Mike Portnoy Quotes

I went to see 'Shine a Light,' and it was the most perfect thing I could have done to watch that man do what he does in front of an audience. It's primarily Mick Jagger, but they're all so confident and relaxed and in love with what they do, and aware of the power of what they do. It's just deeply, deeply attractive.

I felt that The Who had ended because we'd lost touch with our original Shepherd's Bush audience.

I love Coldplay. The lights, and the sound quality They really play their instruments. Sometimes, during the show, they'll make a mistake and stop. I think they do it intentionally just to show you they're really playing it live.

Am I the man who killed Deep Purple? I don't think so. I think every band from that era, even if you look at Led Zeppelin, if you look at their first four albums, they're extremely different from one another, and I've never made the same album twice.

The Ramones went through a couple different line-up changes, and Johnny and Joey held through the whole thing. So right now I'm the only one hanging in there.

I dearly remember the old days... Fleetwood Mac had this one-of-a-kind charm. They were gregarious, charming and cheeky onstage. Very cheeky. They'd have a good time.

I kind of question whether to say this or not, but it's almost like the Allman Brothers turned into an Allman Brothers tribute band.

Over thirty-plus years, a certain myth has grown up around the band. And the last thing I ever wanted to do was put us on a stage somewhere, in less than the best circumstances, and pop the bubble, have the fans come in and say, 'Gee, they weren't that good.' It's your responsibility to give them something to be excited about.

Cheap Trick has played with every band on the planet.

I've had Motley fans come up to me and talk to me about Motley. I've had other fans talk to me about all the backing vocals and the tapes. I just ask them, 'At the end of the day, did you have a good time?' That's it.

When Xscape came back together for a tour in 2017, and all of our shows were selling out, it made me miss being on stage and producing music on a regular basis. That's what I did for most of my life.

The last Company Flow reunion show in New York City was pretty insane. Everybody knew all the words to every song; everybody had smiles on their faces. Those shows are what you hope for every time you get on the stage.

We didn't play any Joy Division songs for 10 years after the start of New Order, which was a very honourable thing to do even if it meant shooting ourselves in the foot.

We're better than Metallica. We're better musicians, better players. Put it this way, they can try to walk onstage after an Iron Maiden show if they want.

Jimmy Page is an excellent producer. Led Zeppelin I and II are classics. As a player he's very good in the studio, but I've never seen him play well live. He's sloppy. He plays like he's got a broken hand and he's two years old. If you put out a good album and play like a two year old, what's the purpose?

I think every show I do, whether I am doing eight shows a week of a Broadway show... I think, "that's a show I'll never get back"... I go home at night and I think to myself, "that was my favorite".

The theater itself is so archaic and old fashioned, that it doesn't really matter to me whether it's on Avenue D or at the Helen Hayes Theater. What's the difference? It's still a very nostalgic form. Also, it means you're knowingly walking into a room where there's actors. I feel it's very embarrassing. Because, you know, they're right there. You always think like, they can see you, and I think it's mortifying, frankly, and I hate to sit near the front, where you feel they actually might see you. It's too ... it's too live.

Never have your wallet with you onstage. It's bad luck. You shouldn't play the piano with money in your pocket. Play like you need the money.

I'm kind of happy to know there may be some kid or teenager now who might never have had the chance to see my Broadway performance, but gets a taste for what it might have been like now, because they can see Clint Eastwood's film."

I don't give concerts, I put on a show.

I'll never forget my first words in the theatre. "Peanuts. Popcorn."

Trey Spruance didn't want to tour for ages. And Dean Menta has always been our guitar-roadie during Angel Dust, and I remember him playing fantastically during soundchecks. During each gig, he was watching from the side of the stage, seeing Big Jim play stuff that he could play better.

A good DJ is always looking at the crowd, seeing what they’re like, seeing whether it’s working; communicating with them. Smiling at them. And a bad DJ is always looking down at what they’re doing all the time and just doing their thing that they practiced in their bedroom

I wouldn't want to get stuck being an oldie-goldie group, but I don't mind. I think all the trouble you go through these days to go to one of these concerts, I think I owe them a bit of what they came to hear.

We hadn't sung together in six years. We realized that we'd missed each other personally and musically, so we decided to try a limited reunion tour. We wanted to work together enough to have it be a meaningful part of our lives, but not so much that it wouldn't be fun.