Food for thought about Anika joining Rush

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

Most of us have seen this Rolling Stone pre-tour interview with Geddy and Alex, but this clip put a question in my head, and I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this. Perhaps it's already been discussed here.

 

 

To be sure, this is me playing devil's advocate -- I think Anika is awesome and I love what she brings to the band. I have ZERO complaints about her. My question is, if the musician you hire to play in your band has to "change the way they play," why not look for a player whose style is already more aligned to your band's music? Wouldn't that make the whole acclimation process a lot easier?

 

Again, I can't argue with the end result. I'm just imagining how painful the whole process might have been.

[Rod in Toronto]

I think the job description was vague, and they had to realign expectations on both sides after a while.

[chemistry1973]

49 minutes ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

Most of us have seen this Rolling Stone pre-tour interview with Geddy and Alex, but this clip put a question in my head, and I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this. Perhaps it's already been discussed here.

 

 

To be sure, this is me playing devil's advocate -- I think Anika is awesome and I love what she brings to the band. I have ZERO complaints about her. My question is, if the musician you hire to play in your band has to "change the way they play," why not look for a player whose style is already more aligned to your band's music? Wouldn't that make the whole acclimation process a lot easier?

 

Again, I can't argue with the end result. I'm just imagining how painful the whole process might have been.

I think they wanted a fresh younger take on the music. And female fandom was always perceived as their weak spot. And their choice couldn’t be any better. The tour is crushing it, prob making more money than ever before.

[HemiBeers]

I think the 'outside of the box' choice of Anika was a savvy way to avoid all the Neil-fan drummers who would approach it as a competition to be better than Neil. She obviously had a strong career without any devotion to Neil...so there's not the underlying urge to outshine him. 

[JCW555VT]

Agree with chemistry and HemiBeers. I think getting a Neil Peart fanboy who would've played everything the same as Neil did would've been a bad call in the end. Anika's injected some fresh blood in the band and you can tell Geddy and Alex feed off of her energy a lot. 

[BastillePark]

Are there any or very many drummers who have the same or similar style as Peart did?

[chemistry1973]

1 hour ago, BastillePark said:

Are there any or very many drummers who have the same or similar style as Peart did?

Not really. Not even Mike Portnoy plays like NP.

[thizzellewashington]

A thing that people aren't taking into account here also is that if you're Geddy and Alex and don't need the money and are getting back on the road after 10 years just because you want to, you're going to want to pick somebody you're willing to spend a year on the road with. Anika seems like a really cool person who'd be fun to spend time with whereas a lot of Neil fanboy type drummers seem like they'd be kind of tough hangs, especially if you're Geddy and Alex and played with the man himself.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

3 hours ago, BastillePark said:

Are there any or very many drummers who have the same or similar style as Peart did?

 

1 hour ago, chemistry1973 said:

Not really. Not even Mike Portnoy plays like NP.

 

Agreed, but he's closer to Neil's style than Anika is. A prog rock drummer who grew up idolizing Rush vs. a jazz fusion drummer who was aware of Neil's status in the drumming community and had heard maybe a few Rush tunes, and that's it.

 

Replacing Neil in Rush is the toughest gig in rock drumming history. There are drummers out there -- both famous and unknown -- who already know how to play these songs. Instead they called on a non-rock drummer who didn't know their songs and had to learn them all from scratch, and she had to "change the way she played" to do it. It was a super gutsy move by all three of them. And Anika is now beloved by many Rush fans. She's easy to root for.

 

 

[treeduck]

Quote

Food for thought about Anika 

[Alexmai]

In my opinion, as in The return of the king from Lord of the Rings, "no man can beat me","I'm no man".

No man can sit on Neil's throne, only a woman can avoid any confrontation...

Ged & Al want a challenge, they' won't be a Rush cover band but a new Rush, as when Neil take John's place...

 

[HemiBeers]

12 hours ago, BastillePark said:

Are there any or very many drummers who have the same or similar style as Peart did?

They sure of hell would've tried and been flamed for it. 

[TheAnarchist2112]

Some thoughts:

 

- Something that I saw in another thread is what if in the next year or two, Anika, Geddy, and Alex begin to make a new Rush album or EP but with unused Neil lyrics? That would be super cool to see, and we know that Neil was still writing lyrics even after the last tour. So I'm sure there's an entire album/probably multiple albums' worth of lyrical content that's unused.

- Another thought is that obviously the last show on April 10th is not the end, the Sphere residency will probably happen in the summer or fall next year. 

- They have not expressly said (like they did during R40/before) that this will be the last tour of this scale, or in general. 

- In one of Loren's Instagram posts about Cleveland, he said "See you next time!" in the caption. Whether that's just wishful thinking by him or it's hinting at some discussion about future plans I don't know.. still a peculiar thing to say. 

[TheAnarchist2112]

1 minute ago, TheAnarchist2112 said:

Some thoughts:

 

- Something that I saw in another thread is what if in the next year or two, Anika, Geddy, and Alex begin to make a new Rush album or EP but with unused Neil lyrics? That would be super cool to see, and we know that Neil was still writing lyrics even after the last tour. So I'm sure there's an entire album/probably multiple albums' worth of lyrical content that's unused.

- Another thought is that obviously the last show on April 10th is not the end, the Sphere residency will probably happen in the summer or fall next year. 

- They have not expressly said (like they did during R40/before) that this will be the last tour of this scale, or in general. 

- In one of Loren's Instagram posts about Cleveland, he said "See you next time!" in the caption. Whether that's just wishful thinking by him or it's hinting at some discussion about future plans I don't know.. still a peculiar thing to say. 

Alex and Geddy have also not completely ruled out new music in some interviews. They said "we'll see how the tour goes" but obviously it's going fantastic for them! I can't imagine them going out and having this much fun and not maybe writing something behind the scenes, or just deciding to end it next year after this 

[Union 5-3992]

7 minutes ago, TheAnarchist2112 said:

Some thoughts:

 

- Something that I saw in another thread is what if in the next year or two, Anika, Geddy, and Alex begin to make a new Rush album or EP but with unused Neil lyrics? That would be super cool to see, and we know that Neil was still writing lyrics even after the last tour. So I'm sure there's an entire album/probably multiple albums' worth of lyrical content that's unused.

- Another thought is that obviously the last show on April 10th is not the end, the Sphere residency will probably happen in the summer or fall next year. 

- They have not expressly said (like they did during R40/before) that this will be the last tour of this scale, or in general. 

- In one of Loren's Instagram posts about Cleveland, he said "See you next time!" in the caption. Whether that's just wishful thinking by him or it's hinting at some discussion about future plans I don't know.. still a peculiar thing to say. 

Loren is a hired gun so he'll likely be back to Cleveland regardless of Geddy and Alex's plans

[BastillePark]

2 hours ago, Alexmai said:

In my opinion, as in The return of the king from Lord of the Rings, "no man can beat me","I'm no man".

No man can sit on Neil's throne, only a woman can avoid any confrontation...

Ged & Al want a challenge, they' won't be a Rush cover band but a new Rush, as when Neil take John's place...

 

Not you, but I've seen a few posts on various social media sites calling them a Rush cover band and I've asked every one of them if they would say that to Geddy or Alex in person, crickets. To me, referring to them as a cover band is absolutely pathetic and probably rooted in misogyny. 

[Union 5-3992]

1 hour ago, BastillePark said:

Not you, but I've seen a few posts on various social media sites calling them a Rush cover band and I've asked every one of them if they would say that to Geddy or Alex in person, crickets. To me, referring to them as a cover band is absolutely pathetic and probably rooted in misogyny. 

You're jumping to conclusions trying to pin this to misogyny. Some people simply won't see them no matter the drummer. I remember back in 2016 or so when the band had seemingly retired, I was one of the ones that said they'd be a glorified cover band without Neil. Thankfully the last decade has softened my heart and we get to appreciate the blessing and triumph that this tour really is.

[condemned2bfree]

It was a clever move by Ged and Al. As others pointed out, gettin a Peart fanboi say, like Portnoy, would have been a little stale. He just would have to be a purist, for his hero.. Anika is so capable, yet has her own style that had to be molded, retaining her style somewhat. She wasn't a fan, so approached with new ears, unbiased. It's a fresh approach giving the music a new lease of life, not a formality. It's a great result.

[James Bond]

17 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

To be sure, this is me playing devil's advocate -- I think Anika is awesome and I love what she brings to the band. I have ZERO complaints about her. My question is, if the musician you hire to play in your band has to "change the way they play," why not look for a player whose style is already more aligned to your band's music? Wouldn't that make the whole acclimation process a lot easier?

 

I think for them it was chemistry first and then adjusting her feel of the songs second versus going with a big name who would be less receptive to the task. I think they heard the songs within Anika's realm and knew she was more than up to the task of making it sound right, and Anika herself realized it too. I look at that recent Modern Drummer interview where Anika says she started mapping out the songs to learn as she typically would, but then quickly realized it was less about counting them out robotically and just feeling where they go. Once that code was cracked between the three of them, they were off to the races.

 

I look at it like they could have borrowed some YouTube drummer who does nothing but Rush covers and already knows all the songs, but would it feel right? Would they mesh well Geddy and Alex and be able to handle a tour? The fact that Geddy and Alex had the foresight to use Anika just shows what an inspired choice she is.

 

14 hours ago, chemistry1973 said:

Not really. Not even Mike Portnoy plays like NP.

 

I feel the same way about Danny Carey. When he played YYZ with Geddy and Alex, it felt very disjointed. It was less about any mistakes or playing fills differently and more it just sounded like he was grooving with a different band. Geddy and Alex were over here, but Danny was over there. I'm paraphrasing, but I recall Geddy saying something to the effect of "we've played with many amazing drummers but how they play a Rush song is different than how Alex and I play a Rush song."

 

That came up when he was talking about Anika at that short Rock Hall interview when the tour got announced. I think it really does stress the importance of both feel and natural chemistry. You can have all the talent, but the chemistry needs to work. It doesn't have to sound like a carbon copy of Neil, but it needs to sound like Rush. Anika struck the balance perfectly.

[James Bond]

3 minutes ago, condemned2bfree said:

It was a clever move by Ged and Al. As others pointed out, gettin a Peart fanboi say, like Portnoy, would have been a little stale. He just would have to be a purist, for his hero.. Anika is so capable, yet has her own style that had to be molded, retaining her style somewhat. She wasn't a fan, so approached with new ears, unbiased. It's a fresh approach giving the music a new lease of life, not a formality. It's a great result.

 

This is an excellent point that she was in a position to approach the music with zero bias. She got to live it as she was learning it and find all kinds of inspiration from within.

[Principled Man]

18 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

why not look for a player whose style is already more aligned to your band's music? Wouldn't that make the whole acclimation process a lot easier?

 

Indeed it would!   My guess is that Geddy & Alex & Anika really hit it off on a personal level.  That negated the acclimation hardship.      

[thizzellewashington]

I've said this before but based on everything we know about Neil's sensibilities and what he was about, if you told him that after he was gone Geddy and Alex would eventually go back out with a different drummer, which of these two options do you think he'd be more into: "They're playing with a guy who grew up worshipping you and can play all your parts note for note" or "They found someone who's a technical virtuoso and will be able to learn your parts but didn't grow up a fan and is going to come at it with a different approach and musical background"? I think the latter.

[BastillePark]

1 hour ago, Union 5-3992 said:

You're jumping to conclusions trying to pin this to misogyny. Some people simply won't see them no matter the drummer. I remember back in 2016 or so when the band had seemingly retired, I was one of the ones that said they'd be a glorified cover band without Neil. Thankfully the last decade has softened my heart and we get to appreciate the blessing and triumph that this tour really is.

I agree that for some fans it wouldn't matter who the drummer is, they wouldn't be okay with it, but I also think that if it had been Portnoy, Harrison, etc, the ones claiming the current version is a cover band would be okay with the trio calling itself Rush. As far as misogyny, it's just a guess on my part, but considering how concerts are mostly sausage fests (that's changed over the years for the better) it wouldn't be surprising.

[HemiBeers]

I wouldn't be surprised where some of the potential replacements were relieved when they weren't chosen. Oh god, please don't call me...this would make me mental. 

[condemned2bfree]

6 hours ago, HemiBeers said:

I wouldn't be surprised where some of the potential replacements were relieved when they weren't chosen. Oh god, please don't call me...this would make me mental. 

I think Portnoy said words to that effect.