Mike Portnoy’s memorable gigs article (excerpts)

Dream Theater Uncovered

DATE: 1/31/95  CITY: London  VENUE: Ronnie Scott’s  BAND: Dream Theater  DETAILS: With Steve Howe, Steve Hogarth, Steve Rothery, and Barney Greenway

Ronnie Scott’s—the world-famous jazz club in London. I don’t think you could fit more than 200 people in there. This was a special show for Dream Theater in that it was the first time we did anything that strayed from the norm. We decided to do a show for our fan club in England and Europe, and the whole set list was covers. It was billed as “Dream Theater Uncovered.”

In all the years that followed, I incorporated covers into the band’s live show, whether it was one-off songs in a particular city or full-album shows. Down the road, we did Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, and Metallica complete-album shows. I think people knew it was going to be a special set list because of how we billed it. Later on, it was always a surprise when we did one-offs or complete albums.

The Ronnie Scott’s show was a lot of fun, and at the time it was a real career highlight. Not only was it fun doing the covers, but we did a Yes medley with [Yes guitarist] Steve Howe joining us, and we also had Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery from Marillion doing some songs with us. It was one of those nights that was unique and special, and it was the first time we’d done something like that.

Radio City Dream Comes True

DATE: 4/01/06  CITY: New York City  VENUE: Radio City Music Hall  BAND: Dream Theater

This was our first—and my only—time playing Radio City, and it was an idea that I’d had for a long time. Being a New Yorker, it was always a dream of mine to play the place. It’s such a prestigious venue. I’d seen everybody from The Who to Rush perform there, and I always wondered what it would be like to actually be on that stage.

If I had to pick just one Dream Theater show out of my entire career with them, this would be the one. It was the last night of our 20th anniversary tour, which had been going on for about a year. We even played with an orchestra, which was a total surprise to everybody, and we were filming a DVD that I was directing. There were so many variables that could have made it disastrous, but we managed to pull it off. The stars were aligned on every level.

Playing the show was pretty surreal. I was looking out at the audience and thinking, We’re really here! If you watch the DVD of the show, you can see the point where I start to settle in. At first, I’m full of this wild excitement because everything’s so unbelievable, but a few songs in, when we’re doing “I Walk Beside You,” I spot my family in the audience and I point to my son, Max. At that moment, I calmed down and enjoyed the ride.

The funny and strange thing about the show has to do with the venue’s union curfews. Anybody who’s ever played Radio City knows how strict the place is with bands playing over the allotted time. The minute you step on the stage, the clock begins running. We hit the stage at 8 o’clock, and it was an 11 o’clock curfew. You get charged $10,000 every minute you go over. We finished the show at 11:03, so we got hit with a $30,000 charge. If you watch the DVD of the show, you can see us running off the stage as fast as we can. That was the only sour aspect of the night. On every other level, it still stands out in my mind as one of my favorite Dream Theater moments.

Opening For Iron Maiden

DATE: 7/12/10  CITY: New York City  VENUE: Madison Square Garden  BAND: Dream Theater  DETAILS: Last tour with Dream Theater

The ultimate dream for any New Yorker is to play Madison Square Garden. I even have a video of me in my first band, Intruder, in which I talk about it being my goal. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Concert For Bangladesh—you don’t get more legendary than the Garden. That was the stage were I saw KISS in 1977, a night that changed my life. So here we were, 25 years into our career, and we’re finally getting a chance to step on that stage as the opening act for Iron Maiden.

Everything about the place is special. In the hallway they have pictures of all the famous Garden concerts. I have a photo of myself standing between live shots of John Lennon and George Harrison. Being backstage is so surreal, because you’re just thinking, This is it. All these legends have been here. Playing the show was amazing. For some reason, I remember looking out and focusing on the Jumbotron during most of the set. At the end, I gave a little speech and thanked everybody for helping us get there. Then I looked up in the sky and gave a little kiss to my mom and dad. Neither of them were with me at that point. It was a little sad that they couldn’t experience it with me.

The Garden concert was also significant because it was one of my last shows with Dream Theater. This was my last American tour before I left the band. It’s kind of strange that we reached this pinnacle and that I left the band soon after.