2023 Chatty!

[Paul Marangoni]

I've been doing yoga 5x a week for the last year. It's amazing how much it's helped my mobility. It's not crazy ashtanga speed flow yoga. Normal classes.

I made the mistake of trying yoga my first time while I was in the middle of a back pain episode, and it made things worse. I've been trying to find a good place where I can practice tai chi, but there aren't many places around unfortunately. It's a shame, because it's supposed to be really beneficial and safe. In the meantime, I do try and stretch every morning doing my basic yoga-ish things.

[Julián Fernández]

No 2024 Chatty edition?

Hey Rodge brother, what a game, huh?

[Julián Fernández]

Apply this to drumming...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fbCcWyYthQ

[beat hit]

Great to know that Randy Walker is the Beat's Stage Manager.

Going to see them at Massey Hall. Anyone else catching that band?

https://beat-tour.com/

https://tonylevin.com/road-diaries/the- ... rehearsals

[Morgenthaler]

I usually try my utmost to stay civilized, online and elsewhere. But... Will you allow the odd rant?

You all know my affiliation with Virgil, so you know of a certain bias on my part. Anyway,

Having recently re-watched the Dream Theater "drummer auditions" of 2011, and having learned over time of the unfair process of the whole thing,
I was left with a rare need to vent my frustration. And I can think of very few places where anyone would/could understand it. So, lucky you.

To be sure, I am beyond glad that Virgil didn't get the gig. He has produced some of his best work in these past 10 years (In This Life, The Dawn Of Time and Ruination)
but also, he was never in the running, as were none of the other drummers except Mike Mangini, who had secured his place in the band before the recording of the "documentary".

Also, it seemed that Dream Theater did everything but cut off Mike Mangini's balls during his time with the band. A progressive ambidextrous powerhouse was slowly but surely reduced
to a lazy, unimaginative drummer, easily playing Portnoy's parts left-handed, blindfolded, and losing all of his own charisma and oomph in the process.

As far as my manners go, the straw that broke the camel's back, was seeing Portnoy return, not only shoving Mangini out in an ugly manner, but more so
Dream Theater just this week releasing a new track so utterly deprived of any new and exciting ideas. It was like a parody, both of their music and particularly of
Portnoy's drum parts. Honestly, I was surprised by just how boring it was, and how much it sounded like a bad Dream Theater wannabe band.

Why the f'ck did they go through all the trouble of sterilizing Mangini, only to have Portnoy return with the same 6-tuplet fills he has played for 40 years?!

What an absolute joke. I felt robbed of precious time on earth, checking out that new track.

Rant over.
Sorry.

[Rodge]

Yup, I'm also glad that Virgil and Thomas did not get the gig, they were WAY TOO GOOD for these mfers.
I did find Mangini kind of sad in that process, kissing asses, yikes...

Thomas Lang did talk about it as it was unfair business wide, doing that documentary, making money on it, knowing already that Mangini was the choice already.

Never felt for Dream Theater anyway, they can gft.

[Paul Marangoni]

I was in a band with Dream Theater's singer back in the 80s in Toronto. His name is Kevin, not James btw. Anyway, Kevin was a very good singer back then, but always wanted to sing at the top of his range, which was where it sounded its worst. And after a few shows, he would always lose his voice. We didn't keep in touch, but I did get to see him and the band in Seattle in the late 90s. I ran into him outside the venue and we hung out and talked a bit. The show itself was pretty lame. The opening band was much better honestly (Big Wreck).

A few years later when I was living in Los Angeles, Dream Theater was performing, and my friend was doing lights for the band and got me tickets. Holy shit, they were so boring I actually fell asleep in the auditorium. I never understood why anyone liked that music. It seemed like a bunch of "parts" strung together with no rhyme or reason.

I'm glad that Kevin made a good living with the band, but watching a video from a recent performance was pretty shocking. His voice is completely shot and he can't sing in tune anymore. My guess is that they replace him within a year.

[Steve Holmes]

I'm not a Portnoy fan - mostly because he appears to have arrested development - which really irks me with guys that make it big but don't use it to their advantage to study with greats and elevate their drumming to noticeable next levels. I like that he used a smaller kit that band with Richie K and Billy. That band kills IMO.

I'm actually a big fan of several DT recordings and have been to see them live twice! I Like James' vocals on the early recordings. John P is a powerhouse rock guitar player.

Having said all this anyone that makes a comfortable living playing music they Love has my respect.

[Pocketplayer]

Good rant Morg...I always like a well-articulated musing.

We're almost ready for the 2025 Chatty...

[bored at work]

I hate DT, I'm not a big fan of Portnoy and Mangini is one of THE most horrible humans on the planet. I watched him being throroughly nasty to a Zildjian female meber of staff and a member of staff from the venue where he was playing for the last Zildjian day in London. A friend of mine's son, his dad is in the industry, had to be refrained from breaking MM's hands.