Lifestyle

What a Rush

Salem artist honors Canadian band in photos, lecture, song

By Larry Claflin Jr.
Staff writer
Published: November 6, 2008

To many, the band Rush is considered a power trio with a handful of songs on the classic-rock radio play list. In John Kane's world, the Canadian group is so much more.

Kane of Salem has been a Rush fan since 1986, when he was introduced to the band as a high school student growing up in Somerville. Since then, he's been to more than 25 concerts and is part of an intensely loyal fan base that sell out stadiums around the world even though the band has remained out of the mainstream for more than 30 years.

Kane, a multimedia artist who said Rush influences his artwork, has made the band the subject of his latest show — "Workin' Them Angels: Rush through the Camera Eye." The show will consist of photographs from the three Greater Boston area shows on the 2007/08 "Snakes & Arrows" tour. It opens at Front Street Coffeehouse in Salem on Saturday.

"I always feel inspired at a Rush show," said Kane, a drummer. "I feel inspired to create. I feel anxious when I listen to Rush. It inspires my artwork; it inspires my life — lyrically and musically."

Even though it's never been inducted to the Rock ' n' Roll Hall of Fame, Rush has 24 gold records and 14 platinum records, and sales statistics put them in fourth place, behind the Beatles, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Kane's photographed the band from front-row seats at the Comcast Center in Mansfield and the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H. The framed photos consist of black-and-white and color shots of the band, during performance and in between songs.

"I wanted to show what it was like to be at a Rush show," he said. "I was attempting to show Rush on stage from a fan's perspective — showing the whole stage experience, capturing moments of each member in downtime, (during) solitary moments."

Kane's photographs, shot with a Canon Powershot 8 megapixel digital camera, also convey the arena experience of Rush's colorful laser shows. And he includes several portraits of band members Geddy Lee (lead vocals, bass, keyboard), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drums and lyrics).

Besides being a photographer, Kane is a fine artist, illustrator and graphic designer with a BFA from the Art Institute of Boston and a master's in education, with focus on arts and learning, from Endicott College. Currently, he's enrolled in a doctorate program in arts in leadership at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire.

A triptych of portraits of Lee, Lifeson and Peart is included in "Workin' them Angels," and the framed piece is scattered with Kane's past concert stubs. None of the photos are for sale, Kane said, but he will sell fine-art posters and hold a raffle.

Professionally, Kane works in inside sales for a publishing company and is an arts and music instructor at North Shore Community College. He plays drums in The Mulligrubs, which he describes as "folk rock with a little bit of country swing."

Kane said he often finds himself watching Neil Peart with a keen sense of awareness.

"I'm watching as a student and as a fan, with rapt attention," he said. "I watch the application of music, the intense audience-to-live act connection. There's a great connection with musicianship and the fans."

Kane added that his interpretation of the band's lyrics — dealing with science, nature, other worldly experiences and science fiction — has changed as he's matured.

Fans from around Boston and New England are expected to attend the show, and Kane added one woman is on her way from Minnesota.

Many, like him, have been loyal to the band through the years.

"Rush managed to evolve their music and art," he said. "They're not afraid to change the way they play instruments and they vary their arrangements, their music."

If you go

What: "Workin' Them Angels: Rush through the Camera Eye," photos and paintings by John Kane

When: Saturday, Nov. 8, 7 to 9 p.m.

Where: Front Street Coffeehouse, 20 Front St., Salem

Info.: rushexhibit@gmail.com

Also: Lotus Land will play an after-party at Dodge Street Bar and Grill, 7 Dodge St., Salem. Show starts at 10 p.m.; $5 cover