Posted on 10/06/2025 12:07:59 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
RUSH are hitting select cities to celebrate 50-something years with you. Sign up now for the Artist Presale thru this Thursday, October 9th@ 11:59pm ET.
Geddy and Alex Send a Message to Rush Fans | 4:47
Rush | 763K subscribers | over 166K views | October 6, 2025
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
“I’m grateful that I saw Jeff Beck.”
Me too. Mid 80s with the Monsters of Rock at Comiskey Park. Aerosmith and Foghat were on the bill.
Beck blew them both away.
L
Oh…..Inthought it was gonna be about “THE” Rush we all know, love and miss dearly. 😢
Most people don't know there was a great comedic film called "I Love You, Man" (2009) about a guy sent out by his fiance to find friends to fill out his half of the upcoming wedding ceremony. Paul Rudd finds Jerry Segal and bond through their mutual love for the music of Rush.
Here's a clip where they totally dork out in the band's Green Room.
Saw them on the Roll The Bones tour. Of course it was an elevating experience.
It was inspired by a short story in Road & Track magazine. I always loved “Red Barchetta,” but I only learned of the story about a year ago.
Here’s the short story:
https://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19731100roadandtrack.htm
That is some good background information. I love that song, by the way, and know the lyrics very well. There are some clear similarities between it and the original story, and it’s quite amazing that Neil was able to come up with a futuristic version based on it. The turbine freight, the wire, the motor law, the alloy air cars, all from his head it seems. Very fascinating.
I saw ELP in a little theater in Pennsylvania on their “Black Moon” tour. They blew out the city block of electricity twice when they hit their first notes.
Being a bunch of older folks in the audience we just waited patiently listening to a tape deck each time. They played their entire show. It was my only time hearing them live and they still sounded great. It was amazing to me to see Emerson play his Hammond organ with the knives stuck in the keyboard and him tossing it around to create the same sounds as on the album during the song “Rondo”.
Rush is my favorite band. Have seen them 5 or 6 times over the years. Dana Halper on the recent Hall of Fame announcement said it well, something like “Like me, and many of you fans, Rush is so much more than just a band.” (My wife doesn’t understand my attachment to them!)
I doubt that I’ll make the trip to see them this time though. The amount of travel money and tickets doesn’t figure for me. I am happy for Alex and Geddy of course, and for the many younger Rush fans that never have seen them live. (And of course will buy the concert DVD!)
I met one guy at their Snakes and Arrows tour that had followed them all over. He hit something like 30 shows, including Europe. He said “I’m spending my kid’s college money. He can join the army if he wants a free education.” We all laughed. “No - I’m serious.” I bet he’ll make a show next year.
Geddy said they will be having a keyboardist as well for the tour. “I still want to play some of the iconic keyboard parts, but whoever we get will play most of it so Alex and I can work on our dance routines.”
In the HOF interview Alex refers to Dave Clark and Karen Carpenter as a couple of their “inspirations”. Alex may have been joking about Karen but I’m not sure. The interviewer called him on it “Hey -there are a lot of Carpenter fans here!” Alex said something like “What? She was an amazing drummer.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZYr_J9H54I&list=RDSZYr_J9H54I&start_radio=1
Above is a great video of early Rush in 1974 with John Rutsey playing “Working Man”. TV show filmed at a middle school in Canada.
Alex has a bit of an extended solo compared to the album version. Pretty amazing - they are about 20 years old or so.
I hear the “blah blah speech” and think it is how he does his guitar solos. His notes (or “blahs”) carry a lot of meaning and emotion. Also very spur of the moment (he had a written speech in his pocket).
For his solos he had basic ideas and concepts so the solo would fit the song, but when he recorded them he just jammed - nothing written (he didn’t even know how to read music). They would record 3 to 5 of his jam sessions, then he, Geddy and the producer would go through them all and rearrange things and combine, delete, etc. until they reached what they wanted.
In later years Alex said he didn’t have the patience for that and just left it to Geddy and the producer to come up with the final solo - they were far better at it than he was.
The interviewer asked “Wasn’t that hard to play with everything moved around and changed?”
“Well yeah - but I figured I played those notes at some point I could play them again.”
Thanks for the early Rush link with John Rutsey. Alex’s hair back then looks like Anika now.
Same goes for David Gilmour. Blew me away when I heard him say it.
Where did the time go ? Way back in ‘75 I was in high school .
A classmate approached my buddy and I, he was holding a copy of Rush’s album Fly By Night in his hand, raving about them.
He told us we had to hear this Canadian group.
The guy had a card that allowed him to check out audio visual equipment, in this case , a record player.
We spent our lunch listening to the album in an empty classroom that was conveniently unlocked . Luckily the speakers on the phonograph were weak or we may have been caught , trying to blast it.
Yes, you are correct.
Neil joined for the second album.
Fly By Night.
I think that one and Pink Floyd Animals we literally wore those vinyl albums out.
I think Animals got left on top of the Realistic receiver/amp by mistake. The next day it was all warped.
Some albums got played so much, they eventually just got throw away. ZZ Top Fandango, New Riders of the Purple Sage Panama Red, Boston, Led Zeppelin four, Pink Floyd Wish You were Here, Lynard Skynard One More from the Road, Jethro Tull Aqualung, Eric Clapton Slowhand. Those are the ones I remember from my teenage years.
Funny you bring up the warped LP. I left my first Permanent Waves record on top of the turntable in my freshman dorm room back in 1982. So bummed when I came back from class and saw the potato chip on the turntable bringing on a whole new meaning to the term - permanent waves. Not to fear, Moving Pictures was in the on deck circle. Those years, 1981-1983 were peak RUSH for me.
Same goes for David Gilmour. Blew me away when I heard him say it.
++++++++++
David Gilmour and Alex Lifeson are my favorites. Love Pink Floyd and Rush. I love Eddie Van Halen too. RIP
I was in college the same time period.
Graduated HS in 81. College 81-85. Moved to NH for job in August 85. Been here since.
Had the Technics Turntable(still do). The Nakemichi tape deck(gonzo). The JBL speakers (also gonzo, should have repaired). I now have a Dennon 80 watt amp, Yamaha receiver and the Sony carrasell CD player. A pair of Altec Lansing speakers I bought at a yard sale for $20.
I still have the Panasonic 10W/channel Receiver with built in 8 track and the Thrusters speakers in my garage. I got that when I was 14. The 8 track does not work, but the AM/FM receiver still does.
I always loved that song and its storyline, too.
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