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VIDEO: B.C. drummer plays all 175 Rush songs in 24-minute video

Performance by Brandon Toews a tribute to late Rush drummer Neil Peart
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Chilliwack drummer Brandon Toews put together a 24-minute video where he plays every single Rush song released in chronological order. Here he is with his drum setup. (Laura Scotten/ Drumeo)

A video of a Chilliwack drummer playing all 175 songs by Canadian rock band Rush has gone viral.

Brandon Toews put together an epic 24-minute tribute performance honouring the band’s late drummer Neil Peart and released it last week.

“Today marks two years since Neil Peart’s passing,” Toews wrote on social media on Jan. 7. “Neil was one of my biggest influences growing up – I remember spending hours upon hours trying to learn Rush songs like ‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘La Villa Strangiato,’ and watching all of the Rush concert DVDs over and over to study Neil’s playing.”

In the 24-minute-33-second video, Toews pounds out a few seconds of every Rush song ever released in chronological order.

The YouTube video was published through Drumeo, a music school based in Abbotsford where Toews is a content project manager and a coach. As of Thursday, Jan. 13, the video had more than 198,000 views.

Toews plays “the best parts of every single Rush song,” Drumeo stated.

Folks are calling his performance “amazing,” “simply incredible,” and “insane.”

The story was picked up by Billboard, CBC, Metal Injection, ET Canada and more.

Toews said the response has been incredible.

“It’s been so cool to see this video connecting with so many Rush fans around the world and I definitely didn’t expect it to get so much traction,” he said. “It really goes to show how great of an impact Neil had on the drumming community worldwide. It was an absolute honour and privilege to put this project together as a tribute to Neil.”

READ MORE: Neil Peart, Rush drummer, dies at 67

Chilliwack drummer Brandon Toews put together a 24-minute video where he plays every single Rush song released in chronological order. Here he is with his drum setup. (Laura Scotten/ Drumeo)
Chilliwack drummer Brandon Toews put together a 24-minute video where he plays every single Rush song released in chronological order. Here he is with his drum setup. (Laura Scotten/ Drumeo)


 

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Email: jenna.hauck@theprogress.com
Twitter: @PhotoJennalism

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27818052_web1_220113-CPL-BrandonToews-RUSH-Drumming_1
Chilliwack drummer Brandon Toews put together a 24-minute video where he plays every single Rush song released in chronological order. Here he is with his drum setup. (Laura Scotten/ Drumeo)


Jenna Hauck

About the Author: Jenna Hauck

I started my career at The Chilliwack Progress in 2000 as a photojournalist.
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