In Time Stand Still, Rush visual designer Dale Heslip lovingly documents the Canadian prog-metal legends’ final days on the road, leading up to drummer Neil Peart’s retirement from playing live at the Los Angeles Forum.
Below are five things we learned from the documentary.
1. The R40 tour, billed for the 40th anniversary of the group, nearly didn’t happen.
Rush has always been a low-key group (for metal-proggers anyways), so when drummer Neil Peart decided he would stop touring, his original plan was to fade softly into the night. When he told the other members, however, Alex Lifeson convinced Peart to have one more go at it on account of the guitarist's on-coming arthritis.
2. Drummer Neil Peart quit because he’s not in the Rolling Stones.
Speaking of his decision to stop touring, Peart — who is widely referred to as one of, if not the, best drummers of all time — explains that his demanding drumming style, as opposed to that of the 4/4-loving Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, and perfectionist attitude won’t physically allow him to continue: "I could play Charlie Watts' drum parts at 75 [years old], but not Neil Peart's drum parts."
2. Rush's fan club is run by Obama’s digital design chief.
When she’s not the creative director of RushCon — a nerdy-as-it-sounds annual Rush fan get-together — Jillian Maryonovich is the senior designer for the Obama White House’s Office of Digital Strategy. Proving, once again, that the geeks shall rule the Earth.
4. Paul Rudd slaps da lips as the narrator.
I Love You, Man star and Rush superfan Paul Rudd is both a great narrator and solid inside joke.
5. Before playing for the last time, Rush watched Antiques Roadshow.
The moments before a final show are the stuff of rock legend. In one of Time Stand Still’s most revealing moments, the audience is taken backstage at the L.A. Forum, where the band members are shown preparing for their grand finale by watching PBS's Antiques Roadshow. It’s an ending so perfectly square yet so honestly human, it could only have happened to Rush.
Rush | Time Stand Still opens Thursday, November 3 for a week-long run across Canada at Cineplex and Landmark Theatres
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