Mangini's Dream Theater Audition - Just the music

[jim777]

The fact that they went all free form jazz, and he just hung right in there and tracked his way through it, blew my fucking mind.

Yeah, a fuck ton of talent in that room no question.

[Chris]

Not listened yet, but that audition was about more than just the music. They went for the guy most like them: North American, kids, age.

Not to take anything away from Mangini (dug him since Extreme) but his display of "bus chops" got him the gig just as much as his drum chops.

I don't disagree that his "bus chops" (great term) most certainly helped, but watch the video in the OP and then tell me he isn't perfect for the band. The music in this audition video is better than anything on their last few albums. Mangini absolutely kills it.

Rudess ruined DT. :\

[Chris]

There was no one in that group with more chops than Mangini. A few of them, most notably Marco Minnemann.

Since this is MG, here's a slight derail!

Marco is an absolute monster, and unfortunately Steven Wilson screwed him over. I like SW's music but he's not the most likable guy on the planet, and this is what Marco had to say about him:

I received a few questions about the gold awards for 'The Raven' and 'Hand.Cannot.Erase'. I'll try to keep it brief: Yes, some of the people involved in these productions had to learn through social media that these albums went gold. I seriously had no idea, so thanks for letting me know. Well and what can I say, also at the end of the day they're SW's albums and he decides whom to share the success with. From what I've heard, some gold awards were given to one half of the band and the other half was excluded and not notified (very likely because of our decision for other band and touring commitments). But nevermind, we were all involved and played in the studio and live as a band and I'd like to believe that our musical contributions somehow at least to a certain degree shaped the vibe and style of these albums. Most important thing is that YOU appreciate and value the playing and contributions. So, thank you very much. Happily moving on, come to see the Aristocrats 'Tres Caballeros' world tour. We're in the middle of our Asian/ Australia leg and wow, India and Nepal were surely new and amazing places for us to explore and play and I can't thank everyone enough for making this tour such a huge success.

And then:

Well, to be honest, Raven and HCE are the only gold awards in that catalogue, aren't they... And excluding us, just because we cherish our own band The Aristocrats and refuse to ass crawl, is kind of a dick move.... Take your gold records and shove it.

Since Marco was touring with Guthrie at the time, it sounds like Wilson didn't bother sharing the gold record with either of them after they went back to their band.

I like SW's music and am a P-tree fan but Wilson's over the top pretentious cuntitude makes me not want to listen to his shit. Maybe he can form a band with Rudess?

[Rev Drucifer]

I remember thinking back then that Mangini was perfect for the gig. If I remember right, he's the only guy who played Portnoy's parts as they were on the album and I'd say that's pretty much a necessity, at least in the audition phase, because the fans, who still argue about it today, would eat anyone alive if they came in and started changing parts around. It's only been the last couple tours that he's started putting some of his own flavor into the older tunes and even then, he's still really respectful of the original parts.