Dream Theater were forced to cancel their show in Atlanta, Georgia on February 11. The band shared a message saying the show had been cancelled “due to illness,” with singer James LaBrie adding, “I sincerely apologise for having to cancel the show tonight due to being sick.”
Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to Dream Theater drummer, Mike Portnoy, about reuniting with band and their new album, Parasomnia, and also offered an update on LaBrie.
“He’s okay, we’re in Biloxi (Mississippi) today and it looks like the show will go on,” said Portnoy. “So he is doing much better. He really was in bad shape yesterday and couldn’t even speak so unfortunately we had a situation where we had to pull the plug on the show which you know I don’t know if that’s ever even happened with us. Sometimes these things happen. You know a singer’s instrument is their voice and sometimes if you’re really sick, I mean he literally couldn’t even speak, so it was it was rough, but the show will go on today in Biloxi.”
When asked now that he is back in Dream Theater does he have less responsibilities, overall? “Well things are delegated a lot more now than they were in my first round. Back before 2010 I was pretty much overseeing like everything and after a while it started to become a little overwhelming. Once I left obviously the bands divided up the responsibilities and delegated things. And now coming back it just took a little time to figure out who was going to do what. I think we got a real good system (now) and everybody’s a lot more involved than when I used to be back in my first time around. So it’s definitely more of a you know a band dynamic in that sense.”
When asked what was the specific moment where he knew he wanted to be back in Dream Theater: “There wasn’t a specific moment, it was a culmination of a lot of smaller moments. I had reconnected with all the guys on a personal level so we were all in very good places personally. Then I had been connecting on a musical level with John Petrucci for his solo album and tour and then along with John (Petrucci) and Jordan (Rudess) together to do a third Liquid Tension Experiment album. So all these little kinds of baby steps kind of led the way and uh ultimately um here we are.”
Asked if their absence as the classic lineup made the heart grow fonder: “Absence does make the heart grow fonder there’s no question about it. I think the time away we really learned to appreciate how special this chemistry of this lineup is. We now feel it now making the new album and now being on tour celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary. So this lineup is really like the classic lineup. We made so many memories through the years together with this lineup and so much music but yeah we all are so happy to be back together again.”
Asked about a slight nod to Rush on the new album Parasomnia: “There’s always Rush in every song Dream Theater has ever written throughout our entire career dating back 40 years ago to the very first Majesty demos. Rush has always been our biggest collective influence. So yeah, there’s no question that that stuff comes through.”
Dream Theater’s next show is scheduled for Friday, February 14, at 713 Music Hall in Houston, TX. Find the band’s tour itinerary here.
Dream Theater released their new album, Parasomnia, on February 7.
Parasomnia tracklisting:
“In The Arms Of Morpheus” (5:22)
“Night Terror” (9:55)
“A Broken Man” (8:30)
“Dead Asleep” (11:06)
“Midnight Messiah” (7:58)
“Are We Dreaming?” (1:28)
“Bend The Clock” (7:24)
“The Shadow Man Incident” (19:32)
“Midnight Messiah” video:
“A Broken Man” visualizer:
“Night Terror” video:
(Photo – Mark Maryanovich)
The post DREAM THEATER’s MIKE PORTNOY Shares JAMES LABRIE Health Update – “He Literally Couldn’t Even Speak”; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to Dream Theater drummer, Mike Portnoy, about reuniting with band and their new album, Parasomnia, and also offered an update on LaBrie.
“He’s okay, we’re in Biloxi (Mississippi) today and it looks like the show will go on,” said Portnoy. “So he is doing much better. He really was in bad shape yesterday and couldn’t even speak so unfortunately we had a situation where we had to pull the plug on the show which you know I don’t know if that’s ever even happened with us. Sometimes these things happen. You know a singer’s instrument is their voice and sometimes if you’re really sick, I mean he literally couldn’t even speak, so it was it was rough, but the show will go on today in Biloxi.”
When asked now that he is back in Dream Theater does he have less responsibilities, overall? “Well things are delegated a lot more now than they were in my first round. Back before 2010 I was pretty much overseeing like everything and after a while it started to become a little overwhelming. Once I left obviously the bands divided up the responsibilities and delegated things. And now coming back it just took a little time to figure out who was going to do what. I think we got a real good system (now) and everybody’s a lot more involved than when I used to be back in my first time around. So it’s definitely more of a you know a band dynamic in that sense.”
When asked what was the specific moment where he knew he wanted to be back in Dream Theater: “There wasn’t a specific moment, it was a culmination of a lot of smaller moments. I had reconnected with all the guys on a personal level so we were all in very good places personally. Then I had been connecting on a musical level with John Petrucci for his solo album and tour and then along with John (Petrucci) and Jordan (Rudess) together to do a third Liquid Tension Experiment album. So all these little kinds of baby steps kind of led the way and uh ultimately um here we are.”
Asked if their absence as the classic lineup made the heart grow fonder: “Absence does make the heart grow fonder there’s no question about it. I think the time away we really learned to appreciate how special this chemistry of this lineup is. We now feel it now making the new album and now being on tour celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary. So this lineup is really like the classic lineup. We made so many memories through the years together with this lineup and so much music but yeah we all are so happy to be back together again.”
Asked about a slight nod to Rush on the new album Parasomnia: “There’s always Rush in every song Dream Theater has ever written throughout our entire career dating back 40 years ago to the very first Majesty demos. Rush has always been our biggest collective influence. So yeah, there’s no question that that stuff comes through.”
Dream Theater’s next show is scheduled for Friday, February 14, at 713 Music Hall in Houston, TX. Find the band’s tour itinerary here.
Dream Theater released their new album, Parasomnia, on February 7.
Parasomnia tracklisting:
“In The Arms Of Morpheus” (5:22)
“Night Terror” (9:55)
“A Broken Man” (8:30)
“Dead Asleep” (11:06)
“Midnight Messiah” (7:58)
“Are We Dreaming?” (1:28)
“Bend The Clock” (7:24)
“The Shadow Man Incident” (19:32)
“Midnight Messiah” video:
“A Broken Man” visualizer:
“Night Terror” video:
(Photo – Mark Maryanovich)
The post DREAM THEATER’s MIKE PORTNOY Shares JAMES LABRIE Health Update – “He Literally Couldn’t Even Speak”; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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