For those that don't know of him, he was the powerhouse that sat behind Rush, a monster drummer and a genius lyricist. Possibly the greatest drummer ever and definitely the greatest rock drummer of all time and, depending on my mood, the first or second greatest lyricist of all time, sharing the position with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd.
I wasn't a Rush fan until I saw them in March of 1983 at Wembley. I couldn't tell you why I went, I wasn't a fan, I didn't understand a song about trees when I was listening to AC/DC and Thin Lizzy but did I come out of that venue a convert for life. It was an epiphany. It opened my eyes and ears and started my love of a band that was nerdy, cult and very niche. They never compromised or sold out and lived life on their own terms, only the greatest ever get to do that. The only other bands I can think of that kept moving and never sold out, were the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, the band that a young Rush modeled themselves on. Rush signed a 3 album deal and their first 2 albums didn't perform as the record company expected so the big third album was their last chance. Most bands would conform and release an album that would sell, Rush doubled down and released a concept album, side 1 being 20 mins and 33 seconds of the 2112 Chronicles, uncompromising and way deep in a story about the power of music in a dystopian society, way beyond anything that was easy to sell...the public loved it and Rush were on their way.
Neil Peart blew me away on that night in 1983. He was a force of nature, bombastic, tuneful and inventive. I'd never seen percussion used in rock before and I'm not sure I have since.
I saw them a good few times after that and he never ceased to amaze me, it was his power, he hit the drums so hard, but he was so precise and his dynamics were fantastic, subtle when needed, everything the songs demanded. He pushed the boundaries of what a drummer and percussionist could do, contemporary influences and friends such as Stewart Copeland of the Police (another great drummer) and influential masters like Buddy Rich, changing and adding to his skillset as time progressed, a master of drums, a master of learning. He was nicknamed the Professor and he, along with Lerxst and Dirk, made up one of the greatest power trios ever, a band that never stopped still, constantly progressing, annoying and frustrating their fanbase but all the while pushing our boundaries as they pushed their own, and we stuck with them. They were the World's biggest cult band, a love affair that nerds the across the Globe had with this proud Canadian band. It is indeed true that the fans were predominantly male, usually fringe types, in the words of Neil from the song "Subdivisions",
"Nowhere is the dreamer
Or the misfit so alone"
"Conform or be cast out"
"Subdivisions" - Neil Peart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQmz494XBkg
He spoke to me directly. I was lost to who I was, a confused teen that was waiting for life to begin, waiting for the starting gun and secretly rebelling against anything and everything whilst trying to grow up. I didn't make peace with myself for a great many years.
At 17, I met my friend Graham in hospital, both of us there with injuries that meant prolonged stays, and we bonded over music in general and specifically over Rush, both of us huge fans to this day. We saw them together a few times, we met Geddy Lee last year, together and bonded with other like minded people.
I had a message from one of them last week, he was really upset and I understood what he was going through because I felt exactly the same, devastated at the loss of a hero that had been on my shoulder for much of my life, he wasn't a guardian angel, or a devil, or a source of wisdom or even a friend, he was someone that had carved a path of his own making, had faced life down and ultimately lost, but he had done everything his own way, a quiet rebel, something I never achieved but I looked up to him for being everything I wasn't, a hero in my eyes.
"Now I've gained some understanding
Of the only world that we see
Things that I once dreamed of
Have become reality
These walls that still surround me
Still contain the same old me
Just one more who's searching for
A world that ought to be"
Circumstances - Neil Peart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9dHL7GA1nk
Again, words so simple yet resonant, beautifully written, leaping off the page and into my feelings, particularly as I get older.
He released a couple of books, one of them was called "Ghost Rider", about a road trip he took after the death of his daughter in a car crash and his wife 9 months later to cancer. It was a harrowing read and I still have no idea how you get through something like that, but he did. Rush went on an indefinite hiatus and we all thought it was the end, and I wouldn't have blamed him for that, but he came back and the band continued their voyage through the space time continuum, confusing and exciting us with new sonic soundscapes and imagery but he was scarred by his experiences, it was there in his lyrics.
"Carry all those phantoms
Through bitter wind and stormy skies
From the desert to the mountain
From the lowest low to the highest high
Like a ghost rider"
"There's a shadow on the road behind
There's a shadow on the road aheadNothing can stop you now"
"Ghost Rider" - Neil Peart
I last saw Rush in May 2013, I can't remember if I saw them once or twice on that tour but I did see them at Wembley, back where my journey started and ultimately finished. We had no clue that this would be the final time Rush would play the UK and it doesn't matter, it was a brilliant show, poignant for no apparent reason and the new songs from "Clockwork Angels" fitted right in against the classics. They sparked, for some reason invigorated, relevant and exciting. Seeing Rush was always a major event and this moment will live with me as long as the first time I saw them, for similar and different reasons. The feelings of the first time were as fresh that night as in 1983 and surprisingly, the highlight of the set for me, was off the last album, "The Garden".
"The future disappears into memory
With only a moment betweenForever dwells in that moment
Hope is what remains to be seen"
"The Garden" - Neil Peart
Over the recent years there has been an appreciation of Rush from many celebrity fans, it is just a shame they kept their fandom under a bushel until Rush became the new "cool". I always wore that badge with pride, the more uncool they were, the prouder I was, I knew how good they were and I didn't need the affirmation of the rest of the World to tell me that. I knew Geddy Lee was one of the coolest and most talented guys on the planet and I knew that Alex Lifeson was a guitar god and a comic genius. I also knew that Neil Peart was the greatest drummer in the World, a man that wrote to my heart and mind and I am beyond grateful for his contribution to my life.
