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Any other Rush fans here? Yes, I have very wide musical tastes, but Rush is one of the many rock bands that I grew up listening to, so they hold a special place in my heart. While I didn’t get tickets for their upcoming tour, I am very interested in what they’re doing and excited about their playing again and the addition of their new drummer.
Not to brag (spoiler alert: I’m about to share a ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek brag!), but even the guys in Rush have made jokes about how few women attend Rush concerts, but I saw Rush in concert twice back in the 80s and 90s. The second time was with three female friends. I was the only guy in the group. I should have had a table signing autographs at that concert! I kid, I kid. They were friends. My closest friend in the group’s boyfriend canceled and I got to go in his place for free! But both Rush concerts were superb. The boys really put on a great live show. Flawless.
With the new drummer, to be clear, I have zero concerns about her abilities; she’s a killer. I’m more concerned with Geddy’s voice holding up. He was struggling vocally ten years ago, I can’t imagine that things have gotten better. I would have been cool with the band bringing another vocalist along. But, in any case, I’m happy to see Geddy and Alex together again and it’s nice to see that they’re paying tribute to Neil Peart. Beyond his drumming being a critical part of all of those great songs, his lyrics were also really good — far better than most rock lyrics. RIP, Neil Peart.
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I was into Rush for a while and went to see them in Southampton (UK) when I was around 20 (a very long time ago!!). To be honest I was a bit disappointed – I know they prided themselves on sounding exactly like the albumn but that is what I found deeply dull – there was no live feel to the music – you know those moments when things take an unexpected turn and the hairs go up on the back of your neck! A friend of mine coined a phrase about a folk band we saw – ‘mindless virtuosity’ and it felt like that. Sorry ! I saw the Kinks around the same time and at the same venue and they were the opposite – I was expecting MOR slightly twee (but good) perfomances but they were incredibly heavy and definitely had the goosebump moments!
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I really enjoyed Rush live. But a disclosure. Back in the day, musicians and drummers constantly compared me, as a drummer, to Neil Peart and it really annoyed me, because while I thought Peart was an excellent drummer, I didn’t think our styles had much in common beyond that we would do fast, precise drum fills and used high-pitched toms, I didn’t think our feels had much in common. I found Neil’s played very rigid. It was long after my injury stopped me from playing, but the one drummer I heard where I thought — yes, this guy and I (back then) were cut from the same cloth is Gavin Harrison (you wouldn’t know from my limited abilities today due to tendinitis and 20+ years without practice). I thought that there are sensibilities, the choices Gavin makes, the kinds of fills or hi hat patterns, those were the kinds of choices. Peart was a very rigid player. There wasn’t much soulfulness or strong grooves to his playing — they worked for Rush. There was something really cool and fitting for the way he played, but it didn’t have anything in common with the way I played and I used to get really annoyed by the constant comparisons. But I loved Rush live. I wouldn’t count them as ever being one of my top favorite bands — but they are a band I love.
My all-time favorite rock bands are The Beatles, Radiohead, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Steely Dan, Jeff Buckley, Yes, Genesis (prior to Invisible Touch), Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, Neil Young, Nothing But Thieves, Supertramp, Tori Amos, Madison Cunnigham, Billy Joel, The Eagles, Living Colour, The Poises, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, World Party, Tears for Fears…
But there are tons of other rock, jazz, R&B/soul, fusion, and reggae bands and artists I love.
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I’ve bought tickets to see them. I’ve seen them twice previously, though not for many years. Ironically, I listen to hardly any other hard rock bands, but got into Rush around the time of ‘Time Stand Still’, bought ‘Hold Your Fire’ and the rest is history.