Expect no original thoughts whatsoever in the following post - it's taken me this long to even begin to get my thoughts in order.
(Roughly) 24 hours has not been enough for me to comprehend, let alone find the words to adequately describe the sheer sense of joy this has brought for me. There aren't enough "holy shits" in the world to do that.
Shortly after I discovered in DT, circa 2004, I dived deep into their back catalogue, got myself up to speed and quickly become a devoted follower. It wasn't long after that I came to the conclusion that they were my favourite band of all time, and the most important in my life. The bottom line is that MP was a huge part of that, perhaps the biggest reason - the sheer amount of energy, enthusiasm and dedication he brought to the band whilst simultaneously never appearing to take it too seriously, and just having fun. The day he announced he was leaving... it just didn't seem right. It never truly seemed right in the years that followed. As a loyal fan, I stuck around, but... I could never deny to myself that it wasn't the same, as much as I wanted to move on. Yesterday's news was what I have yearned for in all the years since, but which seemed less and less likely to materialise, with each new album and tour effectively reaffirming the band's commitment to Mangini.
Still, I regularly attended the live shows whenever they came round, and was actually in the crowd for one of the "Distant Memories" nights. But gradually, my enthusiasm for the band waned and waned further to the point where I finally skipped them on the 2nd leg of the UK tour earlier this year. The studio albums with MM were for me a mixed bag, with one I loved, one I hated, the rest being just "alright". The most recent one of which having its highlights, but ultimately failing to engineer anywhere near the sense of hype and excitement of any that came before it. Consequently, another band knocked DT off the top spot in my heart for favourite of all-time. With this, however, they look set to reclaim that throne...
I will never forget the way the news came to me yesterday... I was driving home from work using my phone for Maps, and the first clue I got was a Facebook notification of a post in the MP forum along the lines of "No joke... it's real... take a minute to let this sink in...". Then a little while later, another ping, this time from my Gmail, from the official mailing list... there was no mistaking the headline. Bear in mind at this time, I was driving along the motorway at 70mph in wet conditions with traffic everywhere. Honestly... it's a miracle I lived and a blessing no-one died...
So happy right now, it really does feel like the family is back together again. Whatever happens now, even if the forthcoming albums and tours don't quite live up to the standard of the peak years... this is just how things should be until the end.
Signed, yet another forum member returning from "lurker" status