Passing Tones With Joe Limongelli

Tuesday, August 11

Dream Theater At Bud Light Amphitheater

Do yourself a favor and arrive at the Bud Light Amphitheater this coming Tuesday as early as you can. If you’re already a fan of the great band “Dream Theater” then you know what I’m saying here.

While Dream Theater may be first up on the stage of this show that will also present Deep Purple and ELP (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), they are far from just a “support” act. The Long Island, New York born Dream Theater all began back in the fall of 1985 as Berklee College of Music (the prestigious Boston learning center) students launched what would soon be original group members John Myung (bass) and John Petrucci (guitar ) into the arms of drummer Mike Portnoy. A funny thing happened on the way to class – Myung and Petrucci caught Portnoy laying down some drum tracks in one of the school’s practice rooms. Sensing an instant partner, the duo set upon the drummer to put a “situation” together. Upon finding that Portnoy was from their own homeland of Long Island, it was instantaneous – the ground work for the future “Dream Theater was born.

Since, it’s been all uphill for Dream Theater. Early times would find them searching for the ultimate singer to support world renowned musicianship – a task not so easily accomplished. While its first record for a major label would not do so well, the band would move onto Elektra Records, confident in the find of Canadian born singer Kevin James LaBrie. The 1991 second album release Images And Words would catapult the band to great things.

Seven years later and with its latest release Falling Into Infinity, Dream Theater has a mass of followers worldwide, including its dominance of the Japan market. Always a headliner, it is unique for Dream Theater to venture into the back yards of Northeastern PA as part of a three band show. No slouch to either legends in Deep Purple or ELP, Dream Theater stands proud to be a part of such a great triumvirate venue. Just this past Tuesday, DT drummer Mike Portnoy talked to Passing Tones about Dream Theater’s past, present, future, and it’s part of the threesome tour in Northeast PA at the Harveys Lake Bud Light Amphitheater:

Joe Limongelli: How’s things going on the tour?

Mike Portnoy: Well, today is the first day on the tour. Today is actually just us; a headlining show that will warm us up for the tour that begins with Deep Purple/ELP on Thursday in New Jersey. We’ve got one more marathon (3 hour show) in us.

JL: As respected as Dream Theater is, what’s it like to be on the tour with these two legends?

MP: Right now it’s only imaginable because we haven’t done the first show yet, but it’s going to be really cool. I mean, we’ve been fans of both bands for many, many years. It’s the first time for us doing an opening slot. For six years now touring, we’ve always been the headliner. We’ve always wanted to get an opening slot as long as the band was compatible with us. Both Deep Purple and ELP would be two of the bands – if I had to make a list, I mean there would be ten bands that maybe we would be compatible with. Those two bands would both be on that list.

JL: Absolutely. I look at ELP as the progressive band and Deep Purple as the heavy metal band and that is what you do as Dream Theater – put both those styles together.

MP: Yeah, exactly, and then knock ten years off of them! [laughs]

JL: Where’d that all come from, how did you manage to do that? It’s what makes Dream Theater a unique band.

MP: It just has to do with our influences. We grew up listening to progressive music like Yes, Genesis, Rush, etc., but we also grew up listening to Metallica, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, that heavy edge, and then we also grew up listening to pop stuff like Sting or Peter Gabriel, U2 – so somewhere in the middle we threw it all into a blender and it was just what naturally came out of us. It wasn’t a pre-conceived formula to create this new sound, it was just taking all of our favorite music and putting them together.

JL: What was it like when you found vocalist James LaBrie? You were searching immensely at the time.

MP: We had been searching at that point for about two years for the right guy. We’d already been through two singers, we didn’t want to make a third mistake. We spent a lot of time before we committed to anybody and then we stumbled across James’ tape and it worked out good: the band’s career really started to take off, it created a buzz.

JL: Tell me about the band’s ability to shun the trends and keep pushin’ on as what Dream Theater is.

MP: Like I said, it’s not a conscious thing, we just do what we do. We don’t take into consideration what’s gonna sell or what’s popular, we’re not trying to cash in on any of the trends whether it be Marilyn Manson, the Spice Girls, Prodigy, whatever it might be. The minute you try and tap into one of those markets, you’ll sell some records right off the bat, but then the trend will change to something next and then you’re left in the dust. The only way to “stick around in this business” is to do your own thing and forget the trends. Sometime it takes a while for them to catch up to you, but at least you’ll have a sustained career while doing it!

JL: Dream Theater is referred to as displaying “epic storytelling and breathtaking musicianship”. That’s quite complemental, how do you relate to that?

MP: As far as the musicianship goes, we’re all just real serious about playing. We didn’t grow up in the age of “Nirvana”, we grew up in the age of these progressive bands. Those are the people we grew up admiring, so for us it made just perfect sense to be as accomplished on your instrument as possible – to constantly get better, constantly improve. To us it was a no brainer. It seemed obvious that that’s what you would want to do if you want to be a musician...

For Dream Theater, mission has more than been accomplished. A perfect complement to the astounding Deep Purple and mesmerizing ELP, the price of a ticket to Tuesday’s show at the Bud Light Amphitheater on Harveys Lake is worth tenfold.

Take it from this music writer – BE THERE, and early!