John Petrucci: Road Runner news update


It does feel good to be home after such a busy tour and such a busy year, especially when I know that we were able to deliver the goods every night for all of you!

Some of my favorite things about touring the world is getting to meet so many nice people who have the same love and passion for progressive music that we do.

We've enjoyed many great meals, glasses of wine and late night bus ride story telling sessions together as a band while on the road! It's especially been fun to have my wife Rena and three kids come out and join me a couple of times as well.

I'll never forget our trip to Rome! Even had my son Reny work for the band on our first European run. He had a blast!

We have the most incredible crew on the planet, hands down. All of those guys worked tirelessly over the last 14 months to not only ensure that we presented a polished and professional DT show every night, but that all of us were comfortable, healthy, safe and ready to rock!

I've received more complements on the live sound as well as the light and video presentation and I am so appreciative and thankful for all of the creativity, dedication and commitment our technicians have shown and shared with us each and every night.

I'll certainly miss the rush of performing on stage for all of you and all of the awesome on-stage guitar rig soundcheck "tweak time" as well! I'm such a tone addict. :)

What I will not miss is being away from my beautiful family!

"We each pay a fabulous price for our visions of paradise".

Said so well by Neil Peart, it really sums up the sacrifice all of us make to live out our dreams.

I think what I will remember the most about this tour was how gracious and welcoming all of our fans were everywhere around the world as we introduced DT with our new drummer Mike Mangini each night, and all of the support and faith you showed us right from the beginning.

Our fans are just amazing! Loud, loud, loud and full of enthusiasm! There were some memorable moments for sure...The couple who dressed in full unicyclist garb stand out as well as those who held up score cards at one gig after we played the LNF unison. You guys are just hilarious!

I'll always remember the smiles in the crowd, the hands in the air and the defeating chants of support that filled the venues. I met so many DT fans that have been to 10, 20, 30+ shows who told me that this was the best they've seen the band yet. That means so much to me!

It was inspiring to meet people along the way who were eager to share how our music helped them through a difficult time or to deal with loss and tragedy. The healing power of music just blows me away.

I'll will never forget those stories and want everyone to know that greater things are still to come!

Thank you to my family, Rena, Sami, Reny and Kiki for always being there for me and making this life possible.

Thanks to everyone at Roadrunner Records, to our awesome manager Frank Solomon, our booking agents the great Steve Martin and Derek Kemp, our fearless tour manager Rikk Feulner, the-great-one Rob Shore and to our incredible team who works behind the scenes. Thank you to my amazing guitar tech Maddi for always having my back and most of all, thank you to everyone who came out to the shows and joined us for this crazy, awesome and Dramatic Tour of Events!!

- John Petrucci

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