It's why I have stated. MP isn't your average, run of the mill musician. He is first and foremost a music fan, who became a musician, and happened to be living the dream of becoming a "Rock Star".. .What he did during his tenure with Dream Theater, are all things he wished bands would have done while he was a music fan. He went out of his way, to cater to us fans. Many, Many, Many, bands do not do this at all. Dream Theater is the first band I know of that has done so much of this stuff, just for us fans. I appreciate that. I am not sad it is gone either. It was great while it lasted. But things don't last forever and things change, sometimes making compromises is the only way to move forward. That's acceptance.
The problem is, when he split, the guys made it sound like they were just gonna pick up the ball and continue with it - that it wasn't that big of a deal. I think JR even made a comment that what MP was doing wasn't rocket science, and yet they have fallen very short on the things that MP managed to pull off. So are things different than before? Sure. But does that mean there's no reason to be disappointed? Not at all.
I for one, did not expect them to pick up everything MP did with the band. As we all know, most of those things, MP did under his own volition. They can try, but they are not MP, and MP had that energy to want to do it. It's not what the other guys are interested in. Like MP, always having the camera, being the little film buff and movie maker he is as well. The one that has that aspect to his personality is JR. And wanting to play every song from the catalog, it's easier to do since he knew the parts on the back of his hand. He could play the part, and then could even tell the guys "Remember it's like this...(sings it)" and the guys go, "Oh, that's right." JP and JM do not have as good of a memory that MP has (he was superhuman in that department). Especially JP, he even says on that Chris Jericho interview, about remembering how to play the riff from an older song and having to look at youtube videos, or some other thing, and trying it and then snapping going "Oh yeah, I played it in this position."
But this Christmas Medley is a nice thing to be doing for the crew. And a treat for us fans of the band. Especially, considering how JP doesn't really like Medleys. 
The Happy Holidays digital download was cool as well, being the first tour with Mangini, and all the older songs played live, including hearing Learning to Live with the LaBrie F# (or at least, an attempt at it, again), and To Live Forever.
Not to stir the pot, but for me the difference is MP and MM, but also the REACTION to MP and MM. I'm a Portnoy guy; I'm like TAC, I liked all that stuff. I liked that MP made it possible to get ALL the songs if I wanted. I liked that MP paid us in music. Example: I bought the Flying Colors live DVD/Blu-ray, and I read somewhere that the Space Truckin' encore was only available on vinyl. I thought to myself, "that's not very Portnoy". And I'm watching the Blu-ray, and sure enough, tacked on the end, no reference, no listing, nothing.... there's Space Truckin'. He's a completist, and he recognizes that some of his fans are too. And if you're not "one of those fans", you don't need to participate, but it's THERE if you want to. The rotating setlists; it wasn't EVERY SONG, but it was enough that you got something special; if you're the type to worry about what was played in a city 200 miles from you, then it sucked, I guess, but if you're one of those that values what YOU get, it was fun and special. I listen to the Ytsejam material as much if not more than the main releases at this point. And I wish every day that Sharon Osbourne and Tony Banks thought like Mike; I've had to grab and crawl and scrape for the Ozzy material that I want to hear (the anniversary re-releases ignored one b-side and a bunch of live stuff that was on an EP), stuff that had MP been involved would have found the light of day SOMEHOW.
If this stuff isn't for you and you're good with what we're getting now, that's AWESOME! That's amazing and I'm truly glad you have a band that is serving your needs. I would just hope that those in that camp would recognize that it's the same in reverse instead of dismissing so many as "Portnoy fan-boys" and "spoiled" and the like. I don't consider myself "spoiled", and the one time I met Mike, briefly, I made it a point to thank him for his approach to his band and his material.
(And for the record, it was James - in an interview with Used Bin Radio, later quoted on Blabbermouth - that said they were going to the four of them pick up the slack and continue on with what was done before. I've provided that quote numerous times here. Not judging whether they were successful or not, just setting the record straight.)
Topic: Dream Theater - The Holiday Spirit Carries On (Read 15260 times)
