I just started working on putting together a Rush tribute band

[Thebigdipper]

Just picked up on this (I've been missing for a while).

Make it happen. If you get something half decent, you will find that Rush fans will come and see you and be really grateful that they can still get out and hear this music played live. Once the original band is no longer available, the game changes.


You'll lose money and have a great time.

[Mikhael]

You wouldnt happen to be interested in at least, talking about this are you?

For me, Austin is practically next door. You want to meet to discuss? let me know. I dont mind road trips.

I am back to ground zero on drummers, and talk is cheap - if you are even mildly interested, let me know.

I PM'd you. Hopefully, you get it; I've not used that function on this site before...

[Yodelgoat]

Got your PM - I responded.

Last night I watched Exit, stage left, then set up my bass and Mic, and went through Tom Sawyer, Limelight, Spirit of radio, Xanadu and Distant early Warning just by myself. I was able to play through them, with minimal mistakes. I then Attempted Fly By Night, 2112 overture and Camera Eye, with far less success (It was comical) Its amazing how after decades of not playing these songs, how the fingers still manage to "remember" mostly, how its played. I can still do all the vocal parts - I'm glad to see that I still have the range. I cannot however, sing the Priests of Sirynx part. We used to play the Overture intro, and then instead of going into "weve taken care of everything..." we would blast into Tom Sawyer - no one seemed to mind. But that Sirynx part is really bad when you dont sing it right. Geddy can get away with not hitting those notes, but I sure cant. Ive been thinking about using a harmonizer, and singing a third or fifth lower, and just have the harmonizer spit out the higher harmony, but thats officially cheating isnt it?

I need to get the MIDI Keys set up for these songs, but thats not a bad start is it? I wonder if I walked into Guitar center and sat and played those songs, if I could attract any guitarists interest. So far, I got nothing. If you know an "Alex Lifeson" fan who is a guitarist, please let me know. I may have to take my search a little wider than just DFW.

I have met lots of guitarists who say they can play Alex' stuff, but they really arent "fans" - I dont know why, but I do know that you need to be committed to Rush in order to play it. I was fortunate in my performing days to find musicians who were as nuts about Rush as I was. From there its just a question of sharing the love.

I was also thinking that people would like to hear some of the acoustic oriented songs and thats kind of low hanging fruit - Making Memories, Rivendale? What do we have to do from the first Rush album, which I kind of detest?

I'm also thinking that we might try to do "The Garden" and possibly some material from Snakes and Arrows. But Geddy has become such a monster bassist, that I'm not sure I can keep up. His pipes on the newer material is easy peasy. And I actually sound much more like Geddy on the softer material, and the new stuff.

Sorry for all the meandering - I'm just sharing my thoughts here, you dont have to contribute, but hey, this is more interesting to me than another RIP thread. (which I also read, by the way).

Any suggestions for "must haves" songs to be a true Rush Tribute band? I'm thinking Roll the Bones and Subdivisions should be in there somewhere. But I'm totally open to ideas and suggestions. Who better to help develop a set list than other musicians? - Oh I was told that to have at least 90 minutes of material before playing out. - Any thoughts about that? Rush plays 3 hours, I would think that just a strong 45 minute set would be a good start - wouldnt it?

[Jerjo]

Be sure to upload and post a video once you get things cooking

[Yodelgoat]

Oh yeah! I may even post just my own playing bass and singing along with the Keys (which at this point, will be canned) - I think people would be shocked at how similar my own voice is to Geddy's. ( Though my bass playing still lags behind Geddy's - and always will ) - maybe this will help me find a guitarist

I'm not planning on losing money though. I do have connections with an agent, who is familiar with my "quirk of fate" - in that I can sound like Geddy. He's convinced he can book us out as much as we can stand - just playing for rich guys birthday parties and stuff like that - If I lose money at this, I dont care as long as its as fun as it used to be. It was a thrill to have people go nuts over the way we could cover Rush. My hope is that my fellow bandmates will join with me in doing some of my own originals too (and theirs as well - if its Rush-like) I have several epics written and mostly recorded (drums, and guits can be redone) So sneak in an occasional Original and sell CD's at any shows.

Let me ask: Would you go see a band exclusively playing Rush songs? Would you object if they also had their own originals? I think that this just might work as a business model. I released a CD on my own in 2005 and some of the reviews commented that is sounded a bit like Rush... So its not a huge stretch. Play the Rush to get em in the door, have em stay if they can stand a few originals. It worked to some extent in the 80's and 90's. We didnt push the originals. it was more of an "Oh, yeah, and by the way..." We did sell our Vinyl off the stage and sold a couple thousand units over 3 years. I'm not necessarily looking for that. Just have some fun playing Rush, and perhaps get some original material out there too. Thats a long term goal, but I do think doing just the Rush would be a whole lot of fun. The question is, if you had something like this in your own town, would you be interested in seeing it? Would you pay a few bucks and actually leave your house to see it? Certainly not 75 bucks, but say $5.00 ? Also, do we have to worry about copyrights? how do tribute bands handle this?

What do yall think about using the name "Yodelgoat" - is that an insult to Geddy or to Rush? I know it wasnt meant as a compliment when my daughter described my voice that way. But I like it now. I am NOT ashamed of my voice.

[Mikhael]

For more acoustic type stuff, I used to play "Panacea"; it's a nice song. I wouldn't touch "Rivendell"; one of my least favourite Rush songs ever!

I would have to stick up for "Bastille Day" as a song to do. For the mid-period Rush, you'll be up to your neck in Midi, though.

[Rarebird]

Play Free will.

[Enid]

H..ad a friend who formed a Rush tribute band. It took a while to get the music tight, but once they did....they went right into theaters. I couldn't handle working in a tribute band of any kind. I was in a Genesis tribute act for a whole of two months and eventually could not stand playing JUST Genesis only so I left. Always wondered if other musicians have that problem? Maybe not. Maybe it's just me..lol! I'm assuming that you must be a hard core supporter in order to enjoy playing the music of one band only night after night. However....I loved Genesis, but couldn't tolerate not being in a position to play other kinds of music. I think if you love Rush, it will work for you. Good luck!

[Mikhael]

H..ad a friend who formed a Rush tribute band. It took a while to get the music tight, but once they did....they went right into theaters. I couldn't handle working in a tribute band of any kind. I was in a Genesis tribute act for a whole of two months and eventually could not stand playing JUST Genesis only so I left. Always wondered if other musicians have that problem? Maybe not. Maybe it's just me..lol! I'm assuming that you must be a hard core supporter in order to enjoy playing the music of one band only night after night. However....I loved Genesis, but couldn't tolerate not being in a position to play other kinds of music. I think if you love Rush, it will work for you. Good luck!

I'd say that depends on what your motive is, mostly. I could do a tribute band as easily as any cover band, since none of it is my music to begin with. You do have to work a little harder in a tribute band, since you can't really take liberties with the songs; the audience expects a faithful rendition. That takes some extra homework time on your part, which I'm trying to do now, if I can ever get a weekend off...

[Thebigdipper]

H..ad a friend who formed a Rush tribute band. It took a while to get the music tight, but once they did....they went right into theaters. I couldn't handle working in a tribute band of any kind. I was in a Genesis tribute act for a whole of two months and eventually could not stand playing JUST Genesis only so I left. Always wondered if other musicians have that problem? Maybe not. Maybe it's just me..lol! I'm assuming that you must be a hard core supporter in order to enjoy playing the music of one band only night after night. However....I loved Genesis, but couldn't tolerate not being in a position to play other kinds of music. I think if you love Rush, it will work for you. Good luck!

I co-formed a '70s prog covers band in London in 2009 - as a hobby band. I'm a guitarist. We played Yes, Genesis, Floyd, KC and others, and had well-received gigs over a period of 2-3 years. As much as I love the music, I started to find it harder and harder mentally to do it justice. I was always at the limits of my playing ability and stopped enjoying myself. My original thought had always been to take the material and arrange it to suit ourselves - play around with voicing and instrument choices, simplify parts if we had to. Instead, as we got better, the rest of the band were keener on recreating the recordings as accurately as possible - not so much because of audience expectation (we were, after all, a hobby band, not a working act) but for the satisfaction of achieving it. I realised I wanted people to hear my guitar playing, not my ability to copy Howe, Hackett, Fripp and Gilmour...

I'm only playing original music as myself, these days!

[Yodelgoat]

I'm only playing original music as myself, these days!

Getting people to commit to this is harder than I thought. Ive gone through 3 drummers (one still kind of pending), - Not much enthusiasm for this even though I can already get gigs. If I were back in Washington State I could have the band together in weeks. Here in Texas, too many musicians have a profound love for "free bird" or Garth Brooks. They dont seem to have the vision to see playing outside of Dallas county. I'm continuing to look for others interested, and putting together the "Geddy" leg of the trio, that I would be responsible for. I did find a guitarist who will help me put down guitar parts for Tom Sawyer, Limelight and Spirit of Radio - cause he already knows those tunes. If I can get just a little sample of what can be done, I would think I can get some attention from other musicians. Its funny, Rush is a bit of a musicians band, but he's not interested in the whole Rush thing/ very few Tejas musicians I'm meeting are Rush fans. They wanna play country, and I'd rather lose a major appendage than deal with that.

As far as playing exclusively Rush songs, because Ive done it in the past, and the response to a well played Rush tune is completely different from doing a great version of Jumpin' Jack Flash. Its fun to play Rush, no matter how often you do it, because its always a challenge. Its probably a bigger thrill to me to play out Rush tunes than my own originals. You almost always get at least one or two people even in a small club, who appreciate how challenging Rush is, and they'll come up and talk to you about it. I never have had the same reaction to any other bands' music. I have given thought to doing a separate set of just Genesis songs as well and perhaps one other classic band, like Zeppelin, or the Who. and have 3 distinct sets, one for each classic band, as I can pretty much cover Zeppelin and Phil Collins as accurately as I do Geddy. But thats way off my target for the near future. I was hoping to be ready for a gig on New Years, but its looking less and less likely. Just not enough musicians are ready to make it happen.

[Enid]

[QUOTE=Thebigdipper;592195]I My original thought had always been to take the material and arrange it to suit ourselves - play around with voicing and instrument choices
/QUOTE]

Sometimes the artist that wrote the material will re-arrange it for live performance and sometimes making it easier to play....for example playing a piece at a slower pace. The old deal of...."Well we've been gone for 20 years, not sure if we can still keep up with complexity..for whatever excuse?...and they slow those amazing songs down , while still being accepted. They often leave sections out and choose instead to run part of an epic into a combination of easier songs and then ending with the overture of the epic. It's just funny to me because many of us have played in Prog tribute bands ..pretty much attempting to perfect the pieces and meanwhile back at the ranch..these artists who wrote the material are rearranging it, leaving a extended solo out ..a number of things which they have the right to do because they wrote it in the first place. It's two opposite worlds. People coming to a Prog tribute concert want to hear the enjoyment of the music being close to the record, while the original Prog writers ...sometimes...decide on not playing a specific piece as it were written for the studio about 40 years ago..that cracks me up. There is something very ironic about that

[Enid]

Rush music is complex with a sense of exact timing. I had a lot of fun with Alex Lifeson's parts. He was easy to follow yet required high energy input. He was an angry player. Maybe it was just me, but I had to feel an anger emotion to get those solo's right. You see Alex Lifeson on the Rush documentary as a teenager playing the guitar and producing this kind of angry sound. The attack of his solo's required aggression physically and having personal anger about the world guided me closer to sounding like him. Some of his open string chord voicings, (unusual chord voicings), reminded me of Pete Townshend's style dating back to Caress Of Steel. There was "some" influence of Pete Townshend's approach in Alex Lifeson's playing/writing..but Lifeson was so original sounding and he should recieve more credit for that because it's a difficult thing to do. The existing problem with playing Rush material 3 or 4 nights a week is someone's health being on a downslide or even just having a headache or a cold...or being tired from road travel. It was a realization for me in the 70's when I used to play 2112 in Rock clubs. For example, all 3 band members learned the material 6 months ago, but they've been traveling for 5 months, have it memorized and can play it like second nature, but are going on stage and screwing it up. That's from roadkill. I've never witnessed that happening to Rush.

[Yodelgoat]

Yeah, the only complaint I ever had with live Rush is that Geddy often doesnt seem to give the lyrics the attention I think they deserve. Some of the best in rock... I'm wondering that the reason he cant hit those amazing notes anymore is that he does not practice his singing like he does his bass playing - I mean seriously, The more you sing, - If you are singing correctly, the stronger your voice becomes. My old voice coach - The late, very great Maestro David Kyle, taught me that exercise, humming and singing as low as you can, as well as high increases your range. I still have the sessions and exercises he taught me.

In the past couple of months, I have been working on my voice, and I am to the point now where I can now sing Freewill. the part "Each of us - A cell of awareness" is way up there (A above high C?), and a few weeks ago when I first started learning it, I said "no way", but its almost there... Just some more power.

I find that Neil is such a perfectionist when it comes to being able to pound the holy crap out of every drum note in order to get the "right sound" is out of sync with Geddy's philosophy about his voice. He should have stopped decades ago, when he could no longer hit the notes he originally sang. I think Geddy does have that attitude and passion about his bass playing, and if he could no longer play some of the riffs in say, YYZ or La Villa Strangiato... Or some of the new stuff, that he might want to hang it up. Dont get me wrong, I am very, very glad that Geddy has cut himself some slack, as far as his voice goes. But I do think he's got more in the tank than he sometimes gives. I know its all about being able to sing 3 hours a night and still get it out there tomorrow night... I dont know how much he has been coached. Geddy has access to the best of the best, so I'm sure if he was motivated, he could make it so. You can see now when he's reaching... you shouldn't see it. Watch him as a younger man, and he hits those notes flawlessly and almost effortlessly. I know age does take its toll, but I wonder if he is still working on his voice as an instrument. There is such a difference between a practiced voice and a voice only trying when the lights are up.

I know, I;m sounding totally full of myself. I only comment on this because it is something I am working on right now, and its amazing how right my vocal instructor was. I have gone from E above high C to - perhaps close to A... If Neil can study with Freddy Gruber, Ged can get with someone who can help him get at least some of his range - and power back. If he is already doing this, I apologize and, of course, offer my own humble services, perhaps even at a significant discount. (Whats the Canadian Exchange rate these days?) . I'd guarantee him a full fifth improvement, or his ten bucks back. (sorry I cannot refund his time - I am NOT BonJovi)

[Enid]

Yeah, the only complaint I ever had with live Rush is that Geddy often doesnt seem to give the lyrics the attention I think they deserve. Some of the best in rock... I'm wondering that the reason he cant hit those amazing notes anymore is that he does not practice his singing like he does his bass playing - I mean seriously, The more you sing, - If you are singing correctly, the stronger your voice becomes. My old voice coach - The late, very great Maestro David Kyle, taught me that exercise, humming and singing as low as you can, as well as high increases your range. I still have the sessions and exercises he taught me.

In the past couple of months, I have been working on my voice, and I am to the point now where I can now sing Freewill. the part "Each of us - A cell of awareness" is way up there (A above high C?), and a few weeks ago when I first started learning it, I said "no way", but its almost there... Just some more power.

I find that Neil is such a perfectionist when it comes to being able to pound the holy crap out of every drum note in order to get the "right sound" is out of sync with Geddy's philosophy about his voice. He should have stopped decades ago, when he could no longer hit the notes he originally sang. I think Geddy does have that attitude and passion about his bass playing, and if he could no longer play some of the riffs in say, YYZ or La Villa Strangiato... Or some of the new stuff, that he might want to hang it up. Dont get me wrong, I am very, very glad that Geddy has cut himself some slack, as far as his voice goes. But I do think he's got more in the tank than he sometimes gives. I know its all about being able to sing 3 hours a night and still get it out there tomorrow night... I dont know how much he has been coached. Geddy has access to the best of the best, so I'm sure if he was motivated, he could make it so. You can see now when he's reaching... you shouldn't see it. Watch him as a younger man, and he hits those notes flawlessly and almost effortlessly. I know age does take its toll, but I wonder if he is still working on his voice as an instrument. There is such a difference between a practiced voice and a voice only trying when the lights are up.

I know, I;m sounding totally full of myself. I only comment on this because it is something I am working on right now, and its amazing how right my vocal instructor was. I have gone from E above high C to - perhaps close to A... If Neil can study with Freddy Gruber, Ged can get with someone who can help him get at least some of his range - and power back. If he is already doing this, I apologize and, of course, offer my own humble services, perhaps even at a significant discount. (Whats the Canadian Exchange rate these days?) . I'd guarantee him a full fifth improvement, or his ten bucks back. (sorry I cannot refund his time - I am NOT BonJovi)

You do not sound full of yourself in any sense of the word whatsoever. This is hard work which takes devoted discipline and you are simply being honest and additionally making an interesting thread for musicians that are interested in pursuing the same path. I appreciate the fact that you are sharing this experience because it is educational for all of us actually......

[Garden Dreamer]

Go for it man, especially if it's a bucket list thing. Playing Rush on stage in a band was one of my bucket list items since the 70's, because I was always in every conceivable type of band except for one that did Rush... not that I could have handled the bass parts adequately back then anyway or find people to handle the vocals, drums, guitar, keys, etc.

I finally got to do it in 2008 and 2009 by participating in a Rush "TabCon". It's a bunch of guys (and sometimes a girl) that get together over a weekend, rent a hall or studio space, and play Rush tunes in one take, no rehearsal. It's all about having fun and laughs (because of the inevitable train wrecks) with no ego nonsense. They have one every year, usually in the midwest now, but I was able to do them when they were on the east coast. Had about a dozen guys; you submit your song lists in advance (what you want to play, what you don't want to play), and the combinations of players are figured out and everyone is assigned their songs, which you now have a few months to practice at home. Friday night the equipment is set up and tested and all day Saturday and Sunday the music happens. You get up on stage with your mates for a 3-4 song set, all songs done in one take with no rehearsal. Then the next crew takes the stage for a few songs. We're fortunate in that one of the regulars is "Geddy" in a Rush tribute band so he handles 90% of the vocals while also having bass and a keyboard rig with sampled sounds for their later material.

Like you , the thought of playing "classic rock" covers sickens me and I quit playing in bands in the early 80's. But I couldn't pass this up. Here's a vid from the 2009 one: (obligatory kimono!)

[Yodelgoat]

I have had to put this on the back burner. There are just no big Rush fans here in DFW who can play up to the Rush standard - or if there are, they are already doing other gigs. I still have my ad up at GC and occasionally I get a call, but I dont think they read the advert, they just call and ask if I can play country.

I say no.

I also occasionally pull a Jazz bass off the wall and play Rush tunes semi looking/Hoping for someone to notice. The staff usually does, but I dont get much conversation out of it.