Jump to content

H to O

Members
  • Posts

    73
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by H to O

  1. Thanks for posting this! Just a studio hang with Alex, and his guitars. I thought Andre did fine as an interviewer. I’d have crumbled... Actually, Alex is so laid back, probably not! I spun Victor after watching, and it was cool to listen to with new insight. I forgot about Mr. X. Hell yes!!! Happy Anniversary Victor!!!
  2. Seems like it was just yesterday… I was standing in my kitchen at about 5:30PM, having just arrived home from a long work week. The 10th was a Friday, and I was supposed to meet some friends for a dinner date. I haven’t done a lot of dating in recent years, but my friends knew this girl that I just “had to meet”… So, I’m standing in the kitchen thinking about how to kill a couple hours before the dinner when a text came in to my phone from a dear friend of mine: “H to O, I’m so sorry to hear the news” with a couple heart emojis tacked on. Um, what news? It had to be that something happened to a mutual friend of ours, or, something happened to someone that my friend knows is really important to me. I didn’t text her back right away. I don’t know why, but with an uneasy feeling my first thought was to check for Rush news (here). And, there it was, totally unexpected, totally devastating, and totally mind numbing. Stunned. A wash of complete emptiness. I texted her back with thanks for caring and letting me know. My spirits crushed, I then had to decide what to do about the dinner that I needed to be at in an hour or so. It had been planned for a while, and I couldn’t come to grips with what would be best: cancel at the last minute, which is totally outside of the norm for me, or go and try to meet someone in my completely devastated state of mind. I went. I did my best to delay the grieving and be somewhat sociable at dinner. Upon arrival, my friend that set up the dinner said she was sorry to hear about Neil. She and her partner are not fans like me, but they appreciate the band and know how much I love Rush (like most of my friends, when they hear Rush they automatically think of me – sound familiar??? :) ). The girl I was meeting really didn’t know about Rush, possibly since she was foreign, so she said she was sorry to hear the news and really had no idea how devastating this truly was for me. I talked briefly about Neil and how much of a huge influence he’s been to me, and I generally stayed away from the subject for the evening, although there were a few times I felt like I was going to burst into tears because I absolutely could not get the subject off my mind. I turned my phone off because it was blowing up with texts from friends and family during dinner... I bluffed my way through things OK, but I’ll be honest, while my dinner companions and I were having our conversations, I wasn’t hearing a damn thing they were saying. I had to catch myself a few times just vacantly staring at the TV at the bar on the other side of the room with some sporting event on it. I managed to engage as best as I could, finished dinner, had desert, said goodbyes and I was now relieved to be able to begin my grief. My dinner friends texted me after everyone got home safe and said they had a nice time, and so did the girl I met, so I at least made it through the dinner and presented myself OK. They asked me what I thought of this girl, and quite honestly, I could barley even remember anything about her. I told them I thought she was nice… It’s too bad, actually, because she was nice, but I really wasn’t even there at the dinner. I still believe I did the right thing by going, but I have never been in a situation where I had to delay grieving and put on a (semi) happy face like that. It’s amazing to me, and to many of us here, how truly hard Neil’s passing hit me. Now home, I simply sat in my basement studio and stared at the wall into the wee hours of the morning. Had a couple The Macallan while random bits of Rush songs played in my head. A lyric here, a chord progression there, a drum beat or fill, random show memories, and a lot of tears. I was stunned for days, and it took many months before I could play a Rush song or watch a DVD. Neil lived a majorly full life and he touched many people in many different ways. I am so proud to be a Rush fan and can’t even measure the influence they’ve had on me in music, business, life in general… An unwavering quest for excellence in everything they’ve done. Thanks for letting me ramble if you've made it this far..., and I’m looking forward to reading other’s experiences that day one year ago. Excellent thread too. It’s been therapeutic to write this!!! :)
  3. I listened all the way through. It was cool to hear some atmospheric Alex style playing in there, but the song didn’t really grab me. Might be cool for people who like this genre I suppose. What I really did enjoy was looking at Jason’s blog and website from the OP link. Pretty interesting person on a unique musical path, and I REALLY enjoyed watching his videos playing with Alex and an invisible drummer at the charity golf tournament in 2019. They rocked!!! Alex did great, the invisible drummer botched some fills but didn’t train wreck..., and Jason held is own with bass and vocals. Limelight, Spirit, and Freewill! :) I’m glad I checked it out!!! Thanks for posting!
  4. 1983.07.12 - Rochester Hills, MI, United States - Oakland University, Howard C. Baldwin Memorial Pavilion - Meadow Brook Music Festival This confirms the above mentioned tour date here, along with an article here. Thanks RushFanForever, that was the show! Appreciate the links. Particularly: $9.00 lawn / $11.50 Pavilion referenced in the pre-show article. Man, I miss those days... no wonder I saw so many shows back then!!! I know I'll be throwing on "Travels" this weekend, as well as some other Pat Metheny with Lyle Mays.
  5. I'm so sorry to hear this. I remember seeing The Pat Metheny Group on the Travels Tour in around 1983 at Meadowbrook Music Theater in the Detroit Metro area. I went with a couple of my band mates from high school. I was fortunate to see many great musicians at this intimate outdoor venue around that time period, JLP, Zappa, SRV, Buddy Rich, even Loretta Lynn, as well as many others. When we went to see The Pat Methany Group, we were stunned at how good they were. It was one of the few shows where we literally drove home and no one could say a word to each other. We would simply look at each other with stunned, knowing eyes and jaws on the floor, and mumble something like, wow... We had never witnessed that level of musicianship. I've certainly had my share of shows that left me speechless, many from the band we follow on this website, but this show was astounding at a whole new level for me at the time. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see Lyle and The Pat Petheny Group, especially during such an impressionable point in my life. RIP Lyle Mays
  6. Yes! I think Limelight was played at the first commercial break of each game, at least today’s games.
  7. It was Neil that inspired me to pick up the sticks as a teen and begin a lifelong passion for drumming. The opening fill to Digital Man to be precise. It was Neil and Rush that inspired me to approach business and life with integrity and a quest for excellence. It was Neil and Rush that taught me to never rest on your laurels, and bring your best to your work and life everyday. It was Neil and Rush that brought music that became the soundtrack to my life. It was Neil and Rush that caused me to travel near and far to see them play whenever I could. Thanks for your inspiration and dedication to your family, your craft, your band and your fans Neil Peart. You will be forever missed. ❤️
  8. I give Neil a ton of credit for bringing it to every show, especially on R40 and other times playing through pain. Drumming while in pain is no easy task, especially when you're playing a Rush show I can only imagine. I thought his playing on R40 was great at the show I was at and the DVD. I also give him credit for knowing where he needed to draw the line, as it couldn't have been an easy decision. I don't care to see Rush with another drummer, and I don't believe there's a need to worry about that. People come out of retirement all the time, so I guess you never know, but this is one band that I never want to see playing as washed up shells of themselves. R40 was a fitting tour to close it out. It had final tour written all over it. Thanks to Neil for 40 years of creativity, passion and inspiration!
  9. There is a dog on the album: You beat me to it, by seconds!!!
  10. There is a dog on the album. It's on the cover! As far as Chemistry is concerned, this, Digital Man, and the rest of the album were all significant in my getting completely hooked on Rush in the early 80's. Signals was my first tour, and Chemistry is most definitely one of my favorites, as my user name might suggest!
  11. The "J" in his name must stand for Jackass. I would think someone close to the band would just keep their mouth shut. Sorry Kevin, enjoy your work, but my respect level for you just went down the tubes. Retirement or not, you should just stick with the bands message rather than being a twitter asshole.
  12. Well then, that's the best damn screen shot I've ever seen!!! Great job tapehead2!
  13. That was awesome, and I'll tell you without hesitation that I had tears in my eyes during the violin solo section. Nicely done Rush and Jonathan!!! Oh, and nice job to whomever was able to put together this video, well done!!! Nice sound, steady hand, sort of "multi-angle" and captured everything really well. Now if you'll excuse me, but I'm gonna have to watch this again!
  14. Personally, I'd lost all interest in this song until now. I think Rush could use more of a whack job spin on their tired old lyrics. Very well done! The only part I'm struggling with is the "fuckking smoker" part. Is this a spoken word part injected in like "subdivisions" in a low voice? Or is it screamed in a high pitch like "listen" from Didacts and Narpets? Is Alex the one that would cover this part live, or would it be Neil? It would have to be someone besides Geddy considering where it falls vocally. I'm just trying to imagine how they would pull this off. Thanks again though. These new lyrics bring new life to this song that it sorely missed! Bravo!!!
  15. Losing It was one of the songs that made me a Rush Fan (that, the Exit Stage Left Video, and Digital Man in particular). I was "encouraged" to play the violin when I was very young, instead of the drums (I was begging to play those, but my parents were afraid of what it would be like to have a drum set in the house!). So, violin it was (drums came later...). I really didn't like playing the violin, but hearing it back then on this song changed my opinion completely (and probably helped me become a huge Jean-Luc Ponty fan!). It's really special they played this song in TO, and they really played it well. Awesome job Ben Mink!!! Thanks so much for posting the videos above!!!
  16. H to O

    Open Secrets?

    I would love to see Open Secrets live as well. Everything about it is over the top to me. Guitar, bass, drums, vocals and lyrics are all awesome on this song and it would probably transfer really well in a live setting. The way the outro / ending propels is one of my favorite Rush moments, and the guitar solo section is goose-bump inducing every time!
  17. My vote is yes! Maybe driven by hope, but I could imagine them extending this tour in the fall to Europe, then coming back to the states and hitting off the beaten path markets like they did with CA (Grand Rapids Mich, for example). Wishful thinking maybe, but the machine is up and running, and running quite well I might add... Why not?
  18. Thanks for the link, great read! I too really enjoyed the part about Olivia's first Rush show. "Are they all here to see my Dad?" Too cute!
  19. One thing I've alway's loved about Rush is that they still come out every night with something to prove, even after all this time. I would imagine early in the tour they're still ironing out some of their mechanics, and Al's probably just highly focused on getting everything right. Along with this focus would be a bit of angst when bugs occur. A few more shows in after bugs have been resolved and things will be more fluid allowing for a more relaxed and playful state... I still have no idea how these guys, or precise bands like them, deliver every nuance and complex passage of this type of music song after song, night after night. One flub up by any member could have disasterous train wreck implications. So yes, the pressures on at this point. Fast forward 6-10 shows in and it's a whole new ball game for Alex and company.
  20. You could always arrange with your ticket buyer to go into the show at the same time, that way if the ID was an issue, you could just show them yours and everyone gets in!
  21. Maybe one kit is for the road (R40), and the other kit is for the studio (post R40)?
  22. I wouldn't believe anything written by someone in ALL CAPS with dollar sign$ for "s" and littered with swear words... Some of it might be true, as any fan might come up with (like amps instead of satillites, fridges, chicken ovens, etc...), even though they can stick all kinds of non-functioning amps on stage for visual effect, but this makes no difference in sound since they don't use stage amps for sound anymore. I never had a problem with Alex's weird satillite looking "amps", or any of Geddy's "amp" setups over the years. I've always thought they were all cool. The way Alex's amps worked visually on the CA tour was perfect in my book.
  23. I voted for LA being the last R40 show, then on to new writing and a tour to follow that. Just a feeling I have, perhaps driven by wishful thinking... :) Maybe with so much of their equipment in LA, they just leave it there and that's where they record the next album. Besides, why dig up 1,500 year old trees to build a drum set to just use it for 34 shows? Neil's more environmentally conscious than that!
  24. Great Interview, and thanks MMCXII for posting the link. I'm just not seeing the link between the current interviews and this being the "last tour" mentioned in many threads. It sounds similar to every other interview from the last several tours in that Rush seems very present, they're preparing for this tour to celebrate R40 ("with care"). Nothing beyond that. They may extend this tour. They may use this tour to warm up their chops and then go into a writing phase. I would imagine getting up and going again after a long break is tough for any one of them. I know on Monday, I don't always feel great about going to work for a new week, even though I generally enjoy what I do. Usually by Monday at noon, my passion is re-ignited and the work week is flying by enjoyably as usual. And there's no comparison between my work week and a Rush tour... Right now, they're probably thinking about the work ahead for them somewhat dauntingly, then once the wheels are turning, who knows what they might do. I found this interview an enjoyable listen, and Neil is really probably the most open of all three members, contrary to what so many seem to feel. I particularly liked the section where he talks about approaching their craft with care. Many seem to think their releases and tours are some type of cash grab, and their bending over their fans. Well, guess what, they are a cash grab. Just like the work anybody on here does for a living is. They have a right to grab as much cash as demand will allow. The difference with Rush (and probably many of their fans) is that they grab their cash with care, and everything they do is worth the price of admission as far as I'm concerned (minus getting bent by a scalper, which is totally avoidable). Looking forward to R40. It sounds like this tour is really gonna be an A-sides tour. Although I'm more of a B-side fan, I really think this tour is going to translate well to the live audience. Casual fans and rabid fans alike!
  25. As much as this could be the 1st (and possibly only) leg of the last "tour of this magnitude", it could also be a warm up tour. They could go into the studio after the 1st leg, record and release a new cd and make some adjustments to an already up and running show. They could be back on the road by January with a fresh tour and could hit any one of the 1st leg cities again toward the end of that. Or, they could ride off into the sunset. Oh, and they need to bring back Alex's rants... :D
×
×
  • Create New...