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Rush 2002Aug 20 '02 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line The band has aged, but Rush still has the chops to perform live and to do it well. Rush is classic rock in its purest form. Yeah.
Dallas, Texas. August 19, 2002. Smirnoff Starplex. I first started hearing Rush in the early 80's, on the radio, in cars, and at parties. For a time, Rush was everywhere. At first, I must admit that the music seemed to me to be overly technical, erratic, and inaccessible. On one occasion, though, I heard YYZ. The song inspired a change in my perception of Rush for the better. The song is a showcase of technical virtuosity, with witty time changes, textural patterns that are dealt with an uncommon cleverness, and of course, wicked musicianship. I bought Moving Pictures, and found that upon repeated listening, the music revealed more of the same depth of intelligence that is a relative rarity in rock. I wanted to hear more. I bought every Rush record I could find. It became apparent to me that Rush had made a conscious effort to evolve over time, and to challenge its growing audience with new styles and themes with each new release. I developed a deep respect for Rush, and looked forward to the band's next record. I bought Signals, and was, at first, deeply disappointed. The band seemed to have lost an edge that it had honed to perfection with Moving Pictures. Keyboards had assumed a new prominence on Signals, and Lifeson's guitar work seemed to be ephemeral, with bizarre chording and quirky and tangential solos. Still, I found myself listening to the record more than anything else at the time, and my respect for Signals grew. I came to realize that I was experiencing the latest incarnation of a band that resolutely followed its own unique muse. Rush's audience was invited, but not required, to come along for the ride. Signals was my first Rush concert. The concept of the album came together for me, and I found a new respect for the work as it was performed along with choice selections from Rush's growing catalog. Also, to my delight, I found that Rush's technical competence was not a mere studio construct -- this band could rock. Really. By the time Grace Under Pressure was released, I knew to expect a new sound that would not mimic the style of Signals, or anything else. I was not disappointed. Grace Under Pressure explored themes of oppression, divisive global politics, and the pitfalls of technical progress with a new gestalt of understanding and expression. Grace Under Pressure was, sadly, Rush's last truly great album. Subsequent releases by Rush were seemingly less inspired. Perhaps Peart has just run out of creative energy, or, just as likely, he has dealt with his fascination with objectivism with such thoroughness that it has become impossible to say more without repetition. Even Lifeson and Lee seem to have exhausted their potential for inspired and groundbreaking sounds. This is not to say that Rush is now irrelevant. They are not. They are simply a band that has peaked creatively. Still, compared to most modern music, Rush retains its place as a band with a unique sound and philosophy. Rush is a band with smarts. Anyone who disparages rock as a genre lacking intelligence or wit does not know Rush. This was my mindset as I approached "An Evening With Rush" at the Smirnoff Starplex in Dallas. The Starplex is an odd venue. The stage and first six sections are covered, with the rear of the facility open air. A grassy berm provides ground seating beyond the covered sections. This may have accounted for the varying quality of the sound, as noted below. Geddy, Alex, and Lifeson took to the stage about 7:45, and got down to business with Tom Sawyer. The crowd was ecstatic. Lee, especially, was relaxed and seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. Wearing fatigue pants and a sleeveless t-shirt, Lee has aged well, and looks much less like an alien than he used to. The first thing that strikes you about Lifeson is how genuinely portly he has become. The hippy hair is long gone, and the goteed Lifeson could now pass as an tech-company executive. Peart was wearing his (now) trademark Chinese-style skull cap, and looked every bit his age. My seat was fifth row, center. I learned something important at this show. If you are close enough to the stage to see with the naked eye that the musicians are wearing earplugs, you are too close. The sound, during the first set in particular, was so dense and overwhelming that only the most familiar tunes were recognizable. As the show progressed, the mixing seemed to improve, and Lifeson's solos became more and more discernable from the crushing din of the band. The play list was nicely varied, with each of Rush's periods well-represented. The classics, such as YYZ, La Villa, and 2112 -- through the Temples of Syrinx -- garnered the most favorable responses from the crowd. Other high points included Early Distant Warning and Red Sector A from Grace Under Pressure. Of the more recent work, Ghostrider and The Pass were nicely performed. Surprises were few, but the band did play the lengthy Natural Science from Permanent Waves in its entirety -- an unexpected deep cut that showcased Rush's virtuosity very nicely. Again, it was Lee who seemed most relaxed during the show. Lee smiled often, and was as comfortable and confident as he has ever been. His playing has not suffered one wit with the passage of time, but his range was challenged by some of older material during the first set. During Tom Sawyer, Lee strained to produce the falsetto "but change is" line, but the word "change" failed him entirely each time it was attempted in the song. Later, Lee's vocals improved, and by the middle of the last set, he had regained most of his former register. Lifeson changed guitars with nearly every song, but still, Lifeson often seemed dissatisfied with the tuning and/or mixing, and signaled and shook his head toward his offstage crew on several occasions. His fretwork was competent, but his ambiguous demeanor was difficult to reconcile with the energy of many of the songs, and he interacted with Lee much less than in years past. Apart from a goofy interlude during La Villa, Lifeson seemed in a trance of intense concentration. Peart took to his impressive kit with a workman-like stoicism. His talents were on full display during a several-minute long solo, with an inspired tribute to big band era drumming. Peart was less flamboyant than he has been on previous tours, and even his signature stick tossing was kept to a minimum. Only during Lifeson's antics in La Villa did Peart crack a smile, or for that matter, acknowledge that he was sharing the stage. Rush closed the show with a medley of Cygnus X-1, By-Tor and the Snow Dog (without the silly lyrics) and of course, Working Man.  |
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