Alex Lifeson recalls when he tried to perform with Rush while stoned: “It was hard to play”
The rocker admitted to the incident during an appearance on the Strombo Show with bandmate Geddy Lee.
Image: Scott Dudelson / Getty
Alex Lifeson recently confessed to having some musical troubles while he was under the influence of marijuana during a Rush rehearsal.
In a new episode of House Of Strombo, he shared that smoking marijuana before a gig led to a complicated situation where he was unable to perform the band’s complex music properly.
“It was hard to play,” Lifeson said when he recalled the incident. “We were very disciplined when it came to shows — not even a beer during the drum solo.”
“I smoked a joint before a rehearsal once, and we jammed for about 20 minutes, like psychedelic surf music.”
“And it was so great. I was having such a great time, and then it was like, ‘Okay, let’s do the show now.’ We start playing, and it was like…everything sounded crazy, and my hands wouldn’t speak to my brain. Ged kept looking over at me like, ‘What the hell’s going on with you there?’”
Lifeson was able to push through the performance despite making countless blunders, but ultimately came away from the experience knowing what not to do the next time round.
“We were making mistake after mistake,” Lifeson said. “I couldn’t wait for it to be over. But I learned a very important lesson: Don’t smoke a joint before a gig.”
Watch the full interview below:
Earlier this month, the Canadian rocker appeared on the Rockman Power Hour podcast to speak about his new band Envy of None, as well as share his thoughts about the end of Rush after playing together for more than four decades.
“It was difficult to accept that the band was over, even though it was 41 years, and there’s no shame in it after that period of time.”
The band played their final show together in 2015 with founding drummer Neil Peart who later passed away from cancer.