Rush -  Beyond the Lighted Stage             9.5/10

By Jill Hughes Kirtland

*Warning: Spoiler Alert*

For one night only on June 10, 2010, selected theaters around the USA showed a documentary movie on the Canadian prog rock band, Rush. One of the few prog rock bands that have had commercial success, yet is still very much underrated.  

One screen at the Rave Theater in Center Valley, PA projected the movie, and it was a full theater – only a few seats were left empty.  Many filed into the room wearing Rush t-shirts to proclaim their fan status and cheer on the epicness of this moment.  Finally this band was getting some recognition (seriously, now where’s the Hall of Fame induction?!).

The documentary filmed by Sam Dunn created a montage of interviews with the band themselves, their family, their managers, producers, and many well-known musicians who proclaimed Rush as a major influence. It was a well-rounded portrayal of the band’s beginning (1968) to the present. 

Starting out with explaining how Rush began as a high school band playing school dances and local music venues and bars in Ontario, with John Rutsy as their drummer, the documentary really got to the heart of who these guys were as kids and how their parents were not as enthusiasm about them quitting school and becoming rock stars.  But when they finally got out of Canada, landed a label contract in the USA, and toured worldwide, everyone including their parents realized that Rush was going to make it big.  That is when Neil Peart, at that time almost unknown as a drummer, came onboard as a gangly kid who loved to read, replacing John Rutsy who had health issues and could not endure the long tours.  And the rest is history…

One of the best aspects of this documentary is the many short clips of commentary from members of KISS, Pantera, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Dream Theater, etc. Even Tenancious D’s Jack Black was interviewed adding a comedic flavor to the film.  The audience I was apart of clapped when their favorite artists came on the screen to speak about Rush.

This movie was not afraid to touch on the sensitive topics surrounding the departure of John Rutsy, the reason behind Neil Peart’s  aversion to participating in interviews or interacting with fans, and the short hiatus that Rush took in the late ‘90s while Neil grieved the death of his daughter and wife.

The other aspect of this film that I really thought was particularly great is the organization of how they touched on almost every important album release of the band’s existence and interviewed the band members Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart on why they took the albums in the directions they did.  It touched heavily on the music, not just their personal history.

Peering deep into the soul of the band, you saw how fun-loving and even humorous the trio is as they have been together for so long, creating such a strong bond that if one of them left, it would be the end of Rush.  One of the humorous quotes of the movie as seen in the trailer is when they are asked why they keep going and Alex's response is "the chicks."  Everyone knows that the prog rock crowd is not exactly crawling with women - a clear indication of this response is that I was one of the few women in the movie's audience. They also were not afraid to make fun of the fact that they were a very dorky band, and although they have had some foray into alcohol and marijuana, they are a fairly boring band and don’t party that hard.  In fact, they spent a lot of time in their hotel rooms or tour buses in between shows reading books and writing music.  They are one of the hardest working bands out there putting on hundreds of shows for each tour, and possessing 24 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records.

For any Rush fan out there who missed this on the big screen, I highly recommend this becomes apart of your DVD collection when it comes out on June 29th. Spanning a full 2 hours, this documentary will give you the insight into the band to quench any desire you had to really get to know Geddy, Alex and Neil and the story behind their band Rush.  At the very end, you may end up clapping like the movie theater audience did, showing your appreciation for a well-rounded and beautifully crafted film about an amazing band.