The Professor

Just a bunch of random pics of Neil Peart that I took over the years.  The quality will be just as awful as you’d expect.

R40 at Madison Square Garden in New York, 6/29/15

Snakes and Arrows in Saratoga Springs, NY on 7/5/08.

Snakes and Arrows at the Verizon Arena (it’s not called that anymore) in Manchester, NH on 7/11/08.

Opening night of the Clockwork Angels tour in Manchester on 9/7/12.

Clockwork Angels at the Mohegan Sun Arena in CT on 5/9/13.

Waiting for the drum stick to come back on the Clockwork Angels tour at the Taj in Atlantic City, NJ on 5/11/13.  Best seats I’ve ever had for a Rush show.

R40 at the TD Garden in Boston on 6/23/15.  Second best seats I’ve ever had at a Rush show.  At least the second best seats I had at a show when I had a camera with me.  I had killer seats at a Snakes and Arrows show at Mohegan sun in ’07, and at a Presto show in ’90 at the Worcester Centrum, but no camera at either of those.

Time Machine Tour at the TD Garden in Boston on 9/14/10.

Neil was never one to show a lot of emotion on stage.  At least he wasn’t by the time I started seeing them. He would sometimes get a little goofy and make stupid faces at the other guys, things like that.  It was rare for him to let us see what he was thinking though.  You can’t blame him, he’s playing the most difficult drum parts any rock drummer has ever attempted.  It took a ton of concentration.

There was one moment that I clearly recall that I wish I had a camera for though.  A camera and a tape recorder.  It was in 2007 on the Snakes and Arrows tour at the Mohegan Sun arena.  I was sitting (standing) on the floor, reasonably close to the stage and I could see it clearly.  They were playing Mission and he had an equipment issue.  I think his MIDI Marimba thing failed or something like that.  As the song was ending he let a bit of frustration show on his face and he took it out on his drums.  He laid into a fill to close the song that literally (well, maybe not literally) shook the entire stage.  It was ferocious… and it was awesome.  When you are the best that’s ever lived you can do stuff like that.  He was the best whose ever lived.  Moon was great.  Bonham was great.  So many of them were great.  Neil was better.  You can’t argue it.  Neil was just better.

I saw Rush play live something like 20 times between December 1987 and June 2015.  I’ve lost track of exactly how many.  I think 22, maybe?  Whatever.  Each one was a gift.  Each one was a thrill.