After touring the world many times with Rush, Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, aka Geddy Lee was now on his first book tour, promoting his memoir My Effin’ Life.

With no surprise, the crowd gathered at the Théâtre Maisonneuve on November 21 was mainly composed of seasoned Rush fans and they filled up the floor nicely. They watched the big screen in the back of the stage that displayed photos of a young Geddy, various ticket stubs and handwritten notes.

For the occasion, the special guest/interviewer was none other than Montreal’s own Jay Baruchel, a good friend of Geddy’s from past project collaboration.

This interview was very cozy and friendly, it is like we were all eavesdropping on a conversation that two friends were having at the table next to yours at the restaurant.

Jay did an excellent job guiding Geddy through this long journey, talking about his childhood, how his mother had his middle name wrong for many years, funny and embarrassing stories as well as some more serious.

We learn that he got introduced to Alex (Lifeson) in high school by none other than Canadiens player Steve Shutt.

Geddy also goes into details about being kicked out of the early incarnation of a band that consisted of himself, Alex and John Rutsy. He jokingly explained that he went to see his former band instead of going to someone called Jimi Hendrix. 

He also went into details about Neil’s audition for the band and how he was on tour, opening for KISS, opening for Nazareth in Montreal, watching Expos and Canadiens game, recording many albums at Le Studio and playing winter volleyball. All these subjects are sparkled with funny anecdotes as well as pictures shown on the screed behind them.

Geddy also touched more serious and heavy subjects like his Jewish heritage, his mother’s dementia and the last days of Neil. How him and Alex wanted to talk about his situation and Neil would change the topic and how he was stoic to the end. 

He also read a few passages from his book before taking a short break, and again, this felt so genuine and fluid. The pair returned to answer questions from the crowd. This is where we learned that the song “The Anarchist” is the hardest Rush song to play and sing at the same time. Why he changed from Rickenbacker basses to Fenders and that they tried to record “La Villa Strangiato” on the album in one take and ended up recording it in three parts. Funniest of things, Geddy then mentioned that they were able to record the video for it in one take later on.

Bottom line, this hour and a half of interaction with Geddy Lee is pure candy for a Rush fan and it really felt like talking with an old friend that wanted to share his stories with the world.

Also, don’t forget that you get a free copy of My Effin’ Life, another reason not to miss this conversation.