JOHN PETRUCCI On DREAM THEATER's Relationship With Fans: 'We're In It Together'

In the special season 10 premiere of Jon Stankorb's "Guitar Hang" podcast, DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci reflects on the heroes who shaped him, the responsibility that comes with becoming a source of inspiration for others, and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right creative team over a decades-long career.

Regarding DREAM THEATER's relationship with the band's fans, Petrucci said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "As kids, bands [like] IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA, those are bands that that modeled that kind of the importance of the fan-band relationship. Any time we'd see them on stage or we'd watch their live videos, whatever, you would see them interacting and always taking the time to connect with fans. And so that's what we learned, like, that's normal; that's how you do it. Not only that, but because of the work that we've had to do as a band, where we're not playing the type of music that's instantly successful. If anything, it has a lot going against it. So, the fact that we built our career on really the power of live performing and working hard and being consistent creatively, it makes you sort of value the relationship with the fans because they're the reason why this is growing, why we have gone from the Marquee in London to the O2 arena. They're the reason we can do this stuff. So you cannot lose sight of that. It's a very important relationship. And I think the best sort of perspective, the way to look at it, at least the way I do, is that we're in it together. It's not like 'us and them'. I've always hated that. Just 'cause we're standing higher on a stage — we're just musicians."

On DREAM THEATER's upcoming spring 2026 tour of Latin America, the progressive metal giants are continuing their "An Evening With Dream Theater" run that celebrates DREAM THEATER's latest album, "Parasomnia", by performing the LP in its entirety, as well as playing the entire seven-movement masterpiece "A Change Of Seasons" for the first time since drummer Mike Portnoy's return as well as other classics and fan favorites from the band's catalog.

DREAM THEATER played its first concert with Portnoy in 14 years on October 20, 2024 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The drummer, who co-founded DREAM THEATER, played on 10 of the band's albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours.

DREAM THEATER kicked off its summer/fall 2025 "An Evening With Dream Theater" U.S. tour on September 5 at Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The 30-city trek ran through October 25, when it wrapped in Long Island, New York.

DREAM THEATER launched the spring/summer 2025 leg of its "40th Anniversary European Tour" on June 3 at Logomo in Turku, Finland.

"Parasomnia" came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP was produced by John Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returned once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

"Parasomnia" is an eight-song, 71-minute set which was recorded at DREAM THEATER's DTHQ studio on Long Island, New York. It is the follow-up to 2021's "A View From The Top Of The World", which debuted at in the top 10 of Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts. Six songs on "Parasomnia" are over seven minutes and the closing epic "The Shadow Man Incident" clocks in at nearly 20 minutes.

The North American leg of DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour kicked off on February 7 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trek was "An Evening With Dream Theater" and was the first tour of North America since Portnoy's return to the lineup,. The tour concluded on March 22 in New York City.

Portnoy, Petrucci and bassist John Myung started DREAM THEATER as MAJESTY in 1985, after meeting at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. Singer James LaBrie came on board in 1991, while Rudess joined in 1999.

Prior to Portnoy's return to DREAM THEATER, the drummer and Petrucci worked together on the latter's 2020 solo album, "Terminal Velocity", and toured together. Portnoy and Petrucci also joined Rudess and bassist Tony Levin for a third studio album as LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT in 2021.