FRISSONIC

How?

I mean, seriously. These guys are close to 60. You know? What are they still doing on stage?

What they do best: playing insanely incredible music.

I’ve seen some amazing bands. Muse, Tool, Silversun Pickups … Rush tops them all.

They played 2 new tracks, entitled “BU2B” and “Caravan.” Both were unbelievable. Keep in mind that these guys have been around for over 36 years. And they STILL put out amazing music. Not just amazing–phenomenal. Superb. Think of a superlative adjective. It will work.

The opening of the second set is one of the main reasons I went to the show. Moving Pictures is considered their foremost recording to date. To be sure, it stands the test of time extremely well. Released in 1981, it contains some of their best work, like “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight,” “YYZ” (one of the best instrumentals EVER), “Red Barchetta,” but then there are songs like “The Camera Eye” that are probably too long to garnish any radio time but far and away is one of the best songs they’ve ever written. “Witch Hunt” and “Vital Signs” are fantastic. There’s a reason this CD is considered a part of the rock and roll pantheon.

To hear the ENTIRE CD played live is an experience I’m sure that will never be repeated. For one, they have 19 CDs. To isolate one and continuously play it front to back at every show from here forward would, in my mind, diminish the roles of their other works. But for this tour–their “Time Machine” tour, they played every song on that CD, in the order they originally appeared.

And thanks to Steve Jobs and the Apple Family, I got it all in high def 720p. Thank you, iPhone! I will post vids when I can, but for now, know that they’re out there for the finding.

The pics aren’t the greatest, but under such low light, it’s not surprising. Some of them turned out really well though. Again, I’ll post those when I can.

They pulled out some gems for this tour, too. “Marathon” hasn’t been heard since about 1990, but “Presto” has *never* been played live … and we got to hear it!!! WHOO! “Faithless,” off of Snakes and Arrows, wasn’t played last tour, but they played it last night. One of the stand-out songs on that CD.

This is Neil’s drum solo. Shot in HD with my iPhone. I seriously love that thing. I can blog, take pics and vids and post all from the convenience of my phone.

Shot in HD with my iPhone. I seriously love that thing. I can blog, take pics and vids and post all from the convenience of my phone.

Here’s the entire set list, copied in portion from Cygnus X-1′s site:

Set One
Introduction Video – Rash: The Real History of Rush — Episode No. 2 “Don’t Be Rash” — Goofy take on The Spirit of Radio — Polka/Disco/Country Version with Alex in a fat suit, Neil as an Irish Cop and Geddy…oy, you have to see it I say…

• The Spirit of Radio
• Time Stand Still
• Presto — (with vintage magic show footage playing)
• Stick It Out — (with original Stick it Out video playing)
• Workin’ Them Angels — (same video from Snakes & Arrows tour)
• Leave That Thing Alone — (same video from Vapor Trails tour)
• Faithless — (with dream landscape video playing)
• BU2B — (with “old typewriter typing out the lyrics to the song” video playing)
• Freewill
• Marathon — (with extended guitar solo)
• Subdivisions

Intermission

Introduction Video – Rash: The Real History of Rush — Episode No. 17 “And Rock And Roll Is My Name ” — Geddy on Drums, Neil on Guitars, Alex on Bass

Note: Most songs from Moving Pictures is preceeded by a short second Monty Python-esque video featuring the Parliament Building and/or the red-suited movers in one way or another.

• Tom Sawyer
• Red Barchetta – (Ferrarri 166MM pulls up with a race car number 2112 on the door)
• YYZ
• Limelight
• The Camera Eye – (with NYC and London scenes video playing)
• Witch Hunt
• Vital Signs
• Caravan – (Steampunk theme video featuring blimps flying over a burned out world playing)
• Drum Solo (Love 4 Sale) – (Steampunk Robot Drummer video playing)
• Alex Lifeson Solo leading into…
• Closer to the Heart
• 2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx
• Far Cry — (same video from Snakes & Arrows tour)

Encore

• La Villa Strangiato — (Geddy & Alex Playing a Polka-inspired intro)
• Working Man — (With Reggae-inspired intro)

So, you can see that the set list was spread out. Some CDs weren’t represented, but when you have 19 studio albums to select from, there are going to be some neglected works, obviously.

Here’s the thing with Rush. You never know what to expect. From the opening videos all the way to the band walking off the stage after the encore … you never know what to expect. Even after the show was over, it still wasn’t over. If you’ve never seen “I Love You Man,” the movie at the end would have made no sense. Thankfully, my brother pointed that out to me, so I watched it the night before the show. Thankfully! It was hilarious. Peter Klaven and Sydney Fife. That’s all I’m going to say. HA HA HA!!

To the band, even though I’m fairly confident you’ll never read this, thank you. You guys are world-class, and I’m glad you guys keep making incredible music. We are the fortunate ones who get to indulge in your offerings for decades to come. For this, we can never repay you other than offering our heart-felt and sincerest thanks.

Here are some pics I snapped last night. Keep in mind, iPhone camera from about 25 yards away in the dark. They’re not the worst, but they’re not the best.

GOT ‘EM!!!

Section 303, row J, seats 12-14. My brother and I are going, and either my wife or an old friend. August 5th cannot get here fast enough!!! WHOO!!!

For those of you who don’t know me (read: pretty much anyone), I came on board late with the whole “Rush” thing. I actually had Presto as a Columbia House SOTM at some point in 1989, but I shelved it because I didn’t “get it.” “Yah … what’s the big deal? These guys aren’t Van Halen. Screw ‘em.” And I walked away.

About a year later, the guy across the hall from me kept playing this amazing music. “What is that?”

“You’re kidding. Right? ‘Who is this?’?!”

“Dude … it’s just a question. Don’t answer it then.”

“It’s *RUSH*. How do you not know who Rush is?!”

So then he shows me his tape collection, which was expansive. He let me borrow and copy all of it (poor college kids … what can you expect?). Between those tapes, I don’t think I swapped out anything else the rest of the semester. I drank it all in as often as I could, which, since I couldn’t have had a much worse GPA for the year, must have been pretty often.

I left for home at the end of the year, wondering if there was anything else out there of theirs. Keep in mind that this was before the advent of the people-friendly internet: I had to scour used record stores for anything I wanted. No surfing to find a complete discography on the band’s official or otherwise page. No wiki. No nothin’. Just me, car keys, and a lot of driving to various used music shops.

By the end of that summer, I had collected pretty much everything of theirs. Oh, what a music feast it was. I haven’t looked back.

Other bands have come and gone. I’ve had my dabblings with just about every genre of music with the exception of rap. My CD collection is rapidly expanding. My mp3 collection is on the verge of requiring a new hard drive. 4000+ ”CDs” in mp3 format. Close to 700 in actual hard-copy. Amongst it all, there is none that is quite so timeless as Rush’s 19 studio albums and myriad live CDs.

Yesterday, I ordered R30 and their Snakes and Arrows tour videos on blu-ray. I can’t wait to show those to my girls. They’re already in love with Muse (another timeless band that will almost certainly have their place in music history). Now it’s time to step it up and get them some serious me

Tickets for the SLC show go on pre-sale in about 50 minutes. I’m hoping to get front row, but after reading over some of the issues people have had, I don’t know if it’ll even be possible to get tickets at all.

And the prices … what?! $150 for premium seats in some locations, $70 for the same seat in other locations. Why the disparity?! And what is with the state fair gigs? New York AND Minnesota?! That’s … sort of comical. Bands like REO Speedwagon and Styx play state fairs–not Rush. At least it’s not a state fair tour.

In high school, I had some pretty bizarre taste in music. I actually had a tape of “The Sea Hags.” No lie. Quite honestly, I thought they sucked. Their lead singer sounded like someone had put his hand in a blender, but he was too strung out to care much, so he offered this pitiful, semi-screeching, gutteral muttering that just didn’t come across as worthwhile.  Truly, an awful band. After a quick googling, they actually have/had a relatively tiny cult following, comprised of mostly Bay area natives who still remember them.

Anyway, I went in search of something more substantial. I thought joining a tape club would help expand my musical interests. One of the selections of the month was Rush’s new offering, “Presto.” Mind you, this was my Senior year of high school. As of then, my only brush with Rush was some kid on the bus in 10th grade who said that Rush’s new album was great because their drummer had finally transitioned to electronic drums (an accomplishment achieved by “the mighty Alex Van Halen” with the release of “5150″ in 1986–a full year before the release of Rush’s “Hold Your Fire”). Wondering who this Rush band could be, I consciously did not send in my reply card and awaited the arrival of my selection.

To say that I was underwhelmed is like saying that Patriots fans found solace in the fact that 18-1 is still a pretty decent record for a single loss season, or as any Buffalo sports fan will tell you, “There’s always next year.” I had heard all this great stuff about them–the musicianship, the drumming, the incredible bass and guitar … nothing on this new tape lived up to the hype or pre-conceptions. Mind you, at the time, I was heavily into Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin–classic rock titans. This pop-drivel pouring out of my little rickety bedroom stereo didn’t even pale in comparison to “Dark Side” or “IV”; it hung its head in shame and slunked off into the corner to suck its thumb and whimper.

That was 1989 …

Flash foward to my first year of college. I decided to live in the dorms, where I was sure I would be surrounded by a diverse enough group to adequately augment my musical tastes. I was introduced to bands like TMBG, Nitzer Ebb, NIN, and a ton of other groups. One guy across the hall kept playing this one tape over and over, and I always heard it, but I had no idea what it was. Finally, one day around Christmas break time, I wandered over to his room when the door was open and the tape was on. “Dude … who is that?” He stared back at me with a look that said it all …

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Wish I were, now. Seriously, who is it?”

“You’ve never heard ‘Tom Sawyer?’”

“Apparently not. Again … who is that band?”

“Dude … it’s Rush. You know … ’2112,’ ‘Moving Pictures,’ ‘Permanent Waves’ …”

It took a few seconds to process, but it finally sank in. “Wait … did they have a new album out a couple of years ago with a rabbit coming out of a top hat?”

“Yah. ‘Presto.’ So you ARE familiar with them.”

“Kind of … I thought that album sucked.”

“Well, it was definitely a change of pace for them …”

“Do you have anything else by them?”

“Tons, dude. Wanna borrow them?”

“ALL of them. Please …”

In one fell swoop, I was introduced to “Caress of Steel,” “2112,” “Hemispheres,” “Permanent Waves,” “Moving Pictures,” “Signals,” and “Power Windows.” I couldn’t soak it in fast enough. It’s probably a good thing all he had were tapes and that I wasn’t aware of the concept of CD dynamic tracking; I would have been skipping around all over the place.

There was a used music store down the street a bit from campus. I trudged there in one frigid January day with some loose bills and change. I bought everything I could get my hands on. “Hold Your Fire,”  “Grace Under Pressure,” almost all the above-mentioned … I think my tape collection doubled in a single afternoon.

I haven’t looked back since. Say what you want about Geddy Lee’s voice … as a 3-piece band, they have more talent than any 5-member band (I’m looking at you, Steven and Joe …). They’ve experimented with blues, dance, pop, alternative, straight-up rock … they transcend genre.

I won’t go on about their individual accomplishments or awards … you can research that for yourself. I will say that they are heading into their 60s, and they still put out amazing music.

For the newbie to the band, I recommend cutting your teeth on “Moving Pictures,” “Hemispheres,” “Hold Your Fire,” and “Vapor Trails.” Those 4 CDs span about 25 years of style.