Peart tribute show pushed to November
Pandemic again delays concert saluting Rush drummer and former St. Catharines resident
A Niagara concert celebrating the life of iconic Rush drummer Neil Peart will now take place nearly two years after the former St. Catharines musician died.
A Night for Neil at Meridian Centre has been delayed again because of the pandemic and will now take place Nov. 6 this year.
Peart, one of rock’s most revered drummers, died of brain cancer on Jan. 7, 2020.
Plans for a tribute concert started taking shape shortly after he died, but the entire live entertainment industry was shut down when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in midmarch last year.
The show is being organized by the Peart family, the City of
St. Catharines and the charity Overtime Angels Inc.
The show was originally planned for May 16 last year, but was bumped to Oct. 17 and then to April 17, 2021.
“This pandemic has been so in excess of what everyone expected,” said event spokesperson Donna Halper, a Boston-based writer and DJ often credited with discovering Rush.
“Given the global nature of this, it has been impossible to plan.”
Confirmed acts for the event so far include David Barrett, Brandon Dyke, Devah Quartet,
Jacob Moon, Ramona Vogue and Rush tribute acts Solar Federation and Permanent Waves.
The Nov. 6 show will go from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets for the April show will be honoured for the new date. Refunds are available at point of purchase up to 30 days prior to the show.
It will not be the first tribute show for Peart. In September, the Modern Drummer Festival hosted an online concert which featured Stewart Copeland of The Police, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Danny Seraphone of Chicago. Ticket sales benefited brain tumour research at Cedars-sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
In addition to Overtime Angels, the St. Catharines show will benefit the St. Catharines hospital and Walker Family Cancer Centre, Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre and Royal Victoria Hospital.