Will Dream Theater play Mike Mangini material during their upcoming 2024 tour with Mike Portnoy?
This is a topic the band addressed during a group interview with Rolling Stone ahead of their 2024 tour announcement earlier today. The European run will mark the band’s first tour with Portnoy since 2010, and they’ve released five albums since his departure with Mangini on the drums.
“One of the things we discussed with me coming back was about set lists for future tours. And John [Petrucci] and the guys were open to me taking the reins back,” Portnoy said. “But with that came the discussion: what are we going to do with all the stuff from the last 13 years?”
The drummer assured that he plans to learn the music Dream Theater released with Mangini so that he can play it during the tour, which allows them to celebrate their whole catalog — not just the albums he performed on.
“I am not going to speak for these guys, but I don’t think they want those five albums just erased from the history of the band,” he added, and Petrucci concurred.
How Mangini Handled the News of Portnoy’s Return
Fortunately, Petrucci and James LaBrie said that Mangini was very understanding of their decision to bring Portnoy back into the band.
“He understood immediately the move that we were making. And he accepted it and welcomed that change in a really gracious way,” Petrucci noted. “It made this whole process start on a positive note.”
LaBrie added that the situation “felt right” to Mangini.
Dream Theater Are Working on New Music With Portnoy
Elsewhere in the Rolling Stone interview, Dream Theater discussed the new music they’ve been working on, confirming that they have a total of six songs so far.
READ MORE: The Most Played Song Live From Every Dream Theater Album
“Everything we’ve been writing sounds like every classic Dream Theater song or album. The style is here. The chemistry is the same. The people and the elements are the same. It all just feels and sounds so familiar,” Portnoy described of the material.
Currently, there isn’t a timeframe for any release as they have to plan the rest of the recording, mixing and mastering around the upcoming tour. But, at least we know it’s in the works. They even recently revealed that they’ve finished writing “what will likely be the closing track” on the record.
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