Rush have mirrored on their 2015 farewell tour, acknowledging that they “let our British and European followers down” by not performing reveals overseas. In a new interview with Traditional Rock, bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson mentioned the band’s conclusive world tour, which coincided with drummer Neil Peart‘s failing well being.
“I’d pushed actually exhausting to get extra gigs in order that we might do these additional reveals and I used to be unsuccessful,” Lee stated within the interview. “I actually felt like I let our British and European followers down. It felt to me incorrect that we didn’t do it, however Neil was adamant that he would solely do thirty reveals and that was it. That to him was an enormous compromise as a result of he didn’t need to do any reveals. He didn’t need to do one present. So, in his thoughts, he’d compromised already. He stated, I’ll do thirty gigs, don’t ask me for any extra.’”
Lee added that he felt he described Peart’s eventual loss of life in his 2023 memoir, My Effin’ Life, as a result of “I owed a proof to them, the viewers.”
“It’s a part of why I went into the element I did about Neil’s passing within the e book, was to let followers in on what went down,” Lee stated. “That it wasn’t a straight line. That is how sophisticated the entire world of Rush grew to become since Aug. 1 of 2015 till Jan. 7 of 2020 when Neil handed. These had been very uncommon, sophisticated, emotional occasions. Followers invested their complete being into our band and I believed they deserved a considerably straight reply about what occurred and the way their favourite band got here to finish.”
Lifeson added, “Ged and I had been upset that Neil demanded enjoying solely a restricted variety of dates which precluded a UK and European run. I believe a dozen or so extra dates would have made us a bit extra accepting. And there was some extent the place I believe Neil was open to perhaps extending the run and including in just a few extra reveals, however then he received this painful an infection in one among his ft. I imply, he might barely stroll to the stage at one level. They received him a golf cart to drive him to the stage. And he performed a three-hour present, on the depth he performed each single present. That was superb, however I believe that was the purpose the place he determined that the tour was solely going to go on till that ultimate present in LA.”
Rush launched into their farewell tour, the R40 Stay Tour, in Could of 2015. The tour coincided with the fortieth anniversary of Peart becoming a member of the Canadian prog-rock band. It featured 33 North American dates, concluding at Los Angeles’ the Discussion board on Aug. 1, 2015. Peart died in 2020 from mind most cancers.
Lee previously reflected on enjoying his ultimate present with Peart in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying, “All of it fell collectively and I noticed, ‘OK, that is the tip of this era for me.’ The grief has to finish, and one thing else has to interchange it. What do you change it with? Remembrance, respect, and homage.”
He added that he and Lifeson have thought of persevering with to tour collectively, however wouldn’t do it beneath the title Rush. “I don’t know the way comfy we’d be doing that, calling ourselves Rush, and it’s all hypothesis as a result of… Actually, it’s unlikely to occur,” he stated. “That’s a dialog for in all probability one other time, however we would not be tremendous comfy. However we might all the time name ourselves another silly title, or Rash.”
