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The Players

 

Dave Capodanno (Alex Lifeson) On Left
Lead and Rhythm Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitar, Background Vocals, Midi and Bass Pedals.

Over the years I have been given an arsenal of names (some pretty cool - Lerxst2, Analog Kid, that Italian Rush guy, and some I reluctantly have had to tolerate… Alex Lifeson Wannabe, Blade, Rush Nazi, Guitar Center’s biggest customer).

I remember when I was about 4 years old, a relative asking “and what instrument does David want to play when he grows up?” I quickly interjected “the guitar, of course”. So I followed through and have been playing ever since. What better way to relieve stress. Playing on eleven in the basement all the time and hearing my beloved father scream “okay, enough is enough…tell him to shut up already”! My parents quickly realized I was on a mission. Come the adolescent years (1979 – 1983) hooking up with other friends with music interests was how I chose to have my fun.

At this time I was starting to attend my first concerts. RUSH was becoming popular in high school. I recalled a number of “cool kids” in 8th grade attending a concert in support of the Hemispheres album. This made me curious. So come May of 1980 three of us set out to see Rush at the Nassau Coliseum in support of Permanent Waves. What memories! Seeing Spirit of Radio, Freewill, Natural Science and other gems performed for the first time was truly amazing. Alex had his Dutch boy haircut, Geddy with his wide rimmed glasses (I am glad there are no RUSH HOUR requirements that we actually have to look like these guys!) Anyway, the band has had such an impact on me that I have since made up my mind to spend my spare time trying to learn how to play every RUSH song ever recorded. I must add, the material these three individuals have created is music that I find impossible to get tired of. I still listen to The Camera Eye, Hemispheres, and many others with the same interest and attentiveness as always. They are a band that adapted to each decade in their 30+ career. The new material is just as good as the old. Anyway, this put me on a RUSH path that has still not ended…and its only getting better … and I’ve only just begun. Which brings us to today…

Not long ago a friend of mine (and most excellent drummer) was snooping around Craigs List when he came across an “Alex Lifeson Needed” classified ad for a Nassau based Rush Tribute. My good friend had it in his heart to think of me and prompted me to take a look. Although I have other projects going on, I figured it might be a missed opportunity or grave sin not to respond to this. So I left Bob Daniels and Gene Drum of RUSH HOUR a message and was excited when my call was returned and I was invited for an audition. The first session was extremely comfortable and I was very impressed with these guys. Here were two gentlemen that obviously have been down the same RUSH path I have been and make their tribute to the band a focus point in their life. I was very happy to be asked back for a second audition and returned with my RUSH resume in hand and eagerness to jam again. In the end, I was invited to join their team and since have been the happiest RUSH dude in the world.
 

Bob Daniels (Geddy Lee) Center
Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Synthesizers, Midi Pedals.

Bob Daniels was born and raised some 4.5 decades ago. Early on he had a love for music and that eventually grew into being a musician.
Somewhere in the pre-high school days he and a friend who had a drum set wanted to have a band. In those days the band Kiss was very popular and that is what we focused on. Next, it was time to decide what to play, so he thought hard and deducted that a rhythm guitarist had to play all 6 strings at the same time…very hard, next was lead guitar and that was one string at a time but really fast…sought of hard. Then there was the bass. WOW! Only 4 strings and not fast….he was in for sure. The next day he went to Sears (for that cutting edge Carlo Robelli model) and found a Fender Stratocaster-sized bass for $35…I’m in.

So he started learning music and the ways of a bass player, from an acoustic guitar teacher (who came to the house) woo woo. As he entered his early teens, Van Halen came on the “Scene” and noticed how cool Michael Anthony was…learning some VH and Zeppelin seemed the way to go. Then while listening to the radio he heard the opening Crotale for YYZed and the world was suddenly not flat. In his neighborhood there were many bands and bass players who he would take lessons from and learn more RUSH along with Iron Maiden and other cool bass players (Thanks Pete B. and Rich A.).

From that magical moment he know what he wanted to do, play RUSH!!!! Playing in many bands throughout high school and learning many different bands the one common factor was RUSH. He could play it, and drummers liked it. With each band Bob sang more and more, because no one else wanted to!!! Each band would play more RUSH and less of everything else and then around 1989 RUSH HOUR was born. RUSH HOUR was a three piece that the guitarist played keyboards and the bass player sang…Almost RUSH. The name stems from the fact that when we played out we only had one hour of music and for those who live hear one word… “LIE”.

Through a few personnel changes Bob started playing keyboards out of necessity and for the past 15 years has been the primary keyboard player. Thus making RUSH HOUR more like RUSH. He is proud to say that we are the only NY based 3-piece RUSH Tribute band. There are many other Rush tribute acts all of which do a fine job and he would recommend going to see (as Bob himself does).

Well so much for playing slow bass……..Maybe I should have played Rhythm…


Gene Drum (Neil Peart) On Right
Electronic Drums and Midi Sequencers

Greetings RUSH fans!!! I am Gene Drum, Drummer (or percussionist as the red name plate in front of my kit denotes so boldly) for RUSH HOUR. I have been the Drummer with the band since 1996 and still having a blast doing it. The late 60’s though out the 70’s produced some of the most diverse music styles for an aspiring Drummer. Hard Rock, Funk, southern rock, and disco were all in the mix. I remember my first drum instructor telling me “Ok Gene, for next week I want you to learn Disco Inferno “. When I voiced my opposition, he explained that you have to start somewhere. When I came back the next week and started playing the song for him, he stopped me after a few measures and said “OK, we can move on”. Wow, thank God that was over with. I would practice over and over again at home. My father would walk down to the train station with a book and read while I practiced. My mother would go bowling. It was all good, I was getting better.
I was inspired by many drummers like John Bonham, Carl Palmer, Buddy Rich (burn my sticks Rich), Jeff Pacaro on silk degrees (Boz Scaggs), Liberty Devito, and countless others. Today, I would have to include Mike Portnoy and Virgil Donati. I also found double drumming like The Grateful Dead, The Outlaws, and Genesis to be fascinating.

One day a friend asked me if I would like to see the Good Rats play in concert. When he told me they were playing with Rush, I said “count me in”. I was absolutely taken back by the show Rush put on. I started listening to Rush more and more. Any opportunity I got, I would grab my brother Mike and go to see them. We both turned into Rush fans immediately.

Jump to 1996. After a practice session with a friend playing Beatles music, we stopped at a local club for a beverage. The club had a 70’s funk tribute band (complete with afro wigs) and a good sound man. As I was checking out the sound equipment and chatting with the sound guy during a break, I mentioned that I was a drummer doing Beatles music. He told me he is a bass player and his Rush cover band is now defunct and he’s looking to reorganize it. I told him I love Rush and that I could play it. After just telling him I play in a Beatles band he looked at me like I had two heads and said, “ Ok, give me your number, I’ll call you tomorrow”. He did call the next day and we set things up for a rehearsal. We put an ad in the paper for a guitar player, found one, and off we went.