Mike Portnoy Meet and Greet Las Vegas 12/12

[sobedragon]

Hi all,

I live in Las Vegas and went to the A7X show the other night. It was a lot of fun and I was glad to see Mike having a good time at the concert.

I took today off of work to attend the Meet and Greet at Sam Ash music store. I must say, that the experience was bitter sweet. I got there 2 hours early, and the first thing I saw was the band name mis-spelled as Dream Theatre. As I was sitting and waiting in line, they were only playing Avenged Sevenfold songs in the store. They were playing some of Mike's DVD's on the TV's, but did not have the audio of the DT music along with them. About 15 minutes before Mike got there, they turned off the A7X and turned on the sound to his DVD. Since Mike isn't part of A7X, and is only a guest, I found this very strange.

As more and more people started to come in, I quickly noticed that I was the only person wearing a Dream Theater t-shirt. I saw many many A7X t-shirts, tattoos, CD's, covers, posters, etc. but not one thing that had to do with Dream Theater. I know, A7X is a million times more popular then DT, but that didn't matter to me. DT has been around for over 20 years, and he created it, yet I see more and more of the band he is substituting for, then the one that is his "baby." My friend showed up a little later, and finally accompanied me in wearing a DT shirt. I said to my friend, "I don't think The Rev will be joining us for this, so why are we listening to music from his band? Shouldn't we be listening to music that Mike wrote?" Nothing against A7X, I love em, but I was surprised to hear ONLY Avenged music playing for so long. It felt to me like DT existed in the shadow of A7X and I didn't like that.

My concerns faded as I finally got to meet the man himself. My birthday was 2 weeks ago, and as a gift, I received a BC&SL record...yeah, a vinyl record, which I asked Mike to sign. It came out perfectly, and I was extremely happy. Mike was very cool, and took pictures with us. Got a fist bump and a poster and went home blasting As I Am.

Thank you Mike. Best of luck to you.

[Chino]

Did he tell you who the new drummer is?

[sobedragon]

Nope, I didn't want to ask him anything that had to do with the split or the drummer.

[SPNKr]

Wonder how he felt signing that record.

[Nick]

Why in the world would you have him sign the actual vinyl and not the sleeve?

[Perpetual Change]

I'm a little lost on that, but it could be cool if you wind up framing it or something.

[Nick]

Much easier to frame a square than a circle.

[yeshaberto]

congrats sobedragon, very cool

[Global Laziness]

Man, does he ever seem to be losing weight...

[Chino]

He's dropped a ton of weight. That second pic is from 06.

[Unimatrix]

He's dropped a ton of weight. That second pic is from 06.

Poor MP! He looks like he wants a hug 

[chaotic_ripper]

Jesus, he looks just like he did in '94

[skydivingninja]

As Nick said, why on earth would you get the RECORD signed and not the sleeve? 

Still cool that you met him, and very respectful of you not to ask about the split.

[Mladen]

Great pics, mate. 

[sobedragon]

Thanks guys. I thought of a few questions that I wanted to ask, but spazzed out once it was my turn and my mind went blank. I'm unsure how he felt signing a DT record and seeing me in a DT shirt. I actually thought it would be worse to show up in my A7X tshirt, because it's not his band. That didn't stop the masses though...purely because of musical ignorance.

I asked him to sign the vinyl and not the sleeve for a few reasons.

1) The sleeve was not given to me in the best condition. It had gone through some turbulence before being gifted to me and has some markings on it. I didn't want him to sign something that wasn't perfect.

2) I have no intention of playing the record, so I did not mind if the vinyl was signed.

3) I also wanted the vinyl signed because I want to have the actual record displayed, not just the case. I'm going to hunt for a frame that has a record-sized circle cut out of it. We'll see what I can find

4) I figured a signed record is more unique then a signed case. I'm sure he signs CD's and Cases and Posters all day, but a record?

5) You can't tell from the pics, but I deliberately had him sign the side that said "A Nightmare to remember." It's a subtly that's more for me and less for anyone looking at it.

Maybe I'm a nub for asking this, but did you know that MP doesn't shake hands? He fist bumped everyone that requested a handshake (including myself). I wonder why?

[antigoon]

Maybe it's a germs thing?

[73109]

Maybe it's a germs thing?

This probably.

[Global Laziness]

Maybe I'm a nub for asking this, but did you know that MP doesn't shake hands? He fist bumped everyone that requested a handshake (including myself). I wonder why?

I saw Dream Theater at a music store (HMV) in Montreal before their Prog Nation '09 show. I went in for the handshake and he paused and put out his fist instead. I felt super awkward. I did get to shake the other four members' hands, though.

[splent]

It's probably just his preference. 

I live so much closer to Sam Ash now, so maybe I'll catch him at a third meet/greet soon.

[Dr. DTVT]

Maybe I'm a nub for asking this, but did you know that MP doesn't shake hands? He fist bumped everyone that requested a handshake (including myself). I wonder why?

No, its actually because his hands (and really all musician's) are his tools, and if someone decided they wanted to give him a vice-grip handshake, it might cause discomfort later during the performance.  At least that's what we were told at the meet n' greet before a show in '09, it went for all members as well.  I know that might sound like a overly cautious policy, but I'm of the mind that taking a needless risk no matter how miniscule the chance of something bad happening when there is payoff is the same either way.  Would the experience be any more memorable to either of you if you would have shook hands?  Probably not to you, and definately not to Mike.  I'm just grateful when musicians put themselves out like that to even give us the opportunity to meet them.

[Global Laziness]

Maybe I'm a nub for asking this, but did you know that MP doesn't shake hands? He fist bumped everyone that requested a handshake (including myself). I wonder why?

No, its actually because his hands (and really all musician's) are his tools, and if someone decided they wanted to give him a vice-grip handshake, it might cause discomfort later during the performance.  At least that's what we were told at the meet n' greet before a show in '09, it went for all members as well.  I know that might sound like a overly cautious policy, but I'm of the mind that taking a needless risk no matter how miniscule the chance of something bad happening when there is payoff is the same either way.  Would the experience be any more memorable to either of you if you would have shook hands?  Probably not to you, and definately not to Mike.  I'm just grateful when musicians put themselves out like that to even give us the opportunity to meet them.

But all the other guys shook hands back in '09...and I dunno, I found that pretty memorable to be honest.

[Kotowboy]

Les Claypool doesn't shake hands because a fan jokingly squeezed his hand really hard.

Seems like a valid reason to me !

[sobedragon]

Interesting. I thought he was like Howie Mandell and it was a germs thing, but the tools explanation makes more sense.