Not as defunct as we were led to believe....

[Slim]

Streaming royalties are no longer theirs though. They sold that line of income.

OK, so just the 16x what they used to earn for a night's work in their heyday, then. Unless they still get a cut from merchandise (and since they sell t shirts, mugs, phone holders, caps, badges, hoodies and fridge stickers on their site, I assume they do).

It's the ticket prices that are causing the controversy so I was really interested to find out what they're making from those, compared to what seemed to be reasonable way back when. Actually at these prices, even adjusting backwards for inflation I wouldn't even have been able to go to a gig when I was 17 or 18, wouldn't have been able to afford it. Might not have bought all those CDs, years later. But at this stage of the game I don't think they're thinking of their efforts as an investment for the future.

[Thenop]

Most of the merch is outsourced though. Musictoday II, LLC, does all merch, and they (Geddy and Alex) will get a cut. But they probably have very little say in what is being sold, and at which price. It is more and more a business venture, not just Rush but the music industry as a whole.

The whole idea of them two pullung the strings is no longer valid. Sure, they are going to perform, and they will say: we want X amount. And they have creative control, but the whole business side.. Ray Danniels sold the Anthem company, he is no part of this I am sure.

All of this makes things probably very expensive: there are too many middle men, and they all want a cut. I think Ged and Al get a flat fee a night.

[Slim]

OK that's an interesting point. A promoter could be underwriting the entire tour, and taking all the risk. Given that this was always going to be low risk I think they'll have got a very good deal and I still think they'll be earning at least ten times more per gig than they did in 1980, in real inflation-adjusted terms.

[David L]

On Facebook:

Rush's Female Drummer DISRESPECTED In Commercial

Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid recently slammed concert promoters advertising Rush's new tour for failing to acknowledge their new drummer, Anika Niles, in promotional materials. He called out the the promoters' approach in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter).

Reid's comments highlighted a radio advertisement promoting tickets for a Rush concert that only mentioned founding members Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. The ad did not mention Neil Peart's replacement, Niles, who has taken on the significant challenge of filling Peart's role after his passing.

Vernon Reid slams Rush concert promoters

"I heard a radio style add for Rush tix going on sale, that only mentions Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. No mention of Anika Niles at all," Reid said.

"I found this disturbing given the sheer enormity of the grace under pressure she has to possess. An 'introducing Anika Niles' would have been cool."

Reid went further to criticize how this approach contradicts the band's legacy.

"It runs counter to what the band has stood for, for years, in not say her name," he continued.

"The fact that Rush is playing at all fairly demands that the drummer in Neil's stead, not be treated as an anonymous cog in a cash-grabbing machine. Their legacy deserves better than that. Neil's does."

[Thenop]

Vernon is most always right.

Unfortunately, promotors only see money, and a Legacy is useless to them. It brings in no money.

[Slim]

I read that on Reddit a few days ago and I just don't think that Vernon has a point. When did you ever hear Darryl Jones in a Rolling Stones tour ad? Or any of the band apart from Becker and Fagen on a Steely Dan ad, after about 1977? Or the bloke who played keyboards in Status Quo, etc etc.

[David L]

I read that on Reddit a few days ago and I just don't think that Vernon has a point. When did you ever hear Darryl Jones in a Rolling Stones tour ad? Or any of the band apart from Becker and Fagen on a Steely Dan ad, after about 1977? Or the bloke who played keyboards in Status Quo, etc etc.

Completely different IMHO. This is a musician who is replacing Neil Peart. The importance of that, especially after Geddy and Alex said it would never happen makes he a bit more significant that Andy Bown's contribution to Status Quo.

[Matt2112]

It's a couple of initial promo photos and I'm sure there'll be more with Anika Nilles included; anyway, maybe she's not fussed about it, maybe she was asked to be in these particular promo shots and politely declined, maybe she sees herself as a hired gun rather than a full-time, integral part of the band, maybe some other innocuous reason.

I get Vernon Reid's passion but I think he's making mountains from molehills here.

[The Picnic Wasp]

Oh well, she at least shares something with Neil. His surname was often mispronounced, hers often misspelled.

Edit: Oh dear! Given the content, a very inappropriate apostrophe now removed.

[Slim]

I read that on Reddit a few days ago and I just don't think that Vernon has a point. When did you ever hear Darryl Jones in a Rolling Stones tour ad? Or any of the band apart from Becker and Fagen on a Steely Dan ad, after about 1977? Or the bloke who played keyboards in Status Quo, etc etc.

Completely different IMHO. This is a musician who is replacing Neil Peart. The importance of that, especially after Geddy and Alex said it would never happen makes he a bit more significant that Andy Bown's contribution to Status Quo.

So it's exactly the same as Steve Jordan's importance to the Rolling Stones. She's a backing musician, part of a touring band. Did she appear in the ads when she toured with Jeff Beck?

[David L]

I read that on Reddit a few days ago and I just don't think that Vernon has a point. When did you ever hear Darryl Jones in a Rolling Stones tour ad? Or any of the band apart from Becker and Fagen on a Steely Dan ad, after about 1977? Or the bloke who played keyboards in Status Quo, etc etc.

Completely different IMHO. This is a musician who is replacing Neil Peart. The importance of that, especially after Geddy and Alex said it would never happen makes he a bit more significant that Andy Bown's contribution to Status Quo.

So it's exactly the same as Steve Jordan's importance to the Rolling Stones. She's a backing musician, part of a touring band. Did she appear in the ads when she toured with Jeff Beck?

Neil's contribution to his band was far greater than that of most drummers to their own bands so his replacement is far more significant. I think Geddy and Alex were acknowledging that when they said they would not tour again as Rush.
Jeff Beck was a solo artist and was billed as such - it's a different scenario altogether.

[Slim]

Neil's contribution to his band was far greater than that of most drummers to their own bands so his replacement is far more significant. I think Geddy and Alex were acknowledging that when they said they would not tour again as Rush.
Jeff Beck was a solo artist and was billed as such - it's a different scenario altogether.

But she hasn't "replaced" him except that she'll be playing the drums on tour. Charlie Watts was and is more of a legend in popular music and culture than Neil was or is. Rush is Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. The tour is explicitly billed as a Rush tour. It's the same scenario.

[David L]

Neil's contribution to his band was far greater than that of most drummers to their own bands so his replacement is far more significant. I think Geddy and Alex were acknowledging that when they said they would not tour again as Rush.
Jeff Beck was a solo artist and was billed as such - it's a different scenario altogether.

But she hasn't "replaced" him except that she'll be playing the drums on tour. Charlie Watts was and is more of a legend in popular music and culture than Neil was or is. Rush is Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. The tour is explicitly billed as a Rush tour. It's the same scenario.

OK

[Thenop]

I agree it would have been nice to have a 'feat. Anika Nilles' on the poster, but what I said before, ultimately it's not what sells the tickets.
It feels as if the perception is that she is replacing Neil as a member of the band, but she is replacing him as the drummer which is quite different.


I highly doubt there will be a photo session with her pictured as bandmember. She is a hired gun.
I don't believe going to a show I'd buy a shirt with the Rush logo, and a shot of her, or a bandshot with her included.

[Matt2112]

A new raft of North American dates added.

Not sure if this is cause for optimism or pessimism for a transatlantic visit...