If you’re still holding out hope for Portnoy to return to Dream Theater, it’s just not in the cards. James LaBrie has gone on record to squash any rumors of a reunion with the original drummer.
“Mike Mangini is our drummer and he will remain our drummer until the day that we’re finished doing this. It’s just the way that it is.”
“I would do it in a heartbeat,”claims Portnoy. “They are the ones that have closed the door on it. I’ve only needed a break, and I’ve had that break. So I’m ready, willing and able.
From drumstheword.com:
Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater plays a super cool drum fill/solo at around 1:05 into the song “The Dark Eternal Night”. Portnoy throws out these kind of drum solos all the time, using his trade mark hand and foot combinations of super fast flurries.
It’s the season finale of Drummer Talk Season 6, and on this week’s show, Dave’s gives a very in-depth look at a complete snare drum makeover – from batter head, to reso head, to snare strands, to strand cords.
The Dream Theater drummer drama just never seems to end! MusicRadar.com has just put up a very in-depth interview with Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci. In the interview, they reveal the Portnoy asked to rejoin the band stating he “made a mistake.”
Rudess: We got the drummers in, which everybody knows, and we filmed the audition process and put a lot of care into the documentary. So after that whole process, we found somebody who we thought was great – Mike Mangini. ‘Oh my God, this guy is fantastic! This can work. We can do it.'”
As you know, we’ve been closely following the saga surrounding the drum seat for Dream Theater, and we now know that Mike Mangini landed the spot, but he was one of seven guys to audition. Just what was it like to audition for the prog powerhouse? Swedish drummer, Peter Wildoer, recently spoke with Blabbermouth.net and shared some thoughts.
“My approach was very much to keep it true to what Mike did, because no matter what I would do, I knew that my personality and my style would probably shine through even though [I was] trying to do what Mike did originally. So my approach was very much to keep it to what it is and keep it like the fans know the songs and how they wanna hear them.”
Read More (including an audio interview) …
Dream Theater is coming out enforce to do a little damage control with the leaving of Mike Portnoy. Not only have the has their Facebook fan page lit up, but they’ve released part 1 of of fascinating behind the scenes look at their search for a new drummer.
If the rumors are to be believed, then Mr. World’s Fastest Hands himself (and former Steve Vai drummer), Mike Magini, is set to replace the recently vacated Mike Portnoy for the drum chair in Dream Theater. Whaaaa?? We’ll keep on this story like blisters on metal drummers thumbs.
We talk about tips for Concert percussion on today’s show. In news, we discuss Chris Adler’s clinic takes, Ringoâ„¢’s upcoming UK tour, MD festival lineup, Is Dream Theater done?, Travis Barker news, and Zac Hansen has a baby girl! Show Notes
Today, we cover what you can do to keep your practice, gig, storage area ready for being the most productive. Huge news in the world of Dream Theater, the Ask DT mailbag covers 20/22″ rides, and of course, we talk a little football! Show Notes
Source: Rockband.com
If ever a band was tailor-made for Rock Band, it’s the progressive metal outfit Dream Theater. And if ever a Dream Theater song was made for us, it’s their current single “Constant Motion”-a full seven minutes’ worth of monster riffs and tricky changeups, representing this hyper-proficient band at its most aggressive.
Turns out that Dream Theater’s drummer Mike Portnoy (who wrote “Constant Motion”about his experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder) is a Rock Band player himself, and was looking forward to giving the song a runthrough. The genial Portnoy also talked to us about the band’s formation at Berklee, their evolution over the years, and the current status of Portnoy’s second band Transatlantic (a particular favorite of your interviewer’s). And since the cat’s out of the bag by now, we also talked a bit about the earlier DT classic “Panic Attack,”which will be hittng as an in-game track for Rock Band 2
Read the full article and listen to the interview here …
Living Legends Music has posted a cool 8 part interview with Dream Theater drummer, Mike Portnoy, on their YouTube channel. The interviews discuss the beginnings of Dream Theater, to the creative process, to artistic fulfillment.
Here’s Part 1. For more, check out their channel.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tlmABrgnuo&feature=PlayList&p=FF0F6C8A4CDE98D5&index=0[/youtube]
We have a great show this week as we talk all about drum heads! Also, the 15-stroke roll is the rudiment of the week, Mike has news, we talk about the state of the music industry, and Mike Portnoy is the Drummer of the Week! Show Notes
