Lotus Land are a Rush cover band from the Boston area whose members ? a civic hardware conductor tester, a graphic designer, and a masters? student in history ? play 15-20 shows a year along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. They formed out of love for Rush?s progressive rock, but fate also played a hand ? says singer/bassist Chris Nelson: ?All through my career, I?ve been singing in various bands, and it didn?t matter what I was singing ? U2 or The Beatles or Loverboy ? people would say, ?Man, you sound just like Geddy Lee!? ?
The band ? whose name derives from the song?Freewill ? attracts fans of all ages. Says drummer Mark Dalton, ?You get 15-year-old fans in their Rush T-shirts, and they?re really into it. Look at the price of a concert ticket now. To pay $15 to see what people perceive as a good-quality tribute band ? it?s a much cheaper night out; easier parking, easier driving ? Not that it replaces the real thing by any means.?
Given the difficulty of Rush?s material, constant rehearsal is a necessity. ?If you take a small break ? like four or five days ? it just falls apart,? says guitarist Bob Chartrand. Lotus Land?s work has paid off: on Saturday, they played at Toronto?s Hard Rock Caf?, after winning a North American-wide competition for the Rushcon fan convention. Says Nelson, ?Some Canadian bands entered; the fact that they went with us is so flattering. It?s like being asked to come up here and skate.?
On Sunday night, Lotus Land stuck around to see their heroes in their hometown for the first time. After the concert, Mike Doherty spoke with them about Rush?s first Toronto performance on their Clockwork Angels tour.
Q What did you learn from the show?
Chris Nelson ?I had a birds? eye view, and it was phenomenal to see all the triggering? (Instead of playing along to prerecorded backing tracks like many live bands, Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson trigger samples and loops to accompany them.) ?They played with such youth, such energy! They bounce around like crazy; they?re totally into what they?re doing. It must be hard to mix real acoustic strings [Rush played with a string octet] and the electric setting in an arena. It sounded great from where I was. The arrangements were awesome; The Manhattan Project was insane.?
Bob Chartrand ?This is like a recon mission. ?How are they doing it? What are they sampling?? We don?t want to sample more than they do ? that?s cheating. It?s amazing to me that at this point in their career, they?re still working that hard to put in a live show. They don?t have to. They could just have somebody behind them [playing] something. It?s refreshing.?
Mark Dalton ?I?m amazed every time how good they really are; I sometimes almost forget, and they seem to be getting better as the years go by. I gotta practice! Because [drummer] Neil [Peart] just nails it. It?s so smooth, and the energy?s good. I forget how hard he hits. I loved the shorter [of Peart?s two substantial drum solos] ? good stuff for the ?beatheads? to hear a guy banging away, and then you?ve got musical, atmospheric stuff later on.?
Q You guys know the music inside and out. Did you hear any slip-ups?
CN ?No ? on the contrary. Some of that [music] sounded like a bootleg from the ?80s that I?ve never heard. Geddy sings flawlessly. It made me a teenager again, I was so excited.?
BC ?I didn?t see or hear any screw-ups. There were a couple of minor guitar issues that Alex seems to be having ? he had them on the last tour. There was no volume [when he played] ? but it only lasts a couple seconds. When you see that, you feel the pain. That?s nothing to do with his performance, though. These guys are like gods ? it?s unbelievable. Alex is wailing more now than he did two years ago.?
MD ?I didn?t notice any screwups; I feel good that Neil?s throwing his sticks up [theatrically, in order to catch them], and throwing them way behind himself. That?s what I do most of the time ? I throw them way behind me. He did like three of those. That was good to see.?
Q They played a lot of synth-heavy ?80s material ? a controversial choice for some fans.
MD ?That?s the stuff I like. Grand Designs puts me right back in high school.?
CN ?Yeah, me too, that?s my favourite era.?
Q How about the Toronto crowd?
BC ?You could see how psyched everybody was when they played one of their hits ?people go bananas for 30-year-old songs. Especially when they?re playing the new stuff, and then going back to some of the older songs. Some of the people there cheering ? the songs are older than them. ?Oh yeah, that?s the old tune I love!? That?s before you were born! It?s amazing how long they?ve been making good music.?
Rush play on Oct. 16 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, and Oct. 18 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Lotus Land?s music can be found at lotuslandband.com.
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