Did you ever harbor dreams of being a rock star? If so, you might want to read Neil Peart’s latest book, Roadshow: Landscape with Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle. It just may get you to reconsider what you think the glamorous life of a successful touring musician is in your mind’s eye. Peart has chronicled (in excruciating detail) the “life in a bubble” feeling one gets performing night after night in a big rock show. It’s a book that will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the rock group Rush because it was written by the band’s drummer. But it’s also a book that highlights the challenges of being in a band where every performance has the added pressure of being at your best.
For those who don’t know Rush’s music, it’s what some derisively call “math rock,” because of the complexity of many of the compositions. Peart is known among musicians as one of the great drummers of the genre. Because of his stature in the rock world, his complex and lightening fast drumming style attract a fair share of, um, overly enthusiastic music fans who obsessed over both his drumming and the lyrics he writes for the band. And because Peart describes himself as shy and uncomfortable when meeting fans of the band, he tends to shun the meet and greets in favor of giving fans what they came to see: Rush perform at their best during a concert.
So, you would think that giving your best night after night means you save all your energy for the show, right? Not for Peart. His idea of touring with the band is to travel from city to city on a motorcycle — while the other members of the band travel by plane (and the crew by busses and trucks).
Many musicians have a tight schedule when traveling from venue to venue on a tour and it usually involves the following: 1. Check out of the hotel 2. Get in a limo or van. 3. Go to the airport. 4. Get on a jet. 5. Get in another limo or van. 6. Go to hotel. 7. Go to soundcheck. 8. Go to hotel and maybe do some interviews. 9. Go to venue. 10. Perform. 11. Meet fans and other blood-suckers. 12. Go to hotel. 13. Sleep. 14. Check out of hotel. 15 Get in another limo or van and start the process all over again. It’s a tedious and, often times, boring existence that takes you away from your friends and family for up to a year so you can promote your latest album and, of course, play in front of an audience who is there to see you.
However, Peart decided change things up and travel by motorcycle and see parts of North America and Europe that he wouldn’t be able to see had he handed his life over to handlers on the tour. Roadshow is part memoir, part travel log, and part concert tour. It’s a book that left me wondering why anyone would put themselves through that kind of physical punishment on a daily basis — and I’m not only talking about the drumming. Peart and his friend/body guard ride an average of 500 miles a day in all sorts of weather arriving hours before a show to shower, eat, nap and do a quick soundcheck and then get ready for a three hour performance. I suppose it beats the alternative (see the traveling schedule in the paragraph above), but it’s clear that Peart starts to tire of the routine he has set up for himself toward the end of the tour.
Night after night, the band plays to dedicated fans who have remained loyal to the band for 30 years. And day after day, Peart and his buddy ride and ride North American roads that are often scenic. But after 200 pages of going on this virtual tour with the author, I was starting to feel fatigued.
There are many moments in the book that are quite funny, and many characters that they meet who are fairly colorful, but I think the reader will come away with a sense that Peart is not happy with his day job. After a while, the nightly performances become something to get through so he can reward himself with a motorcycle ride, a drink of scotch, and eat a good meal. He clearly dreads the east coast and European legs of the tour, and he often wonders if this tour will be his last. But he doesn’t feel any pangs of loss at the thought of never touring again (too busy concentrating on the nightly performance to give it much thought), and when the book finally comes to an end, I felt almost relief at not having to read about another day of travel, or the semi-joys of playing live.
For those drooling fan-boys who want to be Peart’s friend, this book is about as close as you’ll get to him. For a guy who is very awkward and shy in front of people who admire his work, he reveals quite a lot about his personal life (and has done so in three prior books). Why does he do so? Well, from what I can surmise, he wants to live down a reputation he has for being a dick:
“What a terrible thought! No doubt it was true, if only because I didn’t make myself available to all those who wanted a piece of me, but hated the idea that people who didn’t even know me could think badly of me. It rankled on my mind all that day, and remained a disturbing thought for many days after that, echoing in my thoughts sometimes as I rode through the day: “People who don’t know you think you’re a dick.” After the show, I made a journal note:
Thinking tonight how it bothers me that people should think ill of me. I give them everything onstage, every night, but some want /demand more. Another unbridgeable divide.
Humphrey Bogart quote: “The only thing I owe the public is a good performance.”
And if you”ve ever see Rush play live, you know that Peart, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson do just that. That is to say, they consistently play well night after night.
While I did enjoy this book, it didn’t match Peart’s previous book, Traveling Music — which I thought was a nicely layered look back at his life based on the music he was listening to as he traveled around the southwest part of North America. However, I would recommend Roadshow for music fans and those who are thinking of getting into the music business as a performer. Like Scott Tarow’s book One L (which chronicled his daily struggle as a first year law student at Harvard Law School) Peart’s book presents an unvarnished looked at life on the road and the large and small pressures of giving an audience what it wants while trying to have a life that is separate from one’s public persona.
7 thoughts on “Roadshow: Landscape with Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle”
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I love the term “Math Rock”, though rather than complex music, it makes me think of pocket protectors and total geeks. he he. Anyway, I was into Rush back in 9th grade, as you know, but not so much after I got out of HS. Always thought Peart was an AMAZING drummer, so it’s kind of nice to hear that he works for it, how much he practices, etc. What I don’t like is that he doesn’t like his day job. I mean, if a rock star isn’t thrilled, what chance do the rest of us peons have?
Since he’s in his 50s, I think the “thrill is gone” from long tours. And, after reading this book, I don’t blame him. It’s a tough life — even when you have roadies and “handlers” setting everything up for you so you can concentrate on the performance.
This sounds like a really interersting read. It’s funny how you think a life like that is all fun and glamour. I think I would get burned out really fast if I had to live like that.
And the comment “People who don’t know you think you’re a dick.†Interesting how that happens too. People make assumptions on your character just because you’re not stimulating to them somehow.
Is there a motorcycle theme this week? While I never got into Rush, beside listening to you play the albums, your blog is an interesting look at rock stars. Personally, I think it would be boring to play the same set of music day in and day out for years. The fans probably keep you motivated as well as the salary. It makes me glad I am a lower paid engineer. I do something different every day, so life is not boring.
I’m pretty familiar with Rush, but never got into themn enough to even know the individual names of the band members.
What a life, though, touring must be. Thrilling and yet tedious at the same time. Thanks for the review, Py!
The motorcycle theme was unplanned, but playing the same song every night for a year would get pretty boring after awhile. But when you have lights, video elements and effects timed to the songs, you really can’t change it up.
Wow fans tend to think these Stars are Gods, that have the time and energy to focus on each and everyone. But they are just humans with limits. This sounds like a good book.