Rush

i live right next door to rush’s head office

i see some action here and there

but i keep my distance

i am not a long awaited friend

years ago - des showed me the home in the beaches that geddy used to live at

i was fairly accessible - nothing like the fortress one expects of royalty

we joked around about showing up at his family barbcues 

and saying things like ‘caress of steel is under rated” and “have you really ever gone dog sledding?”

what i love about rush

is that they’re at the centre of hypocrisy

on one hand their intelligent and acerbic

on the other they’re really funny and self deprecating 

those movies at the beginning of the ‘time machine’ tour were fucking funny

they let us all in on the joke

at rehearsals we all talk about our favourite album

one thing is clear

rush never phoned it in

they never pretended to be anything other than musicians

if you go deep into their catalogue 

you’ll hear some gems in the later albums - driven / the wreckers / dreamline

rush worked hard 

they followed their own compass

and now millions of us love them

the 2112 show was a massive undertaking

we took a deep breath and dug in

i started adding more and more musicians to the show

for a trio - they made a big sound

no other trio in the history of rock made anywhere near as grand a sound

i hope that all the fans dig the show

we put our hearts into it

it’s funny - after the oshawa show

i got a ton of emails - a lot people getting upset because we have 9 musicians on stage

other’s getting upset because we look nothing like them

of course i find this all hilarious

be sure of this

no where else in the world will you hear this music performed ‘note for note - cut for cut’

we know how to perform this record

our lifetime investment in our ‘hometown boys done good’ apparent

i hope that geddy gets to see another pennant win

i hope that neil finds a perfect stretch of road

i hope the alex never runs out of stages to jump up and jam on

and i hope that everyone has a good time and remembers and celebrates

the toronto band that figured out how to sound true

and share it with the rest of the world

craig 

june 9, 2017

(IPA beer and Planters peanuts)