Soon Neil will be traveling on MA highways on his BMW motorcycle with destination downtown Boston. The rest of the boys on their bus, reading as the miles tick away. When they take the stage, I’ll be a mere three rows away, basking in their magnificence.
It’s going to be a bittersweet moment in time with a band that’s been a significant part of my life from very early on. I’ve been spoiled through the years. I was instantly drawn and then hooked hard by this trio’s music. The lyrics are intelligent. The rhythms and soundscapes immense. It wrapped itself around my soul and it has never let go. Some bands you listen to for a year or two. Others for maybe ten. And others a lot longer than that.
I’ve listened to every Rush song at least a thousand times. And not one of them has gotten old. Even Dog Years. I listen to Rush every single day in the car. My kids used to like Rush, but I overdid it with them and have probably ruined them to it. My fault completely.
I remember winter nights with beer and friends and cassettes of Hemispheres, A Farewell to Kings, and Moving Pictures as the soundtrack. Rush was always on – studying, hanging out, planning weekends out, blasting out of dorm windows into the quad at John Carroll University for snow ball massacres.
They are a band. Entertainers. Yet so, so much more. They are friends I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting. Ya, I know, Limelight.