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After being a bit disappointed by the quality of the three concerts in the recent Rush Replay X3 (but not the performances), I rented the 30th Anniversary Tour titled R30 from Netflix by my favorite Canadian band.


Set List / Concert Performance The show begins with an elaborate intro with animations showcasing the many albums that the band has released over the past 30 years. Then Jerry Stiller, (yes that Jerry Stiller, Mr. Costanza! of Seinfeld, the father on King of Queens!) introduces the band!

The Spirit of the Radio I for one, was glad that the band opened with this song, because in the four other Rush Concerts that I own, I have only heard this performed four times. This doesn't count the time I saw Rush live on their Signals tour, when they opened their show with this song. Geddy Lee seems like he is getting a bit old, his voice is somewhat weaker now, and he doesn't have the same energy on this song. It's pretty easy to make the comparison too, since Rush peforms this song at EVERY concert. Nevertheless Lifeson's guitar still sounds great, as does Peart's drums and Lee's bass. Lee's heart is still in the vocals as well.

Force Ten and Animate are performed next.
Subdivisions brought me back to 82/83 when I saw them in concert. The song sounded great, and Geddy plays the keyboards on it. Earthshine was played next, and I don't recall this song, it must have been from one of their later albums, I didn't listen much after Roll the Bones. Red Barchetta brought me back into CLASSIC Rush territory, and I loved it. I still remember being a teenager and learning how to do the opening notes on my guitar. (I never learned much beyond that, and the guitar is long gone). Nevertheless, this song for me demonstrates the best thing about music, it not only has the power to entertain, but also to travel time. Hearing it, I clearly recall listening to the LP record cranked up in my room with my friends back in high school. Roll the Bones the title cut from the 1991 album of the same name was played next. I consider this to be one of their newer albums, even though its now 15 years old! It was also the last Rush studio album I purchased. The Seeker was a pleasant surprise on this concert. Fans of The Who will recognize this classic 60's song penned by Pete Townsend. Psychedelic images appeared on the screens behind the band. An interesting video animation followed in which the band appears as puppets. Another Rush classic Tom Sawyer was followed by Dreamline; Between the Wheels and Mystic Rhythms a rocking drum solo by Neil Peart. An acoustic number Resist slows the show back down a bit. Both Geddy and Alex play acoustic six string guitars. Keeping the acoustic guitars in hand, they burst into an acoustic version of the Yardbirds classic Heart full of Soul! Quite interesting! A medley of Rush classics 2112/Xanadu/Working Man delights the fans. Another song by The Who - Summertime Blues is covered. It was fun to see the band cover this cool song. Actually, this song predates The Who and was written by Eddie Cochran but The Who is the band I remember having the best cover of it. Robert Johnson's classic blues staple Crossroads (probably best known by the version done by Cream) gets the RUSH treatment next. Rush did a really good job covering the classics and hearing them sung by Geddy Lee should complete any Rush fans collection. The show closes with Limelight. The band really gave an excellent performance at this concert, and if you are looking for one DVD set that really captures the band doing songs spanning their entire career, R30 really provides a great show.


DVD Video Quality / Choreography I was pleased to see that they got this right on this DVD! The poor video quality that has marred some earlier Rush concerts looks great here. Shot in anamorphic widescreen, this is DVD quality video that fills your Wide Screen TV. The lighting is terrific, and the band is vibrant and well lit. The camera angles show close ups overhead of Neil Peart's drums, and of Lifeson's fingers flying across his Rickenbacher guitar. The concert stage is standard huge lighting affair, and the band is backed by a large video screen. Next to some huge speakers, the band does their washing and drying as well. You may think I jest, but onstage, a washer and dryer sit next to the drummer, both with spinning clothes inside. It was right next to the automated cold food dispenser.

DVD Audio Quality The concert is offered in either PCM stereo or Dolby Digital Surround. The Digital Surround creates the concert experience very well. The Rush wall of sound comes from the front left, center and front right speakers, while ambient sounds fill the rear left and rear right surround channels. The Low Frequency channel is also used to great effect, and every boom of Peart's drums can be felt as well as heard. In short, the sound of this concert is excellent, I wish some of their earlier concerts had been captured in this detail.

DVD extras The Concert described above is but ONE disc of the 2 DVD set! The second disc provides numerous extras. It is chock full of interviews, classic music clips (such as Rush on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, the show to watch for the pre MTV generation), and the band being inducted into the Rock n roll hall of fame. Myself, I get concert discs for the performances, and I felt Rush did this set right. Rather than interupt a perfectly good concert every song for an interview, they put the complete concert on one disc, and all the interviews and such on the other! That is the way to do it, I HATE concert/documentaries, that mix the two together.

The Band Rush is Neil Peart - Drums, Alex Lifeson - guitars and Geddy Lee - bass, synthesizers and vocals.

Summary Out of the Rush concerts that I have seen or own, if I had to pick just ONE, this would be the one. The production values and quality are top notch. The performance was excellent, and I liked the wide variety of songs from early Rush to fun covers of classic tunes. This Rush concert gets 5 stars.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening