YYZ

I was flipping through the channels tonight and found a RUSH concert in progress. I’m old enough to remember RUSH when they were still 3 young men making innovative, original music. Not that they aren’t now, they’re just older and Geddy Lee can’t hit the high notes.

Being a musician I really appreciate well made music. And I love watching accomplished players. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart. Pound for pound three of the best musicians around. It’s amazing the amount of music these three guys can produce on stage. It’s full, perfectly played, and oh yeah… their songs are great!

I sat in awe as Neil Peart launched into one of his famous solos and I was mesmerized for the next 10 minutes watching this guy play. It’s like his hands and feet have different brains! They play independently of each other, and it just blows me away.

Of course I have to say something about the other two members of RUSH. Geddy Lee is pretty amazing. Just his Bass playing alone is note-worthy for the speed and accuracy he can play while singing at the same time. And then to raise the bar he plays pedal organ with his feet!

And then there’s Alex Lifeson. He’s an incredible, charismatic guitar player who is tremendously creative and fun to watch. I love listening to the complicated tones and chords he comes up with. And one of the best things I like about this guy is that he's one of the few guitar players that really takes the time to reproduce his solos on stage. I hate when I go to a concert and I'm expecting to hear a great guitar solo I heard on a studio album, only to hear just the first few notes of it before the musician ad libs a bunch of junk. Alex doesn't do that. He plays his solos almost note for note with the studio version. It really shows a great attention to detail, and a love for the original song.

Music today just isn’t the same as when these 3 gentlemen started. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s definitely not as good, or thought out, or produced, or played.

Here's one of their best tunes. No words, just hard playing rock-n-roll!