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DREAM THEATER Drummer Says Band's Cover Of PANTERA's 'Cemetery Gates' Was A 'One-Off'

August 8, 2005

DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy has posted the following message in teh "Forums" section of the Gigantour web site:

"Well, we're about 1/3 of the way through this roving mega-metal machine called Gigantour and it's been great so far!

"Some of the gigs have been totally awesome (Grand Prairie, San Diego and Tucson quickly come to mind for me)... and some of them have been quite memorable for various reasons (lightning storms & delays in Pheonix, the insanely rude fan in the front row being ejected in Sacramento, various disastrous technical problems in San Antonio)

"The venues and stages and turnouts have ranged from huge to tiny and our crews are working their asses off to make the show come off each and every day under such inconsistant and sometimes difficult conditions.

"The vibes backstage have been great and all the bands are genuinely great people and all happy to be a part of this tour. The bands are obviously diverse and cover alot of musical extremes, but there is alot of mutual respect all around regardless of the styles.

"A lot of people are talking about DREAM THEATER's cover of 'Cemetery Gates' in Grand Prairie... It was indeed a highlight of the tour so far (from both sides of the stage) and I am gracious to Dave [Mustaine], Burton [Bell] and Russell [Allen] for accepting my invitation to join us on stage that evening. It was a very special and moving experience for all in attendance.

"In answer to some of the people wondering if this will happen again at any other shows...unfortunately, the answer is NO.

"One of the traditions that I have with writing DREAM THEATER setlists (which are completely different everynight if you haven't noticed already),is that I like to throw in these 'one-off covers' that happen ONLY ONCE on a tour and are unique for the people in attendance at a particular show. (in the past, we've done 'Death On Two Legs' by QUEEN in London, 'Heart of The Sunrise' by YES in Paris, 'Heaven & Hell' by BLACK SABBATH in Dortmund, 'One Of These Days' by PINK FLOYD in Rotterdam, 'Echoes' by PINK FLOYD in Philly, 'A Passage To Bangkok' by RUSH in Toronto, 'Mother Father' by JOURNEY in San Francisco, 'Paradox' by KANSAS in Kansas, etc. etc.)

"Even WAY before last December's tragedy, I had decided next time DREAM THEATER played Dallas we'd do PANTERA's 'Cemetary Gates'...it just so happens this was our first time back to the area. Obviously, it now took on a WHOLE new meaning and I thought it would be great to have some special guests join us as a tribute to Dimebag who touched all of our lives.

"I hope it does indeed make the Gigantour DVD and I will surely give Dave permission on DREAM THEATER's behalf to include it, so it can eventually be shared and enjoyed by everyone."

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