Mike Portnoy’s European Tour Diary ‘95

Date: Thursday – Feb. 9th, 1995

City: Frankfurt, Germany (Day Off)

We arrive at our hotel at around 8 AM & check in. Shortly after, my wife Marlene arrives. (She’ll be with us for about a week.) Me, Marlene & Ho (my drum tech in case you forgot) get picked up at around 11 AM by my Mapex Drums rep & we head out to a local music shop call ‘Dr. Drums’ for me to do my 1st drum clinic. It goes really well. Great turnout of fans & drummers. I play for about an hour & a half and spend a while doing Q&A and an autograph session. We split and then the band & crew go out for a real German dinner with our promoters from MaMa Concerts. Head back to the hotel & crash. (Hey – my wife’s in town, you don’t expect details do you??!!)

Date: Friday – Feb. 10th, 1995

City: Offenbach, Germany

Do some interviews at the hotel & then we check out and head over to nearby Offenbach for our gig at ‘Stadhalle.’ Spend some time at Soundcheck jamming on some new ideas. Tonight’s show was great. Sold-out at 3,000 capacity. We pull out ‘Perfect Strangers’ again for one of the encores. Do a pretty big meet & greet after the show & then spend about an hour signing 300 promo photos for our fan club. Head out to the bus & crash semi-early once again while we travel to Dusseldorf.

Date: Saturday – Feb. 11th, 1995

City: Dusseldorf, Germany

Wake up on the bus parked outside of ‘Philipshalle’ at around 10:30 or so. Me, Marlene & Ho are picked up once again by my Mapex rep and we cruise to Köln for another drum clinic. It goes really well, but not as good as Thursday’s. We head back over to the venue for soundcheck. Tonight’s show was the highlight of the German tour (and possibly of the whole European tour!). Over 5,000 screaming loud, fanatical fans! It was quite a sight, we play great tonight & are so pumped that we do the longest set yet. (Another Day, Damage Inc., & Perfect Strangers.) The show was recorded for a future radio broadcast. After the show, Me, Marlene & some of our crew rage & party all night long until 8 AM when we arrive in Belgium and crash.

Date: Sunday – Feb. 12th, 1995

City: Gent, Belgium (Day Off)

Sleep off my hangover and finally wake up at around 4:30 PM. Me, Marlene, Ho & the rest of the band go out to an Italian restaurant called ‘Pinochio’s’ for a great dinner. Spend the night lounging out at the hotel & watching the ‘Dream Theater – Uncovered’ special on Headbanger’s Ball. (Muchos gracias to Vanessa & MTV!). Me & Marlene walk around the town at around 3 AM & actually find a late-night sandwich joint to munch at.

Date: Monday – Feb. 13th, 1995

City: Gent, Belgium

Do some press at the hotel & then we take off for the venue. (‘Vooruit’) Spend some more time at soundcheck continuing to jam on the new ideas we started in Offenbach. Tonight is another sold-out gig. We only do the generic set-list. After the gig, we all hang around the dressing rooms area & I chill out & watch John and John having an acoustic jam. I think the highlight of the day for me today was getting my laundry done! (Yes – Gent is that much fun!)

Date: Tuesday – Feb. 14th, 1995

City: Utrecht, Holland

Today is Valentine’s Day & I’m the only one from both bands or crews to be lucky enough to have my loved-one with me. Me & the band spend the day in a recording studio recording acoustic versions of ‘Lifting Shadows,’ ‘Silent Man,’ ‘Wait For Sleep’ & Rush’s ‘Tears’ for ‘Veronica Radio’ here in the Netherlands. We finish up & then head over to the ‘Music Centrum Vredenburg’ for our 1st of two sold-out shows. Tonight’s gig was great! The place is set up like a mini-arena. (2,000 capacity) We throw in Pink Floyd’s ‘In The Flesh’ into the set & also do ‘Perfect Strangers’ for the 1st encore. After the show – Me, Marlene, Derek & the Fates gang walk around visiting and sampling the local ‘Coffee’ shops. (Damn – I love this country!!!)

Date: Wednesday – Feb. 15th, 1995

City: Utrecht, Holland

Wake up real foggy from last night’s activities. Get up & do some interviews at the hotel. Finish up & we all head over to the venue for an afternoon of rehearsal being the gear is still set-up from last night’s show. We spend a while re-learning (& playing with Derek for the 1st time) ‘Surrounded’ to add into the set. We then continue to work on some of the new ideas we’ve been jamming on. Finish up & then check out the 1st cut of the ‘Silent Man’ video that arrived today. (It looks real good so far.) A massage therapist comes down to the venue to work on my back & neck before the show. The gig goes great. The audience was incredibly loud & enthusiastic. My energy level was not up to par this evening which kind of bummed the show for me however. We add in ‘Surrounded’ to the set for the first time on this tour & we also throw in ‘Damage Inc.’ & Elton John’s ‘Funeral For A Friend’/’Love Lies Bleeding.’ (Which maybe 6 out of the 2,000 people recognized!!) After the show, I do a live phoner with a radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan back in the U.S. I skip tonight’s meet & greet and sneak out the side door of the venue to head back to the hotel & spend some time with Marlene before she leaves from here tomorrow morning. The tour bus comes by the hotel to pick me up around 2AM and then we split for a week of dates up in Scandinavia.

Date: Thursday- Feb. 16th, 1995

City: Copenhagen, Denmark (Day Off)

Spend most of today’s day off kicking back at the hotel & catching up on the O.J. trial. Walk around town for a while with Ho, Vinnie (our soundman) & Todd (our production manager). Pop by the ‘Pumpehuset’ club to say hello to my buddies from back home Pro-Pain who coincidentally are in town to play tonight. Head back to the hotel for a little while & then back over to the club to see Pro-Pain’s set. (They dedicate an old Crumbsuckers song to me!) Me & Ho hang with them & their crew for a few hours after the show. We hook up with Derek & pop by a local strip joint for a beer. Go grab a bite to eat with a fan we met & then finally back to the hotel to retire.

Date: Friday – Feb. 17th, 1995

City: Copenhagen, Denmark

The 1st of 4 consecutive nights here in Scandinavia. (We usually only do 3 shows in a row.) Start the day off with some press at the hotel & we then head over to the ‘Alexandra Theater for soundcheck. Tonight is our first show on the tour using ‘House’ production so everything is running extremely behind schedule. Me, James & John P. go out for a bite to eat & then head back to the venue. Finally soundcheck & Fates hit the stage after having to hold doors for an hour & a half. We play a good show but the turn-out was probably the weakest of the tour so far. Hit the road for Sweden.

Date: Saturday – Feb. 18th, 1995

City: Malmö, Sweden

Do some more press at the hotel in the afternoon. (I do an interview for a tattoo magazine which was real cool.) Kick back for a while watching the latest in the O.J. trial & then head over to ‘K.B.’s’ for soundcheck. John Myung was taken to the doctor for a check-up, so we do soundcheck with Bones from Fates Warning on bass. The venue has Blackjack tables set-up, so me, Derek & some of the Fates guys get a game going with me dealing. Tonight’s show is sold-out. Pretty good one. A video bootlegger in the front makes it all the way to the encore before getting busted by our crew. (Oh well! I was pulling for the guy!) We spend a while signing autographs for the fans outside & then split.

Date: Sunday – Feb. 19th, 1995

City: Oslo, Norway

Wake up on the bus parked outside of the venue (‘Rockefellers’). There are already a shitload of fans waiting outside for autographs. (There’s nothing more fun than rolling out of your bunk and taking pictures with fans when you haven’t even brushed your teeth yet!!) Head into the venue and do some press. (After brushing my teeth, of course!) Tonight is another sold-out show. Kick serious ass tonight. We have a great time on stage goofing around & getting silly. We have a towel fight, James was doing Elvis impersonations all night & the last chord of the night was held for about 5 minutes or so. (During which we broke into ‘One’ by Metallica!) I top off the show by diving into the audience while the crowd rapes me of all my stage clothes! Wild show & a lot of fun!! Hit the road back to Sweden.

Date: Monday – Feb. 20th, 1995

City: Stockholm, Sweden

Wake up & do some interviews & photo sessions at the hotel. Receive & look over the 2nd cuts of ‘The Silent Man’ video. (Looking real good.) Head over to the venue which is right next door to the hotel. (It’s called ‘Cirkus’ & it definitely is a good description of what tonight’s show will end up like!) Soundcheck runs real late unfortunately screwing Fates out of theirs. Real cool venue which is set up like a small arena. Tonight’s show takes the cake in terms of fuck-ups & technical difficulties! As soon as we hit the stage & kick into ‘ Pull Me Under,’ James’ mic goes out! After throwing the mic across the stage & waiting for a new one, he finally stops us from playing & the show comes to a dead stop 3 minutes into the show. The 4 of us go off on a 10 minute Jazz improv. jam while James tries to find a mic that works!

After spending a few minutes checking the new mics, we start over & kick back into ‘Pull Me Under.’ This was just the beginning to a night filled with clams. (Gear not working, kicking into wrong songs, playing wrong parts, etc.) Somehow we manage to make it through the show & somehow keep smiles on our faces! (Me & Derek had a spit fight during ‘Caught In A Web’ which was pretty amusing! The rest of the band retires back to the hotel after the show while I hang out on the bus playing ‘Buzz’ (a lethal drinking game) with most of our crew, Ray & Bones from Fates and our buddy Leif Edling (former ‘Candlemass’ present ‘Abstract Algebra’ bassist.) We all get completely pissed going through 2 bottles of Jäger, 2 bottles of Absolute, a bottle of Bacardi & a bottle of Jack Daniels. Everybody pukes & passes out!!

Final installment in the next issue....