{"id":645772,"date":"2026-08-19T17:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/645772\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:03:16","slug":"better-than-ezras-kevin-griffin-on-his-teenage-encounter-with-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/645772\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin on His Teenage Encounter with Rush"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn 1982, when I was 15 years old, I spent an afternoon driving two members of the band Rush<\/a> around Monroe, Louisiana, in a beat-up \u201978 Honda Civic hatchback I\u2019d proudly nicknamed the Green Barchetta. Forty years later, I managed to do it again, and it felt exactly the same.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you grew up in a small Southern town, the bands you loved didn\u2019t come to you \u2014 the closest they\u2019d get would be cities like New Orleans, Dallas, or even Jackson, Miss. I had been obsessed with Rush since I was 10 years old,\u00a0 long before Moving Pictures made them a household name.\u00a0 When that album came out, with \u201cTom Sawyer\u201d on the radio, suddenly everybody loved them. Part of me was thrilled, but another part felt like I\u2019d lost hold of a tightly kept secret.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn February 1982, a year after Moving Pictures\u2018 release, we heard news that barely seemed possible: Rush was coming to Monroe, La. As soon as we found out, my best friend, Joel Rundell, and I came up with a crazy plan. The two of us played in bands together, got into trouble together, and shared a wild amount of self-confidence. If I suggested we could simply show up at a hotel and meet our favorite rock band in the world, Joel would just ask what time I was picking him up.<\/p>\n

\n\tA friend\u2019s sister who worked at the front desk of the Holiday Inn Holidome confirmed what we\u2019d been hoping:\u00a0 Rush was staying there the night before the show.\u00a0 At sunrise on April 3, armed with several rolls of quarters, we took up residence in the hotel\u2019s video arcade, strategically located where hotel guests entered the lobby. We played Galaga, Robotron, Joust, and Tempest, and tried to keep an eye out.<\/p>\n

\n\tHour after hour passed, and nothing. Then suddenly\u2026 there they were.\u00a0 Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee walked past the indoor pool toward the lobby as casually as two businessmen headed to breakfast.\u00a0 I stood frozen, watching them walk toward us as Joel hit hyperspace on Defender, about to break the high score. I elbowed him so hard he nearly lost his game. For a few seconds, we just stared at two of the biggest rock stars in the world. \u00a0 By the time we gathered up enough courage to leave the arcade, Alex and Geddy were already outside.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tWe speed-walked out the doors and were suddenly face-to-face with our idols. \u00a0 They were polite, if understandably cautious, faced with two skinny, six-foot-plus teenagers with wild eyes. We soon learned they were waiting for a car service, but the car wasn\u2019t showing up. A good 20 minutes passed with no car, and we talked about the tour, music, guitars, and, for reasons I still can\u2019t explain, NASA.\u00a0 At one point, I offered them a ride, and they brushed it off. But after another 10 minutes, Geddy gave in: \u201cSo\u2026 where\u2019s your car?\u201d<\/p>\n

What I neglected to mention was that my car was a tired little 1978 Honda Civic hatchback that I\u2019d named the Green Barchetta, a joke inspired by Rush\u2019s \u201cRed Barchetta\u201d that I thought was absolutely brilliant. As we walked across the parking lot, I started to panic. The Honda was filthy.\u00a0 There were Sonic and Captain D\u2019s cups on the floorboards, and fast-food bags stuffed behind the seats. To their everlasting credit, Alex and Geddy didn\u2019t hesitate, and insisted they sit in the back. Joel slid in next to me, and somehow, we pulled out of the Holiday Inn parking lot with two members of Rush sitting behind us.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey wanted to stop at a health-food store for vitamins, then a sporting goods store to buy tennis rackets.\u00a0 We headed toward Twin City Mall, and with every glance in the rearview mirror, I caught myself thinking, They\u2019re actually back there.<\/p>\n

\n\tEventually, we made our way toward H Michael Sporting Goods on Forsythe Avenue.\u00a0 Walking into that place, in small-town Louisiana, with two members of Rush? It made an impression. Our friend Jim Payne was working behind the counter, and we watched his jaw drop.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Kevin Griffin<\/p>\n

\n\tAlex and Geddy headed to the tennis section while the three of us followed at a respectful distance, trying to keep cool. They selected their rackets, but there was a problem: They had to be strung, and it would take a couple of hours.\u00a0 Alex looked over at us. \u201cKevin,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you and Joel can pick these up and bring them to the venue this afternoon, we\u2019ll get you backstage passes.\u00a0 Come to soundcheck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t remember if I was able to get any words out in reply.\u00a0 We drove them back to the Holiday Inn, and as they climbed out Geddy leaned back into the car.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSee you at soundcheck,\u201d\u00a0 he said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWith the tennis rackets,\u201d Alex added, wagging a finger at us with mock seriousness.<\/p>\n

\n\tRemember, this was before cell phones, before social media, before you could immediately prove something extraordinary had happened.\u00a0 So, Joel and I did what 15-year-olds did before cell phones \u2014\u00a0 we drove around town trying to tell everyone we knew what had happened.\u00a0 Nobody believed us.<\/p>\n

\n\tBy three o\u2019clock, we were back at H Michael\u2019s, and the tennis rackets were waiting. \u00a0We sped to the Monroe Civic Center and found the loading dock, where we asked for Donovan, the tour manager.\u00a0 \u201cYou guys want to watch soundcheck?\u201d he asked. We followed him to the back of the stage and up the loading ramp. I saw road cases all over the place, crew members climbing lighting rigs, techs tuning guitars.\u00a0 Everything that looked effortless from arena seats turned out to be the product of dozens of people quietly doing their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRush walked onto the stage with the same lack of fanfare, just Geddy, Alex, and Neil headed to work.\u00a0 I looked over at Joel as they counted off a song I\u2019d never heard before.\u00a0 Months later, I\u2019d recognize it as \u201cSubdivisions.\u201d As I watched that soundcheck, rock stars suddenly stopped looking supernatural to me. I learned they argued over arrangements, made mistakes and laughed at themselves when they had to start over.\u00a0 As the mystery disappeared, I saw the craftsmanship instead, and maybe that was even more impressive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring a break, Geddy headed to one of his keyboards, and Alex walked over to us. He asked if I played guitar, and after I nodded yes, I summoned the courage to ask: \u201cCould you show me \u2018The Spirit of Radio\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe picked up his guitar and played that impossible opening riff, which I\u2019d spent countless afternoons back in my bedroom trying to decode.\u00a0 Now it was happening three feet away.\u00a0 He slowed it down, played it again and stopped. He lifted the Les Paul over his shoulder and handed it to me.\u00a0 I can still remember the weight of it. For the next few minutes, Alex Lifeson stood beside me, and painstakingly showed me how to play that riff.\u00a0 Every time I stumbled, he\u2019d laugh, and just show me again.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve been lucky enough to spend my own life making music.\u00a0 Whenever a young songwriter asks me for advice, or someone waits after a show hoping to meet me, I think about Alex handing me that guitar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe following week, the local paper, The News-Star, ran a story about two Monroe kids who\u2019d spent the day with Rush.\u00a0 We got a lot of mileage out of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tJoel and I graduated high school, and went to LSU in Baton Rouge, where we started a band called Better Than Ezra<\/a>.\u00a0 By then, we were listening to R.E.M., The Replacements, H\u00fcsker D\u00fc, and Pixies.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t trying to sound like Rush anymore, but every once in a while, we\u2019d sneak an odd time signature into a song like \u201cDesperately Wanting\u201d or \u201cKing of New Orleans.\u201d \u00a0 Rush never stopped being part of our musical DNA.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the fall of 1990, Joel died.\u00a0 One day, my best friend was there, and the next day, he wasn\u2019t. For a long time, every happy memory from my teenage years led me back to my grief.\u00a0 Even the story about Rush,\u00a0 the craziest thing that ever happened to me,\u00a0always ended with me wishing Joel were still around to tell it too.<\/p>\n

\n\tYears passed, and Better Than Ezra found an audience.\u00a0 We made records, platinum ones.\u00a0 We toured the world.\u00a0 We had songs that found their way into people\u2019s lives the way Rush\u2019s songs had found their way into mine.\u00a0 We even became part of Norm MacDonald\u2019s SNL legacy. \u00a0 And Jim Payne, the same friend who\u2019d helped Alex and Geddy buy tennis rackets that afternoon in Monroe, eventually joined Better Than Ezra.\u00a0 Every time I looked across the stage at him, I couldn\u2019t help but think how strange and wonderful life is.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the summer of 2022, my wife, Erica, walked into the kitchen and asked, \u201cWho\u2019s Alex Lifeson?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI looked up from whatever I was doing.\u00a0 \u201cThe guitarist in Rush.\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019ve been emailing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0Erica was running the Gibson Gives foundation for Gibson guitars, and Alex was coming to Nashville to announce that royalties from one of his signature Epiphone guitars would benefit Vanderbilt Children\u2019s Hospital and Room In The Inn.\u00a0 Somewhere in the planning process, they\u2019d become email acquaintances.\u00a0I tried to sound calm.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen he comes\u2026 any chance I could just say hello?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA few weeks later I found myself at the Gibson Garage in downtown Nashville. Alex finished the press conference and arrived in the green room.\u00a0 People gathered around him, but I stayed back.\u00a0 Finally, the Gibson CEO, Cesar Gueikian, brought me over. \u201cKevin has a story he\u2019d like to tell you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tI began talking.\u00a0 1982.\u00a0 Monroe.\u00a0 The Holidome. The Green Barchetta.\u00a0 The health-food store. .\u00a0 When I got to H Michael\u2019s sports, he interrupted me. \u201cWait,\u201d he said. \u201cThe tennis rackets. I remember! I remember you guys!\u201d For just a second, 40 years disappeared, and Joel was standing beside me again.\u00a0 The Green Barchetta was parked outside.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAlex and I talked for another few minutes.\u00a0 He remembered showing me the guitar part to \u201cThe Spirit of Radio.\u201d Somebody snapped a picture of us talking together.\u00a0 As other people drifted over to say hello, I stepped away, thinking there was no way this day could become any more surreal.\u00a0 Erica walked over.\u201cAlex needs a ride back to his hotel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tI laughed.\u00a0 \u201cNow you guys are fucking with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNo, really, I\u2019m serious.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tApparently, his car service or Uber had driven off.\u00a0 He needed a ride, and somehow, as improbable as it was, I was his driver.\u00a0 I went out the side entrance of the Garage toward my Tahoe parked down the street, which, again, was an absolute mess, with\u00a0golden retriever hair, water bottles, and Starbucks cups everywhere.\u00a0 I made a hopeless attempt to clean up before pulling around to the front of the Gibson Garage.\u00a0 Alex climbed into the back seat, the same spot he\u2019d occupied forty years earlier.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWe pulled into traffic, and for a minute, I couldn\u2019t think of anything to say. \u00a0 Suddenly, I wasn\u2019t the singer of Better Than Ezra.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t a hit songwriter whose songs had been performed by Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, and Train.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t a husband and a father.\u00a0 I was 15 years old again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThen Alex yelled.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWatch out!\u201d<\/p>\n

Lost in 40 years of memories, I\u2019d drifted into an intersection and nearly gotten us T-boned by a truck.\u00a0 I winced and glanced back at Alex, who looked understandably, uh, concerned.\u00a0 The hotel was only a few blocks away, and too soon we were there.\u00a0 We shook hands.\u00a0 He thanked me for the ride, and just like that, it was over. Driving home, I found myself thinking less about Alex than about Joel.\u00a0 About a friend who always said yes before he asked why.\u00a0 About all the years that had passed between those two rides.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tThis summer, Rush, with their new touring drummer, Anika Nilles, are again walking onto stages in front of thousands of people. And the moment the first chords of \u201cXanadu\u201d ring out, every person in those arenas will travel backward in time. I know where I\u2019ll end up in that moment, back one more time with two skinny 15-year-olds in a hotel arcade in Monroe, LA, feeding quarters into Galaga. One of those boys never got to grow old, and the other still sees him laughing every time he looks in the rearview mirror.<\/p>\n

\n\tBack then, we were always waiting for some magic to arrive, for the impossible to happen.\u00a0 On that one day in April 1982, against every reasonable expectation, it did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1982, when I was 15 years old, I spent an afternoon driving two members of the band…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[268],"tags":[273258,434,18,117,19,17,273259,19579],"class_list":["post-645772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-better-than-ezra","tag-celebrities","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kevin-griffin","tag-rush"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117123260043597744","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}