Topics

New blog update from Jem over at http://britishwintertime.com/ had this interesting tidbit

The tracklist is finalised – Day One, Numbers, Towerblock, Lights Out, Signs, Sunlight. Slightly embarrassing that I've had to hoof off "British Wintertime", but time constraints have made it essential. The whole thing is just over an hour long as it is.

Since he started this latest blog I've been laboring under the assumption that the new record would be called British Wintertime but now I suppose that's out. It will now become a bonus track or a future release of some kind.   

Jem hasn't updated the blog since november 8th, so I guess apart from programming and rehearsing for the gig there's not much going on in Frost* land at the moment.  Wich iss fine really, but I was hoping we'd get a peek inside the new Cube in the near future.

//http://new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs/pop_gossip/20602/phil-collins-quits-music/

I think he needs help.  How can you be Phil Collins and be that miserable?

//http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2585154.aspx

Wednesday September 8th 2010
 
I am about to write something I never imagined I'd ever write:

After 25 years, I have decided to leave Dream Theater....the band I founded, led and truly loved for a quarter of a century.
 
To many people this will come as a complete shock, and will also likely be misunderstood by some, but please believe me that it is not a hasty decision...it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so....

After having had such amazing experiences playing with Hail, Transatlantic and Avenged Sevenfold this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in Dream Theater...
 
Please don't misinterpret me, I love the DT guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them...it's just that I think we are in serious need of a little break...

Dream Theater was always my baby...and I nurtured that baby every single day and waking moment of my life since 1985...24/7, 365...never taking time off from DT's never-ending responsibilites (even when the band was "off" between cycles)...working overtime and way beyond the call of duty that most sane people ever would do for a band...

But I've come to the conclusion that the DT machine was starting to burn me out...and I really needed a break from the band in order to save my relationship with the other members and keep my DT spirit hungry and inspired.

We have been on an endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break) and while a few months apart from each other here & there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a "hiatus" to recharge our batteries and "save me from ourselves"...
 
Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than take a breather...I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be...

While it truly hurts for me to even think of a Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy (hell, my father named the band!!), I do not want to stand in their way...so I have decided to sacrifice myself and simply leave the band so as to not hold them back against their wishes....
 
Strangely enough, I just read an interview that I recently did that asked me about the future of DT and I talked about "always following your heart and being true to yourself"...sadly I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with Dream Theater...and I would simply be "going through the motions", and would honestly NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation without taking the break I felt I needed.
 
I wish the guys the best and hope the music and legacy we created together is enjoyed by fans for decades to come...I am proud of every album we made, every song we wrote and every show we played....

I'm sorry to all the disappointed DT fans around the world...I really tried to salvage the situation and make it work...I honestly just wanted a break (not a split)...but happiness cannot be forced, it needs to come from within....

You DT fans are the greatest fans in the world and as you all know, I have always busted my ass for you guys and I hope that you will stay with me on my future musical journey, wherever it may lead me....(and as you all know my work ethic, there will surely be no shortage of future MP projects!)

Sadly...
Your fearless ex-leader and drummer,
MP

 
"Move on be brave, don't weep at my grave, because I am no longer here...
But please never let your memory of me disappear...."
--- The Spirit Carries On

 :shock:  

Seems unreal right about now...

I'm thinking of getting this bad boy as my next toy.



Anybody here have any first hand experience with it yet?

I was watching a documentary on PBS this week, This Emotional Life, and at a few intervals during the show I heard the exact same sequence of sounds from the intro of Hyperventilate, the part before the first piano bit.  Did those come from a sound effects bank of some kind?   I swear for a minute there I really thought they were playing Frost*.

the FAC (Featured Artist Coalition) had a big meeting last week and put out this.
 //http://tinyurl.com/yejo49p

25th September 2009

Last night at a very special meeting took place at Air Studios in London. It was an unprecedented gathering of artists who all met in the spirit of collaboration and with the aim of discussing the very challenging issue of file-sharing and how it affects the lives of so many artists and all the people that support them in creating the music that we all know and love.

The statement below is the result of that meeting.  If you are an artist or music industry organisation and you agree with what has been stated below, let us know by writing to mailto:addmyname@featuredartistscoalition.com">addmyname@featuredartistscoalition.com and we'll add your name to the list of signatories.

The Air Statement:

We the undersigned wish to express our support for Lily Allen in her campaign to alert music lovers to the threat that illegal downloading presents to our industry and to condemn the vitriol that has been directed at her in recent days.

Our meeting also voted overwhelmingly to support a three-strike sanction on those who persistently download illegal files, sanctions to consist of a warning letter, a stronger warning letter and a final sanction of the restriction of the infringer's bandwidth to a level which would render file-sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic email and web access functional.

Obviously there's a lot of brits here so I wonder if you guys have any thoughts on this.

//http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1212596/I-play-drums-says-Phil-Collins.html

 :cry:  depressing news.  I can't imagine this is fun for him.  I know he didn't want to perform live much anymore but I'm sure he still wanted to play at home for family and friends.

I know he doesn't owe us anything but, no tweets in 4 days and no forum posts?  I mean, even on the beach during his vacation he doing tweeter updates.

I don't know if this was announced here yet  but, from Mike Portnoy's website

This just in from MP

Unfortunately, FROST* has had to pull out of the 2 European shows they were scheduled to do with Dream Theater in June:
--- June 18th in Lisbon Portugal
--- June 23rd in Munich Germany

(FROST* will still appear at the 2 UK shows earlier in the month)

However, I am pleased to announce that NEAL MORSE will now be DT's Special Guest at the June 23rd Munich show (in addition to the already announced show the next day in Gelsenkirchen, Germany)

Opening act replacement for the Lisbon show is still TBA....

I don't expect any of the Frosties were there but I just wanted to share this pic I found online wich features me right in the middle of the crowd, rocking a Frost* t-shirt.



That friday when I wore the shirt I did get a couple of "Hey Frost! cool shirt man"

I decided to get the X-50 as my first real synth.   I didn't want to go too expensive right out of the gate and it seemed a sensible choice.  Does anyone here have any experience with it?  From the demos I heard it seems to have some good sounds.

I was just over at the It Bites website and noticed that on the date that Frost is appearing at Rosfest in america, JM is supposed to be on tour with It Bites in Europe...  :?

Well, got in the mail today about a week later.  I'm up to Memory of Water and I'm digging it so far.  I was listening to the tracks on their myspace last night and I was really hoping to get it today.   The comparisons to Kino are inevitable obviously, to me it sounds like the second Kino album that never happened.  I haven't listened to any old It Bites yet.

I'm still sort of new to the Frost online community so please forgive me if this is a stupid question or a subject that should be discussed elsewhere.

I'm a member over at dimeadozen, the bootleg torrent sharing site, and from there I've downloaded a boot of the Cardiff gig from last summer.   As far as I can see that's only show available on DIME,  so I'm wondering if there are other Frost* bootlegs out there on other file sharing networks.