A few months ago when the initial lineup for the next Cruise to the Edge was announced, one curious listing was that of Mike Portnoy. It was just his name without any mention of who he might be playing or what he might be doing. Needless to say, there has been a lot of speculation. In a recent Prog Report Top 5 podcast on which Portnoy was a guest, he spoke briefly about his plans for the Cruise and offered some clues.
Mike Portnoy when asked about his plans: “Actually, I just had an epiphany a few nights ago and an idea. So I might develop that idea. The true answer is I pretty much have a spot on the ship every year that Larry (CTTE) lets me do whatever I want. So when he asked me to be on the next one he wanted to know what I was going to be doing around February 2019. And at the time he wanted to announce it. I wasn’t sure if I’d still be out with Sons of Apollo or Neal Morse band. So the honest answer is I don’t have anything crazy up my sleeve. What it really was was just a technicality to announce that yes, I will indeed be on the boat but just haven’t decided with what bands yet. At this point it will probably line up with the Neal Morse Band’s schedule so I’m hoping that the Neal Morse Band will maybe even premiere the new album on Cruise to the Edge, that’s kind of something we’re talking about. But even so, I just had an epiphany and an idea a few days ago of what I could possibly do for a fun set. So even if I’m not with the Neal Morse Band, I still plan on doing a solo set with, you know, Mike Portnoy and friends, which is basically what I did with the Chris Squire tribute, basically what I did with my 50th birthday show, you know both of those were kind of Mike Portnoy and friends. So regardless of who I’m playing with whether it’s the Neal Morse Band or not, I’m gonna probably do a cool special set.”
Listen to the full Prog Report Top 5 Non-Prog Bands podcast here.
For more on Cruise to the Edge visit: http://cruisetotheedge.com/
