Mike Portnoy’s Monster Kits in Dream Theater

Mike Portnoy is back in Dream Theater, and now we get to see his new 2024 "An Evening With Dream Theater" Monster Kit.

But before we get there (spoiler: check the bottom of this post), let’s go through his “Monsters” (and a couple before that).

Pre-Monster kits:

1989-1993: When Dream and Day Unite/Images & Words Kit

A Tama Imperialstar, which back in the day wasn’t an entry model drum set.

Mike worked 3 jobs to buy this kit, and was used until the end of the Images & Words tour, when he signed for Sabian and Mapex.

One thing to note, is that although this kit was used to record the Images & Words album, the snare and kick drums were recorded with an electronic trigger at the insistence of producer David Prater. No wonder they never worked with him again...

1993-1996: Awake/A Change Of Seasons kit

Now that he didn’t have to buy the drums, the craziness begins! This kit features 4 octobans, timbalitos and LP percussion elements. Also, it marks the appearance of cymbal stacks in the form of small Chinas on top of large splashes or small Crashes, as well as 2 right-sided hi-hats.

Mike squeezing that endorsement to the max! Still modest for what we know would come later…

Monster Kits:

1996-2002: The Purple/Green/Red Monsters

The Purple Monster

Mike went back to Tama, leaving Mapex because of tensions with the company. Dream Theater was starting to tour more and some logistical problems made things a bit difficult. “I’d rather be a smaller fish in a big pond, than a big fish in a small pond”. Ouch.

So what better way to kick off his new partnership than throwing everything at it?

The Monsters were born.

The Purple Monster was a Tama Starclassic with 3 snares, 6 octobans, more percussion and a wider array of Sabian cymbals. It also marks the introduction of his signature snare “Melody Master” (after his daughter Melody) and the “Max” Sabian series (after his son Max), with Max-stacks and Max-splashes (odd-sized splash cymbals).

The Green Monster

There were 3 Monsters: shipping this massive kit around the world following Dream Theater’s itinerary was economically inviable. So, Mike had a kit for every part of the world, named after their color/white/color fade finishes:

• Purple Monster: North & South America.
• Green Monster: Europe.
• Red Monster: Asia.

The Red Monster

2002: Siamese Monster

The Siamese Monster

Go big or go home. A kit so massive, a second throne had to be added.

This Tama StarClassic Maple kit is, basically, 2 kits put together. The left side of the kit is set up similarly to the Liquid Tension Experiment’s kit (very scaled-down, which funnily enough, Mike said that he put together for the Liquid Tension Experiment sessions with leftovers, since his main kit - The Purple Monster - was in Brazil, since Dream Theater had just finish the tour).

The right side is more experimental: a five-piece kit, with the two rack toms inverted, a gong bass instead of a floor tom and a ride above the hi-hat which allowed to share it between the two sides of the kit.

The Siamese Monster Set Up

He also had 3 replicas of this kit spread around the world for the tour, but in this case they were all the same color and design.

2005: The Albino Monster

The Albino Monster

With this Tama StarClassic Maple, Mike replicates the 2-kit set up but decides to switch sides: his left side is more Dream Theater, and his right side is now a replica of John Bonham’s Ludwig Vistalite.

The story behind him using his Bonham kit is that for the “Octavarium” album, he brought the kit he played for his Led Zeppelin tribute, the “Hammer of Gods kit”, and ended up using it for 5 songs.

The Albino Monster Set Up

You‘ve gotta spice it up to keep it fresh, I guess.

2007: Mirage Monster

The Mirage Monster

We’re going transparent! This Tama StarClassic Mirage Crystal Ice basically replaces the Bonham side of the kit for a more conventional small kit, replacing the famous Bonzo 26” kick for a 22" kick and 3 rack toms (8", 10", and 12").

2009: Black & Silver Monster

The Black & Silver Monster

The last monster of his first stint with Dream Theater.

A Tama Starclassic Bubinga with a beautiful and rich sound. A lot of what happens with this double kit is that parts from one side can be played from the other side, making each side of the kit actually bigger and more versatile. The hi-hat for the right side acts as a remote hi-hat for the left side, as well as the left-side stacks are playable from the right.

I think Mike arrived at a holistic approach in terms of playing massive, 2-throne kits with this one.

2024: An Evening With Dream Theater

The first Monster on his second (and hopefully last) stint with Dream Theater. This is the kit currently being used on the "An Evening With Dream Theater" 2024 tour. It's very likely that by the time they release "Parasomnia" (2025), we're going to see a Parasomnia-themed monster kit.

Dream Theater Live, Oct 26, 2024. Palazzo dello Sport, Milan, Italy.

This new Monster Kit hasn't been named or fully described yet, but a few things can be seen already:

• Could this be called Purple Monster 2.0?
• The "side kit" kept the gong drum, smaller kick and 3 rack toms.

As there's more info, we'll include it here. For the time being, it's great to see this full circle moment: Mike Portnoy playing a Mike Mangini-era song. 

 What do you think the "Parasomnia" Monster Kit will be called? "Paramonster"? "Monstersomnia"? (I hope not, those are horrible names). What's your take?