Rock stops rolling for good guys of Rush
Rush: Time Stand Still
Documentary on final tour of Canadian rock band Rush. Starring Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart. Directed by Dale Heslip. Opens Thursday at major theatres. 124 minutes. PG Rock bands rarely bow out gracefully, more often succumbing to acrimony, indifference or fatal injury.
Not the progressive rockers of Toronto’s Rush — Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart — who amicably agreed last year, after more than four decades of road work, to call it a day, at least for now.
Tour doc Rush: Time Stand Still is thus unusual, bittersweet — and vital. Directed by Dale Heslip, the band’s visuals designer, it captures impeccable musicians who are still at the top of their game and still great guys and best of friends.
They’re also more popular than ever, selling out arena after arena on their summer 2015 farewell trek, performing such fan favourites as “Tom Sawyer” and “Closer To The Heart.” Yet they voted to exit stage left after their R40 tour, mainly due to wear and tear: guitarist/backup vocalist Lifeson has arthritis; drummer/lyricist Peart has tendinitis.
“The enemy here is time,” observes longtime band manager Ray Danniels, who sheepishly recalls how he once briefly fired Geddy Lee, Rush’s bespectacled lead singer, bassist and keyboard player.
The film also salutes the fans of this most brainy of bands.
“It’s the outlet for my crazy,” says Jillian Maryonovich, creative director of RushCon, a roving assemblage of Rush freaks, many of whom have attended more than100 Rush shows.
Actor Paul Rudd narrates, an inside joke for anyone who saw his Rushadoring character in the bromance I Love You, Man. Right back at ya, man: Lee, Lifeson and Peart appreciate all the love they’ve received.
And they have very funny road stories. Such as when Lifeson recalls the intense band joy at being “promoted” from driving a rented sedan to having their own station wagon: “Now I can sleep on the luggage in the back!”
Also opening: Simon Halfon’s Oasis: Supersonic, a rock doc about another durable band, opening Thursday for a one-week run at Cineplex Yonge-Dundas; and Sergio Machado’s school drama The Violin Teacher, Friday at the Carlton.