But the Winery Dogs, Transatlantic and Flying Colors drummer won't appear on the UK leg of their trek in mid-November. Bigelf mainman Damon Fox last year credited Portnoy with keeping the band alive after it had suffered internal crisis in 2010.

He said: "I had been keeping in touch with Mike after his difficult departure from Dream Theater. My musical future seemed bleak and I was very vocal to him about not being able to sustain the band any longer.

"He implored me to carry on. I asked him if he would help fight the good fight, and he readily agreed."