Portnoy vs. drum techs

[JeffTD]

geez. hire a fucking drum tech instead of expecting some local kid that looks 16 years old to set up your kit/watch it for the duration of the show.. even if it was provided backline they should have still had a tech that was with the band who knows the expectation of how he likes his kit set up

This. Portnoy is a little fucking girl.

 

[Sweetnothing]

Completely unprofessional. And throwing shit over the guy in public is even less professional.

And no matter which reasons he put on his facebook, it's not something justified from a gigging pro.

 

[J the TyranT]

One other thing... who the FUCK is this guy that he's basically shitting all over Sherinian, MacAlpine and Sheehan while he's at it? While he's doing this he's fucking THEM over as well... guilt by association, you know? Tarnishes what THEY are doing also. Those three deserve much much better, will prob stop jamming with this fucking tool.

Also, I've met this guy once... briefly... and in just those few minutes I could tell you... easily one of the biggest douche bags I've ever met. Easily.

 

[EffigyForgotten]

Does Pornt0y or whatever his name his still post on youtube? I would see that troll on every fucking video.

 

[drew_drummer]

Ehhhh... drama.

 

[Keregioz]

Who gives a fuck really... I don't want to be friends with him, I just enjoy listening to him playing drums.

 

[UncleBob]

I'm sure the 15 people in the audience must have been pissed having to wait around for a few extra minutes , usually when shit happens the rest of the band can just jam for a bit and no one would be the wiser.

 

[ArnaudM]

I think it's a bit easy to blame Portnoy. I've never been a fan of his playing. Nor a Dream Theater nerd. I don't like his music. BUT I've always had problems with live sound techs. On a regular basis, I hardly prevent myself from punching their faces with a concrete block. Without any offense for the obviously gentleman-styled people of this forum, more than 90% of the live sound techs I worked with were sinister assholes. And sometimes, buttholes have to be punished. Shitting on the musicians is, by the way, an obvious sound tech attitude. Like journalists, these guys feel kind of protected against any critical point of view. They are always right, never pretentious or unprofessional. It's always the musician's fault, even when they're not able to do their job. Fuck them. I know they are often not well paid; it's a hard job, but, too many so-called professionals are just pot smokers and over-pretentious parasites. Just like musicians.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I think it's a bit easy to blame Portnoy. I've never been a fan of his playing. Nor a Dream Theater nerd. I don't like his music. BUT I've always had problems with live sound techs. On a regular basis, I hardly prevent myself from punching their faces with a concrete block. Without any offense for the obviously gentleman-styled people of this forum, more than 90% of the live sound techs I worked with were sinister assholes. And sometimes, buttholes have to be punished. Shitting on the musicians is, by the way, an obvious sound tech attitude. Like journalists, these guys feel kind of protected against any critical point of view. They are always right, never pretentious or unprofessional. It's always the musician's fault, even when they're not able to do their job. Fuck them. I know they are often not well paid; it's a hard job, but, too many so-called professionals are just pot smokers and over-pretentious parasites. Just like musicians.

While I can slightly agree, someone on Portnoy's level of professionalism, and having played hundreds and probably thousands of shows - he should be well accustomed to any situation that may go wrong on stage.

I've dealt with some shitty sound/stage guys, and some awesome ones as well. If it was that much of a concern for him, he should have hired his own personal tech for that tour.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I imagine even a bad setup for Portnoy is still an amazing setup for normal people.

 

[xFkx]

I think it's a bit easy to blame Portnoy. I've never been a fan of his playing. Nor a Dream Theater nerd. I don't like his music. BUT I've always had problems with live sound techs. On a regular basis, I hardly prevent myself from punching their faces with a concrete block. Without any offense for the obviously gentleman-styled people of this forum, more than 90% of the live sound techs I worked with were sinister assholes. And sometimes, buttholes have to be punished. Shitting on the musicians is, by the way, an obvious sound tech attitude. Like journalists, these guys feel kind of protected against any critical point of view. They are always right, never pretentious or unprofessional. It's always the musician's fault, even when they're not able to do their job. Fuck them. I know they are often not well paid; it's a hard job, but, too many so-called professionals are just pot smokers and over-pretentious parasites. Just like musicians.

yeah, let's just gas them, and on the way there let's make a few more sweeping generalizations.

for every asshole technician there is an asshole musician, because deep down they are the same type of person.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Everyone should check this out, the thread on his official forum where he explains his actions:

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2802466.aspx

Not to excuse my actions, but at least to explain the situation:
This PSMS tour has been VERY difficult on all of us in terms of gear and production. The only way we have been able to make it to such far away places such as Manila, Russia, Israel, Indonesia, etc (where it is normally VERY expensive to tour unless you are a "name" band that has been around for many years) is we've have had to make concessions by using supplied gear and local techs at each show.

Granted, WE agreed to these terms and are willing to make it work - however, on at least a half dozen occasions on this tour we have been incredibly frustrated to arrive at the venue only to find the band's gear requirements were simply blatantly ignored (wrong keyboards, wrong amps, Zildjian cymbals, etc) AND were not setup and ready for us as was supposed to be the case and what the promoters had promised.

We have been as patient and understanding as we possibly can be...but when you get 4 guys who haven't slept more than a couple of hours every night in order to fly to these shows without sleep...sometimes our patience can wear thin.

In the case of the Manila show, we arrived hours before the show to find out the drums weren't setup, cymbals were missing, Billy's amp was wrong (again) and Tony had a buzz on his gear that would not go away...but we forged ahead because we were VERY excited to play for the fans!

At the start of Stratus (where the video on youtube is from) - my snare drum mic fell off and I motioned for the tech to come put it back on the stand/drum...and instead, he comes up to the drum kit and takes the mic away...leaving me playing with NO snare mic!!! (you'll hear I begin playing the high tom instead of the snare)...realizing he had no idea what was going on or how to fix the situation, I stopped playing and did my little "rap" while they fixed the situation and we wouldn't have to play the whole song with no snare in the mix.


In the video, you can see I was at least making a joke out of it and wasn't maliciously trying to hurt anybody or storming off in anger.

Moral of the story: WE ARE HUMAN! And sometimes frustrating circumstances create frustrated behavior. I'm not saying I was right in stopping the song...but if you see a video from later in the show, you'll see I explain to the audience that I've been waiting my whole career to play in Manila and I wasn't going to let ANYTHING ruin my night or their show!!
And we carried on and everybody had a great night...

And I look forward to returning...
(although this may be the last time I tour without my own kit and my own drum tech...hahahaha!!!)

MP

Not condoning his tantrum, but definitely sympathizing!

 

[ratsapprentice]

Yeah man, because throwing the other mics on the floor is going to get your snare back in the mix quicker.
Massive cunt.

 

[smy1]

The wise-ass comments from people on this forum who mainly play with Superior Drummer at home or 5-10 local/regional shows a year are astounding.

After 15 years of playing live I just bitched at a local soundguy in Prato/Italy for the first time in my career because after a 2h soundcheck (for 4 DI, 2 mics and 2 monitormixes) he reset everything while we were gone and the local openers played. He not only "accidentally" hit the polarity switch on one of the monitoring channels so almost nothing was coming out of wedges or in-ears, he also "forgot" to plug in the front wedges after moving them for the opening band. After we specifically told him that nothing can be moved or switched. Oh, and he forgot to turn on the spare mic which I told him I'll most likely use because the battery in the provided wireless mic was already clanking inside the mic at soundcheck ...

We had absolutely no sleep from the night before in Milan (where the local soundguys were shit also and I had horrible in-ear and stage sound) and I can completely relate to Mike Portnoy's actions.

It's very easy to criticize from behind a computer desk when you regularly play to an audience of 1 ...

 

[Mutant]

And his new nickname: PortAnnoy !

 

[Ashgarth]

Throwing cymbals and mics and insulting the tech is a great joke...sure!

 

[drew_drummer]

It's very easy to criticize from behind a computer desk when you regularly play to an audience of 1 ...

Pretty easy to do the same when you regularly play to a crowd that gives a shit.

I've noticed in discussions like these you love to throw around insulting comments like this. Chill the fuck out. Not everyone has the ability to do what you do, and you come across like an ungrateful peen.

 

[ratsapprentice]

The wise-ass comments from people on this forum who mainly play with Superior Drummer at home or 5-10 local/regional shows a year are astounding.

These "wise-ass" comments are coming from people who understand how to behave in difficult situations. Not people who have such inflated egos that they can pretend that appealing to an inherently partisan crowd are going to do anything other than make themselves feel better.


I suggest you, like Portnoy, should get over yourself.
And next time try and use a little less of the derisory language, it'll make you look less scummy and try hard.

 

[smy1]

Pretty easy to do the same when you regularly play to a crowd that gives a shit.

I've noticed in discussions like these you love to throw around insulting comments like this. Chill the fuck out. Not everyone has the ability to do what you do, and you come across like an ungrateful peen.

Maybe more effort, more practice, better songwriting, better live shows, better promo, etc. will lead to crowds that give a shit? You make it sound like my (small) fanbase was handed to me on a silver platter.

I love to throw around "insulting" comments because people with no experience in situations like Portnoy should just stfu and stop pretending they know what it's like. Half of the guys who call Portnoy a cunt would be the first to get their panties in a bunch when the local guys fuck up. And what you might find insulting others might call "reality check". But that's just more of the typical forum-behavior: whining and bitching when people say things you don't like.

 

[UncleBob]

What led up to his on stage "antics" shouldn't really be taken into account, it's a bit over the top, but it would be like saying Hitler had a bad childhood so it's ok when threw his big "tantrum"............"I also had a bad childhood so I understand"

He acted like a douche on stage, I can understand someone like Axl Rose acting like that on stage.........he WAS actually in a huge band and pretty much a "rock star", the thing is when guys like Axl Rose do it, they still come across as douches, when someone (small fry) like Mike Port-Annoy does it it's just dumb.

We're not talking a monumental cock-up here either, like sound guys totally fucking up EVERYTHING, he was drumming fine (?), drums sounded fine and then he throws a douche-fit for no real reason.