Mike Portnoy Hears "Burn It To The Ground" For The First Time

Thanks for being such a good sport, Mike, and thanks for giving us a taste of the gig that never happened! 🤘🏼 If you want to try this and many other drumless songs, get a 7-Day Free trial to check out Drumeo! www.drumeo.com/trial

Please NEVER stop doing these ‘for the first time’ videos!! They’re the best thing on YouTube!

"This is why they're rich & famous... and I'm just a f*cking... prog guy" Mike is the best lmao

I don't always listen to Nickleback, but when I do, Mike Portnoy is drumming.

I never knew I needed a “fuller” version of this song

You can’t unhear Mike’s double kick on the chorus! Once you listen to this take, the original will never be the same again.

Mike's superpower is his ability to find the heart of the song and then just build on top of it. He is one of the most melodic drummers I have ever listened to.

He literally improved the song by 1000%

I love how humble Mike is in this video. He understands that impressive, complicated drumming isn't what got Nickelback to where they are today, and that the simpler, laid back drumming and a simpler style in general is what helped Nickelback reach popularity (or infamy, whatever you wanna say). He also appreciates the choices taken on the original drum track and learns off it, which is a great thing. I love his remark hilarious about how he's just a "50 year old santa claus/prog guy". Amazing drummer.

Thanks for accepting the challenge, Mike 🤘🏻 You’re a beast!

That double bass in the chorus gave me goosebumps, damn that sounded good

I love that accidentally stopping in the wrong spot and then just rolling with it. Strangely comforting knowing that someone as experienced and talented as Mike Portnoy makes the same simple mistakes I do when learning or creating new songs

It's always interesting when you give a musical genius something simple.

I'm a Nickelback fan and am not afraid to admit that Mike just improved this in one take! LOVE the double bass on the chorus and how he translated the bridge

Mike's genuine surprise at there not being any double bass at all was heartwarming and adorable!

Dear Drumeo, please don't stop making videos like this. Sincerely, Everyone from Youtube.

The reason Mike said “This is why they’re rich and famous and I’m just a prog metal guy” is because he realized how good and, more importantly, appropriate the original drum track was for that song after he listened back to the original drums (even tho he disagreed about the chorus and it’s lack of double kick). He wasn’t saying that in jest. That being said, he absolutely killed that for a first playthru and I wish some of his parts were in the actual song bc of how good that guy grooves. My favorite drumeo vid like this so far 🤘

dude elevated the song to 500% of its initial worth with a freestyle drum set that was absolutely tremendous.

Mike was born to do this series. What an entertainer. So glad he is back in DT.

It's brilliant how he 'anticipates' the structure and gives the song space and yet supports it dynamically without knowing the song. Really great instinct!