Singer from legendary Canadian rock Rush gave fans a treat at The Halls
Canadian rock band Rush might not have performed in the UK for over a decade but their bassist and singer held a packed out speaking event at The Halls.
Geddy Lee gave fans an inside look at being in one of the world's biggest band and also read out excerpts of his new book My Effin' Life.
The singer admitted it took his mother's dementia to inspire him to get his stories down on paper.
He said: “Well, I wasn’t intending to. I’m the band’s memorabilia nerd, I’ve got hotel keys, loads of photos, diaries and concert set lists, the notes of how we put songs together. Heck, why not?”
Geddy was joined on stage by Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire for an In Conversation format and they discussed the tragic death of Rush drummer Neil Peart in 2020 who also wrote most of the band’s lyrics.
Wolverhampton Rush fan Richard Pursehouse enjoyed Sunday night's event.
He said: "A couple of sections from his book were read out, for example, the origin of his name – Geddy is not the derivative of his original Jewish name, not even close, and Lee isn’t his surname – or even as believed by his mother, his middle name!
"The Questions and Answers section of the evening, with the audience having contributed questions in advance, was both interesting and entertaining and by its definition will be different each night for the remaining dates, something Geddy consciously decided.
"The touchy subject of a couple of Rush albums being ‘too synthy’ was covered and how Alex “went with the flow” but put his foot down for the album Counterparts, insisting “no goddam keyboards!” Geddy believed this was not an issue at the time but when he insisted in formally interviewing his bandmate for his autobiography, Alex admitted he was not happy, yet had not spoken out for fear of ruining something more than just band cohesion – their friendship."
He added: "There certainly was enough genuine warmth on a cold December night in Wolverhampton hopefully to persuade Geddy Lee to consider achieving closure for ‘unfinished business’. He received the tacit approval of everyone present; after all he concluded, he “really missed playing live for you guys”.
