Today is Labor Day here in the United States. While it’s supposed to be a chance for people to just have a weekday off in acknowledgement of the labor that we all put in on an ongoing basis, think about people at, say, supermarkets and restaurants who are still working today anyway. Thus, I’m writing a blog as per the usual every Monday posting schedule that I’ve kept up for what in a few weeks will be eight years. However, I’m giving myself a little bit of a break by this week writing something a tiny bit off the usual path.
Two days ago, I spent far too much time being distracted by the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at Wembley Stadium that was being broadcast live on YouTube. For those that never heard it, back on Episode 428 of my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast, Chris Pelonis talked about the late Foo Fighters drummer and the times he spent with him.
My interest was that Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were going to be performing as part of the lineup of rock stars honoring the memory of Hawkins.
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Ironically, a couple weeks earlier I’d called my brother to get off my chest how uncomfortable I had been by seeing Instagram posts of Lee and Lifeson on stage together – performing Rush music – what with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart having passed away in January 2020. (Where was the tribute concert for him, by the way? Another casualty of the pandemic that started two months later, I guess?)
I don’t even remember who was playing drums in the aforementioned scenario, a surprise appearance by Lee and Lifeson on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of South Park. All I knew is that those two guys were performing. Rush music. In a concert-like setting. With a drummer not named Neil Peart.
But there I sat two days ago, waiting through one headliner after another, anxiously awaiting seeing the pair and what songs they would play (and how many).
The lesson was, that I still wanted to see them and hear Rush music. The legacy of all that they’d created over all those years still needs to live on. Above and beyond the recordings that they made.
I guess in a sense that’s what this Taylor Hawkins tribute show indicated too, right? For Foo Fighters fans and that band’s music?
And thus, as sad as I remain that Peart is gone, that Rush will never perform again as the three that I knew them to be, I need to be grateful that while, sure, I can listen to their music any time I want, there will still be the odd occasion here or there when something like what I got to watch on Saturday (pictured above) will occur.
And generations still to come will always be able to know the music that they made, just like youngsters who watched them on Saturday, alongside the likes of Joe Walsh, Chrissie Hynde, Angus Young, and so many others who performed the music that they and their respective bands became known for, even if they’re not still in the original configuration of the bands they’re most commonly associated with.
When you are ready to get back to labor, let’s get on a video chat together to talk about your creator career. For more than 18 years I’ve been helping folks from around the U.S. with management, promotion, and booking aspects of their professional pursuits and would love to contribute to your efforts from all my experience. It’s completely private and a convenient way to collaborate with someone who brings a new perspective to what you’re most passionate about.