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Should Rush still be performing live?


chasekratzer
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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

And this is why they should have retired years ago. Rock is a young man's genre. There came a time when the Stones became parodies of themselves (because who wants to watch a 60+ year old Mick Jagger strutting around on stage?) -- Rush is dangerously close to suffering the same fate.

 

When Rush is compared with Mel Torme, you know the four horsemen of the apocalypse have saddled up!

 

Some Rush fans are, and always will be, incapable of not bitching and whining like Paris Hilton when their vision isn't the same as Rush's.

 

fixed ;)

 

Fixed again.

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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

They better stop soon lest they go blind

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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

They better stop soon lest they go blind

:laughing guy: Or need hand surgery to fix the damage done..... :codger:
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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

They better stop soon lest they go blind

:laughing guy: Or need hand surgery to fix the damage done..... :codger:

 

You think they'd have learned from your experience!

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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

They better stop soon lest they go blind

:laughing guy: Or need hand surgery to fix the damage done..... :codger:

 

You think they'd have learned from your experience!

My unsolicited advice to all pubescent males out there is to become ambidextrous soonest.... :LOL:
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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

They better stop soon lest they go blind

:laughing guy: Or need hand surgery to fix the damage done..... :codger:

 

You think they'd have learned from your experience!

My unsolicited advice to all pubescent males out there is to become ambidextrous soonest.... :LOL:

 

Is that like as in learning to use for feet?

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Most of the complaints I see here amount to nothing more than a failure to see the forest for the trees. Getting all anal about miniscule details is a waste of time. Alex is a bit sloppy? So what? He's always been a bit sloppy live, there is evidence of this throughout their career. Everybody slobs all over ATWAS's knob all of the time and look at how "sloppy" that performance was! They are at a point of their career where they are playing more tightly and more cohesively as a unit than ever before. So what if Alex flubs a few notes here and there, or if Neil isn't playing every single tom hit in the Freewill drum fills. They are human beings not jukeboxes. These things happen in live performance. The band still sounds good as a unit which should be the most important thing.

 

It's slightly off topic, but I feel relevant: I think that some fans like to believe that Rush were the greatest, most technically proficient musicians in the world at some point. They never were. They're a rock band who plays music that happens to be more complex than most other rock or pop music played on the radio. This isn't Mozart.

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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

They better stop soon lest they go blind

:laughing guy: Or need hand surgery to fix the damage done..... :codger:

 

You think they'd have learned from your experience!

My unsolicited advice to all pubescent males out there is to become ambidextrous soonest.... :LOL:

 

Is that like as in learning to use for feet?

:laughing guy: I guess if you can. That might land you on America's Got Talent however.....
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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

They better stop soon lest they go blind

:laughing guy: Or need hand surgery to fix the damage done..... :codger:

 

You think they'd have learned from your experience!

My unsolicited advice to all pubescent males out there is to become ambidextrous soonest.... :LOL:

 

Is that like as in learning to use for feet?

:laughing guy: I guess if you can. That might land you on America's Got Talent however.....

 

I am quite flexible...might have to apply!

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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

And this is why they should have retired years ago. Rock is a young man's genre. There came a time when the Stones became parodies of themselves (because who wants to watch a 60+ year old Mick Jagger strutting around on stage?) -- Rush is dangerously close to suffering the same fate.

 

When Rush is compared with Mel Torme, you know the four horsemen of the apocalypse have saddled up!

 

Some Rush fans are, and always will be, incapable of not bitching and whining like Paris Hilton when their vision isn't the same as Rush's.

 

fixed ;)

 

Fixed again.

 

I LOL'd

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Their playing may not be quite as precise and tight as back in the 70s or 80s, but certainly not much worse. And EVERY musician gets worse to some degree with age, that's just natural.

I'm inclined to a good agree but consider these dudes.

Ever seen Les Paul play? Mel Torme? They were stroking it well into their lives

 

And this is why they should have retired years ago. Rock is a young man's genre. There came a time when the Stones became parodies of themselves (because who wants to watch a 60+ year old Mick Jagger strutting around on stage?) -- Rush is dangerously close to suffering the same fate.

 

When Rush is compared with Mel Torme, you know the four horsemen of the apocalypse have saddled up!

 

Some Rush fans are, and always will be, incapable of not bitching and whining like Paris Hilton when their vision isn't the same as Rush's.

 

fixed ;)

 

Fixed again.

 

I LOL'd

 

Well. This all escalated quickly!

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Most of the complaints I see here amount to nothing more than a failure to see the forest for the trees. Getting all anal about miniscule details is a waste of time. Alex is a bit sloppy? So what? He's always been a bit sloppy live, there is evidence of this throughout their career. Everybody slobs all over ATWAS's knob all of the time and look at how "sloppy" that performance was! They are at a point of their career where they are playing more tightly and more cohesively as a unit than ever before. So what if Alex flubs a few notes here and there, or if Neil isn't playing every single tom hit in the Freewill drum fills. They are human beings not jukeboxes. These things happen in live performance. The band still sounds good as a unit which should be the most important thing.

 

It's slightly off topic, but I feel relevant: I think that some fans like to believe that Rush were the greatest, most technically proficient musicians in the world at some point. They never were. They're a rock band who plays music that happens to be more complex than most other rock or pop music played on the radio. This isn't Mozart.

 

This hits the nail on the head. IMO, they are tighter than ever now, and their timing and tempo is perfect. When I listen to older performances, such as La Villa at Pinkpop, they seem to get pretty sloppy in the timing, especially during the more complex unison sections. They always sound, like Neil has mentioned, like they were playing a bit over their heads and above their ability. Now, however, they sound extremely comfortable playing through all of La Villa, with the timing spot on. Neil says he's way better than he used to be at "fixing" whatever timing flaws occur within the context of a particular performance, and I think he is the best judge of his own skill level. I think Neil, especially, has gotten far better at nailing the tempo of a song.

 

I will agree that there has been some decline, for all three, in nailing a particularly fast run or fill that occurs within a particular song for a particular individual. Alex might not hit every note cleanly during the Freewill solo, Neil may skip one or two tom hits during the Tom Sawyer fills, and Geddy might be a bit slower during the second YYZ solo run. I think that's probably just the result of not having 27 year old reflexes anymore, and I can understand how some of you might hate witnessing the decline in that department.

 

If I could have my wish, I'd love to combine Rush of today, with their musical maturity, timing, and precise "unison chops" with the Rush of 1981, with the speed, reflexes, energy and "individual chops" they had then.

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If I could have my wish, I'd love to combine Rush of today, with their musical maturity, timing, and precise "unison chops" with the Rush of 1981, with the speed, reflexes, energy and "individual chops" they had then.

 

Oh that would be wonderful!

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If I could have my wish, I'd love to combine Rush of today, with their musical maturity, timing, and precise "unison chops" with the Rush of 1981, with the speed, reflexes, energy and "individual chops" they had then.

 

This, I think everyone could agree with.

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My buddies sometimes complain about things like Geddy's voice after we see a show. All I can do is look at them and say (again): "60s!! These guys are in their @#$% 60s!!!" I'm 44 and my friggin' knees ache going up stairs and I think I might have arthritis in my left hand and I don't have even close to the range I had in my singing voice like, 5 years ago. I am so grateful that one of my favourite bands is rocking this hard and Geddy Lee is throwing his voice up where the air is thin. These guys could have retired after 20 years, or 30 years but it's been 40 freakin' years!! Almost my lifetime!! And I've been playing bass for about 15 years and I can't even get close to playing with the chops that Geddy Lee has on their first album! Should Rush still be performing? As long as they can!
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My thought is that your signature pictures are ridiculously big.

And yours looking like something from Jaws..... :D-13:

 

 

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water....

 

______|\____\0/_______

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Segue, this is just the thread to pull you out of your funk! We can really liven it up.

 

I feel like burning all the cupcakes.

 

Did you notice that I am the only savvy member here that caught your deja vu funny?

 

...caught your deju vu funny?

...deja vu funny?

...vu funny?

...funny?

...ny?

...?

 

This reminds me of the ending of By-Tor..

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I think that they should keep going. I mean, they want to, right? Besides, if they do continue to tour, people will show up. I'll show up.
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I think that they should keep going. I mean, they want to, right? Besides, if they do continue to tour, people will show up. I'll show up.

 

Yeah me too. As much as I complain about Geddy's voice (and that's only because it upsets me) I'll still go as long as they tour.

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I think that they should keep going. I mean, they want to, right? Besides, if they do continue to tour, people will show up. I'll show up.

 

Yeah me too. As much as I complain about Geddy's voice (and that's only because it upsets me) I'll still go as long as they tour.

 

It upsets you?

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