Rush has been my de facto favourite band for my whole life, and growing up in Nova Scotia, I was damned lucky to see them twice when they came to Halifax in 2013. I still have the shirt from that tour and guard it closely, knowing that I'll never get a chance to get another like it. Rush is one of the bands that helped enlighten my awe-inspired relationship with music on the whole, and one of many bonding points with both my parents, especially with my dad. I was devastated when Neil died, like I'm sure a lot of us were.
The first I heard of this was from a childhood friend, who I hadn't talked to in at least 10 years, messaging me out of the blue to tell me he saw the news and thought of me immediately. Rush itself aside, the volumes that speaks about the way we all connect through music is staggering.
I'm not optimistic about being able to get tickets affordably or in a timely fashion, but I want to go. It's beautiful, bittersweet, and humble that they make a point of saying that one of the most important things about this to them is being able to tribute Neil every night. For me, this rocks. Yes, it's not "really Rush" without Neil, but I'd still love to see a bunch of exemplary musicians, who are also great people and great friends, get to keep doing what they love. Not sure how that wouldn't be enjoyable.