Mike Portnoy says the current Queensryche fiasco makes his split from Dream Theater look tame — and not just because footage of Geoff Tate spitting at his former bandmates has been found online.
Queensryche members are currently amid a legal battle over the band name and royalties with singer Geoff Tate.
Now the band are presenting their side of the story to a court, and the details being leaked certainly make for some juicy reading.
"Wow! What a read…" tweeted Portnoy (via Blabbermouth). "This QR split makes my DT split look like a walk in the park!"
There may be an ulterior motive to Portnoy's tweet. He was involved in a minor public argument with Geoff Tate, which stems back to a co-headline tour between their bands in 2000. Queensryche allegedly pulled out at the last minute. By 2006, Portnoy didn't mince his words when discussing Tate, calling him a "two-faced douche bag" for bashing Dream Theater in the press.
Meanwhile, details of the Queensryche split continue to pour out in the media. Guitarist Parker Lundgren claims that Tate even "threatened to kill" drummer Scott Rockenfield after their scrap before a gig in Brazil.
Tate's wife Susan who managed the band continues to appear in quotes from the court. Bassist Eddie Jackson recalls an email in which she admitted "my husband has a dark side."
Watch this shocking footage of Geoff Tate spitting at Rockenfield at the 3:58 mark:
I've seen quite a few gigs and one thing i see a lot is bands spitting on the floor, at each other and even at the crowd. I think it was Sean Smith from the Blackout spit at the crowd last night, it is grim all round.
What a ****ing prick! Major props to the drummer for controlling his anger. I would have punched him right then and there, then again I've Never made $50,000 for one show!!!
Geoff Tate was a great singer, and Queensr˙che used to make great music. Notic the was and used to, it's all in the past. Used to be a great singer and band, but over time, Tate just ruined
The band
Well, I don't think he was really aiming at them and I doubt anyone of them even noticed, they are sweaty as **** anyways. He was just spitting in a random direction. I still think he's an ass, as evident by recent events, but this is just forcing it.
risk182 wrote:
Well, I don't think he was really aiming at them and I doubt anyone of them even noticed, they are sweaty as **** anyways. He was just spitting in a random direction. I still think he's an ass, as evident by recent events, but this is just forcing it.
Well, I don't think he was really aiming at them and I doubt anyone of them even noticed, they are sweaty as **** anyways. He was just spitting in a random direction. I still think he's an ass, as evident by recent events, but this is just forcing it.
I agree with both statements. I actually think the second one is clearly spitting in a direction away from the crowd, the first might be at Scott... but might not. Camera angles can be decieving.
It is a shame because Geoff Tate was an amazing singer and was one of the big reasons why Queensryche were awesome in the 80's and early 90's. It's such a shame to see this.
So what... Portnoy spat everywhere during his gigs... hell, Petrucci even built plastic casing around his Mesas to protect them from Mike's uncontrollable fluidal blast radius.
He is CLEARLY not spitting at anyone in the second video. The first one looks worse but it may be a coincidence. This is not news, but hey, it's UG after all.
He is CLEARLY not spitting at anyone in the second video. The first one looks worse but it may be a coincidence. This is not news, but hey, it's UG after all.
Scott, Whip, and Eddie have made multiple statements saying that Geoff assaulted Scott and Whip prior to going on and that he spat on them during their performance. UG posted this (along with other websites that did before them) because it confirms that he did in fact spit on them.
Chris DeGarmo was the driving force in this band, and when he left, QR would never be the same. The band, its management changes, and all the hole overall vibe have finally hit rock bottom.
Not sure what's more interesting, how damn good Geoff sounds after all these years consistently hitting the high notes, or how bad the crowd sounds when they sing along.
It Did not even look like Tate spit at the drummer at all....
Did you see the clip? 3:58? He TOTALLY DID! Spitting at at someones general area or close even is very rude. But this? It was passive aggressive with combining a twirl with it. It looks almost ok, but turning around to face the drummer and spit is just intentionall
It is possible that it was not intentional. I had a drummer hit me in the back with a stick during a gig, it was intentional and after the show I confronted him and soundly punched his lights out. Needless to say, we have never played together again. Hats off to this drummer for showing restraint. But if it was intentional, he should have kicked the S!#t out of Tate.
Tate is a TOOL. Sleeveless vest with a beer gut acting tough and he can't sing anymore. I watched Rocklohoma on TV to see Chickenfoot and caught Queensryche for a bit. Turned it off. Absolutely horrible. Tate - please retire.
well i have lost all respect to tate as a person after hearing what an ******* he is behind the scenes. if i was scott rockenfield i would have ****ing shoved a drum stick up his ass.
to all of you saying geoff tate didnt spit at him or it could have been unintentional read what the band have said about him and his violent behavior and these videos clearly show him intentionally spitting at scott rockenfield and his equipment. this happened shortly after tate found out they had fired his wife and daughter so yes he was spitting at scott.
i think its another case of if all else fails....blame the singer and his gf and her kid.....its not even his kid and i cold go on and on but i just hate when shit happens to good bands...
risk182 wrote:
Well, I don't think he was really aiming at them and I doubt anyone of them even noticed, they are sweaty as **** anyways. He was just spitting in a random direction. I still think he's an ass, as evident by recent events, but this is just forcing it.
I've seen quite a few gigs and one thing i see a lot is bands spitting on the floor, at each other and even at the crowd. I think it was Sean Smith from the Blackout spit at the crowd last night, it is grim all round.
Yeah I was at a Life of Agony gig where Keith Caputo was spitting at the crowd...not a very ladylike thing to do
It's funny to see people say how he's a jerk for spitting if he even did. But really guys? At least Geoff hasn't started on stage fights like other bands have. You have to remember that mainly the front man with help of the other band mates creates the bands image. He hasn't really ruined it. I'm surprised in the "I Don't Believe in Love" clip he threw in a few moves from their "I Don't Believe in Love" music video that EMI made in the 80's. Other than that, I could see you guys arguing over him starting an onstage fight. Which has never happened to Queensr˙che.
