"As 2009 is finally winding down and no DT plans have been made public yet for 2010, I'd like to just give a quick rundown of what we have planned to prevent any rumors or speculation that I'm starting to see brew....
As you know, after Thanksgiving we will be heading down to New Zealand for the very first time and then over to Australia (with special guests Pain Of Salvation)...and then we will return home to our families for the holidays and New Year...
In an unexpected move, we will then enter the studio right after New Year's to write and record a brand new instrumental track for inclusion on the upcoming Gods Of War 3 soundtrack. This will mark the first time in the band's career we have written and recorded an exclusive track for an outside project. Roadrunner invited us to participate and we decided we were up for the challenge!
Next on the agenda will likely be a South American tour in the late winter / early spring...but we are still awaiting details on this, so of course plans are still subject to change...
Speaking of changed plans, I'm afraid I have some disappointing news for our North American fans: after serious discussion within the band and evaluations with our manager and agent, we have deciding against doing another US run in spring as we had initially planned...for many reasons, it just is not going to work out as we had originally hoped. (and yes Texas, I still remember we owe ya next time!)
Essentially, this means the BC&SL World Tour will conclude with South America (if it indeed happens) and the only remaining DT shows in 2010 will be some possible festivals and one-off shows that may (or may not) happen towards the end of the summer.
So that's the 2010 forecast for DT....
The 2010 MP forecast is another story....
Although I do plan on having some down time to enjoy with my family....I do have several things on my agenda that will keep me plenty busy (of course!)...
As most of you know, it's looking VERY likely that Transatlantic will hit the road with some shows in support of the newly released reunion album "The Whirlwind"....it looks like we found a nice little window in mine, Pete's, Neal's and Roine's schedules to make this happen in the Spring.
So we are currently looking into doing some select shows in major cities on both sides of the Atlantic during this period (it will be our first truly "transatlantic" tour - as we only did the US for SMPTe in 2000 and only did Europe/UK for Bridge Across Forever in 2001)
Details of these shows should start to firm up soon, so stay tuned...
In addition to the Transatlantic tour, I also have several other exciting possibilities up my sleeve for 2010....so time will tell what pans out and become realities....
So there ya have it for now!
Inevitably, some people will be disappointed in our plans and complain (and blame me!)...others will be excited and overjoyed (and thank me)...but it is what it is..,it's our lives and our career and this is how it looks to be shaping up for the coming months/year...
OK, there ya go! You're now in the loop....
Thank you for a GREAT 2009 (so far) and looking forward to more in 2010,
Dream Theater was honored with the "Spirit Of Prog" achievement award at the 2009 Classic Rock Awards this evening in London.
The award was presented to Mike Portnoy by Prog legend Rick Wakeman who added that he couldn't have been happier for it to go to such a worthy recipient (and joked that he was jealous he wasn't getting it!)
The star studded event was attended by such legends as Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Pete Townshend of The Who, Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones, Brian May of Queen, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Jeff Beck, Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Iggy Pop, Slash of Guns N Roses, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Ginger Baker of Cream, Chrissy Hynde of The Pretenders, Carl Palmer of ELP and members of Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Anvil, Marillion, ZZ Top, Uriah Heep and Mott The Hoople.
For the second edition of Lifting Shadows, I've tracked down and interviewed even more people involved in the Dream Theater story. The text has also been thoroughly revised and updated. So there's also a detailed look at the making of the Black Clouds & Silver Linings album, which includes all new interviews with the band. Plus I've also added an appendix which covers the numerous side projects, such as Liquid Tension Experiment, Transatlantic, OSI, G3 and other solo albums, with interviews with the likes of Neal Morse, Jim Matheos, Tony Levin and the DT guys. This is edition is also around 40% longer than the original.
As you might know, the original, two book, one CD special edition set has now completed sold out. As that was sold strictly on the basis that it was a limited print run, the publishers have rightly decided not to reissue that. They are however producing a new limited edition version as there are people who want something more special than just a hardback. So there are two versions of the book on sale.
The Classic Edition of the book is a standard hardback version. If you imagine the "Words" book of the first edition, expanded by 40%, with 8 pages of colour photos.
The second of these is the Limited Edition book, which is bound in real leather. This contains the same text as the Classic Edition and also has 8 pages of colour photos. The print run is limited to 2000 copies and each copy is hand signed by myself.
The books are being published by Essential Works who printed the first edition of the book. All sales of the book will also be made via their website.
The book is priced as follows:
Classic Edition:
This retails at $28.95 in the US, £17.99 in the UK and EU plus shipping.
Those of you who bought the first edition will shortly be receiving an email from Essential Works offering you a 25% discount off the retail price as a "thank you" for your support in getting the first edition off the ground.
But even if you did not buy the first edition, for a limited time, those of you pre-ordering will be entitled to a discount of 15% off the retail price.
Limited Edition:
This version retails at £30 in the UK and EU, and $50 in the US plus shipping.
Due to the high production costs, low production run and the price already being kept as low as possible, there will be no discount available for this version of the book.
Full details of all the ordering process, details of shipping charges, a list of FAQ and other details on the book can be found at www.liftingshadows.com
It is with the utmost disappointment that I am forced to share the unfortunate news of both Pain Of Salvation and Beardfish having to pull out of this summer's Progressive Nation tour....
Their label Inside Out just recently lost the financial funding for the tour as a result of their distributor SPV recently claiming bankruptcy...which effectively meant that both Pain Of Salvation and Beardfish lost the tour support that was essential to their ability to come to North America for Progressive Nation.
All parties involved (myself, both bands, Inside Out, etc) are beyond devastated at this turn of events and are truly sorry to all of the fans that were looking forward to this lineup. We tried everything we could do to salvage the situation, but in the end it was not possible...
Well as the album title says, every Black Cloud does indeed have a Silver Lining....so with this unfortunate news, I bring to you the good news of 2 incredible bands that will be jumping on board Progressive Nation to join Dream Theater and Zappa Plays Zappa this summer: Bigelf and Scale The Summit.
Los Angeles' Bigelf are my personal favorite new band to come along in many years...their latest CD "Cheat The Gallows" is my favorite album of the year and I already had positioned them onto the European run of Progressive Nation in the Fall....with them now joining us on PN09 in North America as well, it looks like world domination is now not that far out of reach for them!
Pretty soon, everyone will hopefully be falling for their retro, psychedelic, progressive, hard rock, doom metal as hard as I have!
Houston instrumental band Scale The Summit are a recent discovery for me and their top notch musicianship will be a perfect fit to this Progressive Nation lineup stylistically falling very nicely between the musicality of Dream Theater and Zappa Plays Zappa. They bring the instrumental elements of prog rock and fusion into today's contemporary hard rock/metal sounds and are one of the most talented group of young musicians I've seen assembled in many years.
Once again, apologies to anybody disappointed in this unexpected and unavoidable lineup change...but the circumstances were beyond our control...
In any event, PN09 will carry on and still deliver the most musical bang for its buck this summer throughout North America and we look forward to sharing the evening with you!
Sincerely,
Your Progressive Rock Ambassador,
Mike Portnoy
Dream Theater will play "Call of Duty: World at War" with Xbox LIVE Gold Members on Saturday, June 20th at 8AM EST (Dream Theater will be playing from Bilbao, Spain).
If you are an Xbox LIVE Gold Member, send a friend request to the following Gamertags:
DreamThtr GwF1
DreamThtr GwF2
Please be online half an hour before the Game with Fame session.
Fans from The Netherlands can now pre-order the Deluxe Collector's Edition Box Set, 3CD Limited Edition and Regular Edition of Black Clouds & Silver Linings at Bol.com.
Win tickets for the Dream Theater show at the Ahoy in Rotterdam!
Purchase your copy of "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" at Bol.com for a chance to win two tickets for the
show at the Ahoy in Rotterdam. See Bol.com for details!
Roadrunner Records and Dream Theater have teamed up with The Omega Order to bring you very special PRE-ORDER offers. This includes 4 different configurations of the new album including a Special Edition and Deluxe Collector's Edition Box Set.
Black Clouds & Silver Linings will be in stores 06.23.09.
GO HERE to pre-order, and see what you can get in each configuration.
UK / European fans can now pre-order the Deluxe Collector's Edition Box Set, 3CD Limited Edition and Regular Edition of Black Clouds & Silver Linings at Play.com with Free Shipping.
Dream Theater has just released a fifth cover track, "Larks Tongues In Aspic, Pt. 2" by King Crimson. The original can be found on King Crimson's album "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" (1973).
Dream Theater has just released a fourth cover track, "Take Your Fingers From My Hair" by Zebra. The original can be found on Zebra's self-titled 1983 debut album.
Dream Theater has just released a second cover track of a medley of three songs from the legendary Queen: "Tenement Funster", "Flick Of The Wrist" and "Lily Of The Valley". The originals can be found on Queen's 1974 album "Sheer Heart Attack".
GO HERE to watch the exclusive world premiere of
"A Rite Of Passage," the first video from Dream Theater's upcoming album Black Clouds & Silver Linings, in stores 06.23.09.
Progressive metal veterans DREAM THEATER have announced BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS as the title of their tenth studio album. The band commenced work on the album - their second for Roadrunner Records, following up 2007's Systematic Chaos - in October of last year.
Roadrunner will release the record on June 23. In addition to the standard version CD, the album will also be available on vinyl LP, as well as a 3-disc Special Edition CD that will include the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs, the titles of which will be revealed at a later date.
Six weeks prior to the June 23 street date, Roadrunner will release one cover song per week through digital retailers.
Drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again at the helm as producers, while Paul Northfield mixed the record.
The band will embark on a world tour in support of the album beginning in Europe throughout June which will be followed by the second edition of the band's PROGRESSIVE NATION tour featuring Zappa Plays Zappa, Pain Of Salvation and Beardfish throughout North America in July/August.
A video for the first single, "A Rite of Passage" will be shot in late March.
The track listing for BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS is as follows:
A Nightmare to Remember
A Rite of Passage
Wither
The Shattered Fortress
The Best of Times
The Count of Tuscany
Roadrunner Records and Dream Theater have teamed up with The Omega Order to bring you very special PRE-ORDER offers. This includes 4 different configurations of the new album including a Special Edition and Deluxe Collector's Edition Box Set. GO HERE to pre-order, and see what you can get in each configuration.
UK / European fans can pre-order Black Clouds & Silver Linings at Play.com with Free Shipping.
DREAM THEATER TO TAKE THEIR "PROGRESSIVE NATION 2009" TOUR TO EUROPE / UK IN THE FALL WITH SPECIAL GUESTS: OPETH, BIGELF AND UNEXPECT
New York progressive metal veterans DREAM THEATER will take their PROGRESSIVE NATION tour overseas for the first time with a run through Europe and the UK throughout Sept, Oct and Nov 2009.
PROGRESSIVE NATION founder and mastermind, DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy, once again hand-picked the bands based on musicianship, originality and diversity...not necessarily by popularity and marquee value. He comments: "After the excitement of putting together two very cool PROGRESSIVE NATION packages for North America, I knew it was time to bring the concept overseas and share some of these other great bands with our amazing fans throughout Europe and the UK".
Joining the tour will be DT's tourmates from PN08 (and Roadrunner Records labelmates), the legendary OPETH from Stockholm Sweden. Vocalist/Guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt was excited to partake in another PROGRESSIVE NATION experience: "Once my man "The Port" suggested they're going to bring PROGRESSIVE NATION over to Europe, I more or less begged him to get us on it, haha! We had such a great time doing it in North America and it did many great things for us as a band. It's fair to say that I can't wait to get going with this one. It will be a blast, believe me!!"
Los Angeles band BIGELF will bring their unique brand of psychedelic, progressive hard rock to PN09. Vocalist/Keyboardist Damon Fox adds: "When I first met Mike Portnoy, I felt like we were cut from the same cloth, a brother from another mother. We could talk rock & roll for eons (we probably will on tour, hell yeah!). Being added to the PROGRESSIVE NATION tour feels like the planets have aligned for us and the elves have finally come home to Rivendell. The mentality of Dream Theater and PROGRESSIVE NATION reminds me of a quote from the great Willy Wonka, "There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be..." We eagerly await our return to Northern Europe and on a special note, we have never performed in England. This has driven us completely mad over the years. We are just brimming with passion and excitement to be able to bring our music back to the homeland which has inspired us so deeply."
Opening the show each night will be Canada's UNEXPECT who will surely blow people's minds with their insane musicianship and avant garde style of extreme progressive metal. Guitarist Syriak had this to say: "How can we rationally express that crazy excitement we feel about this awesome turn of events...Upon getting offered by Mike to be on board this amazing prog vessel, we accepted at once to participate and add our own mad musical touch to the crew! Being part of the European leg of PN09 is an extreme honor for us and playing in company of such talented musicians shall be a true and heartfelt enjoyment! See you all on stage guys!! "
The European leg of PROGRESSIVE NATION will follow on the heals of the North American version of PN09 which will run throughout July & Aug 2009 in the US and Canada featuring DREAM THEATER, ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH.
PROGRESSIVE NATION's successful inaugural run throughout North America in 2008 featured OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and THREE.
A festival and headlining run of Europe in June, followed by the two PN09 tours will be the first treks across the globe for DREAM THEATER in support of their newest Roadrunner Records release " Black Clouds & Silver Linings" which is slated for a late June 2009 release.
For more information, including dates to be announced soon, visit:
DREAM THEATER'S "PROGRESSIVE NATION 2009" TO TOUR NORTH AMERICA IN JULY/AUG WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, PAIN OF SALVATION AND BEARDFISH
New York progressive metal veterans DREAM THEATER will take their PROGRESSIVE NATION tour back on the road for its second incarnation with a run through America and Canada in July/Aug 2009.
In addition to a headlining set by DREAM THEATER, this year's package will feature the outstanding musicianship of ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA as well as two incredibly talented imports from Sweden: PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH.
PROGRESSIVE NATION was created by DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and its successful inaugural run in 2008 also featured OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and THREE.
Portnoy once again hand-picked all of the bands for the 2009 bill based on their diversity and musicality. He comments: "This year's lineup is so exciting for me. Every band is bringing something very unique to the package to create an incredibly well rounded musical experience. I am just as excited to be watching all the bands from the side of the stage as I am to be performing with mine in the center of it!"
Fresh on the heels of his Grammy win, Dweezil Zappa is pleased to announce his plans to join forces with Dream Theater as part of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour: "It's no secret that I started ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA with the intention to diversify and expand the audience for my father's music. I figured I'd probably have to do it one concert at a time. Playing with DREAM THEATER on the PROGRESSIVE NATION tour is a great way to accomplish that goal. Music fans who are seeking something to challenge their senses should definitely consider attending this great bill."
Portnoy adds, "It is an absolute honor for me to have ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA on board. Frank Zappa is one of my all-time biggest heroes and his music practically invented the term 'progressive'. Dweezil is doing an amazing job carrying on the tradition of his father's daring spirit and like his dad, has surrounded himself with a band of jaw-dropping, incredible musicians"
Sweden's PAIN OF SALVATION will bring their unique brand of cutting-edge progressive metal to PN09. Vocalist/Guitarist Daniel Gildenlow comments: "We are truly very happy to be part of the PN09 tour, and to be back in the States again and bring all the sweat and flesh to our music and our well deserving American fans. We feel honored to have been asked."
Gildenlow also joked, "Actually, Mike has been on our backs now for two years in what we believe to be a personal campaign, bordering on harassment, to make us come over. So when he asked us about PN09, it was a joy to finally be able to say yes. And if Mike didn't give up on us, then hopefully America hasn't either."
Vocalist/Keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom of BEARDFISH is equally excited: "When we read on a website that Mike Portnoy had our album "Sleeping in Traffic Part 1" among his favorite releases of 2007, we just couldn't believe it and we were really happy about it! And now we once again gasp for air since we've been asked to join PROGRESSIVE NATION 2009 together with DREAM THEATER (one of the biggest bands in this genre today!), PAIN OF SALVATION (hey, fellow Swedes!!!) and ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA (being a HUGE Zappa fan myself, I think this is really cool!). Since we've only played the US once before we simply can't wait to come over and rock out!"
PROGRESSIVE NATION will be the first North American tour for DREAM THEATER in support of their newest Roadrunner Records release which is slated for a June 2009 release.
For more information, including dates to be announced soon, visit:
"Prog Metal veterans Dream Theater are currently wrapping up work on their tenth studio album. The band commenced work on the as-yet untitled album - their second for Roadrunner Records, following up 2007's Systematic Chaos - in October of last year.
Drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again producing the CD, while engineer Paul Northfield will mix the record. Roadrunner plans to release the album in early summer upon which the band will immediately embark on a world tour to support it."
2009 will see Ytsejam Records branch out with releases by select Dream Theater side projects on their new "Lazy Tomato Entertainment" label.
Coming this Spring will be the long awaited live CD and DVD releases by Liquid Tension Experiment.
But to whet your appetite until those titles are ready to go, we will launch Ytsejam's side-project offspring with the release of the LIQUID TRIO EXPERIMENT 2 - "When The Keyboard Breaks: Live In Chicago" CD.
This is the infamous "jamarathon" which took place at LTE's June 25th 2008 show in Chicago when Jordan Rudess' keyboard broke down. Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci and Tony Levin proceeded to play and improvise almost 1 hour of insane musical madness to a stunned audience.
This was an unbelievably unique evening that can now be shared for those not fortunate enough to have been in attendance that very special night.
MetalSucks.net and Roadrunner Records are giving away a copy of Dream Theater's tour DVD this week!
All you have to do is correctly-identify the band logo located at MetalSucks and you'll be entered for a chance to win!
New York, NY: Few bands inspire such fanaticism among their fans as Dream Theater. The best way to satiate this dedicated legion is to provide them with even more material to devour and Dream Theater are doing just that this September. The band will release Chaos In Motion 2007/2008, which documents their "Chaos In Motion" world tour, which kicked off June 3, 2007 at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Milan, Italy and concluded almost a year to the day later on June 4, 2008 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's essentially a travelogue of their most recent touring experience and it hits shelves on September 23. Chaos In Motion 2007/2008 will be available in two configurations: as a double DVD set and as five disc collector's set which includes two DVDs and three CDs, containing 14 live tracks featured in the DVD set and expanded artwork.
The Chaos in Motion Tour was a trek that found the band traversing the globe, playing 115 shows in 105 cities in 35 countries on five continents to hundreds of thousands of fans. It also included the first annual Progressive Nation Tour, an idea that the band had kicked around for a few years and finally launched into action this past spring.
Chaos In Motion 2007/2008 is the latest in a series of DVDs from the band and it features performances captured throughout the entirety of the tour, unlike their last three RIAA-certified Platinum DVDs, Metropolis 2000: Live Scenes From New York, Live at Budokan and Score, all of which focused on as single concert event.
Drummer and DVD creative director Mike Portnoy plumed his personal archives for footage in order to provide fans with the ultimate tour souvenir. He assembled over three hours of complete live performances, taking footage from shows in Rotterdam, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Boston, Bangkok and Vancouver. The tracks were mixed and effectively brought to life by Kevin Shirley. The second disc is packed with bonus material, including promo videos, live screen projection films, a photo gallery and a 90-minute documentary that'll make you feel like you're riding in the passenger's seat of the band's tour bus, as it takes you on the road and behind the scenes with the band and crew. It's like a virtual backstage pass that grants fans further unprecedented access.
"Constant Motion" will be available for "Rock Band" download on Xbox Marketplace on Tuesday, August 12th
and on the Playstation Store on Thursday, August 14th, 2008.
PROGRESSIVE NATION founder and mastermind, DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy, once again hand-picked the bands based on musicianship, originality and diversity...not necessarily by popularity and marquee value. He comments: "After the excitement of putting together two very cool PROGRESSIVE NATION packages for North America, I knew it was time to bring the concept overseas and share some of these other great bands with our amazing fans throughout Europe and the UK".
Portnoy once again hand-picked all of the bands for the 2009 bill based on their diversity and musicality. He comments: "This year's lineup is so exciting for me. Every band is bringing something very unique to the package to create an incredibly well rounded musical experience. I am just as excited to be watching all the bands from the side of the stage as I am to be performing with mine in the center of it!"
2009 will see Ytsejam Records branch out with releases by select Dream Theater side projects on their new "Lazy Tomato Entertainment" label.
Order the Deluxe Collector's Edition 5-Disc Set:The official content and tracklisting for the DVD are as follows:
