Neil Peart

There will be no movie review today due to the sudden news of Neil Peart's passing. Like you, I'm absolutely stunned. I guess he wanted it kept quiet, which seems like Neil. He was a very private guy.

I remember the first time I heard Rush. It was in the Fall of 1976. My friend Jon S., who worked at College Records, called me up and said "come on over, you've got to hear this record". He was referring to "2112". When I got to his apartment, he asked me if I'd ever heard of Rush. I said "yeah", though I knew nothing about them. In fact, in the early 70s I got them mixed up with Mahogany Rush, in the same way I was confused by The Who and The Guess Who as a kid. I thought, "Rush, Mahogany Rush.......same band, right"? But of course they weren't. Most of the new music I heard came to me through the guys at College Records, but they never played Rush. Until now. Jon was ten years older than me, was married and had his own life and friends. For him to have called me from home, this record must've been something special.

I'll never forget the first praise he gave it, before putting it on the turntable. He said, "wait until you hear this drummer, he's unbelievable"! Now that's pretty remarkable, I think. How many times does a band's drummer attract a listener's attention above the other musicians? I mean, there are some great drummers out there, but when you think of Deep Purple, say, does Ian Paice - incredible as he is - hit you before Ritchie Blackmore, or Jon Lord? When you first heard Yes, was it Bill Bruford who made the biggest impression, or was it Chris Squire or Jon Anderson? Well, at any rate, here was Jon telling me to listen to the drumming on "2112". Then he put the record on, and the rest was history.

I didn't get to see Rush live until November 1978, shortly after the release of "Hemispheres". I remember wanting to go to the previous tour, for the "Farewell To Kings" album that followed "2112". Rush was playing the Santa Monica Civic with UFO. Talk about an awesome double bill! That was in the Fall of 1977, but I didn't have a car and no one else was going, so I had to wait another year. By that time, "Hemispheres" had been released and Rush had graduated to arena status. Grimsley and I went to see them in Long Beach in November 1978. To say I was blown off the map that night is one of the understatements of my concert career. Grim and I left the building with our jaws on the floor. Something I will always remember is that it was very quiet on the way out. Nobody was talking or whooping it up. This was probably because we were all freaking dumbstruck. For me it was the start of a 37 year run of seeing the band in concert. I never missed a Rush tour after that.

In March of 1980 I was with my friends Dennis and Dave at the Rush concert in San Bernardino. After the show ended, we were at a stoplight, waiting to get on the freeway. In the lane next to us was a Mercedes 450 SL. I don't recall which one of us noticed this first, but in the passenger seat there was a guy wearing a baseball cap. Underneath the cap was a mane of long hair, and a recognizable nose. It was Geddy Lee. When the light changed, his car was getting on the freeway too, so I got behind it and started to follow. Within a minute or two, another Mercedes pulled up alongside the car Geddy was in. Both cars sped up. Right away Dennis exhorted me to keep after them. At that point the chase was on. We followed the two Mercedes at speeds up to 85mph for sixty five miles, all the way to Hollywood. I was right on their tail the whole way in my BMW 320i. It felt like a race. Finally we exited the freeway and ended up in the underground parking garage of the Le Parc hotel in West Hollywood. I pulled in literally right behind the other cars. Needless to say, the occupants of the Mercedes were not happy.

I remember a roadie getting out of one car. "They're really pissed at you guys", he said. Geddy Lee got out next. He was all covered up in his ball cap and shades. All he did was glance in our direction and walk away.

But then another guy got out of the second car. He was tall and thin and didn't walk away. Instead, he came striding right at us. We too had gotten out of my car, because - 19 year olds that we were - we thought nothing of what we'd just done, which was to tailgate our hero Geddy at high speed for nearly an hour, just so we could meet him. Surely there could be nothing wrong with that. But the Tall Guy didn't think so. Suddenly he was right in our face.

"This isn't cool at all"! he shouted. Well, that's not quite accurate. He didn't shout, per se, but it was the equivalent of a shout, at lower volume. It was a polite shout, a Canadian shout, and it was Neil Peart who was doing the shouting. "This is our home"!, he continued, meaning that the hotel was their refuge. He was an intimidating figure at that point, looming over us. But then something happened that we got a kick out of for years to come. Dennis had a concert program and held it out to Neil. "Um...could you sign this for me"?, he asked. And the thing was - Neil Peart, upset at he was at a bunch of punks racing him all the way back to his hotel - pulled out a pen and signed the program anyway.

That's Neil Peart in a nutshell. There was no way he could be mean to anyone, even some obnoxious fans.

Less then a year later, "Moving Pictures" was released. When Dennis, Dave and I heard the song "Limelight", with it's lyric "I can't pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend", we wondered if our encounter had anything to do with his words (much later I read that Neil put up with all kinds of like-minded worshipers, so who knows). As a postscript, Dennis and I came back to the hotel a day or two later. We waited outside for a while, and finally Alex Lifeson came out. He hadn't been involved in The Chase, so he was real nice and let us take our pictures with him.  :)

In 1981, "Moving Pictures" was released and Rush hit the big time. I went to see them in Las Vegas on June 15 of that year, and had the greatest night of my life up to that point. I also saw them at the Forum a week later. That night was pretty great too.  :)

All through the 1980s, we awaited the yearly Rush album and tour. Their music never failed to amaze, even as their sound changed, and Neil Peart was always astounding to watch in concert, with the power of a freight train and the timing of a Swiss watch. The years went by and Rush kept touring, through 1997, and then a tragedy occurred. Actually it was a double tragedy, and if you know Neil's story you know what it was. We all thought Rush was done. Neil had a hard road to travel then, but after four years the band was back, and for the next 15 years they toured their butts off. There were only three more studio albums during that time, but they did epic retrospective shows and anniversary tours like R30 and, playing up to three hours a night. I saw them every go-round, of course, and Neil just got better and better.

Finally in 2015, Rush announced that their R40 tour, celebrating 40 years as a band, would be their last. I got tickets for the two Los Angeles area shows, at Irvine on July 31 and then for August 1 at the Forum. I was there that night, at what turned out to be the last concert Rush ever played. The energy and emotion were palpable, both in the audience and onstage. By the time they got to "Working Man", their long standing final encore, you felt the goosebumps rising on your skin and the lump in your throat. This was about to be it, the end of the greatest band of all time. After the final notes rang out, and the Three Stooges music played, Neil Peart did something he'd never done before. Instead of running off stage so he could high-tail it out of the venue, he came forward to the front of the stage, to smile and wave to the audience. Then he took out a pocket camera and snapped a few shots of us, for the feeling was mutual. It was also the last time Neil would ever see his fans again, in the appointed setting of a concert hall. I guess he wanted a souvenir.

Because we were Rush fans (and as all fans know, Rush is like family), my friends and I held out hope that the guys would maybe make a comeback after a few years off. After all, how many bands have said "we're done", only to keep going for another decade or two? Kiss, anyone? So we thought that, just maybe, Geddy, Alex and Neil might have a few more shows in 'em. But when Alex announced in January 2018 that "Rush are basically done", I threw in the towel. "Let 'em retire", I thought. "They earned it". Later that year, Geddy said that Neil had not only retired from touring, but from drumming as well. Apparently he didn't play anymore. Now we know why.

I was fortunate to see Rush 32 times in concert, from 1978 to 2015 at that final show. Like all Rush fans, my heart is broken as I write. We love the guys so much, and we loved Neil, even if he didn't want us to get too close.

WE LOVE YOU, NEIL!  :)  There.....I said it and I bet he can hear me, all the way Up There. Even if he didn't believe in Heaven, that's where he is now, probably touring the back roads on his motorcycle.

Neil gave us so much for such a long time.

He was one of the greatest musicians the world has ever seen. Thanks, Neil!

God Bless Neil Peart! ////