If you had to choose...

[ZachenFoot]

20 hours ago, JCW555VT said:

This may be revisionist in and of itself but I think Neil cutting back on the drum solo for the Clockwork Angels Tour was the first sign that Neil was in pain and tried reducing it by shortening the solo. Neil's drum solos were a signature part of the Rush live show and shortening them was unprecedented. I think Neil looked a tad bit stiffer on R40 as well, while still delivering great performances. That foot infection Neil got during R40 sounded brutal.

We had a very different impression of the shortened solos to be honest. I remember being at the Time Machine show, watching his solo and thinking "okay we've heard just about all of this before," and I always felt for a guy that seemed restlessly committed to trying new things, the shortened solos was his way of communicating the same thing. "I've been doing it this exact way for decades, how can I integrate my drumming into the show differently?" The piece we got before Red Sector A would never exist, it's an entirely fresh composition, and before that he was retreading a lot of stuff over and over again (no matter how much he tried to suggest he improvised).

 

I guess I just never saw it in the more negative context of "I'm getting tired, I want to do less." Combine the solos and you're still getting 8-9 minutes of Neil every night (at least on the CA tour). If we're going to assess this with what we know now, Neil is on the record as being invigorated by the Clockwork Angels experience, and yeah he didn't want to tour but I think at that point he still accepted the professional responsibility happily (at least compared to his feelings about R40). There were a lot more smiles on that tour than ever before. I thought the reimagining of his solos was part of that invigoration.

 

None of this is serious, you have your opinion and I have mine and it's all good. Just an interesting experiment in how all of this can be viewed differently.

Edited September 17 by ZachenFoot

[ZachenFoot]

4 hours ago, Juan L. Victory said:

 

Probably true. 

 

I had made my peace with the fact that Rush was done and over with. To learn they were coming back was very exciting.

 

We went to night #2 in Los Angeles, and we had the Closer to the Heart package. It was, in a word, magical. The whole evening's vibe was so positive and fun. 

 

It was a great experience. 

 

Yeah! I don't want anyone to take my use of "recency bias," "nostalgia tour" and "original trio" as a negative commentary on what's happening now. What's happening now is wonderful. How do you process a loved one coming back from the dead?

 

But... everyone loves a thing the most as it's happening in the moment, and the original trio will always be the standard to me.