Man oh man. I’m finding renewed faith in the power of rock and roll and especially in the creative usage of actual musical instruments to change the world. Screw all those top 20 pop songs based on a single chord with a repetitive 5 note melody, a single engineer plucking at a keyboard / beat box, and a singer whose voice must absolutely be filtered through auto-tune in order to keep the listener from cringing.
Thanks to YouTube, I just reviewed the live performance from a couple of dudes in their 70’s, with an amazing new female drummer that kicks ass, all playing if you can believe it, real instruments on stage to a sold out California crowd. No entourage of “hype” men filling the stage yelling “yeah”. No throng of flamboyant dancers to bring you visual stimulation in the absence of amazing audio. It wasn’t just a nostalgic reemergence of an old 70’s rock and roll band. It was magic. It was energizing. I found myself watching close ups of Gary (Geddy) and Alex goofing around with each other during this song or the next. I saw the face of the always proficient, professional and sometimes stoic Annika Nilles light up with a huge smile when Geddy started jumping up and down in front of her. It was smiles and hard driving music for more than two and a half hours. It was real music, performed as if it were 30 years ago. I found myself grinning along with their apparent joy on stage. I wish I could have been there for that opening night.
Rush was one of my favorite bands during my teenage years. “Fly by night” got overplayed back then on my cheesy record player to the point where the song became more static than perceivable notes on vinyl. “YYZ” made it to my own list of 15 ride or die songs and remains my favorite to this day despite some fantastic lyrics on many, many of Rush’s other songs. But, music that had been such a huge part of my daily life seemed to fade over time. Maybe it was because I was getting older and had kids to deal with, and hockey practice to drive my son to and bills to pay and “Subdivisions” to live in. See what I did there?
No. My departure from music had more to do with what music had become through the 80’s, 90’s and beyond. I realize that I will be lumping a lot of performing artists into these comments and it won’t be fair but I’m going to generalize things anyway.
Disco became the first distraction and filled the airwaves of many local Detroit radio stations. A few years after that, real rock and roll started to only show up on “classic rock” stations. Pop music seemed to soften over the years too with the whole genre supporting the emergence of new soft rock stations. Channel flipping became more of a regular activity in my car while driving my daughters back from dance class or my son from hockey. Ballads were the new thing. Musicianship seemed to be getting lost in favor of a simple tune and minimal instruments.
The last 20 years has seen hundreds of one hit wonders come and go where the complete focus of the song is on the singer’s vocals with minimal actual music playing in the background. When there is a melody, it’s all created by a synthesized keyboard as is any bass beat or drum accents. Where are the guitars? Where is the bass, man? Where is the real drum kit sound? God forbid you add any brass or other orchestration into the piece. Gotta keep that focus on the cute face and hip gyrations of that single performer holding their prop microphone. I think I’m gonna barf.
Get the Led Out
Hope was partially renewed when I saw the performance by Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart doing a tribute to Led Zeppelin at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. They, along with John Bonham’s son, Jason, performed a version of “Stairway to Heaven” for Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. Ann can still kick out the vocals and the all star musicians on stage were amazing. I know, I know, real instruments being performed live, without auto-tune and a beat box track in the background, how dare they? When the curtains lifted for the finale of the song an entire choir belted out the final lyrics and not only did Robert Plant shed a tear, I found my eyes watering as well. The fullness of the sound, the actual musicianship and quality of the merging sounds and energy are hard to descrribe. You must watch that tribute. And now some performed words from RUSH seem to be filtering into my story…
All this machinery making modern music, can still be open-hearted
Not so coldly charted. It’s really just a question of your honesty
One likes to believe in the freedom of music
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity
Anyway… I’m not a hypocrite. I still like my softer, jazzier music from time to time too. Steely Dan is still one of my favorites for that rock/funk blend. I’ll always be a Motown fan as well, and will even tolerate a depressing Seattle grunge song from time to time. But, I can no longer tolerate listening to the sound of pop bubble gum, solo artists with enhanced tuning and reverb, playing without a real band. It wreaks of simplicity and lack of depth. Where exactly is the talent? I could simply care less about the “hoes” you’ve banged or the taste of your cherry chapstick or that you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind. Ugh.
Thanks to Paul McCartney
In a recent interview Geddy Lee had talked about the decision to get a new version of the band back together years after the loss of Neil Peart, following advice, or maybe it was just a comment from Sir Paul McCartney. Upon hearing that Geddy and Alex would still get together to jam from time to time, Sir Paul simply said something like, “you should tour again”. When Geddy hesitated Paul added, “It’s what we do”.
Yes, but who fills the void? Many who are not familiar with Annika Nilles might instantly question her as logical choice for the open drummer seat. There are so many other great, hard driving male drummers out there to choose from though I might argue that most of them were also strong on personality and will. That’s a hard formula to mix when Geddy and Alex have been friends since they were just boys growing up on the outskirts of Toronto. No, the replacement needed to have skill and a flair for odd time signatures and who could transition from hard driving to coasting with ease. The replacement would need to feel the music, and respect the Peart legacy and follow Neil’s own advice on where to add beats to support the music rather than dominate it. The mix of musicians is everything. Mutual support. Mutual respect. Musicianship above all. That’s Anika Nilles.
Do yourself a favor, find Anika on YouTube with her solo performance on the song “Pikalar”, or check out any of her other recordings with the band, Nevell. Very jazz/funk/rock fusion stuff and she can flat out play. You’ll then know why the boys picked her and why the opening performance of their “50 Something” tour was stupid ridiculous amazing. To be clear, I meant that in a really good way.
So please, please, please. We need more talented rock and roll played with real instruments sung live. No more rock infused with rap, sung by drunken lip sync artists whose 15 minutes of fame are over. No more auto-tuned pop voices with only a fake bass beat in the background. Real musicianship and talent always win over that crap. Apparently you can make the music sound amazing even when you’re over 70. Well, Anika’s not, but you know what I mean.
Watch some of the first RUSH performances from June 7th, 2026. Watch them all having a great time on stage. Listen to the quality of the live music. Smile at them smiling at each other. Feel hopeful that rock and roll will live on with this performance and be a spark that drives renewed demand for more.
Awesome stuff.
TFW Woodworking 