Geddy Lee (Rush): “Aerosmith treated us like shit”

At the time of the first albums of Rush, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson And Neil Peart they had the opportunity to open the concerts of many famous bands, among them: ZZ Top, Kiss, Blue Öyster Cult, Status Quo And Aerosmith.

They formed a particularly strong bond with the Kiss who, as they have repeated several times, treated them very well and were a source of inspiration for them in terms of professionalism during the tours. However, they did not get along with all bands, for example the Aerosmithso much so that Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson they said they treated them “like shit.”

The Aerosmith they wouldn’t let him do the soundcheck and, despite being told to wait because sooner or later they would, that promise was never kept. Tells Geddy Lee: “It was very rare in those days to get a soundcheck, as we learned from opening for Aerosmith for about two months and never getting to do it. But Kiss went out of their way to get us a soundcheck. That was a good lesson in professionalism. The supporting act has the right to be seen and to be able to do a soundcheck, if possible. Even if the supporting acts are assholes or you just don’t like their music, it’s the professional thing to do.” Herns surmised that, in his opinion, Aerosmith’s sound system was heavily loaded on overhead pylons to purposely put any supporting act at a disadvantage, leaving a minimal choice of side lights and a couple of spotlights, and in the dozen or so times we’ve been supporting acts we’ve never been given a sound check.”

In his autobiography Lee writes: “Every day we waited patiently in the stands, but it never happened. Some days we were told that we would definitely have a chance, only to have our time slip away. Then we would hear the announcement: ‘The doors will open in five minutes.’ unknown.”

Curiously, only a couple of years later, when the guitarist Joe Perry he decided to leave him Aerosmith to start his solo career, he found himself opening the concerts of Rush during the promotion of the album “Moving Pictures” of 1981. The Canadian band treated it in the best possible way. Geddy Lee told him how they had felt during their experience with him Aerosmith. After a stint on tour with the guitarist, Geddy stopped by his dressing room. She asked him if he had everything he needed. After Perry confirmed that everything was fine, Lee said, “Well, great. Because I would never want you to feel the way I felt when we were on tour with Aerosmith and I was opening for you.”

In 2015 during an interview with Rolling Stone, questioned about the accusations made by Geddy LeePerry stated that he did not remember what happened at the time regarding whether ai Rush had been prevented from doing the soundcheck. “Frankly, I don’t remember playing with Rush. The competition between bands was fierce, the competition between crews even more so, so I don’t doubt Geddy Lee’s word. They always treated us unfairly when we opened for British bands. So we always told our crew to take care of our support groups.”