Rush Again (all is well?) (they have always been in my life)

Good Morning, Elizabeth,

I just wanted to say hi because I saw your Lantlos post a few minutes ago, so maybe everything is okay? I am hoping so. :) I just want to wish you a nice day and hope you are having a fun and happy Summer in general. That is always my wish for you, of course. :)

I am just hangin' out at the moment, staying inside. I don't think I will try to go anywhere or do any last minute hikes or anything, because I am gonna head back to Pearl's in a few hours. I will get there a little early so I can leave a little early for the Rush concert. This one will be much easier to get to. And hey, now that I think about it, your Lantlos post is partially about Marcus having ridden in the van for seven hours, so maybe you meant it - at least in part - as a reference to our ride to the Rush show at Irvine. Maybe you even meant the Dalai Lama "anger" post about that situation? The 4 hour trip to the concert? Did you mean that post in reference to me? I know it's a stretch, but I'm just guessing?

If you did, no worries at all. I was not angry in the slightest about the long drive. Now, it was no fun, certainly, and that's why I mentioned it in my FB comments, so locals like my friend Bill S. could relate. But, even though I will most likely never go to that venue again, I had a blast at the show, and the traffic jam in no way ruined it or had any effect at all, really. Once we got there and the show started, the long ride was instantly forgotten.

So, lol, all of that is just to say "all is well" in case you meant the Dalai Lama post in reference to me.  :)

Tonight's show will be much easier to get to. The Forum is just 25 miles from Pearl's. Same freeway, the 405, but it's a Saturday evening, not a work night, and so traffic should be much more moderate. The main thing tonight is that it's the last show of the tour, and there's a chance it could be the final Rush concert ever.

I will be really surprised if that's the case, but it could be, and so it's kind of poignant.

But it will be awesome all the same, so I am looking forward to it.

Anyhow, I hope all is well, and I will trust that it is. I will be here at home til about 3:30, then over to Pearl's til 6pm, and then back after the show probably about 12:30ish. And then I am back at work, normal schedule, etc.

Have a nice afternoon! I Love You and will write when I get back from the concert.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

12:15am : Happy Late Night, my Darling. I am back at Pearl's. You may have seen my post on FB just now. Wow, what a night, what a moment in time. All kinds of things are going through my head. First and foremost is, what a concert. I've seen Rush so many times, and as they aged from 25 year olds to middle-aged guys in their late 30s and 40s, and now as they are verging on senior citizenship, and I have seen them play incredible shows, tour after tour. But never have I seen them play with the intensity they had tonight. They were just on fire, and you could see it on their faces, especially on Alex's. He formed Rush when he was 15 years old, he's now 62 and it may have been his last concert. He was playing his heart out. And so were Geddy and Neil.

It was just freaking phenomenal, especially the way they played their older, progressive stuff from the 70s.

I just really don't know what to say, to have had these guys always in my life since I was 16 years old.

At the end of the show, Geddy said to the crowd, "on behalf of our entire organization, we'd like to thank you so much for the last 40 years". That's something he's never said before, thanks on behalf of the organization. Rush puts on such a big show that it takes a lot of people to pull off, from managers to road crew to lighting designers to the folks that make their films. A lot of those people have been with them all this time, too, just like the fans. In that way, Rush is an organisation, built around the three guys.

With that sentence, which he's never said at the end of a concert before, it sounded like he was saying goodbye.

But then he said, "And I sincerely hope we see you again sometime".

That's Geddy speaking. He's always been the one who loves touring the most. He's been the lucky one who has avoided the health problems of the other guys. Alex has some arthritis in his hands, and has had ulcers, and Neil has tendonitis that has caused him to have a lot of pain, at times, when playing.

If you saw them tonight, not only would you never sense these things, but you'd wonder the opposite : "Where'd these guys find the fountain of youth"?

Rush is so great now, live in concert, that they could even blow previous live incarnations of themselves off the stage.

Arthritis? What arthritis?

I know they wouldn't divulge these things to the press if they weren't true, and I am sure they are serious conditions for any musician to have, especially guys who play as hard as Rush do, in their 60s.

It's just so weird, though, as I said the other night, and it's like breaking new ground, because these guys are playing with more intensity than ever, into their 60s.

If you saw them tonight, you'd think they were hitting their peak.

So I hope, as Geddy said, that we "see them again sometime". I really hope it wasn't the last Rush concert.

But if it was, I'm glad I was there, cause it was the greatest Rush concert I've ever seen.

I know I say that every time, but this time, they knew it, too.

Well, tomorrow morn is church and choir, so I'd better sign off. Back on regular schedule for the next three weeks. I hope you had a nice day, Sweet Baby. I will see you in the morning.

Sweet Dreams.........

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)