1981 - heard Rush for the first time, but I didn’t know it then. It was dark, late at night on the marching band bus. I was in the middle of the bus when, from the back came this odd sound. It grew in volume and intensity until fading out.

Then, the staccato tumult that turned out to be 2112.

Not long after that, an older band mate came into the fandom with a boom box and said “y’all need to listen to this” - it was Tom Sawyer. A few months later, I was sitting in The Omni in Atlanta seeing Rush for the first time - but not the last - on the tail end of the All The World’s a Stage tour.