Progressive metal legends Dream Theater surprised fans at their tour-closing show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on March 22 by performing “The Best of Times” live for the first time. The song, originally released on Black Clouds & Silver Linings in 2009, carries a deeply personal meaning for drummer Mike Portnoy, who wrote the lyrics as a tribute to his late father, Howard Portnoy. Watch some fan-filmed footage of the moment, below.
Portnoy first opened up about the song’s significance in a 2009 interview with the Metal Hammer podcast, sharing: “This is a real heavy personal subject about my dad who passed away during the making of this album — he was battling cancer throughout the making of the record. I just wanted to write something that was a tribute to our life together. I didn’t want to focus on something dark and depressing, I didn’t want to focus on the last six months of his life before dying, I wanted to focus on our 41 years together before that.”
At the time, Portnoy admitted that performing the song live would be emotionally overwhelming: “I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle performing that song live just yet. It’s still a hard song for me to listen to.”
For years, “The Best of Times” remained one of Dream Theater’s most poignant yet unperformed tracks. The decision to finally bring it to the stage — 15 years after its release, and during the closing night of their tour in their hometown of New York — marks a significant moment, not only for the band but also for fans who have long connected with the song’s themes of love, loss, and cherished memories.
