Did Neil ever stand in the way...?

[Timbale]

I'm not a fanatic of Yes, so I don't know all the ins and outs and timeline...but I remember some member of the band talking about touring with a replacement singer for Jon Anderson, and saying it was great because they could play a bunch of stuff that Jon never wanted to sing and essentially vetoed...

 

I wonder if there is any material that we didn't get specifically because Neil did not want to play it...or songs that we got over and over because he did...

 

We know in general he had a bit of distain for the pre- Permanent Waves material (despite the fact that they played it)...but might we see some freer choices on this tour because there are only 2 people making the calls, not 3?

[TheHonestMan]

I wouldn't call it standing in the way - since Neil's opinion was just as valid as Geddy's or Alex's - but he probably did have certain songs or eras that he didn't wish to perform.

 

Neil wrote most of the lyrics. There were probably quite a few songs pertaining to ideas that he came to dislike a bit as he grew older and his worldviews changed.

 

I've always suspected that was the case with the song Test for Echo. It sounds so great on Different Stages, but they never brought it back on later tours. I could definitely see Neil wishing to distance himself from some of the wording in that song as the culture shifted.

[James Bond]

I'm sure if he did, Geddy and Alex would just say, "excuse me."

[Principled Man]

Neil never “stood in the way”.  All three guys chose what songs they wanted to play, and all three guys had songs that they didn’t want to play anymore.  

[lerxt1990]

I remember a great quote, not sure if from one of his books where Neil said he absolutely never wanted to play Fly By Night anymore - which if you think about it is probably one of the mopst old school liked songs that they stopped playing - because while everyone loved it to him it was like showing a kindergarten painting to someone - it was early in his writing, and he said he just didnt want to play it.  

[lerxt1990]

9 minutes ago, Principled Man said:

Neil never “stood in the way”.  All three guys chose what songs they wanted to play, and all three guys had songs that they didn’t want to play anymore.  

 

Remember the story where, maybe in Europe, Geddy wanted to add CttH and Neil said "I don't wanna." lol.  I also that was partially due to length of show - but the brevity of the response was cool.

[treeduck]

[lerxt1990]

13 minutes ago, treeduck said:

 

Gonna smoke that Titleist past the max.

It’s a ball-flight — you dig?

 

[treeduck]

2 minutes ago, lerxt1990 said:

 

Gonna smoke that Titleist past the max.

It’s a ball-flight — you dig?

 

[Principled Man]

1 hour ago, lerxt1990 said:

 

Remember the story where, maybe in Europe, Geddy wanted to add CttH and Neil said "I don't wanna." lol.  I also that was partially due to length of show - but the brevity of the response was cool.

Geddy didn’t want to play The Camera Eye.  He didn’t like Digital Man (but he liked the bass in it). They retired By-Tor for many tours. The Rush in Rio documentary mentioned the band’s desire to retire certain songs.  It’s to be expected that three guys have different preferences on which songs to retire or keep playing.  

 

[lerxt1990]

20 minutes ago, Principled Man said:

Geddy didn’t want to play The Camera Eye.  He didn’t like Digital Man (but he liked the bass in it). They retired By-Tor for many tours. The Rush in Rio documentary mentioned the band’s desire to retire certain songs.  It’s to be expected that three guys have different preferences on which songs to retire or keep playing.  

 

Of course.  Would love to be fly on the wall for some of those discussions.

[Claude_verret]

3 hours ago, lerxt1990 said:

I remember a great quote, not sure if from one of his books where Neil said he absolutely never wanted to play Fly By Night anymore - which if you think about it is probably one of the mopst old school liked songs that they stopped playing - because while everyone loved it to him it was like showing a kindergarten painting to someone - it was early in his writing, and he said he just didnt want to play it.  

 

Geddy said in his bio that he's not a big fan of FBN either.

[HemiBeers]

44 minutes ago, Claude_verret said:

 

Geddy said in his bio that he's not a big fan of FBN either.

I think alot of true rush fans, like myself, can do without FBN. Reeks of poppy, FM radio friendly 'hit'. 

 

I remember reading of neil's disdain for cygnus x-1 book 1. It has some cool parts in it, but as a whole it's way over the top.

[thizzellewashington]

I remember decades ago there was an interview with one of them where they had a compromise on the Test for Echo tour. Geddy and Alex wanted to play 2112 in its entirety and Neil didn't want to, so as a trade-off, if he agreed to play all of 2112, they'd agree to play 8 songs from the new album which is way more than they normally played, but he was really proud of that material and his new approach to drumming. So there's always that sort of give-and-take with the setlist.

 

The dynamic is different on the new tour because it's Geddy and Alex running the show and Anika is just given a list of songs to learn.

[Principled Man]

54 minutes ago, HemiBeers said:

I think alot of true rush fans, like myself, can do without FBN. Reeks of poppy, FM radio friendly 'hit'. 

I never listen to “Fly by Night” anymore, but I still listen to “In The End”.  

[thizzellewashington]

I've NEVER cared for Fly by Night. Out of all the big radio songs, it's always been the one I've liked the least and I've never once wished they'd play it live.

[HemiBeers]

3 hours ago, thizzellewashington said:

I remember decades ago there was an interview with one of them where they had a compromise on the Test for Echo tour. Geddy and Alex wanted to play 2112 in its entirety and Neil didn't want to, so as a trade-off, if he agreed to play all of 2112, they'd agree to play 8 songs from the new album which is way more than they normally played, but he was really proud of that material and his new approach to drumming. So there's always that sort of give-and-take with the setlist.

 

The dynamic is different on the new tour because it's Geddy and Alex running the show and Anika is just given a list of songs to learn.

perhaps the subtitle of this tour will be 'shit that neil hated'. 

[Brava Doh!]

Are we all so sure Anika won’t have some say in the setlist? 
At the very least, she could be a tiebreaker for certain songs. At most, they’d have her as an equal when choosing the songs.

[lerxt1990]

19 hours ago, Principled Man said:

I never listen to “Fly by Night” anymore, but I still listen to “In The End”.  

In the End

In the Mood

2112: Grand Finale

 

A grand finale to a live show if there ever was one :)

[lerxt1990]

16 hours ago, HemiBeers said:

perhaps the subtitle of this tour will be 'shit that neil hated'. 

Thats hilarious!

[Principled Man]

23 hours ago, HemiBeers said:

perhaps the subtitle of this tour will be 'shit that neil hated'. 

 

The Second Leg of the Tour will be subtitled:  “Anika LOVES the Fans!” 

 

[gap]

I recall an interview with Neil where he talked about cringing a bit when playing some of his old stuff.  About having to hold himself back from making improvements.  He'd progressed with his craft so much over the years that he'd developed a dim view of some of his earlier efforts.  He said when he played some of the oldies, all he could think of was how he could do it much better now.  So it became difficult to keep playing it as-recorded, when he knew it could do better.

 

[AMBrodie22]

Geddy and Alex were on Eddie Truck's show before the TMT - They talked about the up coming tour and selecting the setlist. They mentioned Stick It Out and how Neil hates playing that song. The song was played on the tour. 

[yyz305]

3 hours ago, AMBrodie22 said:

Geddy and Alex were on Eddie Truck's show before the TMT - They talked about the up coming tour and selecting the setlist. They mentioned Stick It Out and how Neil hates playing that song. The song was played on the tour. 

Oh, I thought Al didn't like playing Stick It Out. 

[chemistry1973]

On 11/7/2025 at 11:50 AM, TheHonestMan said:

I wouldn't call it standing in the way - since Neil's opinion was just as valid as Geddy's or Alex's - but he probably did have certain songs or eras that he didn't wish to perform.

 

Neil wrote most of the lyrics. There were probably quite a few songs pertaining to ideas that he came to dislike a bit as he grew older and his worldviews changed.

 

I've always suspected that was the case with the song Test for Echo. It sounds so great on Different Stages, but they never brought it back on later tours. I could definitely see Neil wishing to distance himself from some of the wording in that song as the culture shifted.

Perhaps because One Little Victory borrows heavily from T4E - the OLV intro is exactly the same as the the “video/vertigo” drum segue in T4E.