Why didn't Rush do a proper farewell tour?

[New_World_Man]

Last night I saw the final tour for the Who and it got me to thinking about this. The Who t shirt I bought says "farewell tour" but the Rush t shirt I have and none of the announcements say anything about the 2015 tour being the final tour for Rush. My suspicion is that either they didn't know at the time when they first announced tour dates that it was going to be their last or they wanted it to just be for the hardcore fans who knew through the Rush "grapevine" that it was going to be their last. I guess we can all speculate all we want but does anyone know for sure what the reason was? Did have something to do with Neil and his need for privacy?

 

As I mentioned last night I saw the Who in Philly (on their rescheduled show) and it dawned on me to creat this post after noticing how it says "farewell tour." I have seen a total of four bands on their final tour and they are The Who, Genesis, Black Sabbath and Rush. Rush is the only one where it wasn't formally announced.

Edited September 11 by New_World_Man

[grep]

They didn't know it at the time, themselves. At least not in time to get the message into the marketing machine.  All that stuff happens months ahead of time.

Even if they did know, I think the band wouldn't want to announce it that way anyway. Basing that on different things I've heard/read Ged and Al say.


 

Edited September 11 by grep

[New_World_Man]

Just now, grep said:

They didn't know it at the time, themselves. 

 

Ok, that makes sense. That's sort of what I thought. No need to overthink it then. 

 

 

[PurpleHayes]

1 hour ago, New_World_Man said:

Last night I saw the final tour for the Who and it got me to thinking about this. The Who t shirt I bought says "farewell tour" but the Rush t shirt I have and none of the announcements say anything about the 2015 tour being the final tour for Rush. My suspicion is that either they didn't know at the time when they first announced tour dates that it was going to be their last or they wanted it to just be for the hardcore fans who knew through the Rush "grapevine" that it was going to be their last. I guess we can all speculate all we want but does anyone know for sure what the reason was? Did have something to do with Neil and his need for privacy?

 

As I mentioned last night I saw the Who in Philly (on their rescheduled show) and it dawned on me to creat this post after noticing how it says "farewell tour." I have seen a total of four bands on their final tour and they are The Who, Genesis, Black Sabbath and Rush. Rush is the only one where it wasn't formally announced.

 

I think Neil definitely knew, but wasn't sharing that with the other guys. Didn't someone point out that after the last show Neil blew off Ged and Al and went to a party with his own friends? That would be a huge red flag right there.

 

And LOL about The Who...haven't they had like 10 farewell tours already? They had the 1982 one...then the 1989 one which I went to...and more after that!

Edited September 11 by PurpleHayes

[HemiBeers]

Because they knew farewell tours are tools to endlessly pimp the fans and they were above that. If the last tour wasn't obvious enough with a reverse chronological career set list, then what else do you expect? 

[Principled Man]

7 minutes ago, HemiBeers said:

Because they knew farewell tours are tools to endlessly pimp the fans and they were above that. 

THIS !

 

The band disliked the idea of doing an official farewell tour.  Integrity and humility were their best attributes.  When it was time to call it a career, they would do it with no fanfare, and they wouldn’t come back.  

[Nova Carmina]

2 hours ago, PurpleHayes said:

 

 

And LOL about The Who...haven't they had like 10 farewell tours already? They had the 1982 one...then the 1989 one which I went to...and more after that!

 

and KISS, and Black Sabbath, and . . . and . . . You could probably make a decent quilt out of "Not Really" Farewell Tour t-shirts.

[JARG]

3 hours ago, New_World_Man said:

Last night I saw the final tour for the Who and it got me to thinking about this. The Who t shirt I bought says "farewell tour" but the Rush t shirt I have and none of the announcements say anything about the 2015 tour being the final tour for Rush. My suspicion is that either they didn't know at the time when they first announced tour dates that it was going to be their last or they wanted it to just be for the hardcore fans who knew through the Rush "grapevine" that it was going to be their last. I guess we can all speculate all we want but does anyone know for sure what the reason was? Did have something to do with Neil and his need for privacy?

 

As I mentioned last night I saw the Who in Philly (on their rescheduled show) and it dawned on me to creat this post after noticing how it says "farewell tour." I have seen a total of four bands on their final tour and they are The Who, Genesis, Black Sabbath and Rush. Rush is the only one where it wasn't formally announced.

How was the Who show? We're seeing them later this month.

[New_World_Man]

1 hour ago, HemiBeers said:

Because they knew farewell tours are tools to endlessly pimp the fans and they were above that. If the last tour wasn't obvious enough with a reverse chronological career set list, then what else do you expect? 

 

 

I've heard a lot of Rush fans say things like this but I see no real evidence of it. Plus isn't it up to the promoters as much as the band? I could definitely be wrong about that though.

[New_World_Man]

8 minutes ago, JARG said:

How was the Who show? We're seeing them later this month.

 

I had some negative personal experiences (getting to the show, parking and hitting a car when I finally did get to do parking) that affected my enjoyment somewhat but the actual show was great. I'd say they went out with a bang. I won't mention any spoilers though. All I'll say is if you are a WHO fan you'll enjoy it. I even saw one other attendee there wearing a Rush shirt. As I walked past him I said "there it is..." He just nodded or something after seeing my Rush shirt. Soon after that I bought a WHO shirt which I'm wearing right now (50 bucks but I'd rather buy it the proper way then give money to a drug addicted scalper).

[New_World_Man]

1 hour ago, Principled Man said:

THIS !

 

The band disliked the idea of doing an official farewell tour.  Integrity and humility were their best attributes.  When it was time to call it a career, they would do it with no fanfare, and they wouldn’t come back.  

 

 

Although I still kind of feel like the main reason might be that they didn't know at the time it was going to be their final tour ever this sounds reasonable enough. To me integrity doesn't really have much to do with it. We can agree to disagree about that. It's maybe more about how they view themselves and the way they chose to end things. Maybe they saw it as some sort of ego thing or a cash grab and that left a bad taste in their mouth. Ok. Apparently 99 percent of bands don't feel that way though and won't hesitate to announce a final tour as their last tour. The thing is you could change your mind later (as the Who and several others have done).

Edited September 11 by New_World_Man

[JARG]

5 minutes ago, New_World_Man said:

 

I had some negative personal experiences (getting to the show, parking and hitting a car when I finally did get to do parking) that affected my enjoyment somewhat but the actual show was great. I'd say they went out with a bang. I won't mention any spoilers though. All I'll say is if you are a WHO fan you'll enjoy it. I even saw one other attendee there wearing a Rush shirt. As I walked past him I said "there it is..." He just nodded or something after seeing my Rush shirt. Soon after that I bought a WHO shirt which I'm wearing right now (50 bucks but I'd rather buy it the proper way then give money to a drug addicted scalper).

Cool. I saw them back in about '82 and once was enough for me, but my 19 year old daughter has a strong desire to see as many classic rock acts as she can before they all give up the ghost, so it's the Who for us this month and Heart/Cheap Trick (neither of which I've seen live) in November.

[Union 5-3992]

7 hours ago, PurpleHayes said:

 

I think Neil definitely knew, but wasn't sharing that with the other guys. Didn't someone point out that after the last show Neil blew off Ged and Al and went to a party with his own friends? That would be a huge red flag right there.

 

And LOL about The Who...haven't they had like 10 farewell tours already? They had the 1982 one...then the 1989 one which I went to...and more after that!

 

The band had a meeting prior to R40 to discuss business, future plans. Neil announced to both that he was done and wanted to retire. Alex was worried about his arthritis and wanted to do one final tour before he couldn't play anymore. Geddy was a bit blindsided by both of them thinking the band could go on longer.They just didn't want to announce it as the end. It wasn't their style. And I appreciate that they didn't gouge us for their final shows. Can you imagine how bad the scalpers would have been if they knew they had a captive market?

[New_World_Man]

7 minutes ago, Union 5-3992 said:

 

The band had a meeting prior to R40 to discuss business, future plans. Neil announced to both that he was done and wanted to retire. Alex was worried about his arthritis and wanted to do one final tour before he couldn't play anymore. Geddy was a bit blindsided by both of them thinking the band could go on longer.They just didn't want to announce it as the end. It wasn't their style. And I appreciate that they didn't gouge us for their final shows. Can you imagine how bad the scalpers would have been if they knew they had a captive market?

 

So you're saying there's the factor that if it was announced as some sort of farewell tour the prices would have been higher? I'm not sure if that would be a consideration but the argument that it wasn't their style could very well have been the case. I don't think we can say that for sure though. 

[Brava Doh!]

36 minutes ago, New_World_Man said:

 

So you're saying there's the factor that if it was announced as some sort of farewell tour the prices would have been higher? I'm not sure if that would be a consideration but the argument that it wasn't their style could very well have been the case. I don't think we can say that for sure though. 

Regular ticket prices probably would have been the same. The resale market though? Ridiculous.

 

...and we all know how much extra access those resellers seemed to have during the presales. Getting a ticket without going through one of them would have been very difficult.

[Timbale]

9 hours ago, PurpleHayes said:

 

 

And LOL about The Who...haven't they had like 10 farewell tours already? They had the 1982 one...then the 1989 one which I went to...and more after that!

I get the jokes about The Who, I really do...but honestly, they did the farewell tour in '82 and that WAS the end of the band as a creative entity.  The '89 tour was a reunion tour, not a "2nd farewell".  They got together here and there after that, but started touring again in earnest around 2000.  None of that was billed as a last time affair, nor was anything after that until this tour, which I'm pretty sure will be their last proper tour.

[thizzellewashington]

They pretty much told us without telling us, that R40 was going to be the final tour. They did everything but use that billing. All the interviews at the time said some version of "We might do one-off stuff in the future but this is probably our last big tour." Combine that with knowing how Neil felt about touring for years and the fact that they had to talk him into even doing that final tour and it was pretty clear what was happening. The last time I saw them on R40 I definitely felt like it was the last time I would see them.

[taurus]

Maybe someone wanted to leave the door open just a crack in case someone changed their mind later. We don't know, but somehow doing it the way they did suits them better imo. I think we all pieced it together that it was the end of the road.

[New_World_Man]

9 hours ago, thizzellewashington said:

They pretty much told us without telling us, that R40 was going to be the final tour. They did everything but use that billing. All the interviews at the time said some version of "We might do one-off stuff in the future but this is probably our last big tour." Combine that with knowing how Neil felt about touring for years and the fact that they had to talk him into even doing that final tour and it was pretty clear what was happening. The last time I saw them on R40 I definitely felt like it was the last time I would see them.

I get that but if you were just a casual Rush fan who wasn't plugged in or go on boards like this or paid any attention to Rush on youtube or online in general you might not pick up on that. I know it seems that most (if not all) Rush fans are hardcore and know everything about the band but in actuality I don't think that's always the case. 

[New_World_Man]

5 hours ago, taurus said:

Maybe someone wanted to leave the door open just a crack in case someone changed their mind later. We don't know, but somehow doing it the way they did suits them better imo. I think we all pieced it together that it was the end of the road.

 

 

Yep. I certainly think they did it the right way or at least what was the best way for them. I suppose this is what separates Rush from all the other bands out there. The Frank Sinatra song "my way" comes to mind here. Does anyone know of any other bands who did a final tour without announcing it as a farewell tour? I honestly can't think of any.

Edited September 12 by New_World_Man

[JARG]

5 hours ago, taurus said:

Maybe someone wanted to leave the door open just a crack in case someone changed their mind later. We don't know, but somehow doing it the way they did suits them better imo. I think we all pieced it together that it was the end of the road.

Indeed. Never say never, even when never is by far the most likely scenario.

[PurpleHayes]

29 minutes ago, New_World_Man said:

 

 

Yep. I certainly think they did it the right way or at least what was the best way for them. I suppose this is what separates Rush from all the other bands out there. The Frank Sinatra song "my way" comes to mind here. Does anyone know of any other bands who did a final tour without announcing it as a farewell tour? I honestly can't think of any.

 

I can't prove it, but I think Led Zeppelin's last tour in 1980 would have been the end, even if Bonham hadn't pounded 40 shots of vodka and died before the US leg of the tour began. Bonham didn't like touring in the US, Page was whacked out on heroin most of the time, and Plant seemed to be eyeing his future solo career.

Edited September 12 by PurpleHayes

[New_World_Man]

1 hour ago, PurpleHayes said:

 

I can't prove it, but I think Led Zeppelin's last tour in 1980 would have been the end, even if Bonham hadn't pounded 40 shots of vodka and died before the US leg of the tour began. Bonham didn't like touring in the US, Page was whacked out on heroin most of the time, and Plant seemed to be eyeing his future solo career.

Maybe the same goes for the last tour with Ozzy at the end of the 70s before he started his solo career. 

Also, I wonder if REM announced their last tour as a farewell tour. Maybe not.

[HemiBeers]

22 hours ago, New_World_Man said:

 

 

I've heard a lot of Rush fans say things like this but I see no real evidence of it. Plus isn't it up to the promoters as much as the band? I could definitely be wrong about that though.

I think the quote from Ray Danniels was something like "this will be the last tour of this magnitude"

 

Google says:

He publicly commented on the band's plans, indicating that the R40 Live Tour was highly likely to be their last major tour, though he advised against treating it as a formal farewell while it was happening. 

 

Typical manager double talk, but the warning is strong enough.

[PurpleHayes]

4 hours ago, New_World_Man said:

Also, I wonder if REM announced their last tour as a farewell tour. Maybe not.

 

That's another weird one, considering how popular they were. They just stopped touring and apparently don't even like each other any more...hard to believe one of the biggest bands in US history hasn't toured since 2011 or so.

 

I for one WISH that some bands would STOP touring. Lynrd Skynrd is a case in point...I was never a fan of their music, but they don't even have a single original member in the band any more...it's basically a glorified cover band. Same with Foreigner. 

 

Wonder if Tony Iommi will be making a call to Tony Martin to start the 80s version of Sabbath up again...

Edited September 12 by PurpleHayes