RUSH-mania as Anika Assumes Control

Anika Nilles - a powerhouse performance

It's quite a week for fans of Canadian prog-rockers RUSH. Social media is alive with comment and footage from the first shows of their 'Fifty Something' world tour. 

As a long-time fan - I first saw Rush at Hammersmith Odeon in 1978 - it's been emotional seeing them rejuvenated like this.

The excitement is all around their new drummer, Anika Nilles. Replacing the seemingly irreplaceable Neil Peart, Anika has proved the many doubters wrong with a phenomenal display. 

And the most heart-warming aspect of it is the great cheers that have gone up in the audience every time she nails one of Peart's iconic drum fills. 

If you have seen the clips on youtube, you will already know how amazing it is to see someone other than Neil Peart pulling off those amazing drum patterns and fills. 

For those that haven't - feast your eyes on this.

Locked in and having fun

Opening song - Xanadu 

YYZ

La Villa Strangiato

Multi-cam view of Annika on Tom Sawyer

The Trees

2112 - Overture, Temples of Syrinx and Grand Finale

Any way you look at it, Anika is just phenomenal in the way she not only plays those iconic drum fills, but how she captures the feel and spirit of the songs. And then to lock in with two guys who have been playing this stuff for 50 years! That's special and it's why there has been such an emotional response from fans around the world.

Peart, who tragically died six years ago, was an inspiration to drummers and wannabe drummers, who were drawn to the music of Rush for its anthemic qualities. This was especially true in Rush's early career in the late 1970s, when their music was epic in its scope.

Spirit Of Radio...The Trees...Xanadu...YYZ...Tom Sawyer...Closer To The Heart...2112 - all classics

Neil's drumming provided every teenage fan's dream of what a drummer could be. He showed you didn't have to sit back there and just keep the beat. His musicality on the kit meant that Rush songs became known as much for the drum fills as the guitar licks. Moreso, in fact. 

Which makes this new incarnation of Rush so intriguing. Anika Nilles had already gained a reputation as a jazz fusion drummer - here she is with Jeff Beck. But most mainstream rock fans would not have heard of her until Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announced they were reconvening Rush for a world tour. 

Rush in their 1970s pomp

As a trio, Rush were the perfect blend and showed how, in the rock idiom, a three-piece band is often the most dynamic and cohesive musical unit.

Back in the day, as a Rush fan you were definitely outside of the mainstream. None of my friends were remotely interested, but I was a fan of their first live album All The World's A Stage, which featured excerpts from their recent breakthrough album 2112, as well as earlier songs like Fly By Night and Lakeside Park.

So I took the opportunity to see them live at Hammersmith in 1978, in their full prog rock pomp, playing their early classics. The show was later released as part of the Different Stages CD package.

It was the glam-prog era of silk kimonos and their extended pieces like Xanadu - "To seek the sacred river Alph, to walk the caves of ice" - and 2112

My ticket for Rush live in 1978

"Attention all planets of the solar federation! 

We have assumed control". 

This interview sheds some light on the recording of A Farewell To Kings, Rush's studio follow up to the breakthrough album 2112.  

The second live album, Exit...Stage Left, reflected their evolution from the 1970s to the early 80s (shorter hair, no more silk kimonos) and is probably the best of the early live recordings.

Later on in their career, the Rush In Rio DVD showed how much their music meant to people all over the world. And South Park's send-up was so good that Rush incorporated it into their live shows as the intro to Tom Sawyer. They are using it for this tour too. 

A perfect example of how much Rush meant to their fans, is the Foo Fighters doing 2112 at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

If you haven't seen it and you're a fan, check out the documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage for the full story of how Rush defied expectations and became one of the biggest bands in the world.

The Professor hits the road

Neil had an uncomfortable relationship with fame, and the pressures of being on the road and away from loved ones. He once said, “I don’t like to puncture illusions. I know I represent some kind of fantasy to a lot of people. But there is no fantasy.”

His way of dealing with the isolation and distractions of life on the road was to ride the back roads on his motorcycle. 

“Every day when I’m on tour and travelling between cities on my motorcycle, I have half-a-dozen pleasant encounters with people. I’ve spent a lot of time in truck stops and diners and cafes, very casual, low-grade places, and those are the encounters I have: stranger to stranger, I guess you could say. I love the anonymity of my travels.”

Here's a rare televised interview with the Professor himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=311&v=q_mKr28G7og&feature=emb_logo

If Neil was looking down now, he would surely see millions of people of all ages still air drumming to his songs - and mesmerised by Anika's skill at helping to recreate the Rush magic.

Here, Rick Beato gets to know Anika Nilles

And here, Neil Peart performs a drum solo on the David Letterman show

IF YOU LIKE MY BLOG, PLEASE HIT THE FOLLOW BUTTON ON THE SIDE PANEL THANKS

 ALSO ON THIS BLOG:

Vinnie Colaiuta - Master of the polyrhythm

What Mike Shrieve did after Santana

The Day David Bowie Died 

My Visit To Abbey Road Studios

The Genius of Hendrix's Electric Ladyland

Pink Floyd On Tour in 1974 and 1977

Vinnie Colaiuta - Master of the Polyrhythm

When people write about music with complex or unusual rhythms, they will often use the word 'polyrhythmic', without really understanding what it means.

A polyrhythm is not just playing in one rhythm or time signature, however complicated it might be.

A polyrhythm occurs where a soloist is playing over the main pulse of the music in a time that does not conform to that underlying pulse.

In compositional terms, the more the rhythm of a line rubs against the implied basic time (which in rock music is typically 4/4) the more 'statistical tension' is created. This requires the rhythm section to be able to respond to the soloist's rhythmic shifts - and still come back on the 1.

Most drummers can't do this. Frank Zappa put it this way: "Either a drummer will play steady time, in which case my guitar line will wander all over his time, or he will hear the polyrhythms and play inside them, implying the basic pulse for most rock drummers, accustomed as they are to life in the petrified forest of boom-boom-BAP!"

"The chances of finding a drummer, a bass player and a keyboard player who can conceive of those polyrhythms - let alone identify them fast enough to play a complementary figure on the moment - are not good."

Lucky for Zappa, he found such a drummer - the inimitable Vinnie Colaiuta. Of all the talented drummers operating in rock and jazz, Vinnie is considered the master of the polyrhythm. He played with Zappa in 1978 and '79, appearing most notably on the album Joe's Garage and, on video, in the Circus Krone concert filmed in Germany in 1978.

Vinnie playing with Frank Zappa, late '70s

He has recorded with a wide range of artists including several tracks that remain benchmarks for complexity. These include the Sting song 'Seven Days', Joni Mitchell's cover of 'You're So Square' and the Zappa tune 'Keep It Greasy'. I have listed some more of his recorded highlights at the foot of this piece.

Of the experience in FZ's band, he said, "Frank liked that I understood polyrhythms - bizarre groupings of rhythm that I was able to sort of play with him because he loved all that stuff.

"And for me, I think that one of the things he liked about the way I played was that he played guitar solos and I'm improvising with him, kind of having this dialogue with him."

The best musicians invariably wound up being hired by Zappa, if they could hack it. He was famously demanding of his hired players and, because Zappa was a master of compositional complexity, the musicians themselves had to be able to handle whatever Frank would throw at them.

Even someone as accomplished as Vinnie Colaiuta was initially intimidated by the prospect of trying out for Zappa's band. Here, Vinnie describes his audition.

On tour with Joni Mitchell, 1983

Vinnie became immensely popular as a drummer for hire and by 1980 he was able to quit Zappa's band and rely solely on being a session drummer. 

Some of the best sessions and albums he appeared on in the 1980s, include Gino Vannelli's 'Nightwalker', the amazing City Nights from the 'Secrets' album by Allan Holdsworth and The Three Graces by Jeff Beal - Vinnie plays on one half of the record and Dave Weckl is on the other half.

In 1982, he became part of Joni Mitchell's band for the 'Wild Things Run Fast' album and the subsequent tour of North America and Europe.

Wild Things was Joni's rockiest album, at least in parts and Vinnie plays some dazzling stuff, particularly on the title track, the song 'You Dream Flat Tires' and the cover of 'You're So Square'. The latter has a drum break that includes a polyrhythmic pattern that Vinnie nails by coming back in - magically - on the one.

In 1994, Vinnie released a solo album, showcasing, as he said, his many influences in jazz and rock music. And once again, within many of the tunes he demonstrates his unique ability to throw bizarre and, to ordinary mortals, unfathomable drum patterns into conventional rhythms. 

Another of his most astonishing displays was the jam band session at the legendary (but tiny!) Baked Potato live music bar in Hollywood.

It's just phenomenal. I have a DVD of this and I never tire of watching it. It's a fixed camera angle side-stage with an odd sound mix (that is, no mix) but you're right in there with Vinnie, to witness his groove, his swing, his outrageous flights of fancy and mastery of rhythm.

I have followed Vinnie's career from those early days with Zappa and I've been lucky enough to see him play live several times over five decades and in many different situations:

- with Frank Zappa at Knebworth in 1978 - my first time seeing Vinnie - a fun day at this open air festival in the UK. Zappa played the hits and there was a good spirit about the concert.

 - Joni Mitchell at Wembley in 1983 - Joni's partner and bassist Larry Klein, put a band together including Mike Landau on guitar and Russell Ferrante on keyboards. It was a real treat to see Joni playing with a rocking band, who were also able to bring out the sophistication in her songs, especially those more jazzy tunes from the late 70s. Vinnie was especially good at laying back on the beat here. Also this was the best sounding arena show I ever saw.

- with Chick Corea in 1992 - my wife and I were in New York at Christmas time and this particular evening, after dinner at a midtown restaurant, we headed down to Greenwich Village and the Blue Note jazz club. The Blue Note is not a big venue and Vinnie's drumkit was set up at the front of the stage, so there was going to be no getting way from him on this night. I credit my wife for not being overwhelmed by it, because this was an amazing display by the whole band - John Pattitucci on bass, Wallace Roney on trumpet, Bob Berg on sax and, of course, Chick Corea on keyboards. The clip linked to above is the trio recorded in Tokyo around the same time. 

- with Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall in 2007 - My brother and I went to this show. David Gilmour came on for the encore.  

- with Herbie Hancock, 2006 - my wife's second experience of live Vinnie, in a bigger venue this time, Auckland's ASB theatre.  

Here's a collection of some of his best playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7KbQtAeFlc

and here's some more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnqNbKNGPXU

Here, he talks about his influences and how Tony Williams turned his head around.  

On being a session drummer

He's a monster drummer, that's all there is to it. 

IF YOU LIKE MY BLOG, PLEASE HIT THE FOLLOW BUTTON ON THE SIDE PANEL THANKS

ALSO ON THIS BLOG:
What Mike Shrieve did after Santana

A Farewell To The Professor - Rush's Neil Peart

2-Tone and possibly my best gig ever

Queen's 1976 Free Concert in Hyde Park

Memories of the Reading Festival, 1975

Five Days of High Drama at the Isle of Wight, 1970

From Pinner to LA - Elton's Big Breakthrough, 1970

My Woodstock 50th Anniversary Diary

A Wizard, A True Star - my all-time favourite album

Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan's Artistic Peak in the 1960s

 Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns

A Farewell To The Professor - Rush's Neil Peart

Probably the most air-drummed drummer of all time. Not a bad epitaph for Rush's Neil Peart, who died this week from brain cancer, aged 67.

And this weekend, air drummers all over the world will have put on Tom Sawyer or Xanadu in tribute to the man they called The Professor. I know I did.

Peart was an inspiration to drummers and even wannabe drummers, who were drawn to the music of Rush for its anthemic qualities.

This was especially true in Rush's early career in the late 1970s, when their music was epic in its scope.

Spirit Of Radio...The Trees...Xanadu...YYZ...Tom Sawyer...Closer To The Heart...2112 - all classics

Neil's drumming provided every teenage fan's dream of what a drummer could be.

He showed you didn't have to sit back there and just keep the beat. His musicality on the kit meant that Rush songs became known as much for the drum fills as the guitar licks.

The introduction to 2112 is just one example of how Peart's drum patterns provided much of the drama and became the focus of attention as each song developed.

Peart's character was in keeping with the band's status as outsiders - a Canadian trio playing progressive rock like no one else. He was so untypical of the drumming fraternity - camera shy and thoughtful, a man of few words. He left the joking to his bandmates Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee.

As a trio, they were the perfect blend and showed how, in the rock idiom, a three-piece band is often the most dynamic and cohesive musical unit.

Peart shunned the limelight offstage, but came alive as a working musician and lyricist, in a career that began in the progressive rock and fantasy land of albums like 2112 and A Farewell To Kings, but which later matured to address more personal and social issues.

It was rarely plain-sailing for them, particularly with some parts of the music press, who were too cool to admit they liked the band. And Peart caught flak from the UK's NME in the late 70s for expressing an appreciation for the philosophy of right-wing author Ayn Rand. But for fans of the band, the fuss over that couldn't obscure the power and majesty of Rush's music.

As a Rush fan, you were definitely outside of the mainstream. None of my friends were remotely interested at the time, but I was a fan of their first live album All The World's A Stage, which featured excerpts from their recent breakthrough album 2112, as well as earlier songs like Fly By Night and Lakeside Park.

So I took the opportunity to see them live at Hammersmith in 1978, in their full prog rock pomp, playing 2112, Xanadu and their early prog classics. The show was later released as part of the Different Stages CD package.

This interview sheds some light on the recording of A Farewell To Kings, their studio follow up to the breakthrough album 2112.  The second live album, Exit...Stage Left, reflected their evolution from the 70s to the early 80s (shorter hair, no more silk kimonos) and is probably the best of the early live recordings.

Later on in their career, the Rush In Rio DVD showed how much their music meant to people all over the world. The South Park send-up was so good that Rush incorporated it into their live shows as the intro to Tom Sawyer.

If you haven't seen it and you're a fan, check out the documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage for the full story of how Rush defied expectations and became one of the biggest bands in the world.

This, I'm happy to say, is a proper obituary of the man, with insight from their many interviews, by the British writer Philip Wilding.

Here's a rare televised interview with Neil himself

And here, Neil Peart performs a drum solo on the David Letterman show

A perfect example of how much Rush meant to their fans, is the Foo Fighters doing 2112 at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins tweeted their own tributes to Neil (shown here).

As many have said, it's a great shock when your heroes die suddenly. But if Neil was looking down now, he would surely see millions of people of all ages air drumming to his songs.

RIP Professor - thanks for the music

 

IF YOU LIKE MY BLOG, PLEASE HIT THE FOLLOW BUTTON ON THE SIDE PANEL THANKS

 ALSO ON THIS BLOG:

Vinnie Colaiuta - Master of the polyrhythm

What Mike Shrieve did after Santana

The Day David Bowie Died 

My Visit To Abbey Road Studios

The Genius of Hendrix's Electric Ladyland

Pink Floyd On Tour in 1974 and 1977

Expressions to avoid in a recording studio

When Steely Dan reformed in the 1990s, their website was an extension of Fagen and Becker's sardonic humour. This list appeared on their site, together with things like '36 Rules for Bands'. Anyone who has been in a band, or in a studio, should get a laugh or two out of this.

EXPRESSIONS TO AVOID
During A Recording Session

1.     Ready, Freddie (pronounced red-eye fred-eye) 

2.     Bingo, gringo 

3.     Uno, Bruno 

4.     The phones sound O.K. but I need more of myself 

5.     We won't need a click 

6.     I like what you're trying to do but not the way you're doing it 

7.     An excellent first attempt 

8.     Was that the sound you had on the demo? 
9.     Make the click louder 

10. That was a pretty good take for this time of night 

11. If you want the tempo any brighter than that, we better wait for a sunny day 
12. No dynamics? We're playing as loud as we can 

13. I think that's a pretty good sounding take for what were getting paid.. 
14. That was great, let's do it again 

15. Is that about as tight as you boys want to get it? 

16. Is it possible the click is speeding up? 

17. I'm at the point where I'm making dumb mistakes - before I was making much smarter mistakes 

18. So many drummers, so little time 

19. Why don't we do the double first and the lead will be easier to get once we've got the double 

20. I never had this problem when I was being produced by Lenny and Russ 

21. We got some things, we need some things 

22. Fabulous 

23. Punch in at the section 

24. You can't make ice cream out of shit 

25. You can't polish a turd 

26. Just let your spirit soar 

27. My spirit's already sore from the last thirty takes... 

28. Close 

29. Less is more 

30. Less is Paul 

31. Less is Brown 

32. Less is less 

33. That's the way I've been playing it all along 

34. I just wish I could get a whole band that sounds as good as I do 

35. This will be a great opportunity for me to show off my chop 

36. Let's hear the bass, if you can call it that 

37. Does your amp have an underdrive channel? 

38. You can erase that one, I remember exactly what I played 

39. We'll catch that in the mix 

40. You guys can fix that in Soundtools, right?

41. I brought my kid along, he's never been in a recording studio before 

42. My girlfriend sings great background vocals

43. I know a great drummer 

44. You guys want to try some heroin? 

45. Your girlfriend's been in the bathroom a long time 

46. Please, man, stay away from my faxes, okay?

47. I'm not going to be any more dishonest with you than I am with Donald 

48. I'd like a little more of a live feeling on this tune. 

49. I also play eleven other instruments 

50. Sorry I'm late, I just got through with my blood test (or CAT scan) 

51. That vocal's not a keeper is it? 

52. That's how I wrote it but that's not how I like to play it 

53. I can't think of any improvements that won't make it worse 

54. That ground loop is a trademark thing for me 

55. That's the new old comp from today - I want to hear the new old comp from last Tuesday 

56. That reverb would sound a lot better if it were coming out of a piece of MY GEAR

57. How bout we get rid of these 3M machines and get ourselves a frozen yogurt machine 

58. Skunk called, he's on his way down 

59. The frozen yogurt machine is broken 

60. When was the last time we worked together? Tonight.

IF YOU LIKE MY BLOG, PLEASE HIT THE FOLLOW BUTTON ON THE SIDE PANEL THANKS

36 Rules For Bands - The Wit of Steely Dan

Originally posted on the Steely Dan website in the 1990s. Enjoy

 ~36 RULES FOR BANDS:~

1. Never start a trio with a married couple.

2. Your manager's not helping you. Fire him/her.

3. Before you sign a record deal, look up the word "recoupable" in the dictionary.

4. No one cares who you've opened for.

5. A string section does not make your songs sound any more "important".

6. If your band has gone through more than 4 bass players, it's time to break up.

7. When you talk on stage you are never funny.

8. If you sound like another band, don't act like you're unfamiliar with their music ("Oh does Rage Against The Machine also do rap-rock with political lyrics?")

9. Asking a crowd how they're doing is just amplified small talk. Don't do it.

10. Don't say your video's being played if it's only on the Austin Music Network.

11. When you sign to a major label, claim to have inked the best contract ever. Mention "artistic freedom" and "a guaranteed 3 record deal".

12. When you get dropped insist that it was the worst contract ever and you asked to be let go.

13.Never name a song after your band.

14. Never name your band after a song.

15. When a drummer brings in his own songs and asks to perform one of them, begin looking for a new drummer IMMEDIATELY.

16. Never enter a "battle of the bands" contest. If you do you're already a loser.

17. Learn to recognize scary word pairings: "rock opera", "white rapper", "blues jam", "swing band", "open mike", etc.

18. Drummers can take off their shirts or they can wear gloves, but not both.

19. Listen, either break it to your parents or we will; it's rock 'n' roll, not a soccer game. They've gotta stop coming to your shows.

20. It's not a "showcase". It's a gig that doesn't pay.

21. No one cares that you have a web site.

22. Getting a tattoo is like sewing platform shoes to your feet.

23. Don't hire a publicist.

24. Playing in San Marcos & Alpine doesn't mean you're on tour.

25. Don't join a cover band that plays Bush songs. In fact, don't join a cover band.

26. Although they come in different styles and colours, electric guitars all sound the same. Why do you keep changing them between songs?

27. Don't stop your set to ask that beers be brought up. That's what girlfriends/boyfriends are for.

28. If you use a smoke machine, your music sucks.

29. We can tell the difference between a professionally produced album cover and one you made with the iMac your mom got for Christmas.

30. Remember, if blues solos are so difficult, why can so many 16 year olds play them?

31. If you ever take a publicity photo, destroy it. You may never know where or when it will turn up.

32. Cut your hair, but do not shave your head.

33. Pierce your nose, but not your eyebrow.

34. Do not wear shorts onstage. Or a suit. Or a hat.

35. Rock oxymorons; "major label interest", "demo deal"," blues genius", "$500 guarantee", and "Fastball's second hit".

36. 3 things that are never coming back: a)gongs, b)headbands, and c)playing slide guitar with a beer bottle.

See also: Expressions to avoid in a recording studio
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2019/12/expressions-to-avoid-in-recording-studio.html