Dream Theater just freakin’ picked a new drummer! They ran a 3 episode web series and shared it on Roadrunner’s YouTube Channel. I couldn’t believe some of the reactions some of the fans had throughout the whole thing.

I won’t post who got the gig, because I thought it was a great 3 episode watch, and some people probably haven’t seen it yet.

Drummers who auditioned in no particular order:

• Mike Mangini
• Virgil Donati
• Derek Roddy
• Marco Minnemann
• Thomas Lang
• Peter Wildoer
• Aquiles Priester

(All links go to the drummer’s facebook fan page)

I saw a lot of comments of people who were disappointed with the way DT was marketing it with essentially making it a “reality series.”

Since when is that a bad idea? “Oh man, DT is selling out. They’re reaping the benefits of Portnoy leaving the band.”

Are you kidding? This is the perfect example of when you SHOULD actually have somewhat of a reality show. I mean, you have a group of talented musicians who we’ve all grown to love over 20 years, and they want to put it on camera to let you in on their world. On top of that, it is FREE to watch whenever you want.

What’s wrong with that? People are interested in the band and its members, and really want to be in-the-know for how they go about finding a new member, and I think it’s awesome they’re covering it so extensively and cutting together the most interesting bits.

At least it’s not a group of people we’ve never heard of with no-talent getting wasted and beating each other up over who has the bigger six pack, but that never happens right?

Anyway..

Congratulations to all the drummers who auditioned, and the members of Dream Theater for their success and we wish them all the best here from AES.