Watch Mike Portnoy’s First Performance of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”

Mike Portnoy’s Unique Take on Taylor Swift

Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater crafted his own drum parts for Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” after experiencing the song for the very first time – check it out below.

• READ MORE: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Comes to an End: A Look at Its Huge Global Impact

Portnoy’s Experience with Drumeo

As part of the renowned drum platform Drumeo, the veteran progressive metal drummer was invited to create original drum parts for a song he had never heard before—it turned out to be Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.”

Upon listening to a snippet of the track, which played without the drum elements, Portnoy couldn’t help but sing along during his first listen. He humorously remarked that it “sounded like something out of Disneyland in Japan or something,” later confirming he had no prior knowledge of the song or that it was written by Taylor Swift.

After his initial listen, Portnoy expressed uncertainty about how to chart the song: “It’s like Bob Dylan. These are all poems, the keys do not change. I don’t even know what to write. I think I’m just going to sing along.”

After enjoying a second listen, which included vibrant fills and double bass, Portnoy finally learned the identity of the artist. He exclaimed: “Oh my God! Is this Taylor Swift? Only the greatest artist on Earth. I had no idea.”

He added: “Taylor, I’m so sorry. I’d still love to play with you, but I wouldn’t do it (drum drawing).” Later, he joked with the Drumeo team: “Look, now I can’t say I’ve never heard a Taylor Swift song. You just ruined everything for me.”

Swift’s Historic Eras Tour

Taylor Swift recently concluded her monumental Eras World Tour with a final performance in Vancouver on December 8, making it the highest-grossing tour of 2024, surpassing heavyweights like Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, and more.

The tour spanned 21 months and featured 149 dates, breaking records as the highest-grossing tour of all time with a staggering total of $2.2 billion (£1.73 billion). Subsequently, she attended an “Eras” tour celebration hosted by her boyfriend and NFL star Travis Kelce, where guests donned outfits representing various “Eras” of her storied career.

In other news, Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” has claimed the title of the UK’s best-selling vinyl album of 2024, following the success of her 2023 album and “Midnight” in 2022.

As for Mike Portnoy, he and Dream Theater are set to release their highly anticipated album, “Parasomnia,” on February 7th. This marks their first album featuring founding member Portnoy since 2009’s “Dark Clouds & Silver Linings,” following his reunion with the group at the end of 2023.