GEDDY LEE: 'R40' Will Be RUSH's 'Last Big Tour That We're Going To Do For A While'

February 23, 2015

RUSH frontman Geddy Lee says that the band's upcoming "R40" trek will be "the last big tour that we're going to do for a while" but has stopped short of calling it "a farewell tour."

The Canadian rock legends recently announced a 34-city North American tour to celebrate their 40th anniversary (which was actually in 2014). The trek gets underway May 8 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and wraps up August 1 in Los Angeles.

Asked during an appearance on VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show" if "R40" will be effectively RUSH's "farewell" tour, Lee said: "It's very hard to answer that question for a lot of reasons. The three guys in this band have different opinions on this point — everyone's in a different space right now."

He continued: "[RUSH drummer] Neil Peart has a young child at home and he's said numerous times that it's very hard for him to leave his daughter. She needs him."

Lee added: "It's clear that we are at a point in our career that we have to slow down — and slow down dramatically. So, I'm not a guy who's in love with the farewell tour idea, but it's clear that this is going to be the last big tour that we're going to do for a while, anyway.

"In terms of 'are we still a band?' Yeah, of course we're still a band. Do we talk about writing? Yes, we talk about writing. Will we do gigs in the future? I don't see why not. But, when you are talking about a tour that's 35 shows, 40 shows, 50 shows, at our age at this point in our lives, I don't know how many of those are still left in us."

RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson told The Pulse Of Radio that the band has always considered themselves to be above all else a working live act. "As a band of three guys, we try very hard to make a big sound, and try to make sure that it fits really well together," he said. "And I'm very proud of that."

Out now is "R40", a video box set on six Blu-ray discs or 10 DVDs. The collection includes live footage from all four decades of RUSH's career, including over two hours of unreleased material, a rare performance of "2112" in its entirety, three unreleased tracks from 1974, and more.

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