Alex Lifeson: Guitarist interview

Alex Lifeson: "The documentary changed a lot of things with people's perception of the band and its history. We're seeing so many different people coming to shows and I have to say the most noticeable thing is the number of women that now come to shows. Traditionally we've been a guys' band and the only females we would see – mostly not all – were the ones that were dragged by their husbands or boyfriends.

"I think we had our smattering of actual fans but now, and I think it's been due to the documentary, probably a quarter of our audience is female. But true fans – they know the material, we can see them singing and they'll come in groups; three or four girls coming to a Rush show is crazy."

Do you think outsiders can see what the band are about more now because of the film - your sense of humour as much as your musical integrity...

"It's created a curiosity, particularly for people that thought of us in a certain way and had no interest in our music before. Suddenly this has piqued their interest – they see us as people but also, everybody in their secret heart wants to be in a rock band and here we are living the dream.

"We're older guys now but we've been doing it since we were teenagers and along the way there's this story about who we are as people. Not only as musicians but the way we function in our world, what friendship and family means. And I think a lot of people relate to that, whether they're a fan of ours or not. Suddenly there's this story that they find compelling." more

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