Drummer Mike Portnoy founded Dream Theater in 1985 alongside bassist John Myung, guitarist John Petrucci, and keyboardist Kevin Moore. Portnoy departed the group in 2010 and had a seemingly tumultuous relationship with his ex-bandmates in the public eye. Then on New Year's Day 2018, Petrucci and Portnoy posted a picture online of themselves hanging out, which of course led to mountains of speculation.
Was Portnoy jamming with the dudes again? Was he maybe getting Liquid Tension Experiment back together? Obviously all completely unfounded and highly-speculative rumors, but with a caption like "#givepeaceachance #carpediem," it was hard not to. Now Petrucci has commented on the photo to Music Radar and said they've pretty much been buds this whole time and that there's really nothing to dig into here.
"Mike and I have maintained a relationship and have been friends all these years. Our families are all good friends, and we've gotten together several times. That just was the first time we took a photo and posted a photo. [There's] nothing to read into, other than it's good to maintain good relationships. That's really all it is."
Bummer. We're still holding out for Liquid Tension Experiment 3: 20 Years Later.