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Editorials

DEREK RODDY: NOT DREAM THEATER’S NEW DRUMMER

 Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 at 12:30pm by

Dream Theater drummer video 2

(click to view video. no embeds allowed.)

And the search for a Mike Portnoy seat-warmer until he inevitably returns to Dream Theater continues with DT TV Episode 2! I’ll admit it… I’m definitely enjoying this documentary, cheesy as it may be. It’s really cool to be able to see how different drummers react to the tests Dream Theater throws at them and to see every auditioning drummer’s strengths and weaknesses. And to hear John Myung’s voice.

DT TV Episode 2 starts off with Derek Roddy, and it’s clear from the get-go that things aren’t going to pan out well for him. The film-makers somewhat unfairly decided not to mix his drum kit properly in the final film mix, intentionally making him sound shitty compared to the tight, clear tones of every other auditioning drummer. They may as well have inserted sad trombone sound effects. But the musical chemistry didn’t appear to be there anyway; Roddy couldn’t immediately grasp the brand new riff the band threw at him with a wonky, multiple meter switcheroo, no easy task, but if you’re gonna be DT’s drummer you gotta be able to hang.

Thomas Lang and Virgil Donati fared a little better, passing both the DT songs and new jams litmus tests, but I didn’t get the impression the band was wowed with either one. Marco Minnemann, on the other hand, killed it! He’s said publicly that he’s not DT’s new drummer so there’s nothing to be too excited about, but perhaps we were going on bad info. Still, my money’s on Mike Mangini winning out.

AND HOLY SHIT! JOHN MYUNG SPEAKS AGAIN! (skip to 21:40)

Epic voiceover… the final episode coming soon… Explosions… BOOM! Love affairs! Drama!

Watch here. (no embeds)

-VN

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  • littlenicky

    Derek Roddy is too good for them anyway.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Diogo-Ricardo/100000037696271 Diogo Ricardo

      Yeah… Dream Theater aren’t brutal enough for Derek Roddy

    • stew

      hahaha i was going to say the same thing.

  • SuperTylerRPG

    I’m not a DT fan at all. No reason in particular, just never fell in love with them. However, as a drummer, I’m loving this video series! It’s really cool to see a big name band auditioning new drummers and seeing the challenges that are thrown at them.

  • Bastard

    So sneering at Anthrax yet giving constant coverage to… Dream Theater?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matt-Hurley/1289730334 Matt Hurley

    Roddy I immediately knew wasn’t a good fit for DT. He was the one on the list who when I read him off my initial reaction was “wait, what?”. I’m not surprised his audition didn’t go well. Virgil Donati doesn’t have nearly enough power in his drumming for DT, technically good as he is. Thomas Lang just sounded stale. Minnemann was fucking great, just as good if not better than Mangini, but I could see where Mangini would mesh with them better in terms of personality, so they probably will go with him, good choice either way.

    Looking forward to seeing how Priester and Wildoer do, though although both great drummers I don’t really see either of them as DT material – Priester is another more speed based guy like Roddy, he doesn’t have the right kind of groove for DT. Peter Wildoer is probably the better fit of the two (check out some of the drum clinic stuff he does, much more proggy than Darkane), but I still don’t see him quite fitting in with DT.

  • Braston

    Random I know, but James looks so weird without his hair!!!

  • http://www.myspace.com/thestarsthrewdowntheirspears Tim

    I’m not a big DT fan, but as a professional musician this is very interesting. I was kind of rooting for Donati, but if this Mike Mangini guy is a Berklee Professor I’m sure he’ll probably kill it.

  • Joe the Impaler

    Marco Minnemann looks like a chipmunk when he plays.

    • Strapping Young Lad

      a DEATH METAL chipmunk.

    • Slaughterhouse

      He does but standing next to the other guys I never realized how fucking tall he was

  • TheHateMachine

    roddy got owned.

  • Blake

    According to this post on Blabbermouth, Roddy wasn’t too happy with the audition process, either:

    http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=157339

    • SuperTylerRPG

      Wow, Roddy used every excuse besides “my dog ate my sheet music”

  • cxj

    good. he’s an asshole.

  • Aaron

    This is so cool but it makes me feel really bad too! When you don’t see the drummers, or whoever, you have nothing invested in the decision, but all of the drummers seem like really nice guys i feel kind of bad for all the guys who don’t get the gig.

    I”m thinking it will be Mangini, but I really hope that project with JP, Jordan, and Minneman works out, that would be a badass three piece.

  • http://www.Handymetalworks.com metaldude

    Dude having Derek Roddy play for DT would be like having Dave Lombardo play for Rush. Apples and oranges dudes..Anyway check out my number of the beast I made..

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260773308245&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

    • CreptorStatus

      Quit spamming your shitty chainsaw 666. I wouldn’t pay poop out of my toilet for it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Zach-Gates/14209777 Zach Gates

    Dream Theater doesn’t deserve a powerhouse like Roddy.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tanner-Cooper/1846335619 Tanner Cooper

    Id much rather hear Roddy’s own material anyway.

  • Ørsaeth

    I’m wondering if the “I’m not the new DT drummer” post from Minneman was simply to throw us off the scent. It looked like he really impressed the rest of the band.

  • chrisb

    haters gonna hate

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Abhimanyu-Ghoshal/517045654 Abhimanyu Ghoshal

    Glad to see MS readers being relatively mature about DT, a band that doesn’t get much love around here. This series is wildly entertaining and would be great to watch for any other major band in a similar format! Here’s hoping for a higher attrition rate in bands who could use good drummers!

    Derek Roddy wasn’t a good fit – pretty apparent from the clips of his playing with their songs. Not all drummers are born Portnoy replacements.

    Mangini was fun to watch and spot-on from the looks of things but Minneman seems like a more interesting choice – he seems more musical than powerhouse Mangini.

  • Shitz Nolte

    As others have said Derek is not a good fit for DT. I kinda got the vibe he was more doing it for the challenge anyway;at least to say he did it if nothing else. I’m thinking Mangini gets it though. Seems like a better fit. Marco rocks socks, but if you listen to his other projects, he might be a little too left of center for DT. I’m also interested to see how the other two do. All these dudes are strait beast on the kit regardless.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jack-Lenehan/4001425 Jack Lenehan

    I like how every time one of those fucking LEGENDS tried to do anything cool/new with the tunes – Virgil’s bit at the end of Dance of Eternity was naasssstttyyy – the guys were like “eh yeah meh well I don’t know we don’t really like when um well it’s just we’ve played the songs thousands of times and well it really needs to feel like” shut the FUCK UP Rudess you gnomish fuck. God forbid someone try to inject some life into the decrepit, bloated carcass of DT

    • chrisb

      u mad? we saw five minutes of a three hour audition for each guy. they might not have liked other parts they tried to make their own

  • anon

    I would rather they auditioned Sean Reinert instead of Derek… Sean deserved a shot and probably would have done great with the guys.

    Like everyone else has said- its not Derek’s bag… I almost think they brought him in just to make it a soap opera.

    My vote is for Mangini- they seem to like him the most on a personality and musical level. I guess it makes sense to keep it in the Berklee family and all….

  • Faustor

    I think that Derek Roddy is just an extreme metal player. Take out the grinds and the double bass pedal and then what style are you going to play? I’m not saying that is not difficult to do what he does and he really is good playing that kind of music, but it limits you to other styles (Btw I like the type of music that he plays from time to time). I think when you say the word musician it involves playing not only one style but many styles of music and if you play only one well you are just a guy who plays the drums. I’ve also seen in some youtube videos that hes trying to change his style regarding to the music and I think thats good! I have been playing guitar for abut 10 years now and I used to play a lot of metal also, but when I got the opportunity to play other styles like jazz, blues, country, classical etc…(it was more because I was studying music in college) I noticed that because of my fast playing I was lacking another world of things. In time I got better in these other styles that also made me a lot better on my main style wich was metal and incorporated the new knowledge to it. Anyways loved the series they should have made it a lot longer, but I got disaponted with Thomas, Virgil and Aquiles what happened guys? youre like gods basically.