Charlotte7598

I'm so sorry about what happened with your mom! I totally get where you're coming from and I still feel it to an extent too.

I still feel it. My drumming hero since ~1982. THE reason I picked up the sticks and got serious - and he was THE inspiration that kept me playing for ~40 years now.... Every gig I play, I think of him. Lots of drummers have influenced me, Neil was much more than that.

 

I have experienced a fair amount of death in my life - I've lost both of my parents, my grandparents, several beloved aunts and uncles, and some very close friends. Although I never met Neil - the closest I got were treasured postcards he sent to me (via Modern Drummer magazine), a pair of sticks Larry Allen gave me, and a couple friends that worked with him professionally - his passing did indeed affect me as though I had lost a friend. I have lost other musical inspirations - Chris Squire, John Wetton, Greg Lake, and, more recently, EVH, among others - but Neil was so much more than just a drummer I liked, or a musical inspiration, or a lyricist I liked, or someone I travelled to see in concert (49 times!), someone whose art I shared with basically every friend of my teen and adult life, etc. I suppose it started as a form of obsession in my young teen mind - wanting to play like him, to look like him, maybe even to think like him (Lol), but as I grew-up, I understood my own thinking and my own musical style and where it was similar or differed from his. I found a different relation to him as my life moved through various phases - but always my #1 drumming inspiration and Rush's music continued to feed me spiritually. I had accepted the end of Rush (as I think Neil so clearly and thoroughly explained in his last book, Far and Wide) and I have come to accept the passing of all those that meant so much to me in my life. Still, there is something so unfair and cosmically unjust about the way the Neil went down - after being "reborn" after all his personal tragedies, getting so little time to share with his loved-ones in retirement, and so soon after making that enormous life-changing event of leaving his love/hate relationship with being a professional musician, and it all being due to f***ing brain cancer - for a man so cerebral and vibrant. Really, just brutal. My mother passed away young, and due to cancer - and many of the same feelings that I have struggled with for 30+ years since her passing reverberated with Neil's. So, yeah, I still feel it.

By that logic, I'm gonna be super upset when Geddy dies. But I don't wanna think about that yet.

The only thing I’m glad about is that he didn’t sing, because hearing his voice would make me sad. I’ve always been a big John Denver fan and certain songs it still breaks my heart to hear his voice all these years later.

I think about it a lot. I'm very young so I didn't have the opportunities that older people on here had to see Rush many times, or even meet them in some of your lucky cases. I still think about the passage of time though and how Neil's death impacted me.

 

My lifelong drumming hero. Now one of too many reminders that life is fleeting. As more people and things from my youth leave us or end, thoughts of my own mortality, I find, are more common. We are the next old people. How did that happen?

I think about it a lot. I'm very young so I didn't have the opportunities that older people on here had to see Rush many times, or even meet them in some of your lucky cases. I still think about the passage of time though and how Neil's death impacted me.

 

My lifelong drumming hero. Now one of too many reminders that life is fleeting. As more people and things from my youth leave us or end, thoughts of my own mortality, I find, are more common. We are the next old people. How did that happen?

So how do you attach photos or videos to a post? I can't seem to figure it out.

Shocked no one has posted in this thread for a while...gonna see if I can get it going again once I find some pics!

Super jealous you have signed items, that's awesome!

 

I have a few items signed by Neil in my basement and a little of his gear in my office, so I think about him often, but like it was mentioned above it is more of a sigh now.

Yeah that's pretty much how I am about it now too.

 

Nah, I'm pretty much over it. Don't get me wrong, still sucks but I don't feel anything anymore.

Thank you!

 

Welcome! :hi:

It's cool you got to see them on R40, I missed that one. S&A I don't remember super well as I was 10 and only knew their popular stuff at that point, but the CA show was great, almost 10 years ago but feels like yesterday. Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

Hey another younger Rush fan! Welcome to the community! That's exactly the way I think about my one time seeing them as well. Totally back row nosebleed seats, but at least my dad and I got to see them. One of the greatest concerts I'll ever see.

Hi guys!

 

I've been checking out this forum on and off for several years but just got around to register. I wanted to introduce myself. My name's Charlotte, I'm 23 years old and have loved Rush since I was about 8. Saw them on Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels, seats weren't great but hey, at least I got to go. I look forward to getting to know everyone here!