Geddy Lee: "The Complete Conversation" - Montreal Gazette

Geddy Lee recently spoke with Jordan Zivitz of the Montral Gazette for a lengthy interview where the topic of conversation was, not surprisingly, Rush's current R40 tour.

From the interview:

MG: So what do you feel is left to accomplish, if that’s your standard of measurement?

GL: Well, if this tour is any indication, we’re playing really, really well together, and I’m very proud of the show that we’re bringing around. It does give one pause to soak in everything we’ve done over the last 40 years, but I still feel like we’ve got some mojo. And even though we have no idea what the future holds for us, I remain optimistic.

MG: I’m glad to hear that, because a lot of fans — myself included — were freaking out a bit when the tour was announced and the notice went out that it would probably be the “last major tour of this magnitude.”

GL: Yeah. Well, I think that’s probably true — and the key words there are “tour of this magnitude.” Everybody in the band has sort of a different attitude on this. I say I’m optimistic — I’m not sure my bandmates and pals would state it exactly the same way. I think you have to take that for what it is — it’s my view, not necessarily the band view.

MG: Are you willing or able to speak for the other two and what you feel their outlooks on this are?

GL: I think it’s a bit in flux, to be honest. I think before the tour started, there was a decided mood of the end of our touring life. And I know how much we’ve all enjoyed it so far. There’s been no complaining and some very, very good playing. Maybe that’s changed, but I don’t feel comfortable speaking for the other two guys.

Regarding the set list for the tour, Geddy had this to say:

"Well, I had a very simple attitude. Everybody came in with kind of a different agenda. My attitude was: This is an anniversary tour, so we should really celebrate our most popular songs. And in order to do that, you have to have the discussion: Well, popular by whose metric? (Laughs) By what metric are you measuring it? If you look at some of the hardcore fans and their requests, they want the more obscure, deeper tracks. So we tried to strike a balance, and it actually came together pretty quickly — for the most part. There were a few details we had to work out, and that’s why there are a few different versions of the show that we play on different nights. Trying to satisfy everyone is impossible. So we just try to strike a balance between the most popular songs of our past 40 years, or the most “important” songs of our past 40 years, and throw a couple surprises in."

You can read the entire interview at this LINK.

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