Ex-Dream Theater Schlagzeuger Mike Portony tourt derzeit durch die Welt mit seiner neuen Supergroup PSMS, die neben ihm aus dem Bassisten Billy Sheehan (Steve Vai, David Lee Roth), Gitarristen Tony MacAlpine (Steve Vai) und Keyboarder Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Planet X, Black Country Communion) besteht.
Während eines Konzerts in Manila auf den Philippinen am Dienstag, den 6.11.2012, hörte der Ausnahmeschlagzeuger auf zu spielen und fing an, sein Schlagzeug auseinander zu nehmen. Grund: Er war unzufrieden darüber, wie es von den Techs vor Ort eingestellt wurde.
Daraufhin verlieh er seiner Frustration in einem improvisierten Rap Ausdruck. Das Video dazu seht ihr unten.
Portnoy äußerte sich zu seinem Ausraster kurze Zeit später. Laut seinen Aussagen, wollte er niemanden verletzen, hatte aber an diesem Abend einfach kein Verständnis für die Techs vor Ort, die scheinbar mit der Situation und dem richtigen Einstellen der Instrumente überfordert waren.
Das komplette Statement lest ihr unten.
Video zum Portnoy-Ausraster:
Offizielles Statement von Mike Portnoy:
„Not to excuse my actions, but at least to explain the situation:
This PSMS tour has been VERY difficult on all of us in terms of gear and production. The only way we have been able to make it to such far-away places such as Manila, Russia, Israel, Indonesia, etc (where it is normally VERY expensive to tour unless you are a ’name‘ band that has been around for many years) is we’ve have had to make concessions by using supplied gear and local techs at each show.
Granted, WE agreed to these terms and are willing to make it work — however, on at least a half dozen occasions on this tour, we have been incredibly frustrated to arrive at the venue only to find the band’s gear requirements were simply blatantly ignored (wrong keyboards, wrong amps, Zildjian cymbals, etc.) AND were not setup and ready for us as was supposed to be the case and what the promoters had promised.
We have been as patient and understanding as we possibly can be… but when you get four guys who haven’t slept more than a couple of hours every night in order to fly to these shows without sleep… sometimes our patience can wear thin.
In the case of the Manila show, we arrived hours before the show to find out the drums weren’t setup, cymbals were missing, Billy’s amp was wrong (again) and Tony had a buzz on his gear that would not go away… but we forged ahead because we were VERY excited to play for the fans!
At the start of ‚Stratus‘ (where the video on YouTube is from) — my snare drum mic fell off and I motioned for the tech to come put it back on the stand/drum… and instead, he comes up to the drum kit and takes the mic away… leaving me playing with NO snare mic!!! (you’ll hear I begin playing the high tom instead of the snare)… Realizing he had no idea what was going on or how to fix the situation, I stopped playing and did my little ‚rap‘ while they fixed the situation and we wouldn’t have to play the whole song with no snare in the mix.
In the video, you can see I was at least making a joke out of it and wasn’t maliciously trying to hurt anybody or storming off in anger.
Moral of the story: WE ARE HUMAN! And sometimes frustrating circumstances create frustrated behavior. I’m not saying I was right in stopping the song…but if you see a video from later in the show, you’ll see I explain to the audience that I’ve been waiting my whole career to play in Manila and I wasn’t going to let ANYTHING ruin my night or their show!!
And we carried on and everybody had a great night… And I look forward to returning… (although this may be the last time I tour without my own kit and my own drum tech…hahahaha!!!)“
