In 2022, DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy was approached by NICKELBACK to fill in for their drummer, Daniel Adair, who was recovering from surgery.
Portnoy agreed to play a show with them at a festival in Vancouver, Canada. However, the festival ended up getting canceled, and Portnoy never got the chance to perform with NICKELBACK.
During a recent interview with Drumeo, Portnoy said: “I got a call from NICKELBACK in spring of ’22. Their drummer, I guess, was having surgery and they asked me to play a show with them. And I said, ‘Yeah, that’d be a fun gig.’ I was all set to play this gig with NICKELBACK — it was for a festival [in Vancouver, Canada] — and the festival ended up getting canceled. But I was this close to playing a gig with NICKELBACK.”
He continued: “[NICKELBACK frontman] Chad [Kroeger] sent me the setlist. My daughter and my wife were, like, ‘You’re gonna know every one of these songs,’ and I was, like, ‘I’ve never heard any of these songs.’ I don’t listen to the radio, so I don’t know any NICKELBACK songs.”
“I know nothing about NICKELBACK but I know that as much as they are hated, they are just as loved even more and they were down with the PANTERA guys too, which is good enough for me.”
This past October, DREAM THEATER officially announced reunion with their original drummer, Mike Portnoy. The band parted ways with Portnoy in 2010 and replaced him with Mike Mangini, who has been with them since 2011.
