The Dream Theater World, the official DREAM THEATER fan club, recently conducted an interview with DREAM THEATER members John Petrucci (guitar),Jordan Rudess (keyboards) and Mike Portnoy (drums). Asked what it has been like touring together again following the return of Portnoy in October 2023 after a 13-year absence, Rudess said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): ”First of all, when Mike came back and was in the studio with us the first day, in my mind it’s still almost impossible to think it was so many years since he was with us before, ’cause it seemed like you just blink your eyes and we’re back together again. And part of the reason that it seemed that way to me, and I think we can all relate to this, it’s just so right, it’s so natural. It’s like, ‘Okay, well, this is where we should be.’ Not to discount the other years or the music we made when Mike [Portnoy] wasn’t there, but to just say when we’re together, it’s, like, okay, well, this is what really, really works and feels right. And so we’ve been having a great time hanging out.”
Added Portnoy: “It feels so natural, like Jordan said. It was one thing to spend that first year together in the studio — even before we played a show or had any kind of public appearances with the five of us, we spent almost a solid year just alone in the studio. And within a couple days, it just felt like no time had passed. And it was the same once we started touring. The first couple of shows, there was maybe a moment here or there where it was, like, ‘Wow, we’re in a van traveling to the gig together. Who would’ve ever thought this would happen?’ Every once in a while there’d be those moments of where it just felt surreal and unbelievable. But, really, it was more — 95 percent of the time, it just felt like no time had passed, and it was exactly how it was back then.”
Mike continued: “I mean, I’ve said this before and it’s really true — this was more than just coming back to a band for me. It was like coming back home to a family. You spend so much time together on the road, traveling on a bus or on an airplane or in dressing rooms backstage — it’s so much more than just being in a band playing music together. It’s all that other stuff. And every once in a while there’d be a moment, like, ‘Wow. Wow, where did this come from? How did this happen?’ But really, it’s only very occasionally that those feelings come out. For the most part, it just feels like we just picked up right where we left off — for me, at least.”
Petrucci chimed in: “For me, it’s been awesome just having my brother back in the band. We met when we were 18 years old. We started this thing [together]. And there’s a certain relationship that way and bond that can’t be broken. And it’s also interesting to kind of catch up on what happened during those times. Almost every night on the bus we get together and whether [Mike‘s] turning us on to music or we’ll play a game together on the bus or some sort of trivia, and it’s a lot of fun. One of the things that keeps happening — it’s really hysterical — we were playing this game the other night where we were playing… I don’t know — somehow we went down this rabbit hole of playing really obscure one-hit wonders from the ’60s and seeing who could name the song. And our tour manager Rikk is great at that. And every once in a while somebody would name the song, and then Mike would be, like, ‘I actually did a cover of that with THE WINERY DOGS in Glasgow.’ And it was like getting hysterical. Even at my past guitar camp — we did ‘Hocus Pocus’ by FOCUS, and Mike was, like, ‘I actually played that with the actual guy from…’ So it’s kind of funny catching up on what Mike was doing musically. We have all these new stories to share. So it’s been great.”
Earlier in the month, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie was asked by The Prog Report how many shows into the band’s 40th-anniversary tour it took before “the shock” of him “turning around and seeing Mike back” behind the drum kit “died down a little bit” for him. James said: “It was probably the first five, six shows — it just felt a little surreal, ’cause, yeah, I’d turn around and we’re, like, both looking at each other, whatever, smiling or making faces at one another. But, yeah, I’d say maybe after the first five shows, then it just became, like, ‘Okay, it’s cool.’ This is a great new beginning once again, you could actually say. And it just feels right.”
Referencing the fact that Portnoy was replaced in 2010 by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours, LaBrie added: “I’ve said it in several interviews. It’s funny. You get away, and Mike Mangini is a phenomenal drummer — he was incredible in the band and that, and he has his style of playing and being involved in the music and the writing and all that stuff. And then coming back to Mike Portnoy, I was just reminded, and we even talked about it while we were writing [the latest DREAM THEATER album] ‘Parasomnia’, and he has a very specific vibe and feel and groove to when he plays. And you just feel that, and then you’re reminded and you’re, like, ‘Wow. Yeah. There it is. There it is. That’s exactly what it used to be like.’ And it’s good. It’s like a coming home — for all of us. For all of us. For sure.”
This past January, LaBrie was asked by This Day In Metal if it’s fair to say that his face-to-face meeting with Portnoy in March 2022 “was maybe one of the last dominoes to fall before the classic DREAM THEATER lineup reunited”, James said: “Yeah, for sure. When Mike and I met — you’re referring to our initial meeting at the Beacon Theatre [in New York City] when we were playing there and he came out to the show. But, yeah, that was somewhat the catalyst that really kind of busted the door wide open with the possibility that we could all start really thinking about. Is this something that we should be seriously considering, a reunion? And things inevitably did lead to that, but I think there were some precursors, like Mike had already done [DREAM THEATER guitarist] John Petrucci‘s solo album, then he did his solo tour, then he also worked with John and Jordan [Rudess, DREAM THEATER keyboardist] on the latest LIQUID TENSION [EXPERIMENT] album. So all these things were kind of just slowly but surely ensuring that he was walking through the door of being back in the fold.”
James continued: “[Mike] coming back in, though, when it actually did happen, it was very natural. There was no — I don’t know — feelings of whether or not, ‘Hey, is this really gonna work? Is this gonna be what we remember the band as?’ And if there were any apprehensive feelings, that just definitely was never a part of it. To be quite honest with you, I joke around, in some of the interviews I’ve said it felt like Mike went out for a coffee and he came back and we just started writing. But it was very smooth, seamless. And we were joking a few times, saying stuff like, ‘Oh my God…’ Because once you actually get into that environment and you start writing the album, you start remembering the chemistry that was almost palpable. And it was within the first day or two days of starting to write [the upcoming DREAM THEATER album] ‘Parasomnia’, we were joking around, we were laughing, it was, like, ‘Oh my god. I remember that, that whole interaction, that whole analytical approach to the songs and how they slowly but surely evolve into a complete composition.’ So it was all this familiarity going on, going, ‘Oh my god. That’s exactly the way it used to be. This is where we are today, but it doesn’t seem that we’ve missed a step.’ So it was extremely effortless, so to speak. It was just doing what we know how to do when the five of us get into the studio.”
The progressive metal legends played their first concert with Portnoy in 14 years on October 20, 2024 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom.
The drummer co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with Petrucci and Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989’s “When Dream And Day Unite” through 2009’s “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”, before exiting the group in 2010.
London marked the kick-off concert of DREAM THEATER‘s 2024-2025 40th-anniversary tour. The European leg of the trek — presented as “An Evening With Dream Theater” — ran through November 24, 2024 in Amsterdam, hitting cities in numerous countries along the way.
DREAM THEATER‘s sixteenth studio album, “Parasomnia”, came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP marked the band’s first release with Portnoy since 2009’s “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”.
Regarding what it felt like to be writing and recording with DREAM THEATER again, Portnoy said: “To be back with these guys, it feels really special. It feels like family, really, honestly. John and me and [DREAM THEATER bassist] John Myung have been playing together almost 40 years at this point. We formed the band when we were teenagers and met at college, the first month of college. So, for us, it’s deeper than just being in a band together. We’ve been through life together. We met our wives together, our wives played in a band together, we ad our families at the same time, we’ve been to the funerals of each other’s parents and siblings and things like that. So, we’ve been through all these life experiences together. It goes beyond just the music for us. All that being said, it also, at least to me, felt like no time had passed. It did not feel like 13 years. Once we started writing together, it felt so natural and so fresh. ‘Night Terror’ was the first thing we worked on, and it just came out so naturally. There wasn’t much thought needed to go into it. It was, like, ‘Okay, here we are where we just left off.'”
“Parasomnia” was produced by John Petrucci, engineered by James “Jimmy T” Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returned once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.