Teenage Rush Fans - You Think YOU Had it Rough?

Back in the day (high school), liking Rush was apt to get you mocked - well, not mocked. But at least misunderstood and pigeon holed.

But if you were a teen aged Rush fan and felt like you had it bad, read this Seattle Weekly article by Nicolae White called Black Rushin. It covers growing up as a Rush fan who also happens to be a minority.

While I can't relate to the minority part, I can emphasize with these quoted passages from the story:

Neal Peart's drum set was fodder for hours of adoration and debate within my group of friends. It was bigger, shinier, and more accessorized than anyone else's—and he could play it with a level of technicality that was just incomprehensible to us. We would stare at live pictures trying to identify which piece made what sound on which song: "That's gotta be the glockenspiel!" I remember one of my friends practically getting into a fistfight with this fat loudmouth kid over the pronunciation of Neil's name. "Puurrrrt," my friend said. "Peee-urrrrt," the other kid snidely claimed. They had to be separated.

I used to try make my mom listen to Rush on my portable Panasonic cassette player... I would think to myself, "She'll love the intro to 'The Trees,' she just hasn't heard it enough."

I still try to convert the non-converted but have pretty much accepted that Rush fans are a unique and passionate breed, and maybe we don't need to have others join our little world. I appreciate Nicolae's plight and laud his commitment to the cause!