Mike Portnoy Plays Toy Drum Kit To Pay Tribute Neil Peart

Mike Portnoy has been seen playing a toy drum kit on several occasions already, and this time it’s for a tribute for his friend Neil Peart.

It can be recalled that Portnoy has spent time with Hello Kitty and Pokemon-themed kits in the past, and in this instance, he is sporting a 7-piece set to “mimic” Peart’s drum arsenal, and while being a humorous comparison to Peart’s own, is significantly more loaded than the former kits he has played on.

“Just when I thought I was done, they pull me back in. 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,” Portnoy said as he inspected the toy kit.

He then proceeded to attempt “YYZ” for a good 20 seconds before throwing the sticks down in faux frustration and said, “How can I work with this shit?” He soldiered on, nonetheless, and played “The Spirit of Radio” before challenging Sons of Apollo bandmate Ron Thal to play Name That Tune on four Rush songs before ceremoniously kicking the kit over.

In a more serious note, however, Portnoy talked about Peart being a great loss to the industry. “All joking aside, losing Neil has been truly devastating and heartbreaking and I don’t want to make light out of that,” Portnoy 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.”