Jump to content

Mike portnoy

condemned2bfree

By condemned2bfree,
in Music Of The Spheres

 Share

Recommended Posts

ColdFireYYZ

ColdFireYYZ

Posted
Posted
I understand that he was mad at the crew for being unprofessional (they had given the band the wrong types of amps, cymbals, and keyboards among other things) but this was completely unprofessional. I think the only thing that happened was the snare drum mic fell off, which he could have fixed himself.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TheSpiritofCygnusSawyer

TheSpiritofCygnusSawyer

Posted
Posted

Mike Portnoy explains what happened in Manilla last night

Taken from MP’s post on his forum:

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tick

Tick

Posted
Posted (edited)

Mike Portnoy explains what happened in Manilla last night

Taken from MP’s post on his forum:

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

 

"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…'

 

but the thing is, Mike...you will always be haunted by what a dick you were in Manila so that not only ruined that night it will ruin the memory of it forever. That's just reality. When we do stupid things(and we all do) we are left with the memory we can't change.

Edited by Tick
Link to comment
Share on other sites
treeduck

treeduck

Posted
Posted

Embarrassing to watch. I wonder what Sheehan, Macalpine and Sherinian were thinking?

 

I don't like how he has drums over on the right of the stage, side-on to the audience either, looks odd...

Look at Macalpine at 2:09 in the video in the OPs post. Says it all.

 

Aye...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rod in Toronto

Rod in Toronto

Posted
Posted

As a long time fan, I must say Mike has all the rights to complain about promoters not honoring contract clauses by not giving the band the right gear, right support on stage and all of that...but of all the channels he had to complain, he chose the worst of all, THE STAGE! Fans have nothing to do with it, and not many would realize there was an issue with his mic...it would be easy to wait for the song to end and then fix it.

 

I think it´s all starting to sink in for Mike, and he realized this is what he has to live with now in his career: much smaller venues, having to start up different bands from scratch, poor travelling conditions from city to city etc etc. Maybe this tantrum sort of summarizes his frustration with his new career path. As much as it is fun to play with a bunch of different artists, starting over from scratch when you´re such an established musician has its challenges.

 

I gotta say, this band is kicking ass though. I tried to post some videos in another post but couldn´t do it...they´re doing killer versions of Derek´s solo stuff, some DT tracks from Falling Into Infinity etc.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
treeduck

treeduck

Posted
Posted

As a long time fan, I must say Mike has all the rights to complain about promoters not honoring contract clauses by not giving the band the right gear, right support on stage and all of that...but of all the channels he had to complain, he chose the worst of all, THE STAGE! Fans have nothing to do with it, and not many would realize there was an issue with his mic...it would be easy to wait for the song to end and then fix it.

 

I think it´s all starting to sink in for Mike, and he realized this is what he has to live with now in his career: much smaller venues, having to start up different bands from scratch, poor travelling conditions from city to city etc etc. Maybe this tantrum sort of summarizes his frustration with his new career path. As much as it is fun to play with a bunch of different artists, starting over from scratch when you´re such an established musician has its challenges.

 

I gotta say, this band is kicking ass though. I tried to post some videos in another post but couldn´t do it...they´re doing killer versions of Derek´s solo stuff, some DT tracks from Falling Into Infinity etc.

 

Are they doing any recording?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
condemned2bfree

condemned2bfree

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Here´s a video from the same concert before things went sour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVQyShBIcEQ&feature=related

 

Sounds pretty good but Portnoy is really annoying to watch...

 

yep, at times it seems hes trying real hard to be entertaining or something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rod in Toronto

Rod in Toronto

Posted
Posted

He had to use (gasp) Zildjian cymbals? Holy Shit, they're lucky he didn't kill them all. That statement shows you how spoiled he is.

 

I don´t think he meant that Zildjian cymbals are bad, but he´s sponsored by another brand, and legally could not use Zildjian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rod in Toronto

Rod in Toronto

Posted
Posted

He had to use (gasp) Zildjian cymbals? Holy Shit, they're lucky he didn't kill them all. That statement shows you how spoiled he is.

 

I don´t think he meant that Zildjian cymbals are bad, but he´s sponsored by another brand, and legally could not use Zildjian.

 

There ya go, he´s endorsed by Tama and Sabian: http://www.mikeportnoy.com/aboutmike/faq/answers/19.aspx#129

Link to comment
Share on other sites
treeduck

treeduck

Posted
Posted

He had to use (gasp) Zildjian cymbals? Holy Shit, they're lucky he didn't kill them all. That statement shows you how spoiled he is.

 

I don´t think he meant that Zildjian cymbals are bad, but he´s sponsored by another brand, and legally could not use Zildjian.

 

I'm surprised he wasn't able to see what a fool he was making of himself. It's like he decided to suddenly stand up step out from his drums, walk to the front of the stage and say: "Look everyone I'm a total moron!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ancient Ways

Ancient Ways

Posted
Posted

He had to use (gasp) Zildjian cymbals? Holy Shit, they're lucky he didn't kill them all. That statement shows you how spoiled he is.

 

I don´t think he meant that Zildjian cymbals are bad, but he´s sponsored by another brand, and legally could not use Zildjian.

 

There ya go, he´s endorsed by Tama and Sabian: http://www.mikeportn...ers/19.aspx#129

 

That was obvious. If you must play them then you better bring them or get out the gaffer tape to cover the logo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GrandDesigner

GrandDesigner

Posted
Posted (edited)

Man, I remember watching his drum videos back in the early 2000's and thinking "wow, what a cool and humble drummer". He was a huge inspiration to me and seemed to have a ton of integrity and now he's turned into this loud-mouthed, wannabe lead vocalist 'fawkin' metal' asshole diva he's been for the past few years. I can't even pinpoint when his persona switched, but I'm pretty sure it was during the 6DOIT time period. I want 90's Mike Portnoy back, where he stayed behind the kit and wrote innovative drum parts and kept his mouth shut.

 

It's sad to see one of my previous idols fall so hard, but he's making it really hard to give a shit anymore

Edited by GrandDesigner
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Del_Duio

Del_Duio

Posted
Posted (edited)

Here, this might explain things further. It's a list of the roadies assigned to him that night:

 

Joe LaBrie

Kevin Myung

Steve Petrucci

Michael Rudress

Matthew Mangini

Edited by Del_Duio
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...