SHARING THE SHOWS
So, on Friday, January 10, I came home after the first week of classes, and as I’m conditioned to check my Facebook when I get home, the first thing I saw was a post from CNN about Neil Peart having died three days earlier. My eyes widened and my mouth gaped. Not Neil Peart! Rock stars die all the time, but there was something about Peart’s passing that had me feeling differently than icons like David Bowie, Prince, or Ric Ocasek.
During my post-work jog, I played a nonstop Rush shuffle on my Spotify and began to reflect on my history with this Canadian power trio. In 10th grade, I fell down the rock music rabbit hole, particularly with respect to metal and grunge. Bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam graced my stereo’s speakers, along with the T-shirts I wore. I had picked up Counterparts in Nanuet’s Tower Records, but wasn’t overly impressed. I knew OF Rush, but I hadn’t really listened to this stuff. Seth Katz, the smartest kid in my high school graduating class (at least per GPA), was the only Rush fan I knew. In a conversation with him, he suggested I check out Permanent Waves or Moving Pictures, because they were as heavy as Rush got. During my senior year of high school, I was lucky enough to come under the tutelage of Mr. London, who taught Project Advance English. He helped me channel my love of film into literature, and through comparing Shaw’s version of Pygmalion to the Hollywoodized version of it, My Fair Lady, I turned from slacker into budding academic. At that point, I wanted to have the intellectual energy that Seth did, so I picked up the two albums he had suggested those years earlier. Rush became my studying soundtrack. During my first semester of college, I decided to get my science requirement out of the way, since I pretty much sucked at it. It was around that time that Test for Echo came out, which I bought the day of its release. I remember my roommate, Pete Rosado, becoming more annoyed as I played that album over and over. He was into artists like Blackstreet and Snoop Doggy Dogg, which made from some interesting “dynamics.” I decided to grant him mercy by taking my tapes and Walkman into our dorm’s common study area, along with my geology textbook. Albums like Test for Echo,2112, Moving Picture, and Permanent Waves (the final track of which was a favorite, “Natural Science” as it seemed to go with the curriculum) blared through my headphones as I grinded through plate tectonics. I managed to pull off a B, the highest grade I ever earned in a science course. As the years passed, my collection amassed, and I was introduced to Phish and the Grateful Dead by some members of our fraternity, which has shaped my life in a different way. During college, I became involved in a relationship with a lady named Mary. There were some good times, but ultimately, the relationship became toxic. In 2007, when I finally decided to break it off, Snakes and Arrows was released. That was another album that would repeat on my laptop and iPod and filled the soundtrack of my recovery from that relationship and breakup. That summer, Sal Varriale and I would see Rush at Scranton’s Montage Mountain. It would be my first Rush experience, and it was way different than all the Phish shows I had attended. The crowd was a lot more conservative, but I still dug the vibe. I’d see them five more times after that. Sal and I saw “I Love You Man”, the ultimate bromance, at West Nyack’s Palisades Center, a movie that features two Rush fans. I’m not a drummer, but Neil, you’ve been in an influence in my life on a spiritual level, so I’ll be paying tribute to you over the next few weeks in the following ways:
I’ll be interested to see if local bands (not Rush tributes) attempt to tackle your arrangements. I doubt they can, but we’ll see. You’ve contributed to music, to the world, and to my life in ways you’re definitely smart enough to understand. Thank you!
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