Your favourite Rush albums?

tonykay

You may as well have written "it doesn’t matter where Peart was, he should have been in control of the weather so he could arrive on the scheduled time."

Everyone "should be" at work on time all things being equal.

But not all things are equal.

You do understand that we live in a world where not everything is under our control, right?

Every airplane, boat, or even rocket launch "should" happen or arrive on time. But there’s this little thing called "The Weather" - among many other possible influences, that can make achieving good intentions impossible.

If you have somehow managed to predict every possible weather condition, and every other chain of causation such that you’ve never been delayed by anything in your life, time to write a book about it and become a millionaire. Until then, your critique of the Neil Peart situation seems rather petty.


You’ve also ignored that Peart managed to actually get another flight which would get him there on time, but since his telegram didn’t make it to the organizers they couldn’t know he’d be there on time, so they cancelled the show.

Upon encountering difficulties Peart DID everything he could to get to the show on time, but of course he was not in control of the weather, or of telegrams getting lost.

You may have the opinion that the show was cancelled due to Peart’s "arrogance" and indifference to the fans, but given the evidence of Rush’s track record as dedicated pros, and the details given of what happened, well, some opinions are sillier than others. :)

I imagine Neil was the most upset person in the whole situation.

My brother-in-law was a roadie for Rush a few times. He also thought Peart was arrogant. Having seen a number of good interviews and documentaries on Rush I would say he is a little arrogant, but no more than anyone else and it is apparent that the perceived arrogance by outsiders is a misconception. The truth of the matter is that he is intensely private and very uncomfortable with fans. I don't see that as a personality flaw and probably reflects a healthy response to stardom. Fortunately for the fans,  Geddy and Alex seem to be _very_ at ease with fans.

@tonykay : I doubt seriously that Peart missing a concert had _anything_ to do with arrogance or disregard for the audience and persisting in that belief is more of a problem with the believer than with Peart. We all like to have a scapegoat to be mad at.

@simao : Finding a woman who likes Rush is a rare find. Good thing you held onto her. My wife doesn't get Rush any more than she gets the Three Stooges. Both character flaws I have been willing to overlook these 31 years.

@prof : "To his ears, pretty much all other music, especially any popular modern music, is only fit to be played by "cavemen dancing around a fire." "

He is 100% correct. But man it is fun to be a caveman sometimes!

Peart does have a reputation of being stand-offish.  But he, and people close to him, insist this is as you say, a misconception about why this is so.

But there's a big difference between being a privacy-loving person who isn't comfortable jawing with fans, and not being a pro when it comes to actually performing for the fans.  Peart is clearly a pro.

Fly By Night

@prof Thanks for the most excellent post.