{"id":26735,"date":"2021-01-03T10:51:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T18:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=26735"},"modified":"2023-07-25T15:21:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T22:21:36","slug":"on-the-professors-throne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/on-the-professors-throne\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Professor’s Throne"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I grew up as a huge Rush fan. I got drums in high school because of Neil Peart. To this day, he\u2019s in my top three drummers of all time. I\u2019m so impressed and inspired by everything he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And somehow, I ended up on the stage at the first place I saw a rock concert – Madison Square Garden – on Neil\u2019s drum set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve played the drums since the third grade, and I was exposed to Rush around seventh grade, probably from hearing Tom Sawyer on the radio. It blew me away! I went out and got Moving Pictures<\/em> and was blown away by Neil\u2019s style. I was already into Zeppelin, KISS, Aerosmith…but there was something about his playing. The technical side, how focused it was, and how even though there was a lot of drumming going on, everything seemed to have a reason and a purpose within the band.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In eighth grade, a buddy of mine had moved from New Jersey to Florida and my parents allowed me to fly down and visit him for spring break. I was on the phone with him the night before taking my first flight ever, and he said, \u201cBy the way, do you like Rush?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love them! They\u2019re awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy older sister got us tickets. We\u2019re going straight to the concert from the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coolest thing about the trip was getting picked up at the terminal and going straight to an arena to see Rush. We had great seats, and it was amazing to be an eighth grade drummer watching one of his favorite bands play live – and so last minute!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stayed a big Rush fan throughout high school. I went to Berklee music college and ended up on tour with this guitar virtuoso named Vinnie Moore (he plays in UFO now) and JD (John DeServio, Black Label Society) on bass. We started out on low budget tours around the US in vans. We were having a blast, and it was a great time for live rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere towards the end of 1991, Vinnie\u2019s manager comes to a show and he\u2019s like, \u201cHey guys, Eric Johnson had to cancel his last two weeks of opening up for Rush. You guys are replacing him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were like, WHAT?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re playing hole-in-the-wall clubs and having a great time, but you tell us we\u2019re about to take these two vans and gear and show up in arenas? It was like a week away. There was really no preparation time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We played the first couple of shows at the Philly Spectrum, met the guys backstage, and they were really nice. We were respectful and tried to keep our distance and not be \u2018super fans\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was the night we played at Madison Square Garden that has always stuck with me. I saw my first concert there in 1979, when my dad took me to see KISS. And now I was setting up my drums on Rush\u2019s stage in front of Neil Peart\u2019s drums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was insane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was playing TAMAs on this tour, and as a kid, I had asked for TAMAs for Christmas because of Neil. My drums were now on the Madison Square Garden stage in front of Neil\u2019s kit. He had switched to Ludwig at the time, but that didn\u2019t matter. Standing on that stage, I couldn\u2019t believe it. This was a place I never thought I\u2019d be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did our soundcheck and Neil came up on stage. We talked for a minute and I asked him something about his bass drum, and Neil looked at me and said, \u201cHave you tried \u2018em?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, I haven\u2019t tried your drums yet. Of course I haven\u2019t. I\u2019m not gonna just go behind your drums and start playing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says, \u201cGo ahead!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neil stood there, chuckling, as I did fills and went around his kit. He turned on the electronic drums behind him with all the different sounds and spun the riser around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Neil stood there, chuckling, as I did fills and went around his kit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To this day, after all the things I\u2019ve done, I look back and think about how rare that was. How many people get to play their hero\u2019s kit? How many other drummers got to play Neil Peart\u2019s kit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just to watch Rush every night, to stand behind Neil\u2019s kit for those drum solos…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was inspirational to be in your early 20s and see this guy do his thing when you used to play Rush records and spend hours trying to mimic his drum solos and licks and wonder if you\u2019re doing them right or wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t really in the mindset to learn from him – I think it was too overwhelming, and too much of a fantasy. I was this kid who ended up thrown into Rush\u2019s world for a couple of weeks, playing sold out arenas. I took it in as an overall experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, I never crossed paths with him again. I was always hoping I would. But I have put on events celebrating his music, and I have several Peart replica kits (they aren\u2019t exact, but they\u2019re pretty close).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019m still so inspired by him. His solos are my favorite solos in the world. He covered the spectrum of what should be in a solo, and I try to make mine more melodic and themed so it gives the audience something to appreciate. Neil\u2019s influence is still there, in the back of my head when I\u2019m on stage: what would Neil do?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It surprises me to talk to a drummer and they aren\u2019t influenced by Neil. Even if you\u2019re not a Rush fan, anyone who hears Neil is going to appreciate what he did over the course of his career. He was always progressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the day, Rush was on the radio a lot, and they were as big as any other band. I\u2019m happy I was turned onto Neil at a young age when he was coming into a place where it seemed like he was perfecting his craft. The early \u201880s was a new level for Neil\u2019s drumming and solos. The percussion, wind chimes, wood blocks and concert toms – he used everything in his kit, and he used it so musically.<\/p>\n\n\n

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His passing hit us all so heavily. Meeting Neil and having him make me feel so comfortable in his world will be with me forever. It\u2019s the kind of experience where if you\u2019re going through tough times, it\u2019s the memories and experiences that really stick with you. Maybe it\u2019s a big moment in your career, or that time you met your idol. And if you have these big moments to think about, keep those in mind, especially if you\u2019re struggling. If I got there once in my life, this can\u2019t be the last time I get to a place like that.<\/em> Look at what you\u2019ve done and remember that you can do it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tough times are not the end. They\u2019re just a chapter in your life and you\u2019re going to keep moving on. Prove that to yourself, and keep moving forward. Some of us take chances and move on from one gig to another with no guarantees. It\u2019s our experiences that give us that bit of confidence we need to take chances.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Brian Tichy<\/h3>\n