Michael Pointer (born 22 July 1956) is an English drummer. He is known for his work in the

neo-progressive rock Neo-progressive rock (also known as neo-prog) is a subgenre of progressive rock which developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, Marillion, achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the genre have c ...

bands Marillion and

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

. Away from music, he has also worked as a kitchen designer.

Career

Pointer was the original drummer and a founding member of Marillion. He appeared on the band's debut EP ''

Market Square Heroes "Market Square Heroes" is the debut single by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1982 with "Three Boats Down from the Candy" as the B-side. The 12-inch single included an additional track, the 17:15-minute-long "Grend ...

'' (1982) and debut LP ''

Script for a Jester's Tear ''Script for a Jester's Tear'' is the debut studio album by British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in the United Kingdom on 14 March 1983 by EMI Records. The album reached number seven and spent 31 weeks in the UK Albums Chart ...

'' (1983). He was sacked from the band following the album's UK tour and ultimately replaced by

Ian Mosley Ian F. Mosley (born 16 June 1953, Paddington, London, England) is an English drummer. He is best known for his long-time membership of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, which he joined for their second album, ''Fugazi'', released in 19 ...

. Lead singer

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

later told ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

'' that Pointer had been dismissed because he had "never liked Mick's drumming", "his timing was awful" and "everybody was developing except him". After his acrimonious departure from Marillion, Pointer did not perform music for another ten years and instead became a kitchen designer, something he had served an apprenticeship in as a teenager. Pointer eventually founded the British progressive band

, in which he continues to play with

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

Clive Nolan Clive Nolan (born 30 June 1961) is a British musician, composer and producer who has played a prominent role in the development of progressive rock. He has been the regular keyboard player in Pendragon (1986–present), Shadowland (1992–prese ...

(from

Pendragon Pendragon or ( wlm, pen dreic, ''pen dragon''; composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and / ''dragon'', 'dragon; warrior'; borrowed from the Latin word , plural , 'dragon , br, Penn Aerouant) literally means 'chief dragon' or 'head dragon', but ...

). He is Nolan's business partner in his record label. Pointer later gathered a band for "Mick Pointer's ''Script for a Jester's Tear'' tour", comprising Brian Cummins (Carpet Crawlers) on vocals, Nick Barrett (Pendragon) on lead guitar, Mike Varty (Credo) on keyboards and Ian Salmon (Arena) on bass guitar, to perform Marillion's debut album for its 25th anniversary. Pointer had originally intended to call it "Mick Pointer, ex-Marillion" but the remaining members of the band objected to him using the name and threatened him with legal action.

References

External links

Official site of Arena
1956 births Living people British male drummers English rock drummers Marillion members Arena (band) members {{UK-drummer-stub