Thunder Bay Rush

I'm a frost-bitten Canadian boy so naturally, I love hockey. I played right up until Junior B. Many mornings my mom and dad got their asses out of bed to take me and my brother to minor hockey at 6 am at the local rink.

 

BUT - I am sick and tired of these rich and spoiled players and owners bitching over money. Even below average players are making millions of dollars these days.

 

So, with a lockout almost a guarantee, they can all kiss my ass. As far as I'm concerned my NHL watching days are over. I'd rather watch baseball... even if it's the world's most boring game. (Uh oh, I hear footsteps approaching the Canadian - US border!)

 

I'm probably going have some people planning a trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario so you can throw me into the campfire but - I don't like ANY live version of Working Man, especially this reggae nonsense.

 

First, it seems that they always play it too slow. And, I don't like Neil's choppy drum beats as oposed to the original straight up beat that Rutsey laid down.

 

The original version is such a great rockin' tune... but, live, I could do without it.

I think it's shocking that someone who is called a "columnist" can't spell... holy shit.

 

He probably likes Madonna and Mariah Carrey.

Don't be surprised at all if there is another album and tour in 2015. They obviously like what they do as I'm sure they don't need the money.

I agree totally. Too bad more people didn't see things this way. I think sometimes people get a little "too hardcore" and think they have some kind of right or even a small ownership of the band... kind of ridiculous really.

 

We should be happy that our favourite band is still going strong after 40 friggin' years! And, they're not stuck on the festival / nostalgia tours like a lot of older bands are.

 

I'm with you - any Rush show is a good one. Why? Because it's Rush.

Incredibly, Paul McCartney didn't sell out the O2 Arena in London, England, along with a few other medium-sized venues in the UK. So, a lot of bands are experiencing the bottom line of the crappy economy right now.

 

Paul M almost always sells out every single venue, but when he doesn't on his own home turf, that tells us something, doesn't it?

 

 

You are obviously a very skilled photographer... those are some serious pictures and video. I've been working in television for 12 years and I can tell that you know what the hell you're doing. Nice!

 

It's pretty straight forward. The economy sucks and like a couple people said, if it's a choice between a mortage payment and a concert, even a Rush concert, people need a roof at night and NOT a divorce.

 

Rush normally plays the largest venues next to stadiums and typically there are 12,000 - 25,000 seats available per show. If they were booked into 6,000 - 8,000 seaters every show would sell out. Then, people would be saying, "Hey, every show is sold out!" I don't think many bands today, accept for the really big bands like, U2, the Stones, etc, sell out all their shows.

 

FYI, I just checked both Minneapolis and Winnipeg and unless I'm not reading it right, there aren't many seats left for either 17,000 seat hockey arenas.

I've been a Rush fan since 2112 - ATWA Stage, but when I heard AFT Kings for the first time, I actually checked my pants to see if there was any shit in them... That "New Rush" with the Mini Moog was so good I thought I soiled myself.

 

I couldn't imagine Rush without keys. I really don't think Rush would have got to the "world stage" without keys. Just guitar, bass and drums has a limited audience, I think.

 

And, when the dude plays bass, double-necked guitar, sings, plays Taurus pedals AND plays an EFFING keyboard at the same time... that made it even more cool. More reason to check my pants for shit at age 14...

 

What would Yes or Genesis have been without keyboards?

So, are you telling me that I just asked a dude to come live with in Canada?

 

Holy shit...

Okay, so could you somehow just become 20 years older and come live with me in Canada? Our gas is only $6.00 a gallon, plus, we have free health care...

 

I'm not entirely sure I understand your post...

 

But I do know that if those pictures are of you, then you are a certified power babe! And, if those pictures are NOT of you, then whoever that woman is is a certified power babe!

 

GREAT pictures! Lucky SOB! I was at the AFTK tour as well only I wasn't three feet from the stage. There were 10,000 people where I saw them and I was in the nose bleeds. Max Webster and Butler opened the show I saw, not Travers. But he did open a bunch on that tour, so probably... It was a GREAT show though!

 

You're right on all you said. People need to stop bitching about things and just appreciate the shows. These dudes are 60!

 

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, shucks.

 

I checked your profile and I am jealous! You've met Geddy and Big Al and I haven't!!

I saw Ringo on Jimmy Fallon last year (I think) and it was painful to watch. He looked like a kid just who just learning how to play. And, he was sining about a week off key.

 

I also saw Charlie Watts (who is apparently a jazz drummer according to some of you) on Lettermen or one of those shows. He was playing with the Charlie Watts Five if I remember correctly. I don't remember him hitting one single drum or a cymbla at all. He just played brushes on his snare drum. It was boring...

 

My point is that NONE of the Beatles or Stones tunes are even challenging to play on the drums. You can say all you want about "feel" but at the end of the day, those two guys could have been anyone else. They are lucky.

 

 

I was away on a fly-in fishing trip for nearly a week and I've been internet-less since Sept 5. I got back today, checked this site to see how the first couple of shows were going and... holy shit.

 

Long before the internet changed the world, we just went to see Rush. Why? Because it was Rush. We never analyzed or disected set lists, talked about whether or not shows were selling well and the reasons for it.

 

I cannot believe how much negativity I'm hearing about this or that ... set lists, drum solos, on and on. I thought we were all Rush fans. Is that not why one would sign up for a forum like this?

 

Sometimes I wish the GD internet would go away. (Strange comment really, since I am ON IT right now.)

 

For me, I can't wait to see the band in Minneapolis, and yes, that'll be an eight hour drive from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Why am I going to see them for my 28th show? Because it's Rush.

 

As far as the "set list" goes, I couldn't give a rat's piece of shit what songs they play. Sure, there are some songs that I really like to see done live, but...

 

It's still Rush, the world's best band.

 

 

I've been a fan since the 2112 show that I saw in Ottawa back in 1976. I listen to tons of different bands, even 60s vocal groups that are waaaay far from the Rush sound. But, Rush is by far my favourite band.

 

I've been to 27 shows, only missing a couple of tours since 1976. And, I used to have all the posters on my wall... I wore out a dozen or so copies of AFTK and Hemispheres. And every single drum beat or pattern I ever played back then was a Neil ripp off. Of course, my drums were made by Slingerland... they were black. Set up just like Neil's late 70s kit, includiing wind chimes, temple blocks and cow bells. So, I figured all of this would make me one of the most "hard-core" Rush fans ever.

 

Until I started reading some of these posts... holy shit! There are some SERIOUSLY hard-cores here! Some of you have gone to 8 or 9 shows in ONE tour.

 

Two questions -

 

1) Has anyone here seen every tour since 1974?

 

2) Has anyone here joined the 100 club for having attended at least 100 shows?

 

I know a guy in Toronto who claims to have been to 104. That's hard-core...

Hey, good point. Nick Mason, rich, but basic and boring. Great band though!

I haven't listened to a lot of Queensryche, but I heard Slient Lucidity on the radio fairly often. But, doesn't that quiet guitar part a lot like, actually, change that - EXACTLY like the guitar part in Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed?"

 

I know I'm "just a drummer" but I'm still not deaf.

 

QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Sep 5 2012, 09:03 AM)

You're picking drummers from bands that don't really require much drum skill to play in them. It's possible that Charlie Watts is a better drummer than what he's shown live and on record. But The Stones are a blues based rock band and that really doesn't require a drummer to go all out. They just need him to play the beat and that's it. For all we know Charlie does Peart like drum solos all the time on his kit at home. Plus, Charlie has had the job for 50 years, if he sucked at what he did he probably wouldn't have lasted this long. As for the rest of the list, these aren't prog or thrash metal drummers were talking about here. These guys do what's needed in their bands, it just so happens they don't really need to do much because the music doesn't call for it and there are other people in those bands who are the bigger stars and have more of the spotlight. Getting a steady gig in any successful band does require some luck but there's more to it than that. You need to be able to get along with your bandmates and most of all, you need to be able to gell with them musically.

I think that would a cool idea... but I've never been lucky enough to be that close to the stage. If you found those people to switch with before the show... might work.

 

Once in Minneapolis, CP tour, we walked up to the ticket window about 4 pm and asked if there was any way to exchange our nosebleeds for something closer (almost as a joke) and she said, "Sure. How about these?" We looked at each other like WTF? But, we didn't skip a beat! The new seats were off to the side, a few rows up just off to the side of Alex's set up.

 

It turned out that they opened up some new seats after they had the rigging and stage set all finalized. I think she felt sorry for us because we drove all the way from Thunder Bay (8 hours)... We gave her a big sob story... Fine with me.

One of the things I like about Rush is that each player contributes and equal share of the workload and is just as vital to the band as the other two. Not just in playing... in writing too, obviously. I dare say that without Neil's arrival in '74 Rush would have turned out much differently.

 

Not only is Neil one of the best drummers out there, but he writes 1/3 of the band's material. Not exactly riding on anyone's coat tails.

 

But, what about other very wealthy drummers who don't write anything (or very little), don't sing and are just "okay" drummers.

 

These people are lucky that they happened to be "in the band" when the band broke out and started making some serious cash.

 

Here are a few that come to mind -

 

Charlie Watts, The Rolling Stones - possibly the least skilled of any famous drummer in the world. Net worth 200 million.

 

Ringo Starr, The Beatles - same... he sang and wrote a few songs, but he is a terrible drummer. Net worth 250 million.

 

Joey Kramer, Aerosmith - didn't write anything and nothing special on the drums. Any 14 year old kid could along to any Aerosmith song. Net worth 80 million.

 

Larry Mullen, U2 - pretty decent drummer, but his position could have been filled by just about any drummer at the time. He was lucky that he was friends with Bono and Edge. Net worth - 150 million.

 

 

Anyone want to add to this list?????

Correct you are about the solo in Beyond the Moon. He just keeps going and going and going... and it sounds so cool.

 

I saw Max about 8 or 9 times back in the 70s and I honestly don't remember a better front man than Kim. He would OWN the crowd, not only through his playing and singing, but he is one seriously funny dude - and the way he moved his skinny little legs... his spin-o-ramma moves - that dude could FLY across the stage and with a guitar that was plugged in to the amp, no wireless back then!

 

By the way - he is about 6'2" or so and what did he weigh back then.... uh, about 105 pounds or something??

Wow - it's nice to see other people who are not afraid to say it like is... well done, "Rushchick!" I am impressed...

 

About 10 years ago I met a woman, 11 years younger (probably a huge mistake now that I can look back with my brain and not my "Johnson") and she had a 4 year old boy. Oh my friggin' God! Never again. That little fart had his oblivious "mommy" wrapped around his little finger. He said "Jump" and she said "How high, sir?" Pathetic.

 

It's (almost) always difficult to accept and even love someone else's children as if they are your own. In fact, it wouldn't be natural to do so. Sorry, but The Brady Bunch was a TV show. I don't know one single mixed family that does anything more than just "get along" and that's at the best of times.

 

Dude, if you're still slugging it out, cut your losses and find someone who doesn't have big bags dragging behind her at every step of the way.