First time hearing Neil Peart Drum Solo - Rush Live in Frankfurt 

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The clothes dryers: years ago Geddy stopped feeding his bass through amp stacks, going directly through the sound boards, but Alex still used the huge Marshall stacks, and it made the stage look unbalanced, so Rush, being the fun loving guys they are with weird senses of humor started putting odd things on stage behind Geddy. The clothes dryers are the most often seen but they have had Rotisserie chicken cookers, popcorn machines etc.

There is a saying in the drum world, drummers use metronomes, metronomes use Neil Peart. He always acknowledged there was more to learn and that continual learning is what made him so respected!

The Professor.. the greatest musical drummer in the world. The jazz portion is triggered by him, via MIDI triggers. He's in full control of the piece. Amazing. Just second to his lyrics writing which is true poetry. We miss you Neil.

You may have caught this, but when Alexis comments on the drums shaking Neil is actually playing 3/4 time with his feet but 4/4 time with his hands. That is some SERIOUS focus, as the two body systems need to operate completely independently from each other in order to pull that one off. ...and he makes it look casual. This is one of the reasons why Neil was often described as "your favorite drummer's favorite drummer."

40 plus year fan here. I’ve seen Rush live at least 20 times and it just never gets old. Sadly, Neil was taken from us on January 7, 2020 after a 3.5 year battle with Glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive and cruel form of brain cancer. Thanks for watching this.

The drummer in the video behind Neil, is Buddy Rich. He is one of the all time great drummers, and one that Neil looked up to.

I was at a RUSH concert in 1976 and his solo as a young man was almost 20 minutes long and just as brilliant!

R.I.P to the Professor Neil Peart!!!😢.. The Greatest Percussionist/Drummer Ever!!!

It felt like I lost a best friend when Neil passed. Rush was such a huge part of my life. Rip Neil. 😢

@Burch....When you go back and watch this....note the pure joy on your face when Neil kicks into the last jazz section. When you smiled...I was like....yep...that's that feeling.

Neil Peart passed away in early 2020 before the Pandemic kicked off after a lengthy battle with brain cancer…when he passed, many of us lost a musical hero. Some interesting bits about the solo: 1) The solo was called “Pieces of Eight” for many years. 2) He used two (2) drums kits that are pieced together; one electronic kit and one acoustic kit. 3) He recorded two (2) albums in appreciation of the great jazz drummer Buddy Rich called “Burning for Buddy.” It had many drummers guest playing the project including Steve Smith (Journey) and Greg Bissonett (David Lee Roth band). 4) Peart lost his first daughter in a tragic car crash and his first wife to cancer within a year of each other in the late 1990’s. He rode his motorcycle from Canada, across the US, down to South America (you get the point) and he stopped playing for many years…until Vapor Trails was recorded in 2002. 5) Neil relearned to play the drums as a jazz drummer with the help of jazz teacher Freddy Gruber. Thanks for the time.

What was it like to see Rush perform in concert? Watch Xanadu Live from Exit Stage Left in 1981. It really showcases all of the insane multi-tasking that they are doing to make such a huge sound from just the three of them!

That's why he's the professor. Seen Rush 6 times, the first being 1981 on the Moving Pictures tour. They never disappoint. My only regret was not seeing them more in concert. Hopefully Neil and John are hanging in heaven doing drum solos and talking about their times with Rush.

I love how much of the reaction was silent awe observing the solo! LOL Don't worry., millions of us reacted the same way! Neil's drum tech is Lorne "Gump" Wheaton: Drum Tech extraordinaire! Never a cymbal out of angle, never a drum out of tune. This is a well rehearsed piece of music, repeatable and reproducible night after night by Neil, engineered to have segments that are open for a bit of improvisation but make no mistake, Neil knows every note played in that solo. And it's not a "jazz" section, but a Big Band section that is triggered by Neil hitting a pad. In terms of remembering what sounds are where, it all goes back to the collaborative effort of Neil and Lorne: Lorne loads the sample assigned to the pad, and Neil hits the pad triggering the sound when needed. All controlled via industry standard electronic percussion components. I am a lifelong student of Neil's playing and would be more than happy to provide detailed explanations around any and all questions you may have around this or any part of Neil's playing, solos or approach to drumming. Nice job Alexis and Burch!

A lot of what Neil did during the solos was tributes to drummers he admired a lot. Freddy Gruber gave Neil lessons, and specifically how to use "traditional" grip in his left hand vs "match" grip....you see it the 2nd time he goes to the snare. And the cross-over hands is a Buddy Rich trademark......Neil was jazz-influenced a lot by Buddy. You see Buddy in the ending videos, and Neil plays a part of "Cottontail" that Buddy's big band played with Neil, and it's synched'up with the Buddy vid. The greatest rock drummer to ever pick up a pair of sticks.......RIP "Professor".

There's nothing like watching a master perform. Long live the king.

RIP Neil Peart. One of the best rock drummers that ever was.

The section when Neil was using traditional grip while working just the snare where he kept moving his right arm away from the snare and moving it back was the technique "circular of motion" he learned from renowned Jazz drummer Freddie Gruber. Even at Neil's level he never stopped learning and was always a student of the instrument. Thankfully I was able to see Rush one time live on the Snakes and Arrows tour and they were incredible. Thanks for the reaction guys

That was the Professor! R.I.P. Neal!

I think Neil's mom was a spider and his dad an octopus, cuz he's gotta have 8 arms and 8 legs....RIP Professor. He only had 1 drum tech that set his kit up for him and he could definitely repeat the solo as it was constructed. He has a video titled "Anatomy Of A Drum Solo" which describes how he built this very performance that was part of each stop on the tour. Love the reaction👌If you want Rush's best piece of work, check out Xanadu live from 1981.

Through his career Neil played kits of various sizes. At one point in the 80s he was playing a kit with well over 100 percussion pieces. By the late 80s there were times when he played a very modest kit, less that a dozen pieces. The genius of the professor was that no matter how many pieces were in the kit at any time he put them to work exactly as they needed to be for the song or the album. RIP

I've seen this one a couple times. It's interesting what things Neil has in his large drum kit. Not just the conventional drums.

You two are just too funny and work so well together. Love it. One thing many people don't know is that Neal can keep different beats with his feet. Very few drummers reach that level of skill.

As a drummer for 50+ years, his independent limb dexterity is otherworldly. There is so much here to be amazed by. The thing that sticks out the most for me is early on the tambourine sound that he is doing with his left foot is in a different time signature. R.I.P. Professor You are what we drummers aspire to emulate.

Greatest drummer of our time saw him 6 times live.

I saw Rush for their Signals tour in Kansas City. We thought we had bad seats because they were almost dead on Getty's left side. But we got to see Neil crawl into his massive transported and put in place drum kit before the show and start his warm up!! Totally worth it!!

What made Neil incredible was that he made it look easy, but he always sought to be better. What a tragic loss.

The jazz part at the end Neil was paying homage to the great drummers before, Buddy Rich etc. he was also a historian, and loved the history of the drummers.

Neal Peart is not just a drummer he’s more than that….a percussionist is more accurate a description. The overall mix of instruments he used encompasses the entire percussion genre. None better and should never be forgotten so Thanks for playing this so it won’t dissolve into history.

Best drummer that has ever walked on this gdamn planet….! RIP 🪦 my hero and my master Neil 🫶🏾🙏🏾🙇🏾‍♂️…. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 👋🏾👊🏾🖖🏾

Neil had another solo that imo as a drummer I think is actually better, is called "malignant narcissism". Of course being a lifelong fan of his, he can do no wrong. And big props to you Burch for giving Clive Burr his props!!! Sadly so underrated!!

Neil was a student and the Professor of drums. He was a huge Jazz fan and Buddy Rich was his hero. Plus he wrote nearly all of Rush's songs. There will never be a better musician.

Peart was like a human rhythm machine.

Whoever your favorite drummer is , this is their favorite drummer.

Danny Carey /Pneuma by tool(Live in concert) drum cam too👍

It's not freestyle, it's a composed drum solo that he did exactly the same , every night of the tour. Neil was a machine, he put everything into his art, to the extent that it took a massive toll on his body, he used to describe drumming as like doing mathematical equations while running a marathon. I would say I miss him but as I never met him, I miss the world in which I grew up, knowing he was always there, doing the most excellent thing he could every day.

There is more different drum solos out that Neil did over the years as good if not better then the one you've just watched .Miss you Professor 🤘RUSH 🤘.Smiles 😃from 🇨🇦

This piece of music actually has a title "Der Trommler" . He also has several others, most notably, "O Baterista".

I've always loved watching his solos. I've seen them 3 times, and it always changes a bit. R.I.P. Neil Peart one of the absolute best to ever play. Check out Godsmack's drum battle. It's ridiculously good, you guys will enjoy that.

Neil Peart was a genius. He wrote all of their brilliant lyrics and played some of the best drum parts you will ever hear. He's widely regarded as the best drummer ever.

I pictured Alexis feeding Burch in a nest with that jerky!! I was crying 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😊

And if you can believe it, he was an even better human being and this world was a better place with Neil in it. And articulate… with a voice to match … boy, howdy! Find his interview with Jim Ladd from SiriusXM. One of the last he did. Rest easy Neil, nearly 4 years on, now.

You guys watched a legendary video. I’m so glad you reviewed this one. Neil was already an incredible drummer but he also just went into a deep dive and studied drumming with the greats. Which is something because the man was incredible and he just wanted to learn more, and that’s why he was the incredible drummer that he was. RIP Neil

People that are not drummers have no idea how technical and difficult the Professor's snare work is. Just amazing. Good video, glad you had a taste of Mr. Peart's genius. By the way, he will play that same solo EXACTLY the same each time he plays it. Ya, he was that good.

Neil's solo in general has a predetermined structure but he always leaves space for improvisation within the solo. This particular solo kind of takes you through the history of drumming where you start with African rhythms and then move into other sections which include big power stadium rock bringing the thunder type of drumming, drumline and of course, jazz / big band. What I find with Neil's solos is that because he mixes so many styles and they are always musical as opposed to some guy beating on a drum kit, you don't get bored while watching a long solo.

I saw this live in Miami luckily and there is a portion of the solo when he’s hitting the bases, and it sounded like a tornado or a train was coming into the arena. It was absolutely incredible.

What's more impressive is he did the same solo exactly the same every night for the tour, memorizing all the parts note for note. At the concert there were T-Shirts given from the dryers that said things like, "I got this T-Shirt from Geddy Lee's dryer". Next concert they had chicken rotisserie machines (very large, like Boston Market sized) and the crew would have chicken for dinner every night from it.

Hi! Glad you're discovering Rush; you have a lot of great music ahead of you! I've been a fan for decades; even brought "2112" into Show N' Tell when I was in 5th grade! I have also been playing drums and percussion for over 30 years and Neil is by far my favorite player so I'd like to give you some context into the story of this solo. I know fellow Rush fans are going to critique/"um actually" this but here's what I know to the best of my knowledge in the evolution of drums story Neil's telling through this solo... 5:28 - 7:30: Neil's using only the sounds of the original drums... wood blocks, hand made animal skin drums, claps, etc.; the roots of all percussion! 7:38 - 8:23: Neil's using "Double Drumming" when one player would alternate between the bass and snare because that's all they really had. 1800's-1910's... The Marching Band era 8:24 - 9:45: I wouldn't call this an era but Neil's feet are in 3/4 while his hands are in a different time. It's a master class in drumming "Independence." 9:46 - 11:00: I would say this his homage to Big Band solos from the 1930's and 40's. He does the snare work like before but this one adds toms, cowbells, splash cymbals, etc. 11:00 - 11:15: Similar to "Bonham Triplets" but Neil adds the double kick and makes them his own. 11:29 - 12:20: This is a call back to himself in the 80's because he was one of the first to add electronic pads/set of bells. It's is a nice Question/Answer part of the solo too! 12:20 - 12:38: His homage to The Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich Crosses... I could be wrong but I think this his own take on them so I always called it The Peart Cross 12:38 - End: Neil was originally a Jazz drummer so he ends with an Homage to the ones that inspired him in his early year with a big band number!!! And of course... he always ends on the Gong! As you can see I'm passionate about this. I'm sure this will get picked apart by other fans but I hope it gives you some more context into just how amazing this solo is when you give it a re-watch!

The humour of the band comes through with the dryers. Geddy said since Alex has amps stacked behind him, he wanted something too so he put dryers. The tour before that he had a vending machine and later on he had a giant chicken rotisserie called the Henhouse. Another reason why I love them is their humour.

Really glad that you all reacted to Neil. I was fortunate to see Rush 12 times (many fans saw them waaayyy more than I did), and was fortunate to photograph them live 3 of those times for a media company. I highly recommend watch Neil play the studio drum part for Vertical Horizon's "Instamatic"!! That video is amazing!!!

1 drum tech, 5 drum kits...for the first 22 years it was Larry Allen, follwed by Lorne Wheaton for the remaining years. Rush are true Canadian Icons and Legends and Neil Peart was the greatest drummer to ever walk ths planet...RIP Professor 🙏

That's Neil Peart.... the Jazz ending is fantastic, he was a big fan of jazz music (actually all music), but several years back when Rush was taking a break, despite already being one of the best drummers ever, Peart when and studied with Freddie Gruber who was a great jazz drummer, and later with Peter Erskine who is a great jazz fusion drummer.... RIP Neil Peart, saw Rush live over 60 times and the drum solos changed, and never got old....

Neil has always been considered on of the Greatest Drummer (Percussionist)s ever. His music and awesomeness continue but, he is greatly missed by many musicians.

Neil Peart: “Your favorite drummer’s favorite drummer” The best ever

Once upon a time in a former life I played drums in a local Bay Area band. Neil Peart and Carl Palmer made me realize that I could practice 24 hours a day but I would never have the hand speed. I had to content myself with just being a solid drummer. Insert tongue into cheek here...I did sing lead and and harmony on all songs however which neither Neil or Carl did.

Alexis offering to "momma bird" you was beyond funny. 😂😂

he,s keeping 2 beats with his feet and doing other things with his hands just mind melting stuff

Mr. Peart was a musical machine with a heart of gold. You should read his books.

Oh yeah let's go Neil🎉😊

Man do I miss this guy so much. The Professor, and to me, he's the GOAT. And that doesn't even get into him as a lyricist. What a loss that he's gone and all that talent with him. losing him and Eddie Van Halen really through me for a loop. Those two guys were my ultimate favorite musicians. The music world will never be the same.

Neil, Loved, Every , Moment, of it!!!! yiiii!!

RIP Professor. Peart is the drummer that pro drummers look at and say, oh, that is drumming.

The dryers/waching machine are props they placed throughout that tour. They do stuff like that. Their last tour R40 the dryers came back. I've gone to many Rush concerts and that piece he has extended through the years, but pretty much he sticks to his composition.

Great comments below on many aspects! One often missed by non-drum folks is that this is as composed as any guitar, bass or keyboard part. Each stroke is a composition; massaged, practiced, practiced, practiced.. Solos like this are not free-styling jamming... There maybe nuanced changes between performances, and ask any concert pianist about teeny errors in every performance that most folks will never hear.. But truly this is top-level composed and performed drumming artistry! Great reaction!

There is no one who was better at it than Neil. That is the master class of all drum solos. You may want to check out the DVD he made called Anatomy of a Drum Solo. He breaks down this solo and explains each segment. He also wears specialized shoes that was recommended to him by Freddie Gruber to get better sound. He was way more than a drummer. He was a percussionist. Other folks have recommended the Xanadu song from exit stage left in 1981. There's no one better. It showcases so much of what he was capable of. The Professor will never be outdone. Cheers!

"Are you sure it isn't '🍐-t' ?!" 😄 And oh man, I *love* that Jim Carrey / Ace Ventura II scene with the asparagus in his mouth! 😂

Every sound heard except the ending track, which was a section of the Count Basie standard "One O'Clock Jump," was triggered by Neil. The horns leading up to the end were programmed into the electronic drums and select foot pedals. The concentration needed to hit the right pads and pedals and keep the beat is unreal!

So Ive seen Rush a ton of times and yes they are dryers and yes they would have the roadies come and turn them on and yes they had clothes in them (tour shirts specifically they would hand out during the show). Loved seeing them live. rip Professor.

Late Neil Peart was an allround artist and musician. He will be missed!!! Rest in peace Mr Neil Peart. ❤❤❤❤✳️✳️✳️✳️❤❤❤❤

The solo is a structure he creates for each tour. Every night.

The dryers were a great prop! They were filled with RUSH tee shirts and at one point a guy dressed as a Gorilla in an orange (may have been red, I can't remember) jump suit would come out, and moving as a Gorilla would, emptied the dyers and threw the tee shirts into the crowd. They came come up with some really cool sets over the years.

May the universe bless you for your gift Neil. We love and miss you buddy

Peart "The Professor" was capable of playing 4 different time signatures between his hands and feet simultaneously. Multi-tasking. Unreal!!

The Legend, The Professor. RIP Neal. And Alexis is a perfect fit on your channel, She is funny and gorgeous. Looking forward to the next one.

The Drum Master circa 1994- Drumming has the power to unite people, no matter how varied their language or cultural background might be. On a recent trek through Africa, Neil Peart had a singular experience that proved just that. "I was in Gambia, walking through a small village, and I heard the sound of a drum. So of course I was curious! I looked into a compound and I could hear the drumming coming from a curtained room. I walked up to a woman doing laundry in front of the room. She could see my interest in the sound, so she waved me to go in. Inside I found a young, white missionary from a nearby Catholic school. Sitting across from him was the commanding presence of the local drum master. He was attempting to show the missionary how to play any kind of beat. The missionary was trying as hard as he could, but he wasn't having a lot of success." After a time the drum master, frustrated by the missionary's lack of ability, noticed the other man who had come into the room. The master had no idea who this person was, but he thought to himself, "Why not see if he can play?" According to Peart, what happened next was fascinating. "The drum master gestured to me to try and play a rhythm. So we began playing together, and he started smiling because he could tell I had a rhythm - maybe not his rhythm, but a rhythm of some kind. We were playing and playing, building the intensity, and little kids started coming in, laughing at the white man playing drums. Then a few women came into the room, and everybody began dancing to our beat! The master and I even started trading fours. It wasn't a spoken thing, but he could tell that I would lay out and listen to what he was doing for a certain amount of time, and then he would do the same. It was just a magical moment." When they finished, a confused and startled missionary ran up to Peart and asked, "How can you do that?" Chuckling to himself, Neil politely responded, "I'm in the business." World Inspiration Neil's love of bicycling and travel is well known - it's almost the stuff of legend. While on tour with Rush he's been known to avoid the tour bus and bike to the next town and venue. When not on the road with Rush, he has taken his bike to the four corners of the globe, including Europe, mainland China, and Africa. Upon entering Peart's Toronto home, one is immediately struck by the fact that this man has seen and experienced locales most people can't imagine. "Here's a prized possession of mine," he says proudly, showing a raw-metal sculpture standing about ten inches high and resembling a tribal version of Rodin's "The Thinker." "It's from Africa. It weighs about twenty pounds, and I had to carry it a hundred miles on my bike. but it was worth it." Neil's passion for authentic African art is obvious. Unique drums, with their rich, hand-carved elegance, are displayed in his home with reverence. Original Chinese gongs decorate a few of the walls. The decor hints at the fact that a drummer lives in the house, shouts at the fact that a word traveler resides there. Peart's love of travel is obvious, but does actually going to other parts of the world inspire him musically? "First of all, I think travel is very important for any person," he insists. "It's affected me enormously, and I'm sure it filters down to my work. Africa is not an abstraction to me anymore - neither is China. They're places I've experienced, places where I've met people, made friends - and just broadened my thinking. "I've written lyrics that were directly influenced by my travels abroad. In a drumming sense, I've had some interesting experiences in different countries, experiences that may not directly affect the way I play drums, but that certainly inspire my feelings about drumming. And I've gotten very interested in hand drumming. Lately I've been working on playing the djembe." One way Peart's wanderlust has directly affected the sound of his drums is through sampling. "One of the small drums I brought from China is an antique that's too fragile to play. So I took it and a few of the other delicate instruments that I own and sampled them - along with many of my other instruments like my temple blocks and glockenspiel. I've built up a huge library of sounds, and they've made their way onto our albums in many of the different patterns I play." A particular pattern Neil has recorded that demonstrates the value of "world inspiration" comes from Rush's last album, Roll The Bones. "On that record we had a song called 'Heresy' that had a drum pattern I heard when I was in Togo. I was laying on a rooftop one night and heard two drummers playing in the next valley, and the rhythm stuck in my head. When we started working on the song I realized that beat would complement it well."

You may have seen this in the comments already. When Rush performed live, it was a 3ish hour concert with no breaks and no warmup band. 3 hours of Rush. During the drum solo, Alex and Geddy were in the Green Room having a break.

At one point he had a drum stool that rotated him into position to play the next set of drums in question during as the whole kit rotated in the other direction. It was super cool. May he RIP

This is the reason that he was called the Professor and I don't think I've ever seen another drummer utilize a kit as big as Neil's. I know that Zeppelin videos are a little tricky when it comes to copyright, but if you can get around it, the 15 minute John Bonham Moby Dick solo from 1973 is worth a reaction. John proves that less can be more when it comes to the size of a drum kit. If you can't do the Bonham solo, there's a couple of Ginger Baker drum solos that are incredible as well. 🙌✌️

I don't know how anyone could watch NP and not think he is the all time greatest to ever pick up the sticks.

Thank you for attending Prof. Peart’s lecture, and I’m glad you got so much out of it. I think he makes a lot great points here, and is very creative with them. What a presentation, too! Very cool to see something new to both of you. 👍

I have to hear this drum solo at least once a month and never fails to blow my mind❤

Lakeland 1985? I was there as well. 💯🔥🍻💞 Rest easy, Neil 🙏💓

The dryers were their homage to their humble beginnings. They used to practice in basements where families would keep their washing machines and dryers. Geddy mentioned it in an interview.

I saw many a band back in the day and hated drum solos, even Bonzo. But on this occasion I have to sit back and admire true genius. RIP Neil.

I loved "which one do you think is his favourite." Great reaction!

I got the visual… eeeooowwww!!!! Guys I can’t unsee that!!!

1:28 "I'm exited to see your reaction to my reaction to reacting to this" .... That gave me a Friends throwback, lol.. "They don't know that we know they know we know"

I was fortunate enough to see this kit set up. His drum tech explained all the parts, triggers, etc. Was so cool....

Miss Alexis.... this is why Neal is called the "Professor" 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

I have seen Rush 9 times. So good he is the goat to be mentioned with John Bonham and Keith Moon all died too young. Everytime I saw him his drum kit grew. Imagine he had chimes at one time. He worked so hard to make his feet and hands independent...

Beautiful and mesmerizing. The drum solo was good too.

Absolutely..His death will be felt always..RIP NEIL..GOAT

Neil Peart was amazing. Dude is a legend. Now you need to react to his good friend and another legend, Danny Carey of Tool, playing Pneuma live. Best drum cam video ever.

Loved the jazz part at the end is what did it for me.

Rush was my 1st concert ever..... 1978.... A Farewell to Kings tour.... at the Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Ind. Neil's drum setup was massive.... and included a hallway of cowbells/chimes ... that he had to get up and walk to, to play. His solo seemed to last 15 minutes or more

Neil had ONE drum tech that put that set together every night!!

This is amazing, but I wish I knew more about percussion to truly appreciate his genius.

Neil's sense of timing was incredible. Musicians use a metronome for timing, a metronomes use Neil Peart. 😀 I never get tired of listening to Neil on the drums.

Neil wrote his solos as actual pieces of music so yes he played them exactly the same way every night.