Dream Theater drummer and living prog metal legend Mike Portnoy has revealed that he almost secured a rather unlikely temporary gig recently - having been offered the chance to play with none other than Canadian arena rockers Nickelback.
Speaking to Drumeo in a brand new interview, the drummer - who recently rejoined Dream Theater after 13 years - is challenged to play Nickelback classic Burn It To The Ground after hearing it for the very first time. While quickly learning the track, the beloved musician explains that despite not knowing much Nickelback material, he was actually approached by the band to temporarily replace Daniel Adair.
"I got a call from Nickelback in spring of '22," says Portnoy. "Their drummer, I guess, was having surgery and they asked me to play a show with them. And I said 'Yeah, that'd be a fun gig!' I was all set to play this gig with Nickelback - it was for a festival [in Vancouver, Canada] - and the festival ended up getting canceled. But I was this close to playing a gig with Nickelback.
"Chad [Kroeger, Nickelback frontman] sent me the setlist," he continues. "My daughter and my wife were like 'You're gonna know every one of these songs' and I was like 'I've never heard any of these songs!' I don't listen to the radio so I don't know any Nickelback songs."
Watch the interview below.
In October, it was confirmed that Portnoy would be reuniting with Dream Theater, having originally left the band in 2010. “I am overwhelmed with joy to be returning home and reuniting with my brothers!" the drummer announced. "There is so much shared history between us all…so many memories, so much music…to think we’re coming up on 40 years since this journey began! The idea of creating new music together is so exciting and I absolutely cannot wait to hit the road and get to play live for a whole new generation of fans that weren’t ever able to see this line-up before…There’s no place like home!”
In November, Portnoy explained that he had begun to reconnect with his former Dream Theater bandmates during the pandemic.
“The last couple of years, I guess during the pandemic, yeah, I reconnected with John Petrucci,” Portnoy said. “Once we were in lockdown and all of my bands couldn’t tour, and Dream Theater couldn’t tour, John Petrucci was doing a solo album [2020’s Terminal Velocity], and he asked me to play on it. And then from there we decided we wanted to do another LTE [Liquid Tension Experiment] album, which is with [Dream Theater keyboardist] Jordan Rudess. And then shortly after that, John asked me to go on tour with him. So it just seems like we’ve been kind of reconnecting through the last few years.”
It is unconfirmed if and when the reunion will result in any new Dream Theater music. Portnoy's return to the fold means that Mike Mangini has exited the band, though all parties seemingly remain on good terms.
