Alex Lifeson työskentelystä Geddy Leen kanssa: ”Ilman Neil Peartia se ei voi koskaan olla RUSH”
Proge-legenda Rushin kitaristi Alex Lifeson kertoo Ultimate Classic Rockille, että viimeisimmät esiintymiset basisti-laulaja Geddy Leen kanssa ovat tuoneet tarvittua lopullisuuden tunnetta Rushiin. Joulukuussa Lifeson esiintyi Leen kanssa Lontoossa ja Torontossa. Esiintymiset olivat osa Leen ”My Effin’ Life” -omaelämäkerran kirjakiertuetta.
“Doing these shows with him was a no brainer. Because basically I just sat on a stage with him doing the stuff that we’ve been doing for 50 years in the back of a car or in an airplane or on the bus. We’re best of friends. So it was just getting up and riffing and laughing and goofing around. Just like we always have.”
“The audience in Toronto was like just being in a room with a bunch of friends,” Lifeson explained. “A lot of people didn’t feel they had closure after we finished the last tour. And I think this is a way of giving them a little bit. To see that everything is OK, that we’re still friends and together and doing stuff together, having the same kind of wonderful experience that we’ve always had.”
Nyt Lifeson on tuoreessa Ultimate Guitarin haastattelussa todennut, että vaikka hän päätyisi tekemään jälleen yhteistyötä Geddy Leen kanssa uuden musiikin merkeissä hän ei kuitenkaan kutsuisi projektia Rushiksi ilman menehtynyttä rumpalia Neil Peartia. Lifeson kertoi mahdollisesta työskentelystä Geddy Leen kanssa uuden musiikin osalta seuraavaa:
”Um, I don’t know. Ask him. I don’t know. There’s certainly a lot of interest in us doing something. I think for a lot of RUSH fans, they’ve been hoping for… Geddy had his book tour. I went out on a few of those dates with him. I think that’s kind of sparked more interest in us working together.
”Ged’s a very busy guy. He’s written a couple of books over the years. He has a lot of stuff that he’s into. This is my studio in my apartment. I’ve been working on the ENVY OF NONE stuff as well as a few other projects. So I’ve been playing and recording for all these years.
”When he’s ready, he always says, ’Come over for a coffee and we’ll go down to the studio and bash around a few notes.’ Yeah, call me. And so far he’s been so busy, but I think maybe in the new year — or this is the new year — maybe soon we’ll find the time to sit down and see what happens. Maybe nothing happens. Maybe it’s not there anymore. Maybe it’s gonna be amazing. I don’t know. We’ll see. Honestly, it’s not a priority for us. We’re happy in our lives. So, it’s not like we need to go back to something. And that’s my fear. That if we — that would be the expectation, this is like RUSH 2. But by necessity it has to be something different. And it can never be RUSH. Without Neil [Peart, late RUSH drummer], it can never be RUSH. That’s it. It’s over. But you never know what can happen. So we’ll see.”