They say that doctors make the worse patients,
but true music fans tend to
make the best rock stars. With a run of almost two decades
thus far and
with a cult-following type of worldwide fan base, Dream Theater
knows
perfectly well what incredible fans they've got.
"Our audience is completely and one-thousand percent
devoted and fanatical to us whether they be in Korea or Poland
or Kansas City," explains the band's drummer Mike Portnoy,
"We're the Grateful Dead of heavy metal."
Portnoy, the recipient of 19 Modern Drummer Reader's Poll
Awards and his own
CD catalog of side-projects, is still ever gracious of the
band's appeal,
from fans traveling from state to state to see Dream Theater
perform
multiple times to the ones who tattoo the band's name or logo
on their
bodies.
"We see that everyday. It's great, it's all we can imagine
and it's been
able to maintain us for 18 years." Says Portnoy, "I
can relate to it
because I was like that myself. I'm still like that; I'm a
music fan. I've
followed and still follow my favorite bands with that kind
of passion."
"When I was younger, I was really into Rush and I was
really into Yes, and
Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. You know, I'm just an obsessive-compulsive
person. No matter whom I got into, I got really into. Like
Kiss and The
Ramones; I'd go through phases with every band, I'd join the
fan clubs and
buy the merchandise and cover my room with posters, so I can
relate to that
fanaticism."
At the moment, it's Dream Theater fans that can submerse
themselves in the band that they love. After returning from
an arduous twenty-one-concert trek through Europe, the band
took a brief break before heading back out at the beginning
of March on the American leg of their Train of Thought 2004
World Tour. Their show consists of two sets with an intermission
and no opening band, and it's a pace that's a little difficult
to keep up with.
Even before embarking on the American leg of the tour, Portnoy
expressed some feelings of touring-fatigue.
"We usually spend about a year on the road supporting
an album, it's always
been that way for us so usually when we're starting off a
tour, we're fresh
and ready to rock at this point. But for some reason,"
he pauses a moment
and laughs, "Maybe, I don't know if it's because we're
getting older, or you
know, we play three to three and a half hour shows - I don't
know but this
first leg was like going to war.”
Dates are scheduled until the beginning of April for Dream
Theater, then
after another short break it's off to Japan and Korea.
When asked if there will be any changes in the tour now that
it has come to
the States, Portnoy explains, "Musically, no. Musically
it's just a huge
whirlwind of music. In terms of production we have to scale
down because
over in Europe we play arenas and then here in America we're
playing
theaters. We have a big presentation with lights and video,
so we have to
scale down a little bit to fit into theaters but the content
of the
presentation is the same."
"I think the numbers are just bigger [in Europe] - the
quantity is slightly
different but the quality is the same."
One of the aspects of a Dream Theater concert that they've
become notorious
for is their constant changes to the song list. With over
ten hours worth
of material to draw from at any given time, each show is unique.
"A great evening of music is what we're about. We have
a great video show
that accompanies us, and the set list changes every night
for the die-hard
fans who go to multiple shows, they get completely different
shows each
night, and it keeps us on our toes."
"We throw in cover tunes and just some things to keep
it interesting for the
fans and for us. We do covers where we play it once and that's
it, and the
people that were there for that show get to experience it
and no one else in
the world will. We've done everything from 'Diary of a Madman'
by Ozzy
Osbourne to 'Necromancer' by Rush, or 'One of These Days'
by Pink Floyd.
Last time we were in Chicago we did a Led Zeppelin [song],
'Since I've Been
Loving You.' I always want our set list to be completely unpredictable
and
doing stuff like that the fans never know what's coming at
them next."
The constant demand to incorporate new songs into the show
is one that the
entire band enjoys, according to Portnoy, "I have complete
creative control
over that, I basically write the set list and submit them
and the other guys
are totally cool with that. I guess just from experience they
kind of trust
my direction in that respect. Luckily, they're all real easy
going and open
minded when it comes to that."
Living on the edge of unpredictability doesn't rattle Portnoy
one bit. "I
get more excited than nervous, but we've been doing it a long
time. We've
played hundreds, if not thousands, of shows in our career
so it's kind of -
you know, I hate to put it this way but it's our job, we're
very used to it.
And as much as it's glamorous and enjoyable and we love what
we do, it's
like riding a bicycle - you just do it."
Dream Theater will also be performing songs of their most
recent release and
seventh studio recording, Train of Thought, an album with
a much darker feel
than the previous albums.
"It's the darkest, heaviest album we've ever made,"
said Portnoy, "It felt
like the right album to make at this stage. Our last two albums
were very
experimental and very diverse. So this time around we just
wanted to make
something that was real focused and single-directional and
heavy and dark.
I could probably give you a list of five different things
that inspired it
but at the end of the day it was a conscious decision to make
a record like
that. Not necessarily the new Dream Theater, but the now Dream
Theater.
The next record will probably be something completely different."
So what else is on the horizon for these veteran rockers?
"The future is
just another year on the road. We're looking forward to it
and it's been a
great tour so far, and we're looking forward to the US leg
because it's
always great being on our home turf."
Then Portnoy adds, "You've got to work."
Check out Dream Theater's Official Web site for tour dates
and more: http://www.dreamtheater.net/
Official promo photo courtesy of Elektra Records.
-Melanie “Sass” Falina