Thunder Bay Rush

I'll take one too, but please jam it with crispy, brown CND 100 dollar bills. Then, we'll go for a pizza. I'll buy.

Awwwwwwwwwwww, you guys are the bestest... my phone hasn't stop ringing since Saturday. I keep on having to charge the battery. Anyway, I got a very nice private message from my favourite TRF person ... and she advised me that since I’m a Grampa now I might have to start doing "old man talk," so I started practicing: Whatcha say? Eh? I can't hear you! Jesus goddam Christ! Bring me my hearing aids. And, where's my goddam teeth? I think I left 'em in the jar by the bathroom sink. How am I s’ppos’ta gonna try to eat my bran cereal without my GODDAM TEETH? Aw, Jesus Christ, I shit my pants again. GODDAM IT! I need another Depends... This thing on my neck is gettin' bigger. I stepped on one of my balls just before you got here and it hurts like a SOB! And, get outta the goddam way. I can't see the Weather Channel. JESUS CHRIST! Am I on the right track or did I miss something??????????????? (Insert picture of TBR sitting in a rocking chair wearing plaid shirt and suspenders and drinking out of a jug marked XXX.)

Thanks, guys... I'm still in a state of shock! Me, a Grampa?

I always like reading Neil's reports. I'm surprised he's still smoking though... for someone who seems like a real outdoors / fitness kind of guy. (Plus, I always thought he was smarter than that!)

I wish Geddy would have thrown me some Mydol at the Anaheim show... Talk about bad timing. Hilarious! (Well, maybe not for you..)

Okay, so I'm sitting here on Friday night and the phone rings. Heather, daughter # 2 (who is 27) on the line. "Um, dad, are you sitting down? Holly just had a baby.” (Holly is daughter # 2, who is 24.) So, that makes me a Grampa… I just turned 51, so I guess I’m in that age range now. (Although I think I’m way too cool to be a Grampa, plus – I don’t even have grey “pubes” yet). But, here’s the part that has to do with the title of this thread. Not only did I not even know Holly was pregnant, SHE didn’t know either! She lives 3 hours from me, but her mom lives in the same town as she does and sees her every other day or so. She didn’t know she was pregnant either… nor, did her boss, her friends or her hubby. She had been complaining about stomach cramps and bad gas for the few days before, but figured she just had to drop a “Subway Bun” caliber shit. She said she’d gotten all of her periods, didn’t gain any weight, and didn’t see any belly… For chrise-sakes, MY BELLY is bigger than hers and I’m 5’9” and I weight about 160… she’s not a stick (5’8” and 140) but she’s not fat either. I’ve heard of this before but it's usually with heavy girls who don’t really notice the belly. So, she’s in the shower on Friday evening. She started feeling dizzy, so she decided to lay down with the shower still going, plug out, thankfully. And, then all of the sudden – wait for it – yep… here comes the head… and the shoulders… and the belly… and the feet… holy shit! CAN YOU IMAGINE? She yells out to her hubby, he comes running in and there she is lying in the tub with a baby in her arms. He calls 9 -11 (How he didn’t faint, I’ll never know), they talk him through how to tie off the cord… he does it. Paramedics show up, cut the cord and bring her to hospital. Bottom line – a perfectly healthy girl, 6 pounds 6 ounces. (About the size of a really good smallmouth bass.) Holly has NO signs of pregnancy, no stretch marks, no weight gain. And, she even said to me, “Dad, my vagina didn’t even tear!” (Okay, a little TOO much info, there kid. But, great just the same.) As soon as I heard this, I hopped in my truck, drove the 3 hours… just got back this morning. Just spoke to her, all is fine. I still can’t believe this. I don’t have a clue how to post pictures on here but I’d like to. OMFG!

Would LOVE to see Geddy throw out bottles and bottles of extra strength Mydol at all the shows. "This is for everyone who came here tonight to hear us play only songs that YOU want us to play."

For some reason my "enter" key won't work in this forum. I tried it in a word doc thing and it's fine. Anyone else notice this? I can't use the mouse to reposition the cursor either in here.

They are way too classy to hold a grudge. Totally agree... we Canadians, eh?

I'm not a fan of any sequencing during a "live" show. One of the things I liked most about Rush when I started listening back in '76 is that they played fairly complex music, all live. Imagine playing Xanadu back in 77... all live. Rush's music today is so complex with layers of guitars and keyboards. I love the new music, but I think I'd rather they go back to writing music in a more simple form, so they CAN play it live.

There are a million points of view on this set list nonsense, but here's the bottom line - if a band has a new album out, they will promoting THAT album on the road. Pretty simple and uh... "bottom line" isn't it? As far as I'm concerned, if a band tours, even a big band like VH, and they play mainly the "hits," they should stop recording new albums and just go out and play the festivals and casino circuit. Rush has always been a forward-thinking band and that's why most of us like them and stick with them.

Holy shit - as soon as I clicked "post" on the above post, Tom Sawyer came on the friggin' radio! Twilight Zone, eh?

I wouldn't lose any sleep if they never played it again either. "One of their best" songs, but not their best. Plus, we've heard it a million times. Wouldn't mind swapping it out for something less often played.

This winter has been WEIRD! It was -21 Celsius at 7 am this morning at my house... I thought the weather man was playing a goddam April Fool's trick on me. I've never trusted that little prick anyway. So, yes, I'll start my little green things INSIDE!

Hey Big Tree... I sure could have used some of your fresh basil today... I made a killer chicken dish but it would have been "more killer" with fresh basil I didn't goddam have any! How far is it from your place to mine again? 16 hours or something? Damn... I guess I'll have to start some seeds pretty soon, eh?

I think both you guys are right... MFH sounds like another Rush album to me. I like Ben Mink too, he's a great player. Back in the late 70s and early 80s he played in a Toronto band called, "FM." GREAT band. He played viola, mandolin... anything with strings.

John, Thank you SO much for sharing these on TRF... great pictures!! "Those were the days!" Interesting thing I noticed - Neil's kit. It looks like he has his new black Slingerland drums, but had not quite yet acquired the upright chrome bars that held his wind chimes, temple blocks, tubular bells, etc... So, I'm guessing that in this show (or, by this time of the tour), they hadn't yet started to play any of the AFT Kings material to "test" the songs on the live audiences. Thx, RD

Not sure I got four "quote pictures?"

This is a really cool picture... since I'm kinda old (51), I remember the days when the "front end" speaker stacks were placed on the sides of the stage. No such thing as hanging PA systems back then. And, there was always lots of clutter everywhere on the stage. I like the way they set things up today... no clutter - no speakers on the stage. So, sitting where you were in this shot would have been a lousy seat 25 years ago. You could almost have a game of road hockey on the stage while the boys are jamming... "Stage hockey, eh?" NICE!

Hey, good point. From what history tells us and from Neil's own words, he was about ready to give up on being a professional musician and just play for fun. Good thing for him too, then, they he met up with the boys... Neil's dad during BTL Stage Doc... "A white Corvette pulled up in front of the farm equipment dealership and the guy asked me if he could Neil out for lunch to talk about auditioning for Rush." Coool little story there. I always wondered though, how Ray Danniels had heard of Neil? Usually, when there's an audition situation, the person auditioning approaches the people who he is auditioning for, not the other way around.

Good call... it's often better to NOT meet your heros because if it isn't a great encounter, you might have been bummed out. Plus, the guy is eating his dinner. I was standing a few feet from Geddy in the Eaton Centre (a big mall downtown) in Toronto back in the early 80s and I didn't say a word. What would I say? "Um, hi Geddy. How's it going?" They must get tired of it... But, I do remember thinking, "Hey, he's not THAT tall." They always look like giants on a stage... Welcome to the forum, by the way.

I always wondered about this and seeing the pictures the other day of Rush (with Neil) playing an outdoor festival in St. Louis back in '75, really made me think about it. Let's say, that John Rutsey stayed in the band for whatever reason (better health, musical styles didn't clash with Alex and Geddy), what would have become of Rush? 1 - Would they have "made it" to the level they eventually did? I say no way... adding Neil was the key element that made Rush go the progressive route (which is what made them popular) with his lyrics and influences. Also, his drumming (much better than Rutsey) is one of the main things that early Rush fans loved about the band... I know people who, back in the 70s, would go to Rush concerts just to see Neil play. 2 - Or, would they have fizzled out on the mid-west touring circuit, eventually being pushed out by bands like Styx, Nugent and similar rock bands of the day? Let's face it, the first Rush album is NOTHING like the next four or five... or 18. I couldn't imagine Rush without Neil. For starters, 2112 would never have happened... and that was THE album that really got them out of the shit storm they were in at the time.

This is like me and Geddy's singing of the word 'and'! I don't know what it is, but every time he sings 'and' it gets my attention - I like how he pronounces it. And it's a pretty common word, so I get a lot of it! :) Oh, and also the word 'hand'. I guess that's kind of natural, since it's 'and' with a little extra something at the start. 'Earthshine' and 'The Big Money' have some pretty good 'hand' moments. Oh, it's interesting, sometimes, the things that get us off, as Geddy would say! I really want to keep (at least some of) my dignity, so I won't say anything of the things I'm thinking about that last line there. ;) I was listening to "In The Valley" from "The Fountain Of Lamneth" today. I find this bit incomparably evocative and beautiful: The mountain holds the sunrise in the prison of the night Til bursting forth from rocky chains the valley Floods with light... I wish I could paint it. And I just noticed that it includes the word "light!" The mountain holds the sunrise in the prison of the night Til bursting forth from rocky chains the valley Floods with light... LOVE that part of Lamneth. And, to think, they wrote that when they were about 22. Yhe lyrics, especially, years ahead of themselves.

Hey, RushFlyer2112 chick... WELCOME to the Rush Forum... ! If you're a Rush fan, this will be your new home... or, at least a "second" home.

I'LL HAVE A MASSAGE... I'LL HAVE A MASSAGE... I'LL HAVE A MASSAGE... :D