Viral, Mike Portnoy Watches Dream Theater Concert For The First Time In 36 Years

Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci (Instagram @mikeportnoy)

JAKARTA - The former drummer for the progressive metal band Dream Theater, Mike Portnoy, has uploaded photos that have caught the attention of his followers on Instagram. What photo is that?

Portnoy uploaded a photo with the latest Dream Theater personnel: James LaBrie (vocals), Mike Mangini (drums), Jordan Rudess (keyboards) and John Petrucci (guitar). The photo was taken from behind the Dream Theater concert stage.

For Portnoy, this is a rare event. The reason is, as a former drummer for this band from the United States, Portnoy is doing it for the first time since he left more than a decade ago.

"After 36 years, I finally got to see my first DT show last night! What a lovely evening and so much fun spending time with my old friends again," Portnoy said in the caption of the photos.

The drummer then explained why there was no John Myung (bass) in the photo.

"PS - Of course I spent time with John Myung too…(In fact, we went to the show with his family), we just didn't take photos…," he revealed.

Portnoy, who co-founded Dream Theater more than 30 years ago, abruptly left the band in September 2010 while touring with Avenged Sevenfold. Since then, he has been replaced by Mike Mangini, former drummer for Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie and Steve Vai.

Portnoy took part in John Petrucci's latest solo album, Terminal Velocity which was released in fall 2020. The album also features Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs) on bass.

In January last year, Portnoy and his progressive instrumental project, Liquid Tension Experiment (LTE) released the single The Passage of Time. This song was then included in the new LTE album in 22 years, LTE3, which was released via InsideOut in March of the same year.