In a new chat with Goldmine, Jordan Rudess talked about what Mike Portnoy changed in Dream Theater.
“I’ve been telling people that Dream Theater survived for 13 years (with drummer Mike Mangini, who replaced Portnoy in 2011). We got a Grammy. We made a lot of good albums and toured around the world a bunch of times. It was all good,” the keyboardist said about the period before Portnoy’s return. “But now that Mike is back, you realize that there is this magic, these talents that he has that nobody else in the world really has.”
Rudess continued praising the drummer, “He is passionate about what he does and he’s passionate about Dream Theater. He came into this very respectfully, because he hasn’t been there for years. But he came into it with full-on Mike Portnoy power, if you will, and I really feel like a lot of that has made its way into this work that we’ve created.”
“It’s going to be really meaningful to all of our fans, because people will see this is somebody who has a lot to do with the whole Dream Theater sound, every element of it,” the musician explained, referring to Mike’s importance to the fans. He added, “So, he’s been completely welcomed back with open arms and, not only musically, but also he’s taking charge of the set lists that we’ll be presenting when we start touring. He loves that.”
Rudess noted the following about what to expect from their upcoming shows, “He’s great at it. We were like, ‘Look, Mike, you’re great at these things. Do it. We’re OK with that. Just make it happen.’ So, I’m really excited because I think that the fans are just going to love what we’ve done. We’re all really, really hard workers, and we put the time and the effort in. We care, and we still are inspired. And I think that it’s going to be obvious to all our listeners and people who come to our shows that we’re in this for the bigger reward—for everybody.”
Dream Theater’s 40th anniversary tour for 2024-2025 starts with shows in the UK and Europe this fall. This will be the first tour in 14 years with Portnoy. The tour begins in London on October 20 and ends in Amsterdam on November 24, covering various European cities.