Love Mike to death, one of my top 3 favorite drummers, his skill can't be questioned BUT, Zonder is not easy at all to duplicate, he is one of the most under appreciated drummers out there.His parts are beautiful, intricate. Gavin Harrison reminds me of him too
Zonder is incredibly gifted, but too mechanical for my taste really. He's very similar to Mangini in that aspect. Incredibly precise. But I personally prefer the character that imperfection adds to drumming. Same reason some people prefer Jimmy Page and Hendrix to Vai and Satriani.
I like Portnoy a lot, and he brings his own flair to the song. But Mark Zonder and Gavin Harrison are on a different level. Just a bit above Portnoy, imho. I hope no one will take this as a dis of Mike Portnoy. It’s not meant to be. Amazing drummer, and DT is obviously one of my all-time favorite bands. I was fortunate enough to meet Mike and James before soundcheck on the Awake tour. Both were very nice, and laid back. It was easy to talk to them. No ego at all that I could detect.
As much as I love Mike's work and his talent as drummer, there are a lot of subtle drum parts on FW's songs that can't be nearly replicated but by Mark Zonder only. What a talent he truly is.
Glad Portnoy got to have some fun with these guys. You know he was loving playing Zonder's parts.. He did it justice... (and he is visually entertaining as usual)...
Dude is a workaholic!! I don't know how he does it!! Touring with the Mob, recording with Neal Morse (and who knows what other projects?) and finds time to fly to Brazil to play Fates Warning? (which is not exactly chopped liver when it comes to drum parts...) Kudos Mike!! I don't know where you find the time or energy, but thanks for sharing!!
I bet Mike was able to wing this gig, seriously. He probably knows that music and the drum parts so well that he maybe took a listen to the setlist during the flight over and was ready to go.
@@mikedavisbuggsislandrealto2567 A good drummer who knows the music is able to wing gigs... The video on my channel of us doing Operation Mindcrime in its entirety.... That drummer had ONE rehearsal with us before the show, and we ran through it with him only one time, but then again....Like Mike, we all grew up on that music so we knew it intimately well already.
The next best to the real thing, Zonder is not an easy drummer to cover and has such an unique feel that is difficult to duplicate. Portnoy did a great job in these renditions.
tski1972 in fairness to Mike, who really could? Zonder’s playing is nuts, and for any top level drummer to get it right would take a lot of analysis, trial and error. I doubt Mike has that much time to break everything down. I also think he was just enjoying jamming out with Ray, Jim and the guys, and not trying to perfectly reproduce Mark’s part.
After attending the Pleasant Shade of Grey and Falling into Infinity concerts back in college - this video is just bizzare to watch. Mike rocks, but this is just unsettling... I keep thinking - Wheres Mark? Keep rocking Mike!!
this is what happens when you put one of the greatest metal drummers with one of the greatest bands ever... one of the greatest performance videos of metal...
on one hand im happy that mike is having fun playing with a bunch of projects but on the other, i wonder if and when he will commit himself more substantially to a project again
Yeah... You're absolutely. He has multiple awards for being the best prog-metal drummer for almost a decade. He should have auditioned for Dream Theater... What? Wait... =))
I totally understand Mike. He has the ability and opportunity to play with all his favorite bands instead of the band he had been playing in for 20 years. Can't blame the guy! :)
One of the greatest at least. I wouldn't even try telling who's the best, there's a lot of very good (read: seemingly godlike and legendary) drummers. Mike's been one of my absolute favourites ever since I found out about Dream Theater :3
Their called OZone Cymbals. They are the in between of a Crash and a China. It gives you that bright crash, but the trashiness of a china at the same time. Mostly effects cymbals, although you could use it for like a regular crash
Funny how many ppl hold to that idea that MP was unsuccessfully recreating Zonder sound here.. I mean, the guy's telling us for years that in live setting he prefers to 'go with the flow' and entertain the crowd, leaving perfectionisms for the studio. So yeah, he's not _going for Zonder_ here, but he was never _going for Portnoy_ either. He's just having fun, and sharing it with the audience as well as with players onstage.
Everyone needs to shut up about Dream Theater. Its in the past now, we should be focusing on the future of MP instead of taking low blows at him. He might have left one of the greatest bands of all time, but he is still one of the best drummers EVER
You guys all getting salty cause he didn't the old dudes parts exact. I'm sorry but Mike is an absolute legend. FW hired him and they knew exactly what they were getting and I'm sure they were super stoked on his performance.
Whining about the fill-in drummer. How ridiculous is that. Guy literally flies in to play a whole set of quite complex music in between all his other stuff. When you need a guy to fill in and want stuff to work out, you get a pro who can pull of the gig without having to study the material for 3 weeks. That's why they got Portnoy. He's the man. But then you got the internet dweebs whining how he didn't play the songs note for note.
Mike is such a joy to watch and listen - I'd rather listen to a more dynamic, Portnoy-style rendition of the song than a poor emulation od Zonder. Only Zonder should play exactly like Zonder - and Mike giving this his own flair is the best tribute I'd ever give to another drummer.
Fates Warning are and always have been a better band than Dream Theater. Both Zonder's and Zimmerman's drumming is every bit as good as Portnoy's, too.
it must probably be a last minute gig . judging from DT or other bands covers the guy generally does his homework + all great players add their spin to songs as it is in their ADN and also it is nearly impossible ( though there is note for note covers on youtube from unknown but talented guys ) to replicate the feel of a drummer . mangini to this day cannot replicate MP's feeling on Portnoy's era songs especially Hihat feel
