Watch Mike Portnoy Pay Tribute to Neil Peart on a Toy Drum Kit
Dave Lifton Published: February 11, 2020
Kevin Winter, Getty Images / Loudwire
Sons of Apollo drummer Mike Portnoy has once again allowed himself to be filmed playing a toy drum kit, and this time he's honoring his friend Neil Peart of Rush.
In the past, our sister site Loudwire has gotten the former Dream Theater drummer to play Hello Kitty- and Pokemon-themed kits. Now he's got a seven-piece set with three tom-toms and, while it's not quite Peart's famously massive kits, it's larger than Portnoy had played in previous installments.
"Just when I thought I was done, they pull me back in," he said in the video below. "I'm getting too old for this. Well, maybe the third time will be the charm. ... Neil was one of my biggest heroes of all time and you come to me, and this is what you give me to work with? ... Neil would be really upset about this, you know."
He started with "YYZ," playing for about 20 seconds before throwing his sticks down, shouting, "How can I work with this shit?" and storming off. But he returned, complaining about the setup before taking a stab at "The Spirit of Radio." He then challenged bandmate Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal to play "Name That Tune" on four Rush songs before kicking the kit over and falling to the floor.
Portnoy, who knew about Peart's brain tumor for two years before Peart died on Jan. 7, then changed his tone. "All joking aside, losing Neil has been truly devastating and heartbreaking and I don't want to make light out of that," he said. "To get serious for a moment, we are going to auction this off. I'm gonna sign it and the proceeds for this are going to go toward brain cancer research. I just wanted to say, Neil, rest in peace. You'll always be my hero and I love you. Thank you for everything."
The auction is live at eBay, wrapping up next Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 10AM Eastern. All proceeds are going to the American Brain Tumor Association.
Sons of Apollo's new record, MMXX, is currently available.
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Source: Watch Mike Portnoy Pay Tribute to Neil Peart on a Toy Drum Kit
Filed Under: Mike Portnoy, Neil Peart, Rush, Sons of Apollo
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