Concert Review: An Evening With Rush
This past Saturday, Rush performed at the Smirnoff Music Center in support of their 18th studio album, Snakes and Arrows. As was true for the last 10 years, Rush did not have an opening act, they played a two set show with about a 20 minute intermission, all told, they played 28 songs (7 from the new album) and entertained a packed house at the Smirnoff (capacity about 20,000) for just about 3 hours.
The show began with a video introduction that led into their 1981 hit, Limelight. They followed with Digital Man and then a song they've never played live before, from the album Permanent Waves, Entre Nous. After that, they skipped forward to the late 80's with Mission from 1987's Hold Your Fire, followed by the classic, Freewill. They ended the first portion of the show with an instrumental from the new album called The Main Monkey Business.
Next up was a video from Bob and Doug McKenzie, introducing The Larger Bowl, a thought provoking song off the new album that asks the philosophical question about why there is such disparity in the world between the haves and have nots. They followed with another more laid back song from 2002's Vapor Trails, Secret Touch. Then it was back to the classics, Circumstances and Between The Wheels (from Grace Under Pressure) and finally ending the first set with a song they've opened a few shows with, Dreamline complete with laser effects.
After about a 20 minute break, they started things up with a video intro and hit the stage again with five songs from the new album, their single, Far Cry, my personal favorite off the new album, Workin' Them Angels, Armor and Sword, Spindrift, and The Way The Wind Blows. After that, they went back to the classics with three favorites to long time Rush fans, Subdivisions, Natural Science, and Witch Hunt. It was then time for another instrumental from the new album, Malignant Narcissism.
Then it was time for one of Neil Peart's great drum solos. Neil Peart's drum solos are a thing of beauty. They are put together like musical pieces in their own right, with each tour he brings in new elements to go with past elements of his solos. For a long time Peart's kit has had electronic drums incorporated with his standard drums. This time, half way through the solo, his kit swung around to show the electronic drums (normally placed behind him) and he played a portion of the solo playing sampled computer sounds... at one point prompting my friend, Tim, to invoke Depeche Mode. And as with each of the last few, he ends his solos with a tribute to Buddy Rich by playing in the style of and along with Big Band Music.
After the solo, it was time for a quick break for Neil and Geddy Lee while guitarist, Alex Lifeson played another instrumental on a twelve-string accoustic called Hope. Then rounded out the 2nd set, with Distant Early Warning, The Spirit of Radio (referred to by Mrs. PoS as, "The Alligator Song"), and finally ending with Tom Sawyer, this time with a video intro by the South Park in which Cartman butchers the lyrics to Tom Sawyer.
After five minutes of cheering from the crowd, the band came back out and played a three song encore which included, One Little Victory, A Passage to Bangkok, and ending with the classic instrumental, YYZ.
Overall, it was a great show. Unlike some other bands, they still put out relevant music and play with a lot of energy in their live shows. The band is always tight, but in this show Alex Lifeson stood out with his flawless guitar playing. Also, in years past, Alex Lifeson's backing vocals were minimized. He might help out on one or two songs, but for the most part backing vocals were just lead singer, Geddy Lee's voice sampled along with his live voice. This time, however, he sang backing vocals on just about every song. It was a nice change that I felt added quite a bit to the show. I left the show thinking this is one of the best shows I've seen from this band who are all in their mid-fifties are still going strong after 32 years of touring. Rock on!!!!
BTW, I took a ton of pictures with my camera phone, you can see them by clicking here.