Remembering Ridiculously Good Rush Drummer Neil Peart With 5 Live Videos

Neil Peart was a true virtuoso behind the kit, the unshakable foundation on which his comrades stood. The longtime Rush drummer and lyricist died last week, succumbing to brain cancer after a three-and-a-half-year battle. As Dave Grohl wrote in a eulogy, fans and fellow musicians sometimes called Peart “The Professor” because there was always something to learn from him. His performances brought the rhythm section to the fore, and his rarely matched technical prowess inspired millions to pick up a pair of sticks.

Peart never stopped his own education either: in his later years he went out of his way to seek mentorship from jazz greats like Freddie Gruber and Peter Erskine. “What is a master if not a master student?” Pear request in 2012. “I was appointed to this position, and I certainly don’t underestimate it… So it’s a full-time responsibility. It’s joyful and I’m very grateful. To remember one of rock’s greatest drummers of all time, here are five definitive live performances.

“By-Tor & the Snow Dog” (Montreal, 1981)

Peart did not join Rush until 1974, after bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson had played with drummer John Rutsey for six years. Peart’s first album with the band, 1975 fly at night, was when Rush started sounding like Rush – meandering progressive rock instead of the Led Zeppelin-lite vibe of their debut. Clocking in at almost nine minutes, fly at night“By-Tor & the Snow Dog” was the band’s longest song to date when it was released, and the first of many multi-part epics to come. This live performance of it, from 1981 Exit… Stage Left, showcases Peart’s intense acting at a time when Rush was arguably at his peak live. Check out the interplay at 3:27, where he alternates between locked grooves and bite-sized drum solos before leading the song into its second half.

“Tom Sawyer” (Rio, 2002)

For many fans, it’s that’s why I wrote to you– and not just because it opens Rush’s most beloved album, 1981 Animated pictures. For Peart, “Tom Sawyer” was when the group’s identity, both as disparate musicians and as a band, began to coalesce. “I’ll never get tired of playing ‘Tom Sawyer,’ because it’s always hard to play right,” he said in 2012. “And every time I play it right, I feel good.” In the original music video, Peart looks like a lunatic compared to his stoic bandmates, as he thrashes the cymbals fiercely. In contrast, this drum-cam sequence from 2002 shows the intense focus Peart brought to his craft: he just frowns as he flawlessly executes one of the most rhythmic sequences in rock history. .

“Villa Stranguato” (Rio, 2002)

“La Villa Strangiato” is a marathon, with dynamic peaks and valleys that pushed Rush to his limits. (“It was a song where I must say our ideas exceeded our ability to play them”, Geddy Lee admitted in 2018). But Peart made it look like a walk in the park, as this clip from Rush’s last concert shows Steam trails return tour. The notion of the drums as the lead instrument can often lead to disjointed musical transitions, with players dropping off as the offbeat wears off, but just look at 4:06, where Peart’s drums become an extension of guitar arpeggios in ‘Alex Lifeson.

“Der Trommler” (Frankfurt, 2004)

Neil Peart’s solos and the huge drum kits he played them on have become a rock cliché – ask anyone who’s played with a drummer who truly believes they need a tom or a additional splash cymbal. During Rush’s synthesizer days in the 80s, Peart incorporated sampler pads into his ever-changing setup, which gave him both tonal variety and melodic options. As the band entered the new millennium, they began using Roland’s V-Drum pads, which put a “virtual orchestraat the end of his chopsticks. There are dozens of jaw-dropping Peart solos over the years, but this clip from Rush’s 30th anniversary tour — the dry track “Der Trommler” (“The Drummer”) — remains a fan favorite.

“Subdivisions” (2015)

After Rush’s 40th anniversary tour in 2015, Peart announced his retirement from professional drumming and thus ended Rush. Fans were hoping for a comeback, but Geddy Lee confirmed the band ended in a interview 2018. “Neil struggled all along [the R40 tour] playing at his peak, because of physical ailments and other things that were going on with him,” he said. “And he’s a perfectionist, and he didn’t want to go out and do less than people expected of him. That’s what drove him his whole career, and that’s how he wanted to go out. , and I totally respect that.”

If Peart was behind on this last tour, it didn’t show. In this fan-shot clip of “Subdivisions,” from 1982 Signals, it remains the trusty timekeeper, the bearings and frills of the ride cymbal are firmly locked in place. No two sections are the same here, and its shift from low-key backbeats to four-on-the-floor snare hits propels the power trio forward. One of Rush’s most understated songs, “Subdivisions,” shows how Peart’s brilliance wasn’t defined solely by flashy fills and wonky time signature changes.