The Mike Portnoy Appreciation/Discussion Thread (merged)

[lordxizor]

It had to have started with conversations between JP and MP, right? They're friends and hang out. I can imagine JM and JR wouldn't have taken much convincing. JLB is the one with the biggest beef with MP, so I'm curious how much his opinion mattered or if he and MP had truly buried the hatchet and were ready to work together again.

I hope it was more of a musical and friendship decision (wouldn't it be great to work together again and recapture that old energy?) rather than a business one (the tours haven't been selling out lately how do we get more butts in the seats?)

[cramx3]

It had to have started with conversations between JP and MP, right? They're friends and hang out. I can imagine JM and JR wouldn't have taken much convincing. JLB is the one with the biggest beef with MP, so I'm curious how much his opinion mattered or if he and MP had truly buried the hatchet and were ready to work together again.

I hope it was more of a musical and friendship decision (wouldn't it be great to work together again and recapture that old energy?) rather than a business one (the tours haven't been selling out lately how do we get more butts in the seats?)

Can't imagine the business doesn't come into play, but I certainly hope there's ALSO the joy of playing with the guys again. One can only assume JLB and MP truly did bury the hatchet last year.

[Elite]

Well, ain’t this a surprise!

[HOF]

I really hope he opens his forum back now! I mean I'm still going to be here but I miss his 6:00 gifts and other surprises.

Heck yeah! The first thing I thought with the purple shaded band photo on the announcement was “he needs to bring the forum back!”

[gzarruk]

Now that he's back... will he ever release his Shattered Fortress live thing? He said at the time he didn't do it because it would mean too much red tape for him to deal with.

[Lonk]

Well, ain’t this a surprise!

Even Elite comes back for this 

[OpenYourEyes311]

Now that he's back... will he ever release his Shattered Fortress live thing? He said at the time he didn't do it because it would mean too much red tape for him to deal with.

Why would he when they will clearly do the whole thing on tour next year?! 

[Buddyhunter1]

Now that he's back... will he ever release his Shattered Fortress live thing? He said at the time he didn't do it because it would mean too much red tape for him to deal with.

Why would he when they will clearly do the whole thing on tour next year?! 

If that's what it takes for them to play The Glass Prison again, fuck it, I'm down.

[gzarruk]

Now that he's back... will he ever release his Shattered Fortress live thing? He said at the time he didn't do it because it would mean too much red tape for him to deal with.

Why would he when they will clearly do the whole thing on tour next year?! 

If that's what it takes for them to play The Glass Prison again, fuck it, I'm down.

I'd rather take The Best of Times, just for that solo...

[twosuitsluke]

Well, ain’t this a surprise!

Even brought you out of hiding. Good to see you dude!

[gzarruk]

Not saying I saw this happening, because I really didn't, but with SOA done and TA done, FC and NMB inactive and TWD finishing their cycle for a while, I was really wondering if Mike was going to try to get back at some point. We obviously don't know who started the conversations, but things worked out well for him in the end.

[Stadler]

It had to have started with conversations between JP and MP, right? They're friends and hang out. I can imagine JM and JR wouldn't have taken much convincing. JLB is the one with the biggest beef with MP, so I'm curious how much his opinion mattered or if he and MP had truly buried the hatchet and were ready to work together again.

I hope it was more of a musical and friendship decision (wouldn't it be great to work together again and recapture that old energy?) rather than a business one (the tours haven't been selling out lately how do we get more butts in the seats?)

Can't imagine the business doesn't come into play, but I certainly hope there's ALSO the joy of playing with the guys again. One can only assume JLB and MP truly did bury the hatchet last year.

I saw two of the solo shows - admittedly, early ones (including second night and the show at Berkley) - and they were CLEARLY having fun.  That wasn't for business.  There was an organic quality to it that I hadn't really seen in a while from either of them.

[axeman90210]

I saw the same at the two FL shows I attended.

[lonestar]

So since he's back in the band, should this thread be moved to the DT side

[cramx3]

It had to have started with conversations between JP and MP, right? They're friends and hang out. I can imagine JM and JR wouldn't have taken much convincing. JLB is the one with the biggest beef with MP, so I'm curious how much his opinion mattered or if he and MP had truly buried the hatchet and were ready to work together again.

I hope it was more of a musical and friendship decision (wouldn't it be great to work together again and recapture that old energy?) rather than a business one (the tours haven't been selling out lately how do we get more butts in the seats?)

Can't imagine the business doesn't come into play, but I certainly hope there's ALSO the joy of playing with the guys again. One can only assume JLB and MP truly did bury the hatchet last year.

I saw two of the solo shows - admittedly, early ones (including second night and the show at Berkley) - and they were CLEARLY having fun.  That wasn't for business.  There was an organic quality to it that I hadn't really seen in a while from either of them.

Well, I still can't help but think business still played a role, but I saw the show too and agree, they looked like they were having fun and it was more personal than just the business side of things.

[hefdaddy42]

So since he's back in the band, should this thread be moved to the DT side

Not yet

[Cocopjojo]

So since he's back in the band, should this thread be moved to the DT side

Not yet

I guess when it moves over there, then the MM appreciation thread comes here? Wild stuff. 

[Ben_Jamin]

Awake turns 30 next year, maybe they'll sprinkle the setlist with some Awake songs. Although they did it when I saw them 10 years ago.

I so hope we finally get the Mind Beside Itself suite again....

[Glasser]

Ummm? I don't know how to react to this.
Edit: Its excellent for public relations and MP and his fans but in the big picture I don't think it impacts the quality of the music. I'm sure the next album will be great. The next tour will be massive.

[hefdaddy42]

So since he's back in the band, should this thread be moved to the DT side

Not yet

I guess when it moves over there, then the MM appreciation thread comes here? Wild stuff. 

The Universe is a crazy place.

[Kyo]

Not saying I saw this happening, because I really didn't, but with SOA done and TA done, FC and NMB inactive and TWD finishing their cycle for a while, I was really wondering if Mike was going to try to get back at some point.

Yeah, I actually commented on MP's suspiciously empty schedule for the near future just last week, smelling something was up. I was expecting some LTE activity, though - close, but not quite on target. 

[DTwwbwMP]

I feel MP's days of being in ten bands at a time are over. I think it will be DT full-time, NMB during down time and Winery Dogs maybe 1 more time in 5 years or so. I'll really miss the NMB as that is truly an incredible band, but hopefully, there will be another album and tour in the future.

[Metro]

I feel MP's days of being in ten bands at a time are over. I think it will be DT full-time, NMB during down time and Winery Dogs maybe 1 more time in 5 years or so.

I think this is likely

[HOF]

Not saying I saw this happening, because I really didn't, but with SOA done and TA done, FC and NMB inactive and TWD finishing their cycle for a while, I was really wondering if Mike was going to try to get back at some point.

Yeah, I actually commented on MP's suspiciously empty schedule for the near future just last week, smelling something was up. I was expecting some LTE activity, though - close, but not quite on target. 

I can't remember where I saw it (I imagine Facebook), but Mike did hint recently that he had something special in the works that he couldn't announce yet. I'm thinking this may have bene it.

[The Letter M]

I feel MP's days of being in ten bands at a time are over. I think it will be DT full-time, NMB during down time and Winery Dogs maybe 1 more time in 5 years or so.

I think this is likely

This makes sense to me. SOA is pretty much done for (and now I wonder how Derek feels about this news). Flying Colors doesn't seem likely to reunite for another album or full tour, but at least a few one-off shows like the Cruise next year. Transatlantic has felt done for a couple years now so I don't mind them no longer being a thing. And NMB has been sporadic at best. Maybe with Eric doing TEMIC and Mike rejoining DT, perhaps this is a good time for Neal to rejoin Spock's Beard and get that band off to a jump-start for the last leg of their career, rather than petering out of existence as they have been lately (and Ted Leonard is with Pattern-Seeking Animals these days, so I don't think he'd be too upset if Neal came back to SB and took the lead again).

-Marc.

[Cocopjojo]

I feel MP's days of being in ten bands at a time are over. I think it will be DT full-time, NMB during down time and Winery Dogs maybe 1 more time in 5 years or so.

I think this is likely

This makes sense to me. SOA is pretty much done for (and now I wonder how Derek feels about this news). Flying Colors doesn't seem likely to reunite for another album or full tour, but at least a few one-off shows like the Cruise next year. Transatlantic has felt done for a couple years now so I don't mind them no longer being a thing. And NMB has been sporadic at best. Maybe with Eric doing TEMIC and Mike rejoining DT, perhaps this is a good time for Neal to rejoin Spock's Beard and get that band off to a jump-start for the last leg of their career, rather than petering out of existence as they have been lately (and Ted Leonard is with Pattern-Seeking Animals these days, so I don't think he'd be too upset if Neal came back to SB and took the lead again).

-Marc.

Good idea. NM needs to reunite with SB and then co-headline a Spock's/DT tour. I missed them opening for DT back in the day and I've always regretted it.

[MirrorMask]

Not saying I saw this happening, because I really didn't, but with SOA done and TA done, FC and NMB inactive and TWD finishing their cycle for a while, I was really wondering if Mike was going to try to get back at some point.

Yeah, I actually commented on MP's suspiciously empty schedule for the near future just last week, smelling something was up. I was expecting some LTE activity, though - close, but not quite on target. 

I can't remember where I saw it (I imagine Facebook), but Mike did hint recently that he had something special in the works that he couldn't announce yet. I'm thinking this may have been it.

I remember something like this as well, but it beats me where I actually did read that.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

The return of MP and Elite in the same day, it's Christmas in October!

Gonna take time to process this.  It's kind of funny, just within the last month or two I remember having a random thought about all the drama when he left, remember listening to an interview at the time where MP talked about wondering whether he'd ever be able to rejoin down the road or whether that would be the end, and given it's now been over a dozen years since then, whether it was more or less likely now.  Must have been something in the ether. 

with SOA done and TA done, FC and NMB inactive and TWD

It amuses me that even though I listen to none of these bands regularly, I know exactly who they are all abbreviations for instantly. 

[faizoff]

The return of MP and Elite in the same day, it's Christmas in October!

Don't forget Kev and emtee!

[LithoJazzoSphere]

The return of MP and Elite in the same day, it's Christmas in October!

Don't forget Kev and emtee!

Outstanding!  This forum is moving way too fast today for me.   

[twosuitsluke]

And Indiscipline has just commented

[KevShmev]

Borlag and Itchy should be chiming in any time now.

[Metro]

It’s great seeing all these familiar faces come out of the wooodwork. It’s like a damn high school reunion in here, except it’s people you actually want to see 

[LithoJazzoSphere]

The new golden age of DTF, when former and current reunite!

[Metro]

And yet we still haven’t broken the record for most users online. Someone asked this in the other thread but what happened January 18th of this year?