A band of tweens, about 60 years younger than Rush frontman Geddy Lee, is going viral online for their cover of the Canadian band’s more technically challenging songs.
A video of Twisted Fate performing “The Spirit of Radio” outside of a nail salon in Oakville recently blew up on social media, even gaining the attention of Rush who reposted the tween band’s performance ahead of their run of four sold-out shows in Toronto that began last week and continues this week. On Instagram alone, Twisted Fate’s video has garnered a million views and more than 70,000 likes.
The band is made up of four youths: singer Kalia Stapleton, 10, drummer Kai Rivers, 11, guitarist Luca Navarretta, 13, and bassist Alban Halladay, 14.
The four-piece band came together through a program called Kids Rock for Kids, a non-profit organization based out of Brooklyn, N.Y. that works to nurture young artists.
“That’s when I met Kai, Luca, and then later on, Alban, and it’s really cool just seeing everyone, like, play because they’re all so talented,” Stapleton told CP24 Breakfast.
“I love seeing Alban slapping the bass, Luca playing guitar, and Kai rocking out with the drum solo.”
Even though “The Spirit of Radio” was released in 1980, long before any member of the band was born, Rivers is a fan of the Canadian rock band. He said he first played their song at a gig at the Rivoli about seven months ago.
“I really wanted to play ‘Spirit of Radio,’ so Kalia started learning it, Luca learned it, and yes, Alban already knew it, so ... on our first rehearsal we just got it down,” Rivers said.
The band nailed the song on their sixth try playing it together, he said.
This particular Rush song is widely considered a hard song to play. Though Navarretta has been playing guitar for only two-and-a-half years, he credits hours of practice for his skill.
“Ever since I saw my older cousin play guitar, I was like ‘I want to pick it back up again,’” Navarretta said, adding that he first learned to play a few chords when he was about six years old but dropped playing for some time.
“I decided I want to play rock, so I started playing, and I started playing more and more, and it’s like more and more every day, like nine-and-a-half hours.”
Halladay said he loves how complex Rush’s songs are, commenting on how they are fun to learn because of how technical the tunes can be.
Rush has two more performances in Toronto for their “Fifty Something” tour, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday at the Scotiabank Arena.
