May 9, 2025: The Spirit of Rush Plays Cumming City Center
Well folks, once again, playing at the Cumming City Center was a blast! The night before, I wasn’t even sure the show would take place. The weather threatened to rain us out, but by the time I went to bed, the forecast called for cloudy skies with temps in the 70s. Perfect! I arrived the venue around 2:30, excited to see everyone. As I unloaded, the sun came out, and our sound engineer started up a playlist from the 80s that spoke to my soul! So many great songs I couldn’t help but dance. I told myself to save my energy for the show, but how could I not groove to Lou Gramm’s song Midnight Blue?
Sound check rolled on smoothly. We did a couple of songs and the mix in my ears was right on the nose! Once we wrapped up, we made our way up to the green room where we had a delicious dinner, and I started the process of hair and makeup. I’m always surprised how long it takes to be show ready!
At around 6:55pm we made our way down to the stage. People had started to fill in the amphitheater seating and my heart pounded with anticipation—I couldn’t wait to play the music I love! To amp me up even more, the song Eye of the Tiger came on the play list. Wow, what a great psyche-up tune. After that faded out, our amazing sound man Patrick made some announcements, then introduced us. We launched into The Spirit of Radio and I felt the music flow. I absolutely loved the big stage at this venue! I could run, skip, and roam as much as my heart desired.
Over the course of the night, even more folks came. The weather held up and created this warm, breezy atmosphere, with a hazy moon overhead. We played songs from all over the Rush catalog! I loved them all, but I particularly enjoyed rocking Cinderella Man, Freewill, Natural Science, Kid Gloves, Distant Early Warning, and Xanadu.
One of my favorite memories from this show was watching the little kids in the audience. There were tons of them! One little guy, a regular fan along with his parents, had made us a sign that read “We love you Spirit of Rush.” My heart melted!
As the night wound down, I shouted out to Patrick, “Do we have time for one more song or two?” The entire audience seemed to shout “Two!” He gave us the green light. We closed the night with Xanadu, and man was I in the zone! I was feeling the love of the crowd. As we rocked the final chord, they cheered and the lights came up. Long live the music of Rush!
This band and our fans make all things good in difficult times for me. Together, we bring healing and light to each other. We couldn’t be more grateful! We look forward to seeing everyone on June 20 at Red Clay, where we will do our most ambitious show yet.
See you there! In the meantime, be well and RUSH ON!
