This is a personal project, made for the love of a band that has provided the soundtrack to my life. It is an unofficial, unendorsed effort and not intended for profit or monetization; the music and various video performances used are all obviously copyrighted but only fair use is intended.
If you enjoy the video and feel the need to express that monetarily, I suggest making a donation to the Peart Family Memorial Fund, which after his passing was created by Neil’s family to support cancer care at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre: www.rvhkeeplifewild.ca/ways-to-give/special-occasion-and-tribute-giving/peart-family-memorial-fund/
Actually, I suggest making a donation even if you don’t like the video; a good cause shouldn’t suffer because of my lackluster editing skills.
This effort was inspired by and meant to follow in the footsteps of the classic Different Stages video released in 1999, but covers a far wider range through the band’s career and includes clips spanning from the original music video in 1977 through R40 in 2015. I am not a professional video editor, or even a particularly skilled amateur one, so please forgive the imperfect finished product.
The audio (and the “baseline” video) is from the “A Show of Hands” DVD release, which I believe is the 2nd best extended live version of all their performances of the song captured on video. The even-more-extended Different Stages performance is arguably the very best one, but I wanted to avoid re-using it so as to ensure I was creating something new. And by happy coincidence, “A Show of Hands” is from the very first tour I ever saw them on, Hold Your Fire (December 7, 1987 East Rutherford NJ - Joisey represent!) - so that particular version holds special meaning for me personally.
Wherever possible I used clips from official Rush videos and DVD/Blu-Ray releases, and those include:
1977 - Official Music Video
1981 - Exit Stage Left
1983 - Grace Under Pressure
1989 - A Show of Hands
1990 - Presto tour (from the Time Stand Still bonus features)
2003 - Rush in Rio
2010 - Time Machine
2015 - R40
In a few places, however, I leaned on other Rush fans for hard-to-find clips. In particular, @RollTheFemers had a 1994 performance from the Counterparts tour that fit perfectly in a few spots, so I hope they do not mind the re-use. (I didn’t see any contact information on their channel and so could not ask permission in advance, but of course if they object please contact me at the email address in my channel’s info).
I also need to thank @tourbuslive for their video of the July 15, 2015 show at Irvine Meadows, CA - that was the last show I saw (and the 2nd to last ever) and there’s a truly great moment with Alex and Neil that I thought fit wonderfully and gave me an excuse to include a clip from “my” last show. ( I did take some video myself, but tourbuslive had a way better seat than I did!)
Finally, a huge thanks to @kimroberts6838 for capturing the final performance on July 17, 2015 at the LA Forum, and most especially the moment when Neil finally came out to center stage and took a bow with Geddy and Alex. I felt there was no better way to end this video than with that amazing and heartbreaking moment, and as with tourbuslive, Kim, please contact me if you have any objection to the use of your clip in this video.
While I hope that this version is satisfying enough to bring some joy and memories to other Rush fans, I recognize my own limitations and if there’s anyone reading this with actual video editing skills who would be interested in evolving and improving this into a more polished version, by all means please drop me a line via my email in the channel info as I’d welcome a chance to collaborate on what has been simply a labor of love from a fan who is very, very grateful for 40 years of joy from the greatest band that ever played.