Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Podcast discusses Rush fans

Tue, Jul 24, 2007@11:10AM | comments removed/disabled

St. Petersburg Times online editor Steve Spears has a blog at tampabay.com called Stuck in the '80s. Steve and Times pop music critic Sean Daly attended the Tampa Bay show back on June 16th and did a live review of the show via the blog. I linked the review and apparently they received a lot of emails/feedback from members of this site. All this feedback prompted them to do a podcast on the subject of Rush fans where they ask the question Rush fans: Hard-to-please ... or just surly?:

It's been about a month since Rush dazzled 15,000 fans at Tampa's Ford Amphitheatre at the start of their "Snakes and Arrows" tour, and the hate mail is still trinkling in here at Stuck in the 80s.

Here are some examples of fan reaction to reviews by myself and Times pop critic Sean Daly:

* "Lame review. Dumb jokes, bad observations. The new songs totally kill live."
* "It is strange this guy seems to not want to hear all of the songs I do. What DOES he like from them?"
* "I thought you got out easy for saying that Dreamline was the best song in the show ... No way dude, I mean I like Dreamline and I even sang along -- which most people were embarrassed to do -- but you can not compare that to Witch Hunt, Natural Science, or even any of the new songs, come on!"

Even when we went overboard with our compliments, we still caught a lot of guff: "I've got a bone to pick with you," one fan wrote. "Sorry to say Neil Peart, while a very accomplished drummer, is not the 'most revered drummer of all time.' Shake the cob webs! Can you say -- John Bonham or how about Keith Moon of The Who? Think a little harder and those folks their due!"

So are Rush fans the most loyal fans around? The most hard-to-please fans? Or are they just downright surly? Listen to our newest Stuck in the 80s podcast -- our post-concert Rush review -- and decide.

You can listen to the podcast at this link. It's a fun little conversation; very interesting to listen to - especially since they mention rushisaband.com a couple times! :) Thanks to reader Steve S for the heads up.

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