Mike Portnoy will be celebrating his 50th birthday next year with a bang! The former Dream Theater drummer will be performing his old band's epic "12-Step Suite" in its entirety for the first time ever. "12-Step Suite" is a set of five songs ("The Glass Prison", "This Dying Soul", "The Root Of All Evil", "Repentance" and "The Shattered Fortress") that spans across five different Dream Theater albums and the lyrics, written by Portnoy, detail the drummer's recovery from alcoholism.

The "12-Step Suite" performance will take place during the Cruise To The Edge cruise, which will be held February 7th-11th, 2017. For info on the cruise, check out their website. Neal Morse, Haken, Pain Of Salvation, Yes, Spock's Beard, among others, are also confirmed for the cruise.

Portnoy said: "When I came up with the idea of writing a multi-part suite that was to span 5 albums (which ended up taking 8 years to complete), it was always part of my masterplan to eventually perform it in its entirely live on stage. It saddens me that I was not able to do so with DT after completing the final piece of my conceptual puzzle...but I've decided that I owe it to the fans to finally bring my 12 Step Suite to life on stage as I always envisioned. There's no better time and place than at my 50th Birthday Concert aboard Cruise To The Edge! Joining me for this very special performance will be some great friends and amazing musicians that I know will kick ass in helping me with my unfinished business of bringing this piece of music to life on stage!"

Mike Portnoy left Dream Theater in 2010 after 25 years with the band. He currently plays drums in The Winery Dogs, Neal Morse, Transatlantic and Metal Allegiance.

Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Dream Theater