesn't work. Look at Chickenfoot for example.

rumborak

I thought it was quite well received in the prog community. And I think TA are about as popular as they could have hoped, considering they did a relatively BIG tour across America and Europe to pretty packed audiences, as well as headlining at High Voltage Festival. It would be wise, and very nice for them to at least do a follow up while the getting is good.

-Marc.

[rumborak]

I think Transatlantic's current live success is mostly based on the first two albums.

rumborak

[KevShmev]

I thought it was quite well received in the prog community.  

It was.  It's just that, you had a very small vocal minority who were annoyed about the lyrics being more outright religious at times than simply spiritual, so it might have seemed like a lot of fans didn't like it, but most did.

[rumborak]

Given that I was part of that group, you may be right; it's hard to judge those things outside one's own personal bias. If so, good for him!
EDIT: Just put on Whirlwind. Dunno, still totally sounds like a Neal Morse album to me.

rumborak

[Nic35]

He wanted to take a break, so he'll take a break to plan his next projects. Then he'll play with numerous bands because, like he said, that's what makes him happy. That's what I think will happen.

[The Letter M]

Given that I was part of that group, you may be right; it's hard to judge those things outside one's own personal bias. If so, good for him!
EDIT: Just put on Whirlwind. Dunno, still totally sounds like a Neal Morse album to me.

rumborak

I'll give you that. The parts that sound totally like Neal Morse are totally his sound... but when you think about it, when SMPT:e came out, it sounded a lot like Spock's Beard, which was his band/sound back then. Since then, his sound has become what it has on his solo albums since he left SB/TA, so it's only natural that anything he does would sound like...anything he does. You also have to take into account that a lot of the album was written during their jamming sessions, and that only half of Neal's original 45-minute demo of "The Whirlwind" made it to the final album, while the rest came from Roine's and Pete's demos, jamming, and one or two of Neal's demos/ideas (particularly "Rose Colored Glasses").

-Marc.

[LCArenas]

A7X Permanent Drummer, comes back to DT after 5 years or so.

[Tick]

I think Transatlantic's current live success is mostly based on the first two albums.

rumborak

What live success? I mean c'mon now, they choose a venue in NYC that only holds 750 seats and tickets were available for 3 months. I don't think the show sold out till the last week. I don't really qualify that as success do you?
I'm as big a Transatlantic fan as there is but they have a very modest following at best.
Its a shame, because I wish they were more popular so it might prompt them to really get together it more often.

[Nick]

Honestly I can't ever see Portnoy coming back to DT in any major capacity in the future. His leaving is making a huge void as far as power and control, and that void will be filled by Petrucci and the others. If Portnoy comes back his personality is going to want that control back and I can't see the others just giving it up at that point.

[rumborak]

The thing is though, with the same argument he'd now try to gain more control in either A7X or Transatlantic. In A7X he was "just the drummer", and that was fine because he was *the* guy still in DT. Will MP be fine now just being a drummer?

rumborak

[Nick]

The thing is though, with the same argument he'd now try to gain more control in either A7X or Transatlantic. In A7X he was "just the drummer", and that was fine because he was *the* guy still in DT. Will MP be fine now just being a drummer?

rumborak

Good point, it will certainly be interesting following Mike's career in the next year or two.