An Evening With Rush - August 14, 2002Aug 21 '02 (Updated Jun 05 '04) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Words just cannot describe how powerful and awesome this show is. These guys are musical marvels! High energy, hard-rockin', technically brilliant show! "Be prepared to see a bunch of this..." my co-worker joked, acting old and hunched over, miming rolling a wheelchair onto stage and starting to play a song. That's the reaction I got when I told a couple of work acquaintances that my friends and I were going to the Rush concert that night. I understand that some people may have that "old geezers" idea of Rush -- a band who released their first album in 1974 -- a band just 2 years shy of the 30th anniversary of that first album -- however the idea that they are a bunch of old fogies past their prime, attempting to re-live their past glory, couldn't be further from the truth. Now touring to promote the release of their 25th album, "Vapor Trails", the band still rocks - plain and simple. The audience was absolutely captivated for the entire 3 hour show -- but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you a bit about my history with Rush, so you know where I'm coming from with this review. I first learned of Rush when I was in middle school and the "Distant Early Warning" video aired frequently on MTV, however my parents were not fond of them and discouraged my interest. I re-discovered them a few years later in high-school, however, and have followed them ever since. I've been going to their concerts since the "Hold Your Fire" tour in 1987. I am a female, so if you are a hard-rockin' dude who might get offended by someone using the words "cute" and/or "adorable" to describe some rock idols then you might want to abandon this epinion right now. What I love about Rush is the music. Complex in both musical composition and lyrics, at times rocking, at other times haunting. I'm a music lover and have never found another band who has impressed me as much as this 3-man band from Canada. We saw Rush just outside Nashville, Tennessee at the AmSouth Amphitheatre (formerly known as the Starwood Amphitheatre -- everyone still calls it Starwood), which has a capacity of approximately 12,000 people. Concert tickets in Nashville are always fairly cheap (I suppose it is because we are "Music City" and there are always a lot of musical performances going on here). Our decent seats were $45 per ticket, grass seats were even cheaper (I know that in other cities Rush tickets were over $100 a seat). We were in the covered seats, and looking behind us we could see that the entire lawn was completely covered with concert-goers. The house was packed. I would guestimate that the crowd consisted mostly of people in their 30's and 40's, although I think just about every age was represented in the audience from the very young to the very old. Some pre-show stage observations: There were two large, square movie screens on either side of the stage, as well as a large movie-theater sized rectangle screen at the back of the stage. Neil Peart's huge drum set was there, as were three dryers. I have no idea what the dryers represented, but they appeared to be mic'ed (which we found amusing). You could see the contents of the dryers spinning -- one had something red, one something white, and the last something black inside. My husband and I got there fairly early and perused the t-shirts ($30 apiece) before finding our seats. We were sitting amongst a bunch of my friends from work, some of whom hadn't yet arrived, so I was on the lookout for them as show-time got closer and closer. There was no opening act -- as the tickets stated it was to be "An Evening with Rush" -- so as the minutes ticked away I began to worry that my friends were going to miss the beginning of the show. I was looking at my watch, worried about my co-workers, and announced to my husband that according to my watch there were only 45 seconds left until the start of the show. My husband laughed and said "Yeah, right. What band actually starts on time?" No sooner did the words leave his mouth when the lights went down and the audience started screaming. Before I go into details, let me just state that the show was absolutely mind-blowing. After a 6 year break from touring, the guys were back and stronger than ever. There just aren't words to describe how powerfully awesome they were that night! Geddy Lee, the singer, bassist, and keyboardist, looked fit and bounded around the stage with more energy than I currently have. I think his appearance is actually improving with age. Drum-legend Neil Peart looked a bit older than I remember, but with such tragedy in his life in the recent years (lost his only child, a 19 year old daughter, in a car accident; then his wife died mere months later of cancer), who can blame him? He still looked fit as well, and can still play those drums like no other man on the face of the planet. Guitarist Alex Lifeson looked a bit heavier than I remember, and is acquiring quite a bald spot on top of his head -- but he's not trying to hide it which makes me respect him even more. I've never seen Alex as animated as he was that night (more details on that below). One of the things I love about live concerts is getting to see the band-members interact with each other -- Rush just seemed to be having the time of their lives up there. I couldn't help but just love them more and more as the show went on. The show was fantastic. Now, I'm a huge fan of their studio albums because you can hear all the subtle nuances of their music, and appreciate the layers of complexity that go into their songs. Some of that always gets lost in the concert setting -- but it is more than made up for by the sheer energy generated by their live performances. A lot of times in concerts there are lulls where a large portion of the audience sits down -- that simply didn't happen during this concert. The energy level remained high and the crowd remained on their feet! As my friend from work said, "I've never seen so much air-guitar and air-drum-riffs in my entire life!" To give you an idea of how into this concert the crowd was -- a huge storm rolled through during their second set. I was in the close-to-the-stage seat area with a roof over my head, but I could see torrents of rain pouring down when I looked to the side. "Oh no!" I thought, worried that the people in the grass seats would be fleeing for their cars. I waited until the stage lights were pointed out at the audience and turned around -- to find the grass area still completely full of people. I don't think anyone left. They weathered the storm and stayed through that final, very wet hour (including the encore). Even though the amplifiers were loud (my ears were ringing mid-way through the first set), you could still hear strains of the crowd singing along with Geddy occasionally. I must admit to adding my own voice to the din the majority of the time as well. Geddy's voice was just brilliant, by the way. The sound was okay at this concert -- as mentioned my ears were shot part-way through, and during the 2nd set the wind got a bit gusty and was wreaking some havoc as well, and sometimes the sound was muddy (probably the fault of whoever was running the board, not the band-members who were playing their hearts out). The video screens alternated between live concert footage (from cameras that managed to stay out of the way very well), snips from some of their videos, and screen-saver-like filler images. My husband, who is a guitarist, appreciated the frequent close-ups on Alex's and Geddy's hands as they played their instruments. There were great angles of Neil on his drums too (although not as many as my drummer-friend would have liked). There were surprises too! The song selections were inspired -- going from one high-powered, energy-filled song to another. There was a rather high-quotient of music-only songs -- possibly to give Geddy's voice a little break every so often. Absent were some old favorites (that frequent concert-goers have already heard live a few times anyway) such as "Closer to the Heart", "Freewill", and "Red Barchetta" -- to be replaced with songs that I never thought I would get to hear in concert. Okay, here are the details: When the lights went down, the familiar strains of the Three Stooges "Hello, Hello, Hello" began, followed by the intro 3-Stooges music. Rush has used that as their opening in shows in the past, and it always brings a smile to my face - that these three rock legends think of themselves as 3 stooges just kills me. The lights were still down, but the audience could see when the 3 figures took the stage, and the screaming grew to an ear-shattering intensity. The First Set: -- Tom Sawyer I must admit that I was surprised when the lights came up to the opening riff of "Tom Saywer", probably the band's most well-down hit. This song from their 1981 album "Moving Pictures" is the one Rush song I'm officially sick of -- I'd be fine if I never heard it again, but I was actually quite thrilled that they played it first. You see, usually it is one of their very last songs, and it tends to signify the end of the concert to me. I knew that they were going to play it, so I was happy that they got it out of the way first. I may be sick of it, but they still did a great job of it, and it was a great way to kick off the concert. -- Distant Early Warning They went straight from the first song into one of my favorite Rush songs. From 1984's "Grace Under Pressure", "Distant Early Warning" is the first Rush song I really loved as a little kid. It is a great, high-energy song that just kept the crowd going. I think it was here when Geddy finally addressed the crowd for the first time. After addressing us for a bit, he said (paraphrasing) "We've got about 1000 songs to play for you, so I hope you've been to the bathroom and are wearing comfortable shoes". -- New World Man From 1982's "Signals", I was thrilled and surprised to hear yet another high-energy old song. I don't know if I expected them to be playing slower songs, or to be playing mostly newer songs, but we continued to be thrilled with the songs selected. -- Roll the Bones A more recent goodie, this song from 1991's "Roll the Bones" is always a crowd-pleaser -- mostly due to the video footage of the skeleton during the "rap" part in the middle of the song (as seen in their past few concerts). -- Earthshine This was the only song from "Vapor Trails" in the first set -- and as my favorite song on the entire album I was absolutely thrilled to hear it. Never let it be said that Rush is afraid of complex time signatures. It was absolutely fantastic! -- YYZ Always a favorite, the crowd went nuts as soon as they heard the opening drum-beats from this song from 1981's "Moving Pictures". A fabulous display of just how talented each member of this band is. -- The Pass I've always loved this song from 1989's "Presto" album, and certainly hadn't expected to hear it in concert tonight. A bit slower than the other songs played so far, I was worried that it might cause a drop in the intensity of the concert, but it was just beautifully executed and the crowd remained on their feet, loving it. -- Bravado Another slower song from 1991's "Roll the Bones", another beautiful and haunting rendition. -- The Big Money A powerful crowd-pleaser, this song from 1985's "Power Windows" had people bounding around in the aisle (until the theater-workers made them get back in their seats). The video screens displayed a new graphic -- "The Matrix"-like green numbers falling, and American money floating around. We wondered if the guys are fans of the Matrix movie. -- Between the Sun and the Moon Geddy said a few words before they went into this song from 1993's "Counterparts". He said that they had never played it in concert before, but they've had a lot of fun with it and he hoped we would indulge them. I hadn't heard the song in a while and found it to be surprisingly excellent in concert! Apparently they can do no wrong! The transcendental images played on the video screens went well with the song. -- Vital Signs Another powerful and totally excellent song. This favorite from 1981's "Moving Pictures" was masterfully played. -- Natural Science Oh yes, one of my all-time favorites from 1980's "Permanent Waves". I honestly wasn't expecting to hear so many of my sometimes obscure favorites when I bought my tickets -- I couldn't have been more thrilled! Another new video to accompany this song included DNA-double helixes. After the song ended, Geddy announced that they would be taking a 20-minute break, but that they would be back. The lights came back up and my husband left to get us some beverages. I got to chat for a little bit with my work-friends, who had been making their way to their seats when the show started. A video started on the video screens about 10 minutes into break. It was a shot of a sunrise across a plain, with some mountains in the back. Cricket sounds accompanied the video, and no one paid it much mind. With about 3 minutes to go, the crickets were getting rather annoyingly loud, then there was a loud bird-like screeching call. People really began to take notice of the screens, realizing the something was up. Finally, right before the lights went down again, there was a computer-graphics shot of pteranodon-like bird-dinosaurs getting ready to fly. Then the scene shifted to a big cartoon-ish (but still well-detailed) T-Rex walking up to the screen. He blew fire, and when he did 4 or 5 huge fire plumes went up at the back of the stage, and the 2nd half of the show began. The Second Set: -- One Little Victory Another excellent song from the new "Vapor Trails" album, "One Little Victory" was a great way to get the show going again! Another very high-energy piece. The dragon video continued to play throughout the song, with accompanying fire balls when appropriate. The dragon puffed on a cigar, then accidentally burned up his Rush back-stage passes! It was a cute character and I hope to see him again in future tours (hear me guys -- come back for future tours!!!) -- Driven A really great song from 1996's "Test for Echo", while I adore the song for some reason the video is a bit on the weird and creepy side for me. -- Ceiling Unlimited Another crowd pleaser from "Vapor Trails" -- yes, Geddy Lee's fingers really do go just that fast! -- Secret Touch I don't know why, but I was surprised to hear this song, also from "Vapor Trails". Another newie-but-goodie -- great driving rhythms that kept the crowd on their feet. -- Dreamline They've played this song from 1991's "Roll the Bones" in the past few concerts I've attended. The effect of the lasers on the ceiling lost some of their effect in the amphitheatre because the ceiling is not level, so you really couldn't follow the images. -- Red Sector "A" I've always loved this song from 1984's "Grace Under Pressure". It is a slower but very intense song, and it was accompanied by new, odd graphics of a bunch of computer-generated, shadowed guys bowing down. It helped add to the creepy feel of the song. -- Leave That Thing Alone Another all-music piece from 1993's "Counterparts". The guys continued to make song selections that show off their wide range of musical talent. -- Drum Solo I'm speechless. I'm guessing Neil's solo lasted for 10-15 minutes. That man is amazing. The drum kit spun around a couple of times during the solo -- Neil would get up, turn around, and continue to play his heart out. I know that I had a huge grin plastered on my face throughout. My co-workers marveled -- commenting that his crossovers were so fast you couldn't hardly follow what he was doing. Great camera angles from above let you attempt to follow the action. You could pick out bits from his past solos, interspersed with all new stuff. The solo culminated in some big-band music and footage on the video screen. It was unlike anything I'd seen from him before, and was totally excellent. -- Resist Neil left the stage and Alex and Geddy walked on with acoustic guitars. As they sat down Geddy joked "If you think that guy can play drums, you should see this guy", pointing to Alex, who then did a cute, silly air-drum bit. Geddy then told us that while Neil took a break, they would like to do something a little different with a song from their 1996's "Test for Echo" album. After Geddy said the "we'd like to do something a little different" part, Alex started shaking his head "no". When Geddy noticed it he asked Alex "No?". Alex continued shaking his head for a moment, then broke into a big grin to show he was joking. Geddy started to laugh, and although it was a bit hard to tell I think he called Alex a penis! It was really cute. Anyway, the acoustic version of "Resist" was fantastic. Beautifully sung and beautifully played. That song, played that way, was certainly not something I was expecting. -- Overture/Temples of Syrinx Of course the crowd went absolutely nuts when Rush started in with these much-beloved songs from their 1976 hit album, "2112". Let me add that at this concert Geddy didn't "cheat". Geddy is a fabulous singer and can sing the songs any way he pleases, but a few years ago my husband and I started calling the way he has sung "Syrinx" in past concerts "cheating". Previously he would sing "We are" in the typical voice-high-in-the-rafters octave of the studio recording, but would then take "the priests" down an octave. We don't blame him, of course, after 26 years I imagine my voice would be a bit different too. But at this concert he sang it just like he had recorded it yesterday -- voice in that screamingly-high octave the entire time. Just brilliant! -- Limelight This song from 1980's Permanent Waves will always be a favorite. Played to near studio-perfection! -- La Villa Strangiato Another instrumental (and one of my favorites) From 1978's Hemispheres. I said this is an instrumental, but Alex did some "singing" at one point. It was really great to finally be able to really hear him speak at a concert! Actually, what made it even better was the camera angle on the video screens -- it was a tight close-up of Alex's face at the mic, with Neil's face sometimes visible amongst his drums in the background. You could see usually stoic Neil cracking smiles at what Alex was saying -- it was priceless! Alex did a stream-of-consciousness type thing, talking about dreaming and getting confused (he said sometimes he starts playing the wrong song). He then rambled on about getting thoughts stuck in your head, then said bad people get stuck on bad thoughts, like Chucky Manson and his brother Marilyn (that caused a big Neil-laugh). Finally, after Alex had gone on for a while, Neil started playing the drum beats signifying that the song was about to continue -- and Alex quickly added "Oops, gotta go now! Bye-bye!" It was really adorable. -- The Spirit of Radio Another great song from 1980's "Permanent Waves". The audience went bonkers at their appointed time (when the lights hit them during the "concert hall" line). This was when you could really tell that the torrential downpour wasn't scaring anybody off -- those grass seats were packed! Geddy then thanked everyone for coming and the guys left the stage. We all knew they were coming back though... The Encore: Geddy and Alex wandered back onto stage and opened the dryers, pulling out Rush t-shirts that they then threw into the audience. -- Bytor and the Snowdog While I was thrilled to hear this song from their second album (Fly By Night - 1975), I was actually distracted from the music by the adorable video that played on the video screen. The video started with cartoon renditions of Geddy and Alex on a beach, trying to one-up each other by showing off their muscles. After a few rounds of muscle pumping, both of them exploded leaving only their feet in the sand. The camera then switched to a cartoon version of Neil Peart, who had been watching their antics. Cartoon-Neil, with a deadpan face, simply quirked an eyebrow at the fiasco. The crowd went nuts. The scene then shifted to cartoon-dog versions of Alex and Geddy, running in front of Neil. Then there was Japanese-animation, Gundam-type versions of Geddy and Alex. Just when you thought they were going to fight each other, they began having a dance contest. Eventually I believe Alex's head falls off (or it might have been Geddy's), then the other robot's head gets shot off, then you see a big foot come down and crush both heads, and the camera pans up to see Gundam-Neil who shrugs his shoulders and smirks. The crowd really had a great time with the video, which was just hysterical. -- Cygnus X-1 I'm pleasantly surprised that Rush chose to do a good portion of Cygnus X-1 from their 1977 album "A Farewell to Kings". They didn't play the entire song -- just the beginning musical section -- but it was really excellent to hear! -- Working Man How fitting to end the show with a song From Rush's 1974 self-titled debut album. Very well done. What else can I say? It was three solid hours of Rush at their finest! Of all the shows I've seen, I really do think this was my all-time favorite! There just aren't words to describe how powerful and awesome they were that night! Related Reviews: Kicking off the R30 Tour in Nashville! 5/26/2004  |
| Read all comments (5)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
