Normal Goings-on

[Vyn]

I'm jealous! Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow - not sure I actually know what day it is even LOL

I do know I won't be seeing Deep Purple in concert. Speaking of which, I'm seeing the buzz online that Rush's tour has kicked off with a bang and is going very well with their new drummer.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I've seen a bunch of stuff about the Rush show and what I've seen let's me believe they don't have a problem with the new drummer... she nailed it. I'm less convinced about Geddy's vocals... I've heard people say he's doing ok... but I don't know, he seems to be struggling hitting notes of even singing in tune.

[Vyn]

Same here. I've watched a few videos and Geddy is doing, just "ok". Alex seems to be a bit better than that guitar-wise, and it's hard to discern from an iphone video someone took, but he seems to having a bit of a struggle here and there with some runs and quick chord changes. Word is that he has arthritis in his hands prety bad, has been taking some treatment for them.

Their drummer, Annika, is just so on-point. Her level of playing makes the challenges the other two guys face stand out even more.

However, all three of them seem to be having a lot of fun and there seems to be real chemistry between them.

[Vyn]

Here's a pretty good comparison. Obviously, the studio version has been mixed, mastered, processed, etc. But is still a valuable artifact indicative of how well Geddy was singing and Alex was playing that geetar. Annika clearly has her own style, but keeps it tight to the source.

The last video is a brief edit showing only the drum fill part, shot up close from the front so you can see her clearly. Her breaking deportment and smiling when the crowd cheered her is fantastic, she was having a great time.


Official video of Rush playing Tom Sawyer back in the day at LeStudio:

Rush performing Tom Sawyer live on June 8th, 2026 in Los Angeles:

Short video of Rush's new drummer:

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

That was a better vocal from Geddy, not great, but not as bad as some songs I've seen.

[Vyn]

Good point about "songs". I heard him singing Closer to the Heart and it sounded like Closer to the Geriatric Farm. I'd say this is probably the last tour for him if he doesn't want to end up being a laughing stock. Wife and I saw Ronnie Milsap at a local place a few years ago, and it was horrible. Back in the day, he could sing like a bird, when we saw him he had a range of one half octave and could hit maybe two notes!

But then you consider someone like Willie Nelson, who I have never thought could sing for shit. A lot of people feel differently, but when I hear him at 90 years old out there singing, he sounds just the same as he did in 1975. Because it always sucked lol

[Zzzptm]

Johnny Cash knew age was advancing on him... but he responded masterfully, going to lower registers and taking up material where a crack or break in the voice would add to the interpretation instead of breaking it.

[Charger]

Just got back from the show...

In a word:

AMAZING!

I'm gonna go through my pictures tomorrow and post some.

We got both new singles Arrogant Boy and Diablo and both sounded KILLER live. The band was firing on all cylinders!

[Zzzptm]

Oooooh that is so good for ya, and good to know for the upcoming album!

[Vyn]

One song, four dogs and a jet plane!

[Vyn]

An old co-worker stopped by for a visit Friday. I've know her for about 12 years, but haven't seen, spoke, or even heard anything about her in about three years. It was a surprise! She had my address from an old Christmas card mailing list from work years ago, had heard about my wife, and thought she'd see how I was doing.

We always got along at work, our conversations tended to be about music and such. Turns out sometime in the past three years she got divorced/split from her significant other. Turns out that for 12 years there was something bubbling around between us that others saw...

We had a nice visit, she even cooked some food since it was around dinner time when she came over. We listened to some records. She was here for about three hours then decided it was time to leave. I walked her to the door, and when we were about five feet from said door, she initiated the goodbye hug. It was a trap. I didn't realize, up until then, that she was hiding a small nuclear power plant inside of her and after the first two seconds of socially acceptable "goobye hug time" she core dumped all of that energy right onto me.

Ten minutes later we made it to the door, with plans for her to come over the following Friday. She left.

She has a lot of great qualities...she's also one of the very few people from my previous job who had met my wife. She also crackles with electricity when I'm close to her, it's all very disconcerting, while at the same time an electrifying feeling.

It's 0800 here right now, I've been up since 0430, think I'm going to go do something I very rarely ever do...veg-out in front of the TV and probably take a nap haha.

I've asked my wife for advice, maybe she'll give me some

[Typhon]

^^^^^^
I see you have switched from posting these interactions into the "Normal Goings-on" thread, from the "Abnormal Goings-on" thread.  Makes sense, I guess.   

Well I'll say the same thing I said before.  Just change "customer" to "coworker." 

"She may be just lonely, and knowing you for some time, you being a customer and all, saw an opportunity and didn't want to let it slip by."

[Charger]

Damn Vyn!

You've had more action on the lady front since the passing of your wife than I've had in the past 30 years!

I'll do as Typhon did and quote my old message..

Vyn you Stud you! 

[Vyn]

Yeah, it's insane. And it seems to have become the norm There's at least two other women who are buzzing around the periphery, one of them wanting to come by next week and the other trying to convince me to go with her to her lake house in the ozarks for a weekend sometime soon. Both of those have been put in the "let me get back to you" folder.

Edited to add: I heard from my hair stylist, she's wanting to go have lunch at a local joint tomorrow. I agreed, will give me the opportunity to tell her what I need to tell her.

I actually have an enjoyable time in this gal's company, and her attention is flattering. But what started as a simple visit went from 0-100 in half a second, and she kept the throttle mashed all the way down. Or maybe it was me. If we hadn't pulled the emergency brake today no telling what would be going on. And it's the high-speed aspect of this that makes me wonder what's going on.

[Zzzptm]

You might want to invest in a new pair of running shoes.