All language subtitles for Rush.Time.Stand.Still.2016.1080p.HDTV-x264-W4F -2sec

When I started
in this band I was a kid.

Everything about
being a kid is hard.

You know, life is kinda torture
when you're a kid.

And the band, is the thing
that saves you from that torture

so it becomes your cocoon.

Becomes the place
where you grew up.

Becomes the thing that helped
you mold your identity.

And in some ways it's the thing
that gave you your identity.

It's the thing that you...

Got really good at and helped
you feel good about yourself.

The ending.

The beginning...
there's so much hope.

And it's a clean slate
and you just go for it.

The ending... never feels
like it's the right time

to end.

And...

for all the reasons
that I'd like it to be over

which are almost exclusively
physical things.

In my heart and in my...

mind, I'm not ready.

We haven't really known
another life.

I don't think there is a...
really, an end.

I have no fear of the future,
no regret, to the contrary.

It's just to me, fantastic
the thing we've done.

And I feel great I was able to
sustain my prime for a long time.

And keep improving to the level
that I wanted to get to.

To go out on the top and not face
the diminishing of your abilities,

that's what I couldn't face.

If all that is true,
then you have to say that...

ending is harder
than beginning.

Because the beginning is
a place you've escaped to

that's been a warm
and nurturing environment

for over 40 years.

And walking away from that is...

not so fun.

How's the set feeling?

It's coming along, yeah
it's getting there. -Yeah.

- You guys are, actually
pretty good rehearsers.

Well we're a...

super nerdy like that. We've always
been over rehearsers

The songs are complicated
and...

if we don't...

get to the point, where you can
do it without thinking.

Then it's not good

because then
if something happens

during a show
or something goes wrong

you can just deal with it

much more easily
if it's engrained.

So have you reached
muscle memory yet?

On some songs, yeah I have.

Some songs, I'm still...

finding my place.

Stuff we haven't played
since the 70's

is a little tricky.

Songs that you've played even though
you haven't played them in ten years

it's quite incredible
actually that...

after not playing them
that long

it's in there somewhere.

-It's like stored in somewhere in your...
-Just accessing it

Yeah, you know, it's faulty.

It doesn't come back.

You know,
it's like a digital copy

that comes back incorrect

but mostly there.

That what it's like.

We'd like to go back
into our past a bit

to our first couple of albums.

Now that everybody's
feeling in the mood.

Are you in the mood?

Well this is called
"Fly by night."

Rush have built
the reputation the hard way

on the road.

Their strange flavor
and singular sound

ignited a deep connection
with their fans

unlike anything else
in modern music.

Rush never stopped recording,

never stopped touring.

And have been together
as a solitary unit

for four decades.

They're the last
of their generation.

The end of an era.

Big rock shows in the 70's

seem like they were
a very different thing than now.

It was what kids did
in the 70's.

Rock was the language
of the youth.

Tickets were like seven bucks.

It was as much
the culture of youth

as, you know
an EDM festival is now

or maybe even more so, cause I
think it was more universal.

There'd be a million
arena tours

that you could get
an opening slot on.

If you were willing to be
a lunatic and then play

250 nights a year and live
under, really lousy conditions.

Most people couldn't stand
sleeping in vans

and doubling up
in motel rooms

night after night after night.
That's a tough life.

You know, I think people glamorize
it but it's a really hard life.

Thank you, we haven't got
a lot of time tonight

but we'd like to do
something from our last album.

This is called "21 12"

You know, we
played every day basically.

And we travelled usually...

300 to 400 miles a night.

Transportation was a big deal.

When we started out,
we had a rental car.

So there were four of us
in the rental car

the three of us
and Howard, the road manager.

We were
doing 200 cities a year.

Pretty grueling schedule.

Like six nights
a week, seven nights a week.

50 weeks a year.

There were lots of bars, lots of
high school, lots of everything.

Basically sleeping with your head
against the... seat ahead of you.

On occasion
Neil and Ged would drive

but mainly myself and Alex
did a lot of the driving.

And then we were promoted to a...
a station wagon.

It was like, this is the
most amazing thing ever.

Now I can sleep on the luggage
in the back

and one of us would have a turn
sleeping on the luggage in the back.

And you felt like
"Tonight is my night!"

"I get the luggage!"

We used to...

barter things
or who's gonna drive, you know.

I'll pay you 50 dollars
if you take my shift.

And we did that
for the first ten years

of touring.

I remember
being in Saskatchewan and...

Alex and I went out
to a parking lot

and we were staring at this,
you know.

This van, that had a raised
roof with a sleeper in it.

It had this, sort of...

upper deck bed.

Now this was just a big van.

With a cap on it.

A camper basically,
like a small family camper.

"Dodge FunCraft" it was called.

It was with great longing
that we wanted that vehicle.

They were all so excited
about this "FunCraft."

It was the most
ridiculous thing.

This bright blue
and it had a roof on it.

But we were younger, it didn't matter.
We were just crazy.

Travelling around the country in
this stupid family van, basically.

There was something quite
perverse about it.

It was a... space.

We could stick stuff
up on the walls and...

you know,
I actually cooked in it.

I think I made a tuna casserole.

They were so looking forward to
taking off in their "FunCraft."

I mean, the miles they put on in the
beginning I don't know how they did it.

They were working
50 weeks a year.

It was insane.

I remember one night

the guys at Thin Lizzy

challenged us
to a drinking contest.

So of course, we had it
in the "FunCraft."

We drank them under the table.

But it's a little tiny table
on the "FunCraft."

You know, it's got these
little happy curtains in it

and this little
kind of fake table.

And I used to look
and think

this is like families go on
holiday in this little thing

with the little kids.

And here
are these kind of subhuman musicians

all sitting around drinking
bottles of Chivas Regal

until they puke.

It's kind of a nice irony
to that.

We went through three motors.

We put 500 thousand
miles on it.

Something like that.

It was the ultimate
camping trip, I call it.

Eventually though,
they bought a much larger RV.

The crew got the "FunCraft"
and...

Which we thought
was luxurious too.

And eventually it developed
into buses but that all took years.

Thank you very much
goodnight.

We've always
been very close and...

a lot of that
is through our humor.

We share
a common sense of humor

and it makes things
so much easier.

You know, you really look forward
to spending time together.

When it's like that.

Alex is such a funny man.

-You do a good Howard.
-I do?

He would get dressed up
on the Kiss tour

as this character
called "The Bag."

It was almost like
the unknown comic at the time.

He used to
crack the guys in Kiss up.

You know, and they always
wanted "The Bag", you know.

Ace Frehley used to go "Hey, are
you gonna have the bag tonight?"

Hey,
bring "The Bag" over here.

Where's "The
Bag?" Howie, where's "The Bag?"

"The Bag" was just like...

would pop up every once and
a while not that often.

It was just a face
drawn on a big laundry bag.

You know, they had
these paper laundry bags

in the beautiful holiday inn's
we used to stay in.

And I would pull, you know
make two holes for eyes

and draw a stupid face on it.

And wear sweat pants and stick
my arms through the sweat pants

so only my hands came out at the knee.

And have the bag on.

And "The Bag" would talk like this.

And "The
Bag" was always drunk.

And really smart
and knew everything.

And made a lot of...

you know,
suggestions to people in the room.

And running commentary
for a couple of hours.

Usually "The Bag" appeared
in Ace Frehley's room. -Yeah.

Almost always in Ace
Frehley's room. -Yes

"The Bag" would come over
and entertain Ace.

Cause most everybody else would
be very upset with "The Bag."

Well Gene would be upset. -Gene was
very upset, yeah. with "The Bag."

And that made Ace
even happier.

Baloney.

Gene was straight,
he wasn't high like we were.

So he had
a different sense of reality

when he came
into Ace's room, you know.

We were like
drinking and smoking

generally being idiots.

and Gene came in one time.

And there were these two girls
that were looking at "The Bag"

like wondering "Who's that guy?"

"Why's he
got that thing on his head?"

So one of them went over
and tried to remove it.

-Well.
-"The Bag" went berserk.

Well, when you try to remove
the bag from "The Bag"

that's cause for immediate...

ejection
from the hotel room, so.

I threw them out and Gene
was very upset about that

cause that's the only reason
he was in the room

-was cause there were two girls.
-And it was Ace's room.

A life in Music
is very unpredictable.

When Rush went out on tour
in 2013

it seemed at first
like simply another tile

in the mosaic
that is an artist's life.

But neither the fans
nor the band

could've predicted this tour
might mean so much more.

I think
that album is the album

we always wanted to make

since we first got together.

The lyrics
and the drumming on there.

The music that we created.

Working with a string section is
something we always talked about doing.

The size of the story and the
resolution of the story.

So I was at that point where that tour
and that album totally pleased me.

And I've never had that before.

It was
a huge accomplishment for us.

We took a sabbatical
after the Clockwork Angel's tour.

So all of us agreed, we wouldn't
even talk about work for a year.

Every tour we had done

had been so successful
that it was "Okay,

we'll go out next year
and do another 40 shows."

We had for the first time

in five years,
taken a year off.

The sabbatical,
properly is a time to

take on,
you know other projects.

And for me, I got into book
writing and published my own book

Clockwork Angels
graphic novel

worked on a sequel to it Clockwork
Live with Kevin Anderson.

I felt the sense of completion
and transition

and I thought
"So we have to talk."

Those faithful words
"Guys, we have to talk."

I think he loves
being a drummer of that caliber.

But if you were to ask him

he'd say
"It's too fucking hard!"

And it think it's really...

very fucking hard for him to
play at the level that he plays.

Over a three hour show he's pumping
out an awful lot of energy.

It's gotta be

extremely physically demanding
for him.

Singing is the worst job

but drumming
is the hardest job, you know.

Piece of cake, are you kidding me.

You know, the blister
on my little finger.

No, singing, just to stand out
there in front of every one.

We both recognize

you don't know what's coming no, it's

by far the worst job singing.

But drumming is by far
the hardest job.

He's an athlete,
he's 63 years old.

He's playing a three hour set.

And he won't do it unless he
can play up to his standards

which is basically "I have to be
the world's greatest drummer.

This is what
has been bestowed on me.

This is what I do.

I'm not gonna let it slip."

By the end of every
tour he's got numerous ailments

and they keep shifting.

His body doesn't respond
very well.

He gets
through it and he does it

and he's very proud

and feels good. And that's
the kind of guy he is.

But it's killing him.

I accept the
fact that things can't stay

as they've been.

And I accept that fact that...

the enemy here, is time.

Go back
a little further historically

they've all taken their turns where they're
not so sure about touring anymore.

You know 30 years ago
when they first

you know,
first started having kids.

And it became more challenging.

More so, lately I'd say that
it was more on Neil's side.

For a long
time he was tired of touring.

He just didn't wanna
go on the road.

He makes the best of it,
he rides his motorcycle

as we all find our things
to keep us occupied.

But for a long time I don't think
he wanted to tour anymore.

That is what it is, I mean

it's always taken
a little bit more convincing

to get him to go back
on the road so...

I think in a lot of ways this has
been brewing for quite a few years.

By the first tour,
I was already pretty much over

the touring life
as a life.

And started reading at the time
and started writing.

I went to a pawn
shop in Little Rock Arkansas

bought myself a type writer,
so I would write.

It was 20 years before
I published anything

but in the end-trim
I was learning how to do that

and it was a part of my life reading
and writing long before drumming was.

It was an evolving realization.

It wasn't like at the end of
Clockwork Angel's Tour

I said, "I'm done!"

Like you know what "I think that's
enough, for this old body."

That's the athlete
that people forget.

Yes, the creative artist
is one thing

and certain drummers can play
until they keel over.

In eight years,
I'll be 71!

I could play Charlie Watson's
drum parts when I'm 71.

I can't play Neil Peart's
drum parts when I'm 71.

There's an idea
that Rock and Roll musicians

drink from
the fountain of youth.

Like anyone else age has a hand
on the pen that writes the story.

As their year away
from the stage came to a close

Geddy, Alex and Neil gathered
to face their music mortality.

In November of that
year we all got together in Toronto.

And I was quite prepared to say
"Guys, you know, sorry but I'm done."

He was very much considering

that maybe it was time he packed
it in in terms of live shows.

And it's not like you just
get new members in a band

and go for it.
Rush has never been like that.

And we couldn't never ever
do something like that.

We've always said that if the
three of us aren't on board

we don't do a thing.

And there have been
other decisions

in our career where the three
of us weren't on board

and we didn't do it.

Now nothing is profound
as ending our touring life

but fair enough.

So one guys doesn't wanna
do that thing anymore

that I love to do.

That hurts.

But there's nothing
I can do about it

and that's
part of the agreement.

I realized I was kind of
solitary misfit in that context

of being the one
that wanted to pull that plug.

I'd left one
little window open in my mind

really that if anybody said

they wanted to do it
one more time

and didn't know
if they would be able to.

It wasn't until we had the
conversations that we had

that I started to think about
the end and...

and wringing the towel dry.

You know, it's easy to blame
everything on the drummer

not wanting to go
back out on the road.

But there's other factors
at play here

that can't be ignored.

And one of those factors is
Alex's arthritis,

which is
a bit of a ticking time bomb.

So, the bastard!
Pulled that exact card.

Alex has got the arthritis
and that and

and said, "You know what, I'd
really like to do it one more time,

and I don't know
if I'll be able to.

And then that night
in my hotel room

I had the worst attack of
Tourette's you have ever heard.

I was like
"Trap!, you know.

and stomping
around and cursing and swearing.

But by the next day it is
what it is deal with it.

This is the gymnasium.

- So this...
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lakeside Park
is the opening act.

We talked about ways
of doing a retrospective.

I'm taking you... -This is supposed
to be amps on chairs right?

Yeah. -No yours is...
Alex's is on a chair.

Yours is standing.

And the idea came up
well what if we...

started with "Modern Day."

The band as we are.

And just went back in time
until we ended the way we began

playing high schools.

And it got very ambitious
very quickly

which suited me fine.

And Howard's
got lighting that's

you know, very basic.

When the song started you guys were
silhouette against the red curtain.

-Cool.
-After, you got the double...

It's a lot to put
on a Rush tour.

It's a lot of work,
it's a lot of hours.

It's not like every
tour, the sets get shorter.

It, there's none of
those things that they have done

that most aging bands do.

This designed to be
an endurance test.

They'd made it this way
this is what they like to do.

The next day there's gonna
be a whole lot of YouTube videos.

Yeah. -Everything
will be on YouTube, okay

you guys go play.

Go do a concert.

I'm all the way
down here from Kitchener

to see them on opening night
in Tulsa.

Yeah I've been a
fan since seven grade

and a... and I like to
see five or six a tour.

Woo!!

Is this two generations?

-Is this father and son?
-Yeah, yeah absolutely.

- So it's his fault that you're a Rush fan.
- Yeah, thank you.

No, I'm a musician.
I'm a guitar player.

And you can feel
the sincerity...

and the honesty and the truth,
the genuineness.

What are you
expecting to see this evening or hear?

I'm totally a blank slate
I have no idea.

I've stayed away from trying
to snip it out on the web.

I wanna be totally surprised.
I'm super excited.

I'm not sure what to expect.

I mean one time,
they got washing machines.

The next time,
they got popcorn machines, like

who knows what
they gonna really do.

-Come on baby! opening night!
-R 40.

Thank you so much, Tulsa!

We so appreciate it.

And we hope
we'll see you again sometime.

Take care, bye bye.

The show number 27 for
me, I flew here from Chicago.

I couldn't have been
more blown away.

Amazing,
what was the high light for you?

I would say when they
stripped it down

to like the high school level.

And Geddy was
talking about Alex, like

"Hey, here's our new electric
guitarist Alex Lifeson.

It was awesome.

When they started bringing out
the washer elements. -Right.

And they replaced the back line
with the washer elements.

I knew, I see what's going on,
it was fantastic. -Excuse me.

The greatest concert I've seen
Rush put on.

And this... number 42 for me. -I'm ready
to die baby, I can die right now.

Die right now.

This is one of the best
concerts I've been to in my life tonight.

I had so many...

things firing in my head

during the whole cacophony of
whatever that was I just experienced.

They've kind of gently
in their own Canadian way

warned us.

Cause it would be an act of
violence just to come out and say

"After this tour we're done!"

It's just,
that's not very Canadian.

But, but, but this could be it.

This could be it.

The band's travelling
circus is shadowed by another.

Rushcon.

Misfits of
the Rock 'n Roll world

who asked themselves

would this be the last time they gather
to celebrate the band of their lives.

I proposed to a group
of online friends, Rush fans.

I said,
"We should do on convention."

And we should go to Toronto.

See all the Toronto Rush sites.

And a... have some fun.

And you're
gonna step over to that table

and you'll have a raffle
ticket and a game. -Alright.

Awesome, welcome.

"Rushcon" is in essence a fan club
that meets once a year in a place.

So you get all
these Rush fans from everywhere

meeting in one place.

Usually we try to time it around
a concert or some cool event.

But really it just gets people out of
their parents basement.

To Rush, the
greatest band ever made.

My fandom,
especially in college,

was such a fever pitch.

I was just vibrating
with Rush fandom.

Like I could not get enough. And
this way, this was before Facebook

and before the internet,
so like...

this was me cutting out
photos from magazines

and like covering my walls.

And it just got, it just got...
exhausting.

I loved them so much
and I was so heavily inspired

by everything,
it's my outlet for my "Crazy."

Show some
respect for the book, everyone.

We have a bunch of games like

game show style stuff.

And then we have
a big charity auction

where you can bid on signed, you
know, photos and posters and stuff.

Like here's the thing, we need
to jump in a cab right now

cause you guys are meeting the
band tonight.

You rarely will find someone who used
to be the high school quarterback

to be a Rush fan
or the head cheer leader

is rarely a Rush fan.

But the band geek
that you knew in high school

or the guy who was super good at
science is probably a Rush fan.

So we're a very smart, artistic
and intelligent bunch I'd say.

But with that comes
maybe some social awkwardness

which I definitely
suffer from myself.

Okay.

Also Martin's being a wenus and
he needs to leave by five thirty

so if you need
to hang out with Martin

pop off and get books,
get stuff signed.

He will see you over in his
little booth over there, cool!

I was in advertising
for most of my life

and I lived in Chicago
at the time.

And I decided one day that I
could no longer make tampon ads.

Like I was, I could not
stay in advertising.

It was just crushing my soul
so I stopped going to work.

I joined the 2012 Obama campaign
and it was amazing

and we won. And then I got
the job at the White House.

Every day I'm just like "How do they
keep letting me in this building?"

Cause I think everyone
has their secret obsession

and so everyone can kinda be
sympathetic, when I have to say

like yes, I run a fan club and I
need to take off work to do it.

But yeah, it's awesome
how supportive people are

and how fascinating
they think this whole thing is.

I'm Geddy Lee and I
will sing whatever lyrics I want.

Just start the song again
and this time do it right.

Fine, and a one and a two and
a one, two, three a one, two, three.

Such a
likeable feature of the band

is that like they're
super proud of who they're are

and they never apologize
for who they are.

And I think that sort of
inspires us as the fans

to, you know kind of
be okay with who we are too.

There are
ways in which Rush

are kinda like
The Grateful dead.

And there are a lot ways in which they
are nothing like The Grateful dead,

but their shows...

and their tours have a
similar thing, which is just

they are for...
the hard cores essentially.

They bond, the shows
bond them to the fans.

They've kept
us going, they've given me

the life I have.

They've allowed the three of us

the freedom to be confident
in our own way of doing things.

You know, a lot of people say well pat us
on the back for not compromising in this.

Well... we couldn't do that if our
fan base wasn't there for us.

They've given us the freedom
to be us.

We've shared
this lifetime of evolution

and a lot of our fans
go back decades

and they're bringing
their kids there now

and, you know there is a
shared thing with a...

with a... that they've passed
down to their kids too

who are appreciating
what we're doing, right?

And that's important
in terms of the example set

and in terms also
of the sense of resolution

is the fact that yes, " Okay, we
all got here together."

I've been out
at brunch with friends

and someone walks in
with a Rush shirt

and I'm like, "Guys, sorry I have to go
talk to someone that I've never met."

Like I have to talk to go and talk
to someone wearing a Rush shirt

at a restaurant.
It's just what you do.

The second you have that
acknowledgement of

"We're in
the secret society together"

its "How many shows
have you seen, favorite album."

Like there's just so many levels in which
you automatically connected to someone.

The people that are Rush
fans this is their favorite band.

This is a bunch of,
this is their band.

They don't care
about anybody else.

I could tell you the first
five rows tomorrow night

that I've seen these people
at a 100 shows.

There's nothing really like it.

Tonight is my 75th
concert seeing Rush.

I saw them first in 1974
when they were an opening act

opening for Nazareth
and Rory Gallagher.

And I've seen every tour since.

121 for me
and eight for Emma.

-Yeah, eight, okay.
-So that would...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure
this is number 31

-Okay.
-and it's front row bucket list.

I don't have the exact count right
now, I'm like 90 some shows.

90 some shows? -Yeah, but I
did 37 on Clockwork Angel's.

I lose track
from time to time.

I think after tonight, it's about a...
number 170.

Well, I know exactly
158 tonight.

My first Rush concert

was actually
"Grace under pressure."

My father decided
to take my passion seriously

and bought a couple tickets.

And he and I went together and I think
I stood screaming the entire show.

He sat, fairly bored
the whole time.

And then as I realized,
later in life

because of
the certain smells in the arena

I think my father
got stoned at the concert.

And I've never seen him
that way

and on the way home
he really didn't say much

in the car, except "Those three
guys certainly made a lot of noise."

As a young person that power
drew me more and more

into wanting to be in bands.

They
definitely stuck with me.

I'm a
fan of Rush and somehow

wind got to ownership that you know,
Randy plays the drums, not really.

They had a ceremony this year at the
ball park with the Arizona Diamondbacks

where they retired my number.

Please welcome
starting pitcher number 51

Randy Johnson.

I'm told, "Well now you have to
go unveil this big huge box"

about the size
of a garage door.

I pulled off
one of the black sheets.

It was the gold plated
R30 drum kit.

Randy who is a fan
of Rock Music

particularly the band Rush

is being presented
this collectors drum set

an exact replica of the one
used by Neil Peart

on Rush's 30 anniversary tour.

Only 30 kits were ever produced and feature
maple drums with gold plated hardware.

Well got behind it did a
little drum fill for the fans.

It's much like going to...
the baseball hall of fame

And looking at a glove that...

you know, someone used
back in the 50's or 60's.

It's just, it's something
cool to look at.

I just think,
If I could play the drums

think about the noise
I could make on this thing.

One, two,
three, four!

One, two,
three, four!

That's the most Rush
I know, right there.

There's something
about the music

and the iconography
of Rush

that certainly attracts and
invites that sort of

'geeky' for lack
of a better word, attention.

The musicians in Rush
are so detailed oriented

it invites that sort of detail
oriented appreciation.

So, I think it's, possibly

a, you know, circle
of geekdom going on here.

I am a husband
and I am a father first.

But second on that list,
I'm a Rush fan.

It's how I define myself.

I think that's the difference
between someone who's just a fan

and behavior of fanaticism

is putting those feelings
into action.

It was the MTV airing

of the Exit... Stage Left
concert video

was the first time
that they had my attention.

And then I started to do the
work on my own of saying,

"Okay, Well let me listen to some
of these albums that you have."

How many more albums
do they have?

Well, I need to get all of them.

Each of the folders in here are
labeled appropriately beginning

from folder number 1, 1974

up to 2015 in order
from January through December.

Full length feature articles
of the band from 1979.

Look at this spectacular ad.

Rush Tour of the Hemispheres

from Sounds magazine
dated April 1979.

Spectacularly majestic.

I have reached
a point in my fanaticism

where I wanted to start
to reach out.

I just wanted to know...

Who else is out there?

So I placed an add
in Circus magazine,

in July, 1985,

I anticipated
getting correspondence,

but not to the level
I was getting.

So that's how I decided, well...

I wanna let them know
what I have.

Maybe we can trade. Maybe I have
something that I could trade with them.

Maybe they have something
that they could trade with me.

So I sat down and did a handwritten
version of my Rush list.

And I would copy it
and send it to this people.

I still maintain that list.

That innocent
handwriting list in 1985

has become this 91 page beast

that still chronicles
my entire collection.

All of this
is all Rush content.

Enough nonsense to make the band
members themself clearly just cringe.

Here are the Indonesian cassette
releases that are on my list.

There's not much cooler
than these.

I'm not sure that my sister knows that I
still have her copy of 2112 on 8-track.

I promise I'll give it back.

The Illustrated History
by Martin Popoff.

I was contacted by Matvin

once my beloved list had
ended up in Marvin's hands.

Martin called me on the phone
and said,

"Ray, I've been sent a copy of this list
of yours, do you really have all of this?"

Flip any random page
in the book...

Here are the...

The Ray Wozniak collection.

I just like how pompous
is that sound quite frankly.

I never think that I need reminder of
the role they have played in my life.

But still,
here in this tour this...

Adolescent enthusiasm
that I still feel

is testament enough to me
that all these years

of pledging my allegiance
to them has been worth it.

Because here I am now in 2015

still being
this enthused by them.

They've never let me down.

Maybe because they continue to feed
me with just such positive energy.

I don't want to let them down.

The least I can do is continue
to carry their flag

and spread the word
and share it with others.

They have a cult following.

It's pretty hard core.

You don't take a shot
at this band,

it gets very, very personal.

Remember the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame?

I remember I went to play golf.

I'm driving along the
lakefront in Cleveland

back to the hotel
and then to the arena.

And the rock hall's right there,

and there's 200 Rush fans

out front protesting.

Cause they haven't been inducted
in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

What are the two things

that the cognoscenti of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

or Rolling Stone magazine,

which are one in the same,
hate the most?

They hate progressive rock.

They hate heavy metal.

Well, Rush invented progressive metal.
They are both.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Here is the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,

Jann Wenner.

That moment at the
end, Wenner's induction speech

tells everything you need
to know about Rush fans.

From Seattle,

the first ladies
of rock and roll

and their back up man, Heart.

The man with the mighty touch,
the maestro,

Quincy Jones.

If you were in
that room, you understood

what our music means to them
and what they mean to us.

In one incredible...

reaction
that I will never forget.

And from Toronto,

I...

I am a... I'm just not gonna
tell you who they are.

You, guess.

The godfather
of progressive metal,

the high priest
of high concept,

Rush!

From day one, the band
built its following the right way.

No hype, no bullshit.

They did it from the ground up.

Without any help
from the mainstream press.

Rolling Stone.

It's our honor to finally...

induct Rush into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame.

So it's impressive.

These guys put us
in the Hall of Fame.

And they were celebrating
their moment.

And I still get choked up
when I think about it.

Halfway to the tour, the
band returns home to a hero's welcome,

responding with one
of their best performances.

Hello, Toronto!
My home town!

I think the goal for any band
is to have that magical night.

And it probably happens
for a moment here and there,

but some nights,
it's just like...

It clicks in.

You are
not even in control of it.

You just play.

And every strum on the guitar,

you feel with the kick at the
same time or the snare, you know.

It's a magical experience.

There are probably
more of those shows on this tour

than I can recall.

The Friday show was
one of those nights.

We were in sync.

Everybody played right
in the pocket.

The thing kind
of took a life of its own.

And I...
I remember after each song

I do a little kind
of status check.

That was a good one.

That was a good one.

That was...
They kept coming.

They kept checking them all off.

Because we
knew the show so intimately

in passages
like "Jacobs Ladder" and that,

well, that is what I found,
suddenly I'd go deeper in it,

and yes the unison quality
of all three of us taking that

does become a breathing entity.

And you still have a
part of your brain that is free

to kind of float away
from the moment

and appreciate what
the audience is doing,

what your partners are doing.

The context of your moment, like where am I,
what am I doing in the middle of this thing

and I am playing all this crazy
shit at the same time.

So it is a pretty sublime state

and I find it such a challenge
and such a reward,

when you hit
that golden feeling,

that kind of perfect feeling,

that it becomes a bit addictive.

It is a very
complicated thing, playing a show.

There are a lot of notes
in three hours of music.

And to play them all
in sync and correctly is a challenge.

As a performer
I think that is the goal.

You want every gig
to be that gig.

You know it took
months to get it to that point.

Frankly, that is a reward.

That's the moment you are going, "this is
awesome, this is payback for all the work."

Thank you so much, Toronto.

Thank you so much all of those who
supported us for over forty years.

We so appreciate it.

Maybe one day we'll meet again,
thank you so much.

No, it is not
my first Rush show,

in fact it's probably
like my 30th Rush show.

111th show.

-I said 30th, he said 111th.
-111th show.

He like won immediately.

I think it is about 75
shows I have been to so far,

that is my estimate, yes.

It is my 69th show and then
Los Angeles will be my 70th show

and hopefully not
my last Rush show.

Literally
could not have gone better.

Almost everything
was completely sold out.

We have never been in that
position for their career.

We have had little pockets,
nights here and there,

but to have a run
that was so consistent.

Even people that you would not
necessarily consider fans,

other professionals who couldn't
wait to get in to see the show.

It is a dream.

We could put
20 more shows on sale

and I know what
the outcome is going to be.

You seldom know what the outcome
is going to be in this business.

You have a general idea, you know
you are going to be successful.

But not at this level.

I think if they did 20 more
shows, they would be...

18 of the 20
would be sellouts.

So count me in,
I would love to do it.

I know that if there is more,
there is not a lot more.

Ray is our manager,
we can't get rid of him.

Since April of 1969.

I was 16 and I think Alex and Geddy
were 15 when we started out.

Well, Ray began his
life as a cheap seller of fake pot.

And then he decided

maybe it's better
to be a booking agent.

So when he started handling us,
he was really an agent.

Yes, all the murderer jobs
were taken.

I quit high school,
I had a little talent agency.

I was promoting
a couple of small shows.

Just trying to find a way to survive
and be in the music business.

One of his first and most profound
acts as the manager of Rush,

was to have me thrown out of the band.
Isn't that great?

I fired Geddy,
Geddy remembers this,

I don't remember this.

And then he ironed his hair,

-to celebrate.
-Yes.

I don't remember this.
It's folklore to me.

-That's why I love him to this day.
-Yeah.

Well, obviously we reversed it real
quick or we would not be here today.

OK, guys, start moving forward, stay
up stage, now move towards on stage.

You are going to have to
see the map just to see where we are.

What is the
most excellent thing I can do today?

I am going to find
a nice way out through Idaho,

which is some of the nicest
riding in the country.

Never mind just in the west.

Motorcycle riding is to him tied
into being part of the tour.

Eighteen to 20,000 miles on this
motorcycle in between shows.

It's very important that
he feels like his life is bigger

than just stopping at the
venues and doing a show.

That his life is ongoing and still a
kind of adventure apart from work.

I've got sea spray.

So now we are
going to look closer at Idaho.

And then I got a bigger time and distance and
I am going to arrive in a National park,

so I don't want
to be too late.

I will look up the mileage
another thing I do,

because ideally I have the bus drive
after the show for about three hours

and then park in the chateau
Walmart that we choose to park in,

because they welcome
overnight campers.

When you get on this highway at
the beginning you see:

75 miles of
winding road ahead".

To a motorcyclist,
this is a promise not a threat.

This thing was that's the part of my day
I enjoy the most, is being on my bike.

If you take that away from me,
I really won't want to do this.

I can see lots
of interesting roads here.

The dotted lines are
unpaved ones, we like that.

So this is all beautiful
beautiful riding here.

Lola Pass, I know that
from previous tours.

It's a lot of challenging roads and certainly
there was fear and danger and all of that,

but on the other hand
peaceful and serene.

I was on my motorcycle from Sandusky, Ohio,
down to Bloomington, Indiana for the day

then back up to Chicago
for the next show.

And that day I was thinking, riding
through the country roads of Indiana.

Probably in the rest of my life there won't
be another day where the best thing I can do,

is plot a back road route from Sandusky,
Ohio to Bloomington, Indiana.

So, appreciate it a little more.

Whatever your weakest point is,

that level of exhaustion
is going to attack.

Starting in my 20's
my teeth would give me trouble.

Other tours it was ear
infections all over the place.

I had tendonitis
in one elbow one tour.

You know it is going to
attack you somewhere.

But of all the things I worried
about before this tour,

and I worried about my elbows and
I worried about cardiac arrest,

I did not worry about
the bottoms of my feet.

He has been riding a lot in
rain, his boots were wet.

It was just torrential rain,
it was brutal.

Neil's security guy
who rides with him,

come up to me
and he said he is killing me.

We just rode for nine hours.

I am 16 years younger, I can't keep up
with him and I don't have to play tonight.

And he developed
a fungus on his feet.

And then that grew into eczema, psoriasis,
bacterial infections and all that.

He applied one type of ointment to
it that only worsened the situation.

The recovery period
just took an eternity.

I assumed it would go away
and he would be all right.

Yea, he is such a stoic guy.

I can't believe that he played
through that anyways.

There was about two weeks of utter
hell for him, like really utter hell.

He could barely walk
for a couple of shows.

By the end of the second leg,
I was walking on two raw stumps.

So drumming of course
was agonizing.

Roughly at the same time,

his hands started
cracking open as well.

You know,
if you have looked at his hands,

it's a mess of calluses
and blisters and cuts.

What drummer needs hands and feet, but
that is what he had to persevere through.

Actually one
moment before our second set,

I was standing on the stage as we were able
to do because of the front arching curtain.

I was standing looking around at everybody
having such a good time, except me.

I was like yes, I am suffering and I don't
want to do this, but I am going to.

Just like he did not want
to add more shows,

he was not going to back out
the ones that he had.

He has played with tendonitis.

He's played with
horrible pain in his hands.

-Flu.
-Yes.

He never tell you
when he is sick, ever.

-Whereas we tell everybody we are sick.
-Especially me, immediately.

I have a cold.

Alex and I joked one
night when I was not feeling well,

that I had this thing going
what if I had a heart attack,

and died right here
and wrecked the show.

And Alex laughed and said, "Whatever
you do, don't wreck the show."

And it felt like that, that was
the ultimate terribleness.

Not that I was going to die of a heart
attack, but I was going to wreck the show.

If a sniper
had been in the building

and shot him
in the shoulder,

he would have
finished the stunt.

That is what makes
a professional, right.

There is no way you go up
on stage with your frailties.

There is no way you go up on there with
your regrets or resentments or anything.

Every night,
bring that commitment.

This is a song about a car,
this is called "Red Barchetta".

As the tour winds down,
from a distance one wonders,

will there ever be a relationship
between a band and a fan base,

that is so longstanding
and powerful.

So many lives wrapped up in
the work of three musicians.

The tours
have been utterly essential

to sustaining the band.

Because they were not chasing hits, they
were counting on building something.

They were in it
for the long haul.

It was always
a marathon, not a sprint.

The fact that Rush
became of age so to speak in the 70's,

and were on the road
as much as they were,

I think is very significant
as far as them

cementing a relationship
with their fans.

The obsession grew after I saw them,
the obsession just never stopped.

So 26 years later,
45th show, I was 16.

People would see them and
get really excited because they...

bottom line,
they play really well.

Whether you like them
or don't like them,

you go see a show and you walk out
going, "yeah, they are good."

I have dragged a lot of guys
to these concerts

and every time they come back hooked
because of the live performance.

Touring is the
same thing to Rush today

that it was
in the early days.

That never changed, which is if you tour
and you go to people, you get a reaction.

You tour to sell records and you only
broke on reputation by being a live act.

And that is where
they sowed their oats.

I can remember in the
80's where Rush could go to the UK,

and sell a 100,000,
or 200,000 tickets.

But they couldn't sell
that many records.

A record is 20 Bucks and a ticket is 100
Bucks, it just doesn't make any sense.

To come and see them live is an
opportunity to get something

you cannot purchase,
other than the ticket price.

You can watch a video of them but it is
not the same as when you see them live.

It resonates in your body and it stays with
you for days, years, months, whatever.

Let's remember that Rush
did not break until the fourth record.

2112, think about other groups
too from the 70's.

Like how many records did Journey
have before they broke ahead?

Styx was another one, REO Speedwagon
and a bunch of these groups.

There were a lot of albums there
they were developing.

Fast forward to today,

so how many labels were going to
be able to stand behind an artist,

while they are
developing their craft.

We are going to do four records
with you, five records.

It takes those few albums to get to the place
where they can start to think about an arena.

What you are seeing more of is if it does
not work the first time, that is it.

How long
have you been a Rush fan?

1975, I'll tell you how old I am. I am
58 years old, so it has been a while.

I am not sure we are going to be
looking at 40 year careers,

other than a tiny percentage
of acts and maybe none.

It is just a different world,
you know?

Ray is always
a pretty convincing guy,

and everybody just presumed that he would
be able to talk Neil into an extension.

Everybody was hoping that would
happen till the last leg,

and that is when reality starts setting in
that there was no way it was going to go on.

So you could see the mood changing
inside the band and inside the crew.

That makes it hard,
but we're not doing more.

We're not taking this to Europe.

That we're not doing
another 20 shows in America.

But the other side of that coin
was we almost had nothing.

So 35 is a lot bigger
than zero.

So, welcome to Rush count 15.

Our first time in this
City of Angels as they call it.

When we initially
started planning

we were going to be like, "No,
let's just do Toronto. It's fine."

But then we heard L.A. is the last
show, we had to be at the last show.

We have to have our presence there and
do this group therapy thing that we do.

-Martin.
-Hey, George.

-How are you?
-Hey.

-You made it!
-Yes, of course. And you!

Yeah.

-This is my son, this is George from Scotland.
-Hello, nice to meet you.

- I like that.
- Yeah, yes.

That is really, really cool.

-It is his first time and probably the last one.
-Sadly, but, you know.

So if you have to leave it,
we just wanted to leave it big.

In the moment,
you've got to enjoy it.

Yes.

-Your seats?
-Front row.

Of course,
you're always front row.

Well, not always but... -I will tap
you on the shoulder. We're second row.

I try to do my best.

-That will be very emotional for all of us.
-I think so.

Probably.

-Fantastic.
-Yeah.

What if it's the final Rush show
of this that they play?

If they knew it was the last
night, if they knew this is it,

never going to play live again,
people will be sobbing in the aisles.

No, we can get on 405,
it's open.

I have been lead
driver for Rush since 1977.

I had no inkling that this
would last this long at all.

We were just in it
for the moment.

The first venue was in
Regina, Saskatchewan.

I can remember that because we backed down
into the venue right behind the stage

and the first thing I saw was Alex jumping
of the stage getting on my truck,

and shaking my hand,
welcoming me to the tour.

I have never seen that done
before or since.

My girlfriend was not too keen
about me going away for a year.

So I convinced her
to quit her teaching job,

jump in the truck with me
and we went across Canada.

After about,
the third year touring,

we were in Canada going across
in the middle of the night

and I was riding
with the band bus

and we decided
we were going to get married.

I get on the radio and told the news
and the only one left up was Alex.

And he heard it on the radio
and he had us pull over.

And Alex got out with
a bottle of champagne,

jumped in the truck

and rode with us for the
next three or four hours.

The two of them
drinking champagne

until Alex passed
out in the back.

It just shows you
what a great guy Alex is.

We are heading for the Forum,
the L.A. Forum

We are going to do
the last show of the tour.

But definitely does not feel
like just another show.

It is coming to a conclusion and it
does feel like the end of an era here.

It was nice
to be back to a building

where I could
remember some really great gigs.

The audiences were great, we played
really well in that building.

So many other memories,
peripheral memories,

that were attached to being in Los Angeles
for those shows, all of that kind of stuff.

Did you make that? -No,
someone through them on stage.

I should go back and put
a question mark on there.

It was an emotional day.

A lot of our crew guys
were very emotional.

Some of our guys have worked for
us a long time, years, decades.

It is inconceivable to them
that this would be it.

So it is hard to keep
your emotions under control.

It is like a regular day.

Will I feel sad later?

Yes, I will feel very sad,

when I have to say
goodbye to my crew.

Those guys.

I am not going to talk to them today
because I will just start crying.

You know, everyone is...
Well we've been such a family,

and now we are going
to be leaving.

It is kind of like
what is the point?

After all they are the nicest guys
in rock and roll, it is a shame.

This is it.

You sense this almost dread
that the end is coming.

I could not hide from
it and I tried to hide from it,

but everyone kept coming up
to me saying: last day right?

It is like, shut up.

I go into my zone
and I try to stay there.

People kept pulling me out of it
and I kept going back to it.

I want to be
professional to the last.

It is really important for me to give
the best show I can for the audience.

As hard as it is for Neil in his
way, it is very hard for me as well.

So, I did not feel I had room for that kind
of emotion, it would not do me any good.

People say you must be happy
there is just one more show.

No, no, no, there is still
one more show.

It is still a major campaign
to be waged here and conquered.

You know all those things are what have
to be inside of your dedicated mind.

You have got work to do

and it is not easy playing
Rush music for three hours.

I just have to do my work,
I have to do my warm ups,

I have to do whatever it takes for
me to do and then get on stage.

And that is where I feel at home and
that is where I can express myself.

There has never been anything that they have put
in front of them that they did not do well.

These guys are so good

and yet they don't take
themselves so seriously.

That is a gift.

Be gone or be cast out.

I have not really processed what it's going
to be like for me to be at the last show,

I am just full on
in planning mode.

Maybe when the lights go on
and I am in my seat

and I am finally thinking, like, "
my god, is this the last time?"

I am going to jump out of my
seat when Geddy runs on stage.

Is this the last time,
then it will start hitting me.

It is going to feel like there's a
whole lack of progression in my life,

to have this thing stop that I
used to look forward to so much.

This is so important to me and it has been
such a part of who I've been for so long,

that closing this chapter
is going to be...

sad but good.

I am sort of in denial
about the whole thing.

I think once I experience it,
I will have to let it go.

-We love you.
-We love you so much.

Lightbulb goes out really quick.

So only during
"Closer to the Heart."

-Like that, okay?
-Great!

We all are like

what it is going to be like
for us to be at that last show,

but I am dying to know what it
is going to be like for them.

To be like, yes we have been doing this for
40 years and now that path is winding down.

That must be
extremely heavy on them.

We are watching
"Antiques Roadshow".

Looking for deals.

We are coming up on five minutes,
there won't be any more holds.

That is what you always say.

This is a painting
that my grandson did.

When he was four.

We put it on the floor,
we give him all these paints.

And we say do whatever you want,
use brushes, use your fingers,

use your hands and it's amazing.

There is his brothers, you know it's typical
of a kid, you know, happy smiling life,

whereas this is dark
and brooding.

All right, let's go.

Walking up to that stage
is like, so much can go wrong.

Any musician knows live performance
is the ultimate chaos theory.

There are things that happen that you
don't even know enough to worry about.

So I worry.

And every song, OK go
through that one, Not this one now.

And there is a whole monologue going
on in my head all the way through.

Coaching myself,
that is really what it is.

I thought we gave a
fucking great show, that last show.

And I tried to
absorb as much as I could.

The building,
the crowd, the lights.

I tried to be acutely aware
of everything that was going on.

And the crowd was unbelievable

I looked out and I saw signs
from all over the globe.

That made me feel good that so many
people have come from so far away.

All those places that I knew
we could not get to.

And it really
has been a brotherhood,

a very deep friendship
within the band.

Neil especially, he
knew it was the end for him,

so he gave it his all.

We did goofy things at the end of the
night behind this kid, to crack us up.

I love those guys.

They have been my closest friends
and family for four decades.

To work
together with the same guys

for four decades, to our mutual
satisfaction in every way.

You can't beat that,
you can't repeat that.

We never timed that song,

but some nights it's
longer than others.

It was probably the longest
of the tour on that night.

That was part of us and we just
did not want to give it up.

We had
agreed earlier on to add

16 bars of a song
from before '74, right.

So we're not going back
just to '74,

we went back to a song that was
never recorded, those 16 bars.

I think it's "Garden Road" or "Fancy
Dancer", I get those mixed up.

But I kept forgetting.

Then I get up
and walk away in rehearsal.

I even did it
in one of the shows.

So Alex happen to mention,
I love it when you do that.

So I got an idea.

So each night I try to do something
different in that part of the show.

So that night I had it in mind that I am going
to photograph this audience of all audiences.

I had to get a picture
of the guys at work, right.

Thought it was perfect.

The closest I
came to losing it emotionally

was when I was saying
good night.

I got choked up
and I got momentarily overcome.

Thank you so much, Los Angeles.

On behalf of the greatest crew
and organization in the world.

And then Neil touched me on the
shoulder which totally surprised me.

All through the tours certain
parties have been asking me,

to go upfront and take a bow.

And I have just never crossed
the, I call it backline meridian.

I stayed behind my drums
and cymbals for 40 years.

Never go upfront,
never, it is not my territory.

And meanwhile I thought it
would be really cool if I did.

But I can't.

So eventually I talked myself into
it, but I wouldn't tell anybody.

Because it was up to me to screw my courage
to the sticking place and go out and do it.

I had managed Van Halen for eight years
where they did that every night.

They fucking hated each other,
some of them hated each other.

But they would do it and it was
scripted, this wasn't scripted.

Thank you so much, Los Angeles.

On behalf of the greatest crew
and organization in the world.

What a surprise

So it was totally
the right thing to do.

I went out there, it was a big smile,
beautiful photographs of the moment.

And the backline meridian.

On behalf of the whole organization,
thank you United States of America,

for 40 awesome years.

And I do hope we will
meet again sometime, bye bye.

It was really
sad that it was the last one

and that it was going to end.

And I know down the road
I will feel fine with it.

But I still lament the fact that it is likely
that we won't be doing a major tour anymore.