Berklee Today: Where the Metal Meets the Road

After 22 years together, Dream Theater is still virtuosic, dark, heavy, and going strong.
June 1, 2007

Drummer Mike Portnoy '86 sits on a tour bus that's parked in front of Boston's Orpheum Theater. Tonight's concert is one of the few remaining in this year's G3 tour that features a set by Portnoy, guitarist John Petrucci '86, and bassist Dave LaRue. "I won't get to cool it after this tour ends," Portnoy tells me. "I haven't had any cool-it time for 10 years. Even when I'm home, I'm working for Dream Theater; overseeing DVDs, artwork layout, merchandise for the tour; and picking the opening bands. Playing the G3 tour was easy. Someone else had to worry about all of the details; I just had to play one 45-minute set each night."

After a few days at home, Portnoy and Petrucci—along with Dream Theater's bassist John Myung '86, vocalist James LaBrie, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess—shot a video for their new album, Systematic Chaos; did some intensive rehearsals; and then launched into an extensive tour that opened in Europe.

Read more about Dream Theater in Berklee Today.