[Pollyanna]

Originally Posted by Bernhard

... what a shame - and to satisfy all the airdrummers out there, who want the original licks

Originally Posted by aydee

I found that odd too.

On the one hand they are looking for a new drummer, a new family member, and on the other, they want the drummer who sounds like Portnoy the most.

... they talked about Lanf (just twisting the knife :) & Vigril doing some interpretation, which I foolishly thought was a good thing, they made it sound like a negative.

I thought all music was interpretive. Even classical, which is interpreted by a conductor. Obviously I dont understand this genre.

Originally Posted by Deltadrummer

So maybe you're giving us a little insight into why Mike Portnoy is a bit tired. His creative mind needs to be kept flowing in new directions.

Yes, but we're talking about the music business. People pay big money for their expectations to be met. They love the old DT standards and they're hanging out to hear the hero fill at the end of the bridge or whatever. To mess with it would almost be akin to Phil Collins improvising the signature fill of In the Air. No one's going to mess with the da-da-da-das in Beethoven's 5th either. To avid fans I expect those MP parts are simply part of the song.

Thing is, while the situation isn't perfect, it's not as though the band's playing hoary old standards by rote - they are making a good living playing complex, exciting non-standard music which no doubt gives them a huge buzz. How many musos have the chance to stretch out like that and make good money these days? After all, many play money beat variations for their supper and often without variation between versions as well.

This would be an incredible gig for drummers with an appetite for prog metal and the facility to handle it, even if they are required to retain the essence of MP's parts. No doubt they'll have much more freedom with new songs.