That's amazing! I thought it was a joke all the way! It's a great way to honor Neil in front of the fans! I thought they were done for sure. Alex's tendonitis must be manageable still. I never would have expected this...ever. And, Fort Worth is my back yard and they are playing here twice.
My phone's been blowing up all day. I thought it was a joke at first. Not sure how I feel about this though. It's their music and they've more than earned the right to do whatever they want with it but....just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe call it something besides Rush. Like "A Night with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson" or something like that. Maybe I'm just jealous that they didn't call me first.
My son TEXTED me to see if I was interested to see them in NYC. As much as I love Rush. If it ain't Neil it ain't real. Except one album with Rutsy
Can't fault the guys for still wanting to play their tunes live. They miss playing them. I'm sure Neil would approve. I would have created the show around a holographic Neil personally. Lord knows there is more than enough footage to recreate him. It's not like they are making new music. Will we miss Neil? Of course and badly. But, something is better than nothing imo. I think it will be cool to see someone else play Neil's parts in a whole set. No sense in trying to play just like Neil exactly. Let your own personal style shine through. They actually might want to consider situations where Neil is playing along on the big screen behind them or even having him play one of his signature drum solos on the screen as they take a break.
If you're going to do this, maybe go the Journey route and pick a superfan from YouTube. Brandon Toews is a huge Neil Peart fan, so as a tribute to The Professor, he put together this drum medley over the course of 10 weeks. He recorded full takes in their entirety (nope…we didn’t just piece this together song by song). The setup Brandon used for this performance incorporates different elements from the drum kits Neil used over his 40 years with Rush. This includes the legendary tubular bells, gong drum, and electronic pads. Enjoy this Rush medley in memory of Neil Peart and original drummer John Rutsey.
The "Not 'Rush' without Neil" a-holes are out in full force all over. It's a tribute tour as an excuse to play their music while honoring Neil. Duh. They didn't get a proper tribute to Neil before because of COVID. Obviously, these purists are not going to the shows then. So, maybe easier to get better seats? lol As a joke, I would call the band 'Rash' to appease the "Not 'Rush' without Neil" asshats. Rash where the 'a' is for Anika! Rash has always been a running joke. Ged even wore shirts with Rash on it.
I gave in. My son got us on the presale list for the shows at MSG next July. I hope I don't go broke. Hopefully the live nation/ticket master situation gets sorted soon.
Man, I still recall the 80s where every year (almost) that decade in Houston...it was: "101.1 KLOL FM CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENT! RUSH....RUSH...RUSH...IN CONCERT AT THE SUMMIT!!!! TICKETS GO ON SALE AT 9 AM...BLAH BLAH BLAH" Those guys toured non-stop back then. And, it carried over to the 90s for a while at least. It was always 'release album' and 'tour'. We used to run the sh t out of the vinyl and crank that way the f up to hear the nuances. Four 100 watt Bose speakers pointing inward in a 15' x 15' upstairs bedroom blasting us while we got a buzz on. It was a tradition on albums' release days. Go get the record and set up shop while the friends' parents were at work. lol I could count on it pretty much every year. And, it made the time so much fun...especially when you add on all the other concerts and great music being released! I miss it so much!!! I thought I was a retired concert go-er for the most part. But, here we are! It's f-ing amazing!
My favorite memory is actually camping out overnight for tickets (before the internet, kids) at Foley's Willowbrook Mall. Either the Power Windows or Hold Your Fire tour, I honestly don't remember which. The doors opened at 10am and we were 2nd in line....and their ticketing system went down for 20 minutes. So we ended up behind the stage at The Summit. But we saw the band come out of the tunnel before the lights went down and started yelling at them. Alex made a funny face and started urgently waving back at us right before the lights went down and the Looney Tunes theme started which of course led right into the Spirit of Radio opening riff. Still get chills thinking about that moment to this day. Turns out we had a better view of Neil from behind that we would have had on the floor in front. Also, I saw them at The Woodlands the day before I proposed to my wife. No place I'd rather spend my last night as a single guy than with all the other Rush nerds air drumming to every single Neil fill for 2 hours.
I was on front row at R30 in Dallas and, immediately, right when Geddy came out he was right in front of my brother and I jamming smiling. It was like ten or fifteen seconds but it felt like an hour. It was so surreal to be staring him right in the face. My brother put on color sunglasses as a joke. And, Ged came out at the start and had on his colored glasses per usual. We had a good laugh instantly. Three hours of standing right in front of Geddy watching him perform. Oh...the front row was at an angle so I had a clean view of Neil Peart but boy is he on his own island. I don't think he looked up much at all. But, you know he's sneakily watching. I kept trying to catch his eye. Only complaint...we were front row and Alex only passed by a few times and never really hung out. But, the idea of getting a keyboard player to fill in for Geddy so he can run around with Alex...great idea!
I think I'm ok not seeing it. I also don't need a remake of "Into the Blue" with no Jessica Alba. Thanks for listening.
But, you might rent "Into the Blue 2" to check it out. So, you might check out the R50 concert video and Lordy knows they have to film it. It's looking like they might film Fort Worth. Two nights with a day in between.
