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waltwhite

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Everything posted by waltwhite

  1. Not to mention, what are the odds of two of the most accomplished and beloved musicians in Canadian history succumbing to brain cancer in a relatively short timeframe? Surreal.
  2. Yup. But even then I should have thought it was weird that he continued to post for about 8 months after the tour, and then nothing at all for 3+ years. This whole thing is so crazy. Him getting diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer so soon after entering his well earned retirement is a real cruel twist of fate.
  3. There’s a thread, I think the one about there being no leaks of his sickness, where the OP mentions a guy purchasing some Rush artwork at a Hugh Syme event at an art gallery/store and getting to quickly FaceTime with Neil. I tracked down the Facebook post he was referring to, and sure enough there’s a guy commenting on the art gallery’s page in Nov. 2019 thanking Hugh for letting him video chat with Neil. Posted a pic of the artwork he bought too so it’d be an odd thing to make up. I’m wondering how Neil was looking and feeling then.
  4. Yeah he definitely looks thinner when I look at it now, but not sickly thin like he does in the later one.
  5. In the summer of last year, on the 4th year anniversary of when I last saw Rush on the R40 stop in Philly, after reminiscing on my memories that day, I went to Neil’s site on a whim. I hadn’t been listening to as much Rush the past couple years, though I’d been slowly making my way through a couple of Neil’s books. I remembered binging his blogs and book reviews on his site back in about 2014-2015 and, in the absence of any new content from the Rush guys, thought “hey, Neil has probably been writing on his site this whole time. Maybe he’s even got a new book coming out.” I was...not shocked...but surprised that he seemed to not have any entries on the site since about mid-2016. It seemed off, especially for a guy who always checked in pretty regularly (We know now that his battle with cancer started 3.5 years ago, roughly mid 2016 when the posts stopped). 2016 was also the year of his last book chronicling the R40 tour, but 3 years had passed. Even if he was a retired author as well as a retired drummer, surely he’d pop in and write a little something on there? I remember not quite being concerned, but definitely curious. Him being sick never came to mind. I had seen a photo of him from early 2018 where he had become one of a few people to visit all of the islands of a particular island chain or something. And he looked normal and healthy. Today I saw a photo from October 2018 where he looked noticeably gaunt. If i had dug deeper into Neil’s absence that day last year and discovered that photo then, I definitely would have been worried. Instead, I explained it off that he was retired in the full sense of the word, and was a full time father and husband, with the book writing and drumming left behind. Between that day and the news of his passing, I’d get the usual recurring, “hmm I wonder what the Rush guys are up to?” thought. I’d picture Geddy and Alex working on a secret music project, and I’d picture Neil content with life, teaching his daughter to appreciate the finer things and drinking wine with his wife. I like to think that despite the cancer, he made the most of life as much as he could throughout his 3.5 year battle. This still doesn’t seem real. I haven’t posted on here since R40 ended, but I felt the need to come back and mourn with fellow fans. Honestly, when I’d learned Neil was retired in late 2015, it felt like the death of a friend. It was hard to listen to Rush knowing there were no more shows to look forward to. They’d been a big part of my life for 10 years at the time (was only 22 when R40 happened) so it was like the end of an era. Now this *actually* feels like the death of a friend, but strangely I’m not finding it painful to listen to Rush, as I’ve been doing a lot the past few days. Sure, it’s emotional, but I also find myself falling in love with the band, and especially Neil’s lyrics, all over again. RIP Professor.
  6. Also, Mike Portnoy said yesterday while calling into a Neil tribute show on 93.3 WMMR Philadelphia that he was let in on Neil’s cancer “two years ago”, so I’m guessing maybe in early 2018 Neil started telling close acquaintances outside of his very inner circle, which may be how some of the “industry rumors” got out. He also said that when he was told, Neil’s family thought he was nearing the end of his fight, but he ended up holding on 2 more years.
  7. OK, spill it! What industry rumors? Are you in the industry? ;) I was shocked when I heard but I suppose I thought it would all work out alright in the end! :sigh: Just curious how widespread these rumors were at the time? Did you hear that he specifically had terminal brain cancer? Or just that he was in declining health? This still is so awful. RIP Neil.
  8. Genesis- I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) from the album Selling England by the Pound. It was played before their set when I saw them at the Philly show, and I don't remember hearing any other Genesis songs, so that's probably the one!
  9. It seems like MSG is going to be quite the show. I saw them in Philly and have been making my peace about it possibly being the last time, though with their energy this tour and the reception it's been getting, I'm still optimistic about another shot at seeing them somewhere down the line. If they do the Radio City thing, that's going to be a mad scramble ticket-wise.
  10. I am planning on trying for Seattle or Portland as well. Probably just going to send a CD booklet since it's low risk and doesn't require a large package.
  11. Does anyone else besides me think that, if you're in the US or Canada anyway, many of us will get a decent shot at seeing them again? I see a lot of people acting like they're just going to disappear after this tour, and while this could definitely be the last "Rush tour" as fans have gotten used to the past several decades, both Geddy and Alex have pretty much said that there will be shows in the future even if they're not part of a 35 date run. Alex mentioned the idea of doing 2-3 week stints like other older artists do (he got the idea from David Gilmour), and then of course lots of us are speculating about residencies, festivals, scattered one-off shows etc. I could be wrong, obviously, and no one really knows but the band, but I'm at least relatively optimistic that plenty fans will get a chance to see them one more time after this tour is over. Depending on what they do/where they go, some of us might have to do a good bit of traveling though.
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