Did you know that Rush have a woman to thank for getting them started? Yep, it's true.
Rush are notorious for having a largely male audience. I can remember back to my first Rush gig - January 16th, 1988 during the 'Hold Your Fire' tour - that my friend Linda and I were one of few women in attendance. Not counting the 'I'm here with my boyfriend' contingency, who really didn't give a damn about being there otherwise. And I should point out that, as young teenagers, Linda and I relied on two other women - our moms! - to drive us to downtown Nashville to see the show. Moms who sat and had coffee somewhere while we rocked out.
We can thank Linda and her mom for getting us 2nd row seats to see the 'Counterparts' tour in Murfreesboro. What's interesting about that one is there Linda and I were - surrounded by all the male fans, and we find ourselves right behind two of them who decided to get in a fight!! After Linda got a little knocked into by one of them, another male fan (uninvolved in the fray) took exception to that and got involved on her behalf!
Then there was the time during the 30th anniversary tour where I ran into a guy I knew from the message boards (remember that Rush family I talked about?) that was sitting in about the 5th row. He had some extra seats and after the intermission, he snuck us down there. We proceeded to do our normal jamming and singing along, only to suddenly notice two gap mouthed Rush gentlemen looking at us. Puzzled, I leaned into one of them only to be told 'We've never seen Rush chicks who KNOW the lyrics before!!' Now that made me laugh, since by this point, my extended Rush family included SEVERAL women, all of whom are very devoted fans.
Anyway - I can't tell you how much fun it is to go to a gig and be, yet again, a bit of a non conformist. Because even though there are now more female Rush fans than there ever have been before, we're still a bit of an anomaly.
I can only hope I am currently rearing a future Rush fanatic - though knowing my luck, she'll decide that hating Rush is a good way to rebel against her ol' parents. LOL! Regardless - there will always be more female Rush fans coming on board because the boys are just too awesome. You never know - maybe the next 'I'm here with my boyfriend' female that I laugh at will morph herself into their biggest fan. Stranger things have happened!
It has taken me several days to compose myself to respond to this post. My eyes filled with tears as I read it. Losing my mom in 2006 was so very difficult for me, but not as difficult as watching her suffer for almost two years. Her sure will to live was an inspiration, but the little things she did in her life to support me and my friends was also inspiring. Thank you for remembering and honoring her in your post. You may have thought your post was a little thing, but to me, it meant the world. Thanks again, I am so glad to call you friend.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to call you my friend, too. I'm so happy this brought you a little joy. I loved your mom so much, as did everyone who knew her.
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