By Dan Nailen
The band, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with a summer tour,
including a stop at Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista Wednesday, had some
early success with its first albums and a commercial failure with its third,
yet was given another chance by its label - a chance that turned into
"2112," one of the group's benchmark albums - and a platinum success.
That was the late '70s. In 2004, the band probably would have had its
contract canceled by the record label after one decent-selling album. In
reality, a new experimental, free-form band like Rush would probably have a
hard time getting a record deal at all these days.
"We were never the kind of band that was easy to sign or easy to figure
out," says bassist, keyboardist and singer Geddy Lee. "We were always so
weird, compared to the mainstream and what (music industry) people are
looking for. Most people in the music industry don't know what they're
looking for anyway. There's maybe 2 percent of the people who sign bands who
really have an idea. The rest are just following the trends."
Rush is many things - bombastic, heavy, intricate, even pompous - but the
band has never been trendy. Even when the group was one of the first to
actually make videos worth watching during MTV's early years ("Distant Early
Warning" and "Time Stands Still," for example), Lee, drummer Neil Peart and
guitarist Alex Lifeson were never your classic video pin-up boys.
"We always had a film and animation bent and aspect to our live shows," Lee
said. "We've always been interested in the visual, so when the video
opportunity came along, we kind of embraced it for awhile. But eventually we
realized Rush wasn't going to be the kind of band that had 'buzz clips.' And
it seemed like we were spending more money making three or four videos than
we spent making the records. That's wrong."
Rush has essentially declined to make videos for the past decade or so,
instead putting the money into visuals for its tours. Lee said he started
having preliminary design sessions for this summer's anniversary jaunt in
December; the show will run about three hours and 20 minutes. Along with the
dozens of classic Rush cuts sure to be part of the show, the band is
dabbling in cover songs for the first time.
Thirty years is a long run for the mellowest of folk acts. When you're
talking about a band that toured relentlessly for the better part of three
decades, playing intense, intricate shows every night at ear-bleeding
volumes, the longevity is even more impressive.
"There's nothing that replaces those three hours a night onstage," Lee said,
explaining why the band keeps going. "There's nothing in life that can
simulate what it feels like to have that experience. As you get older, you
appreciate that opportunity even more."
July 1, 2004