Customer Reviews

Neil Peart Taking Center Stage: Lifetime of Live Performances

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Peart is nothing short of a genius, and to see this iconic MASTER sit and talk eloquently in perfect paragraph after perfect paragraph about HOW MUCH HE HAS LEFT TO LEARN is...well. It's Zen. It's sitting at the feet of the master.

Now, I've banged around on drums for about 35 years and I can do some passable percussion in really banal situations--had a great time last fall playing udu at a folk sing-a-long. I have a small electronic trap set I take my frustrations out on many evenings. But I don't have the slightest chance of being able to play anything like Peart, ever, no matter how hard I might be able to try.

So why do I find this--what amounts to an instructional video--so mesmerizing? The same thing that makes me watch Adrian Peterson play even when the Vikings are having a terrible season. Just watching someone at the top of his game, knowing that I belong to the same species as the one that produced this...wonder...is uplifting. Even if I can never do what these other people do, I can thrill vicariously at the accomplishment.

And Peart is so well-read and well-spoken that little bits of philosophy often slip out even as he holds forth on the vagaries of rock drumming. Among my favorites on this set, he said that if you make a mistake, make it again. Presumably to make it appear more intentional.

To underline my implied point: Even if you're not a drummer, just a fan of drumming, or of rock music, or hell, just excellence...this is a collection worth owning. And if there's a young person in your life, someone you wish to encourage in any endeavor, she could do a lot worse than to have the humble and hard-working Neil Peart as a role model.

I know Peart is uncomfortable being lionized, and I don't want to put him up too high on a pedestal. That sort of thing is never good for the idol, and not much good for the idolater, either. But I think it's good for humans to have examples of what we can become, given the proper virtues of patience, hard work, inquisitiveness, creativity, humility, and wisdom. When we see such virtues personified, as they too seldom seem to be, I don't think it goes far amiss for those of us who notice to call it out.

Much like the man himself, this DVD is great on many levels. Neil discusses everything around his music from the recent Time Machine Tour. Great Sound. Great footage from the tour. At 500 minutes, it's more than even this die-hard fan can handle in a single sitting, but it's just so good. After all the previous books and videos, I was wondering what else he could possibly cover and how could it be interesting. As usual, Neil is fascinating and goes beyond the mortal realm. Any Rush fan, even the non-drummers will be well entertained by this. Did I mention the sound?

Since everyone commenting on this is OBVIOUSLY a Rush and Peart fan, there's really nothing I can add that already hasn't been said.

I do have one little "tidbit" for you. Today is October 7th. Amazon shows it's not going to be released until October 18th. I got lucky and found it already on sale at Guitar Center. If you have a Guitar Center ([...]) nearby you can get your copy early. It's awesome, of course.

I'm not sure why they got an early realase of the DVD other than they're a major musical equipment retailer.

Thought you'd want to know.

A must for any Rush/Neil fan. I wish Geddy and Alex would do this same sort of thing. Disc 3 has some great extras, it took me 3 days to watch this whole box set.

It is a rather long viewing but It is done well but.....Neil Talks too much and Im a big fan.

Am I the only one that had sound and video problems with disc 2 AND 3. hAVE TO NOW SWAP IT OUT FOR ANOTHER.

NOT HAPPY

If you're a drummer, with a little experience and a few chops under your belt, and you want to rekindle the fire...get inspired....you should buy this. The Amazon price is amazing, not that your local drum shop won't meet it; it's just that I don't know retail prices except for what I see here.

Okay, chest-beating time: I've reviewed this on my website [...] but I feel that it's my responsibility to put my mouth where my money is (ie Amazon, which always gives me a fair shake) and recommend highly this 3-DVD video package. The order of the day is objectivity.I mean no disrespect when I tell you I've never been a fan of Neil Peart or Rush to any great degree. In the 1970s, when they were fledgling I was into the stirring Phil Collins drumming performance on "Cinema Show" and sought to cop his odd "odd time" fluid bar crossing. To me, Peart and band were inhabiting a place I wasn't rushing to visit. But of late, thanks to a surprise path crossing with Neil Peart at the summer drummers' camp KoSA, and to the current Peart Center Stage DVD set, I am gaining respect so rapidly it seems I'm bound and determined to make up for lost time. With this DVD set, I get (and you will get) at bargain basement prices, superb videography that is eminently drummer-friendly, smooth pacing, provocative content, and the main event (not the selling feature for me but undoubtedly for you....)unimpeachable analysis of all those lauded Peart parts for drums. Even Peart naysayers will be stirred by the man's sincere, passionate, uncontrived account of his journey to the essence of drumming. To be honest, at a couple of points along the way, the journey was wearing on my patience: "are we there yet?" I'm sure,however, that you will relish every single utterance, tweak of his drum key (his roadie's), and every single powerful, articulate roundhouse tom fills. You may well ask, and get answers to, the question, How does he strike so firmly and still coax a full, blossoming drum tone out of those toms?

If that sounds heady, consider that for a case of 24 beers and a bag of chips/crisps you get fully 3 DVDs chock full of original material, not rehashed newsreels, you'll be nursing long after the beer and treats have come and gone. And maybe you will appreciate that at least one drummer out there means something other than an apology when he claims, "I play for the song". Peart clearly stakes his life on it. For me, the money shot is the section in which he admits to the seemingly contradicting demands....composing drum parts vs improvising them. I want to stress I have no vested interest, get no points on sale of this item. It's simply a rare, quality glimpse of a drummer I believe worthy of note....and with a 30+ years track record of writing for MD and other print mags, I have a fair idea of what's sheet and shinola, pardon my boldness.

Rob and Paul at Hudson Music have outdone themselves with N. Peart/Center Stage. It's a pathway for drummers seeking to enhance the credibility of their mission. It's evidence of the dignity of their calling. And, hey, there's a whole slew of entertaining drumming that sits well with beer and potato chips. Five out of five? Definitely. Tbw

Being a huge Neil fan, I pre-ordered this on Amazon and was happy when it arrived earlier than first expected. However, it was advertised as having "behind the scenes concert footage" so I guess I expected to see how the band (as a whole, not just Niel) prepared for a concert, what there routines were etc. and was disappointed to see that other than Neil warming up on a small kit, this type of footage is not included. However, the rest of the content was just as advertised and the interviews are very well done and moderated by someone who definitely knows music (especially Rush music!), and drumming. They also shot most of the footage in some interesting locations that I recognize from reading his motorcycle touring books. I find it quite interesting that growing up, Neil was the "ultra private one" in the band who never granted interviews or tended to not show up at the "Meet and Greet" events, and now is coming out with dvds, books, etc. every year.

This is an excellent DVD, I recommend ! It's amazing to watch Neil playing the most known Rush songs. But the DVD doesn't have the Captions, even in English.

Short and sweet...if you are pondering between this package, A Work in Progress, and Anamoty of a Drum Solo...pick this one. The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because he didn't bring out the old set up to do a true time machine and perform the songs as originally played and not with the cutting corners.

Otherwise a great product.

Neil Peart is a GREAT drummer/percussionist. I like to watch him perform with RUSH and I like the drumming dvds he's put out, including, "Taking Center Stage: Lifetime of Live Performances." Any fan of RUSH will LOVE the dvd. The only problem I had with the dvd is that Neil talks too much. I'm just saying. GREAT drummer/percussionist though!