Plain and simple...Thomas Lang.

Those of you who know of Thomas Lang know what I'm talking about, and more than likely agree. The man is brilliant; a drumming machine. And if you don't know who he is, you may want to find out.

Despite the fact that I am the spawn of a drummer, and always watch the drummer when I watch any band play, there was a point in time when I had never heard of Dream Theater. I had no idea Mike Portnoy even existed.

As soon as the unkind words you're about to speak subside, and the gasps of disbelief have ceased, I shall continue.

I just recently became a fan of Dream Theater being that my boyfriend is a fan, and an even bigger Mike Portnoy fan. Those of you who are also fans of Dream Theater know it's much more than being a fan of say, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin or God help you, the Jonas Brothers. Being a Dream Theater fan means you're a member an elitist club, a club whose membership offers you an instant kinship with perfect strangers on the other side of the globe who happened to buy the same CD you did. A club whose membership affords you the ability to display any and all symptoms of the Dream Theater sickness without so much as an odd glance, as long as you're in the company of other club members.

And you know the symptoms; you've all had it...your heart rate increases, your face glows, your ears perk up at the sound of the words 'dream' and 'theater' in the same sentence. So of course, being an outsider looking in, I had to see what all of the fuss was about.

So I asked my boyfriend to show me just that. And out came the arsenal; countless CD's, DVD's, interviews, stories of concerts attended and others missed. I then watched Mike play and quite frankly, I was hooked - now where is my membership card?!

As a side note, I also had the pleasure of meeting John Petrucci and John Myung during the shows which in its own right, was a pleasure!

But back to the drummers -

Naturally, as fate would have it, Thomas and Mike were doing signings on the same day. We were true dorks and were the first in line to meet Thomas (Okay...uber-dorks!). He came, he sat, he signed. The encounter was much like his playing - extremely fast, but left a lasting impression. I had met my drumming idol.

Then, it was time for Mike. It was shaping up to be a great day. Sandwiched in line between other "club" members and a girl who quite profoundly told her friend that we were at the Sabian booth because Mike uses their drumheads (be nice, she was young). We waited patiently. The longer we waited, the more I became aware that I had it. The sickness! I was a little giddy that I was going to meet Mike - and I'm a girl!

So I get up to Mike's spot in the signing behind my boyfriend who is slightly less giddy because they've met several times before and then before I know it, out it comes..."It's nice to meet you - you're my second favorite drummer."

Was that out loud?! Did I really tell Mike Portnoy that he was number two on my list? I must have, because he asks who was number one. So I told him, "Thomas Lang." Which is brutally honest considering my dad is a drummer (sorry dad!). Oh, and my boyfriend is too (sorry honey!). And of all things, he agreed with me. Heavy hitting, bad-ass drummer Mike Portnoy agreed with me that Thomas is amazing! Which he is...

We spoke briefly about each drummers kit, similarities, snapped a photo (shown above), signed an autograph (his, not mine) and moved on.

Then it hit me. My number two had quite possibly become my number one. Which made number one number two, while keeping numbers three and four the same (love you dad and 'Bog!')

Both are phenomenal drummers. Both have unusually huge (and very similar) kits. Both play out of shear love of music and what they do. But Mike was personable. He was humble. He had a brief conversation with everyone that was in line I'm sure. And it was a very...long...line.