Watch Mike Portnoy Explain How Phish Influenced Dream Theater’s Approach To Setlists

Drummer Mike Portnoy recently revealed he modeled Dream Theater‘s approach to concerts, especially in the 2000s, on Phish. Portnoy discussed the influence of Phish, returning to Dream Theater, performing with Umphrey's McGee and more during an interview conducted by Kevin Cassels, the host of JEMP Radio program Pure Saturation.

“I modeled a lot of Dream Theater’s setlists back in the day — back in the 2000s especially — I would write a completely different setlist for each show for Dream Theater each and every night,” Portnoy told Cassels. “We would have this tradition if we were doing two nights in the same venue the second night we would cover an album in its entirety. We did Metallica’s Master Of Puppets, we did Iron Maiden’s Number Of The Beast, we did Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, Deep Purple’s Made In Japan. It absolutely was something I modeled after Phish.”

“Phish was my gateway to Umphrey’s,” Portnoy added. “That’s how I discovered Umphrey’s. I lot of people knew that I was really into Phish and them doing these one-off covers, cool setlists and jams. That’s why I checked out Umphrey’s to begin with. But to backtrack a little, the late ’90s/early 2000’s I started realizing what Phish was doing and I love that they would have all these different setlists each night and do all these cover albums. They did The Beatles’ White Album, they did The Who’s Quadrophenia and Talking Heads. I just thought it was the coolest thing ever as a fan, as a music lover so I wanted to integrate that into Dream Theater and kind of make us the Phish of prog-metal. It became a big big part of what Dream Theater was doing, at least throughout the 2000’s before I left in 2010.”

Long Beach, New York-native Mike Portnoy co-founded Dream Theater in 1985. Portnoy parted ways with the band after 25 years in 2010 with Mike Mangini stepping in to take his drum seat. Dream Theater announced Portnoy’s return last October and the famed prog-metal act is expected to tour later this year.

Cassels asked Portnoy if he will be tasked with putting together Dream Theater setlists again when the band next hits the road. “I think I need to just get in and get comfortable first and see where we are at this point in 2024,” the drummer explained. “We’re older. It’s been a lot of time apart. So I think there’ll probably be a process of just getting comfortable and everybody finding their place in the new chemistry. And that being said, I would have no problem with the static setlist for a little while, because it’s been so long for me, I’ve been gone for so long, and there’s gonna be a whole new generation of fans coming to these shows that never saw the band with me in it. So even if we went out for this first world tour with a static setlist of doing all the classics, it’s been so long for me that each and every night is going to be special and exciting within itself.”

“Coming back after 13 years, it’s gonna be fresh every night for me. So that in itself will be exciting,” Portnoy added. “But all that being said, I think the band really does want to interject those kinds of things back into the live show. They have expressed to me that they kind of have been missing it and that they kind of want me to take the reins with the setlist and with the ideas of crazy sets and crazy shows and unique things.”

Pure Saturation is devoted to the music of Umphrey’s McGee. The beginning and end of the interview saw Portnoy share his experience performing with Umphrey’s McGee at The Riviera Theatre in Chicago on December 29, 2023. Mike Portnoy filled in for UM drummer Kris Myers who was recovering from shoulder surgery. Portnoy revealed the original plan was to just do a covers set. However, after seeing fans pine for him to play Umphrey’s original “Wizard Burial Ground,” the drummer and the band decided to add the prog-metal instrumental and other originals to the mix.

Watch the full interview below: