RUSH members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reunited onstage throughout a tribute live performance for the late Canadian songsmith Gordon Lightfoot on Thursday (Might twenty fourth) at Massey Corridor in Toronto.
The star-studded live performance noticed a plethora of Canadian artists paying homage to their fellow songwriter and countryman, who handed away final yr.
Lee and Lifeson took the stage alongside alt-country vets Blue Rodeo for a efficiency of Lightfoot’s “The Means I Really feel,” making a shock look after being billed as “L + L” previous to the sold-out present.
The ensemble stretched the duvet right into a six-minute psych-folk exercise, which in flip allowed Lee and Lifeson to go full-on prog and stretch out themselves, musically talking. Geddy bought feisty along with his bass runs, and Lifeson carried the rhythm part with bodily and impassioned strumming. The consummate professionals in Blue Rodeo sat again and let it journey.
“It was necessary for us to pay tribute to Gordon,” Lee instructed Selection. “Not being folks or pop artists, Alex and I had been searching for certainly one of Gordon’s songs that may higher swimsuit our model of play and we discovered that in ‘The Means I Really feel.’ Its construction was unfastened and extra open to interpretation than lots of his extra in style tunes.”
He added: “After the gig, Gordon’s daughter Meredith [Moon] mentioned to us, ‘Go away it to RUSH to make ‘The Means I Really feel’ sound prog,’ so I feel we succeeded.”
Lee and Lifeson additionally joined the night’s different performers for the ensemble finale of “Summerside of Life.”
As beforehand reported, Lee and Lifeson have been frequently jamming RUSH songs collectively, although the latter has insisted there is no such thing as a intentions of reuniting the band. For the reason that passing of RUSH drummer Neil Peart in 2020, the pair have solely given occasional performances, enjoying a Taylor Hawkins tribute live performance and the South Park twenty fifth anniversary live performance in 2022. Lee additionally launched into a spoken-word tour in help of his latest memoir, My Effin’ Life.
Under you may watch viewers footage of Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson performing on the Gordon Lightfoot tribute present.