- Aug 11, 2007
- 2,573
- 1
- 38
OK, so I haven't written a non-Nightwish concert review in a long time, so I'm a little rusty. And I haven't been to a Rush show in over 10 years, so I'm also a little rusty on writing Rush show reviews. So bear with me!
The good news is that it probably won't be as long as my other reviews. The operative word here is: *probably*.
Quite honestly, it is nothing short of a miracle (literally) that I got to see them on this tour. Part of the reason—no, *all* of the reason—I have not seen Rush in over 10 years is because their tickets are way expensive. Are they worth the money? Hell yes, every penny. But I don't have that many pennies anymore! Even the money I spent on the last 2 Nightwish concerts was not as much as this one Rush ticket cost. But anyway, enough of my financial troubles...I'm sure you all want to hear about the miracle that came my way which allowed me to go to this show.
However, it is because of my financial situation that I pretty much resigned myself to missing yet another Rush tour. It is nothing new for me, and I didn't give it a lot of thought. Sure, I wanted to see them on this tour because they were bringing along a strings section and I was very curious to see that for myself. But alas, money does not come easy for me, and I was still recovering from my birthday weekend with Nightwish. So I was pretty certain that Rush would come this way and I would have to pass them by yet again. And then something wonderful happened...
Shortly before I left for Nightwish, I got a message from a friend of mine at one of the Rush boards I've gone to since before I ever knew who/what Nightwish was. He asked me if I would like to go with him to the show, as the person who was originally supposed to go with him could not go or bailed out for some reason. I can't remember now exactly what the situation was. I told him that I couldn't commit to giving him an answer 'till I got back from Nightwish, because I would not know the extent of damage to my wallet until then. I considered making payments to him for the ticket if I couldn't pay in full, if he didn't mind.
When I got back from the show, I was still looking for someone who might want to go with me because I needed a way to get there in the first place! So far I was having no luck at all. Everyone I asked either had to work (as the show was on a Monday), had other plans, or just wasn't a Rush fan. I was striking out everywhere, so again, it looked like I would have to pass up the extra ticket simply because I could not find a companion to take with me so I could get there in the first place.
Oh wait, I did mention there was a miracle in here somewhere...ah yes, here it is...
So my friend called my cell phone and asked me if I'd had any luck. When I called him back, I explained what was going on so far, but I was still trying to work something out. At that point, he told me, "well, something has happened...my job has transferred me out-of-state, and I'm not going to be able to go to the show". Not only this, but his job wanted him in the new location—clear on the other side of the country—in less than a week. So he told me, there was no way he would have time to try and sell the tickets and get his money back. Would I like to have them instead? I didn't have to pay him back; I would be doing him a favor because then they would not go to waste. Someone would still be sitting in the seats! I don't think I need to tell you that I said yes?
But then there was still the matter of finding a companion, which was the very thing that was hindering me before. He told me not to worry; if I couldn't find anyone, he had someone else in mind who might want the second ticket. Come to find out that this person lives a distance away too, and when he drives into L.A., he passes the very same city where I take the bus to get into L.A. County! This was going to work out after all. Not only did I have a free ticket, but I had a ride to the show too! Happy day!
I'll never say I don't believe in miracles ever again, because one happened to me. Or, as a longtime student of astrology, I will simply say that all of the planets were aligned just right, and I was meant to go to Rush all along, whether I knew it or not.
So November 19th came, and thankfully, there was no snow or rain on the Grapevine as I made the bus ride to the county line. It was actually a very beautiful day. Some guy in the bus was taking pictures of the mountains and the scenery, and the cows grazing on the side of the road.
Once I get there, I wait inside the little "truck stop area" where we agreed to meet. I wasn't waiting very long, as maybe about 10 or 15 minutes later, my carpool companion texted me to tell me he and his son had arrived. His son wanted to go to the Rush show too, but since his dad and I were the only ones who had tickets, he was essentially coming out all this way to take a chance that seats may be available. I crossed my fingers that he'd be able to get a seat; I can't think of anything worse than a fellow fan having to sit outside the venue because they couldn't get in!
(OK, I should probably give these folks names...since I don't like to refer to everyone as "my friend", and I also don't like to give people's real names in reviews without their permission, I will just call them "RushDad" and "RushSon". Not the most creative names, but they'll do in a pinch!)
About an hour or so later, and Monday night traffic in L.A. not being half-bad, we made it to Gibson. The sights were so familiar to me; almost like deja vu, as it wasn't too long ago that I was last here. So we went down the familiar road, and sure enough, when I saw the giant cut-out of Woody Woodpecker, I remembered that this was the place we had parked when the OSA gang all came here earlier this year. It certainly saved us a few minutes, as my companions were not as familiar with Gibson and were looking for the arrows to point them the way (and it was dark, so they did not see the Woody cutout as easily or as quickly as I did!).
When we got there, I noticed outside the Saddle Ranch restaurant, there was a sign hanging outside the door just like the one earlier this year welcoming the Nightwish fans, only now it welcomed the Rush fans. I tried to get a picture of it, but as it was dark outside and a bit out of range from where we had to go, I couldn't get a good shot. So I will just say to go back to my review of Nightwish and look at the banner there, and just replace "Nightwish" with "Rush", and there you have it.
We went straight to the will call line to try and get RushSon a ticket. We had to wait about another half-hour or so before the window opened, but we got in the shortest line and was about the 2nd or 3rd person at the window. Sure enough, RushSon scored a ticket, and his seats were not bad at all! Yippee! We were all going to the show together!
Another person who called me earlier that day was another friend from the Rush board who wanted to meet up with us; I had never met him in person, but he and RushDad partied together at one of the shows in Vegas on the last tour or so. We were told that he'd be waiting for us at the Hard Rock Cafe, which happened to be just feet away from where I had eaten with the OSA gang moments before our interview! So I kinda knew where we were at this point, although we never went into the Hard Rock Cafe that day. But once we saw the giant guitar, I recognized the scenery and was glad we didn't have to travel much farther.
So I thought there were a ton of people earlier this year wearing Nightwish shirts at Universal City Walk...sorry, but they had nothing on the Rush fans! It seems like literally every single person walking through the area had a Rush shirt on. And everyone who walked past complimented each other on their Rush t-shirts! I can't recall any strangers complimenting any of our shirts at Nightwish, and I was wearing an *Oceanborn*-era shirt then, for Christ's sake! Not like you see those every day in the U.S.! Anyway, I am no stranger to the knowledge that Rush fans all treat each other like long-lost family members, so the fact that every person I ran into told me I had a nice shirt (as I did to them), it was not a surprise. I think it was more a surprise that people with cooler shirts than mine would take the time to compliment me!
Anyway, we got to the Hard Rock, and it was SO crowded! Our friend (let's call him RushBuddy) was meeting us at the bar; good thing, too, because a wait for a table was 30 minutes or more! When we got there, Rush was blasting on the speakers, so the Hard Rock definitely knew their clientele! It was fun meeting up with other Rush fans, although maybe some of them are a little too friendly! At one point, RushSon and I were just hanging out minding our own business, and this guy totally drunk off his ass wants to slap everyone a hi-five wearing a Rush shirt. Nothing wrong with that, but he was totally drunk! I didn't think he'd have the wherewithal to make it to the show!
Anyway, he comes up to me like he knows me, which I always sort of treat with a jaundiced eye. Nothing wrong with politeness, but I guess I am like Neil's lyric "I can't pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend". Especially a drunk one. He wasn't rude and didn't act out of sorts, but when a drunk person comes up to you and a 15-year-old kid and tells you that he loves you...well, I don't need that much love in my life, thanks! Hope you make it to the show and you have a nice time, but I'm sure there are other Rush fans in the house you haven't slapped a hi-five to yet. On with you.
Time flies when you are having fun and warding off drunks, because before long we checked our watches and saw that we had about 45 minutes 'till the show, and we still hadn't had anything to eat! RushDad had a beer with RushBuddy, but none of us wanted to pay the sky-high prices at the Hard Rock, so we went right outside and I remembered the place where I had eaten before the Tuomas interview, which was right on the floor above us. At least we didn't need to walk far!
Oh, and you didn't think any review would be complete without an elevator story? Yes, there was another elevator story, but this time I had nothing to do with it (well, other than being there!). We were getting into the elevator, and this very impatient lady with a baby stroller kept making us come back down to the 1st floor because she kept pushing the button. And then she would yell at us because we hadn't gotten off the elevator yet! We're like, "if you'd let us ride up to the next floor, maybe we would get there already!" Some people!
We had to eat standing up, since by the time we got situated, we had maybe about 20 minutes before showtime, and we wanted to get there with enough time to get into our seats. So we hauled ass down City Walk and to the venue, which I had not seen from the front until then. Once again I went down the familiar wheelchair lifts, of which there are 3 of them. We get to our section, and what do you know? I'm in the exact same area where I sat for Nightwish, only this time I'm in the 6th or 7th row! (To give you a perspective, it's "Tuomas' side" of the stage, only tonight it's Alex Lifeson's side of the stage.)
Our seats are f*ckin amazing, we are so close that I feel inclined to pinch myself and wonder if I am dreaming. I couldn't wait to take pictures!
Not only does Rush put on one hell of a show (as you will find out soon enough), but they are also very punctual. When the tickets say 8 o'clock, they are on the stage jamming at 7:59. Sure enough, the lights went down and the video played, and when the opening notes of "Subdivisions" hit, the crowd went nuts.
Rush shows have no opening acts, so they are split into two parts with a break in-between. This was the setlist for the first half, which was pure unadulterated '80s goodness. Mmm, synths!
First half setlist:
Subdivisions
Big Money
Force Ten
Grand Designs
The Body Electric
Territories
Analog Kid
Bravado
Where's my Thing? (w/ drum solo)
Far Cry
OK, so I joked in chat last Friday that I was afraid I was going to be at this concert like that girl on the End of an Era DVD, the one who bursts into tears at the beginning of all the songs...seriously, when I first saw the setlist for this tour, I wanted to cry at the thought of missing it. Then when I realized I would be *seeing* it, I was afraid I was going to weep at hearing every one of these songs, because so many of them they either don't do that often, or in some cases, haven't done since that particular album came out. Good news: I did not become the Clockwork Angels version of the End of an Era girl. I managed to keep it all in and play it very cool. After all, it's not easy being a female Rush fan, especially surrounded by guys who have seen the band more times than I can count; I've got a reputation to defend here! I can't go around crying like a little b*tch!
So we were on Alex's (Lerxst's) side of the stage, but I have to say, most of my shots of Lerxst came out blurry because: 1) climbing the few steps up to my seat left me very winded and my hands shook a lot during the first half of the show, so my hands would betray me and not take a steady shot, 2) Lerxst would move when my hands were steady enough to get a good shot, or 3) the lady in front of me must have thought that Rush doing an '80s setlist meant that she had to style her hair in the '80s fashion, and decided to have a big pouf of hair blocking my view. I could still see fine, but as far as camera angles went, her Aqua Net head did not leave much room to maneuver and get good action shots.
At Rush shows, they always have some kind of "mascot" or random person/thing wandering on the stage, and I believe it was during "The Body Electric" that this duo came out...
So it looks like Neil has cut his drum solo into 2 parts these days, and the first part of his drum solo was (of course) mind-blowing, but also much more "to the point" than most people might think of when his solos come to mind. Obviously the bells and whistles were for the second half, but the solo was no less intricate or no less able to leave the audience so stunned into silence that you could hear a pin drop.
Shortly after the drum solo, they do another song, "Far Cry" from their previous album Snakes & Arrows, where some very startling explosions and fireworks make an appearance. Not a bad way to wrap up the first half of the set.
Afterwards, the band announces their break and the lights come back on. I didn't really try to take as many pictures during the first half not only for the aforementioned reasons, but these were "old-school" songs, and what I call a "real fan" setlist, as a lot of these songs were not "standard Rush hits", and gems culled from the vault that I wanted to spend time listening to, not trying to take pictures. Since I was not as familiar with the lyrics to the new album (even though I've played the hell out of it over the last 5 months), I figured that would be an opportune time to try my luck with the camera again. The night was young!
After a relatively short intermission where we all discussed our thoughts about the show so far (no real complaints!), the lights dimmed and we were all treated to a very funny video about a man looking for the Watchmaker (an elusive figure mentioned but never seen in the Clockwork Angels concept album), and instead being accosted by 3 gnomes that are none other than Geddy, Alex, and Neil dressed up to look like the Munchkins. I wish I could have gotten a good shot of that, but I'm sure there are plenty of videos on YouTube or plenty of pictures taken by other fans throughout the tour where you can see this hilarious get-up for yourselves!
After the video, out comes the much-anticipated Clockwork Angels string section, and the second half of the show begins...
Second half setlist:
Caravan
Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Carnies
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight
Halo Effect
Seven Cities of Gold
The Garden
Manhattan Project
Neil melodic drum solo
Red Sector A
YYZ
Spirit of Radio
Encore:
Tom Sawyer
2112 (Intro, Priests of Syrinx and Grand Finale)
As described in some other fan reviews, the stage setup is very "steampunk" inspired, as this is the theme of the new album. I don't really know what "steampunk" is, but the stage looked very cool. Rush always has some random item related to appliances onstage with them (be it a refrigerator, or a washer and dryer, so on and so on), so it was not a surprise to see a huge popcorn maker up there, popping up popcorn while the band played on. Some other neat things featured Lerxst's amps resembling megaphones, but with video projections playing inside; and a brain in a jar behind Geddy's keyboards, the keyboards themselves looking to represent some sort of machine with a lot of gears and wheels.
Let's face it...many bands have done the coupling with orchestras and string sections over the years, and it can be a very hit-or-miss thing. Some bands can do it, others fall flat before they get up off the ground. Rush with a strings section was nothing short of beautiful. They both complimented each other nicely. Neither was overstepping the other; the strings were not drowning out the rocking aspects of the band, and the band's playing didn't relegate the strings to background noise. The new songs sounded fabulous, and the tunes are just brought to life in a whole other way when you see them in their element.
No Rush show is complete without pyro and fireworks, which we got plenty of! However, it seems like my camera always catches the moment a second too late, so in these pictures, it looks more like a lot of smoke and less like a lot of cool pyro displays. Nonetheless, it's the best I can do!
The last of the Clockwork Angels songs was the very beautiful ballad "The Garden", which featured some lovely on-screen visuals, as well as Lerxst sharing his talent at piano-playing with us...
So of course as the new songs were written more in mind for a strings section, you're probably thinking, "sure, the new songs sound great, but what about the old stuff?" Well, as soon as the Power Windows favorite "Manhattan Project" kicked in, it sounded like Rush had been playing with a strings section for years. The way they all gelled together was just so incredible. These songs are already so epic in their own right, but adding this extra element to it just gives it this special something that I can't explain. I guess you just have to see it to believe it!
The next song after that was "Red Sector A" from Grace Under Pressure, one of my favorite Rush albums. Hearing that song with the strings made an already bone-chillingly good song even more earth-shattering.
Oh, and then the second half of Neil's drum solo! If the crowd wasn't absolutely mesmerized before, they were all completely cast under his spell now. The solo in the second half featured more of the synthesizers and all his "pulling out all the stops"; the sound of it starting off with this sort of dreamy, ethereal quality. I can't wait to hear this on the upcoming DVD!
And then if it wasn't enough epic goodness to hear "Manhattan Project" and "Red Sector A" with strings...all I will say is this...if you are a Rush fan, you should—no, you *must*—hear "YYZ" with strings before you die. Magically delicious!
The only disappointment to the show is that it must end eventually, so we are getting down to the last of it, where Rush parts with the strings section and tosses a bone to the dogs and plays their "radio hits" like "Tom Sawyer" and "The Spirit of Radio". OK, so much as I may be burnt out on those songs and say I don't care one way or the other if they never play them again, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it any less than the rest of the set. There is really no such thing as a bad Rush song, even the ones that you'd think they would be sick of playing night after night.
The final song of the night was part of the "2112" epic, which is a fine closer to the show. The band rocks it out one last time on the "Grand Finale" section, and before you know it, the show is over. The band played for over 3 hours, but those 3 hours go by so fast!!!
So after the show, I cruise by the merch booth where there are so many Rush shirts to choose from (note to whoever handles the merch at Nightwish concerts in the U.S.: this is how you do it! More than one shirt to pick from, folks!). So many different designs and colors...which one to pick? Yes, a Rush fan at the merch booth is like a kid in a candy store. So many things, and so little money to spend that you can't possibly buy it all! I was caught between 2 shirts in particular, and the lady at the merch booth helped make my decision: "This one [holding up a black shirt with a blue design] has been a best-seller, and this one [holding up another shirt I liked with a gear design] has been selling the least." "I want that one!" I point to the unpopular shirt. I always like to go against the grain! If everyone else in the venue is wearing the other design, I want the one that stands out! And even though I didn't have to, I also bought a small gift for my friend who gave me his ticket and made it possible for me to be there. I wish I could have done more, but hopefully he will appreciate my small token of appreciation.
So me and my carpool companions hit the road and at least for me, I have a long night ahead, as my bus home does not arrive until 6 a.m. I get to the truck stop at about 1 in the morning, and have about 5 hours to kill in the meantime. Lucky for me I am a night owl that is used to keeping late hours! When you have a good book and a Denny's open all night, the time flies by fast! Might I just say that the Hobbit cookie shake is almost as delicious as "YYZ" with strings? OK, maybe not that delicious...but close enough!
Yes, I spent half the night at a truck stop, took a catnap on the sofa inside the lobby, sat outside in 26-degree weather at 5:30 in the morning waiting for a bus, and didn't get home until 8 a.m. Was it worth all of that? You're f*ckin-a right it was! I'd do it again right now!
Needless to say, going 10 years without a Rush show is far too long, and I just hope that I can save up enough money between now and when they tour again in the spring, because the bug has bitten me again and I don't think it will be as easy to shake off this time!
Enigma...you were contemplating whether you should go see Rush in Helsinki next summer? Although this review alone probably gave you my answer, I'll say it anyway...DO IT!!!
The good news is that it probably won't be as long as my other reviews. The operative word here is: *probably*.
Quite honestly, it is nothing short of a miracle (literally) that I got to see them on this tour. Part of the reason—no, *all* of the reason—I have not seen Rush in over 10 years is because their tickets are way expensive. Are they worth the money? Hell yes, every penny. But I don't have that many pennies anymore! Even the money I spent on the last 2 Nightwish concerts was not as much as this one Rush ticket cost. But anyway, enough of my financial troubles...I'm sure you all want to hear about the miracle that came my way which allowed me to go to this show.
However, it is because of my financial situation that I pretty much resigned myself to missing yet another Rush tour. It is nothing new for me, and I didn't give it a lot of thought. Sure, I wanted to see them on this tour because they were bringing along a strings section and I was very curious to see that for myself. But alas, money does not come easy for me, and I was still recovering from my birthday weekend with Nightwish. So I was pretty certain that Rush would come this way and I would have to pass them by yet again. And then something wonderful happened...
Shortly before I left for Nightwish, I got a message from a friend of mine at one of the Rush boards I've gone to since before I ever knew who/what Nightwish was. He asked me if I would like to go with him to the show, as the person who was originally supposed to go with him could not go or bailed out for some reason. I can't remember now exactly what the situation was. I told him that I couldn't commit to giving him an answer 'till I got back from Nightwish, because I would not know the extent of damage to my wallet until then. I considered making payments to him for the ticket if I couldn't pay in full, if he didn't mind.
When I got back from the show, I was still looking for someone who might want to go with me because I needed a way to get there in the first place! So far I was having no luck at all. Everyone I asked either had to work (as the show was on a Monday), had other plans, or just wasn't a Rush fan. I was striking out everywhere, so again, it looked like I would have to pass up the extra ticket simply because I could not find a companion to take with me so I could get there in the first place.
Oh wait, I did mention there was a miracle in here somewhere...ah yes, here it is...
So my friend called my cell phone and asked me if I'd had any luck. When I called him back, I explained what was going on so far, but I was still trying to work something out. At that point, he told me, "well, something has happened...my job has transferred me out-of-state, and I'm not going to be able to go to the show". Not only this, but his job wanted him in the new location—clear on the other side of the country—in less than a week. So he told me, there was no way he would have time to try and sell the tickets and get his money back. Would I like to have them instead? I didn't have to pay him back; I would be doing him a favor because then they would not go to waste. Someone would still be sitting in the seats! I don't think I need to tell you that I said yes?
But then there was still the matter of finding a companion, which was the very thing that was hindering me before. He told me not to worry; if I couldn't find anyone, he had someone else in mind who might want the second ticket. Come to find out that this person lives a distance away too, and when he drives into L.A., he passes the very same city where I take the bus to get into L.A. County! This was going to work out after all. Not only did I have a free ticket, but I had a ride to the show too! Happy day!
I'll never say I don't believe in miracles ever again, because one happened to me. Or, as a longtime student of astrology, I will simply say that all of the planets were aligned just right, and I was meant to go to Rush all along, whether I knew it or not.
So November 19th came, and thankfully, there was no snow or rain on the Grapevine as I made the bus ride to the county line. It was actually a very beautiful day. Some guy in the bus was taking pictures of the mountains and the scenery, and the cows grazing on the side of the road.
Once I get there, I wait inside the little "truck stop area" where we agreed to meet. I wasn't waiting very long, as maybe about 10 or 15 minutes later, my carpool companion texted me to tell me he and his son had arrived. His son wanted to go to the Rush show too, but since his dad and I were the only ones who had tickets, he was essentially coming out all this way to take a chance that seats may be available. I crossed my fingers that he'd be able to get a seat; I can't think of anything worse than a fellow fan having to sit outside the venue because they couldn't get in!
(OK, I should probably give these folks names...since I don't like to refer to everyone as "my friend", and I also don't like to give people's real names in reviews without their permission, I will just call them "RushDad" and "RushSon". Not the most creative names, but they'll do in a pinch!)
About an hour or so later, and Monday night traffic in L.A. not being half-bad, we made it to Gibson. The sights were so familiar to me; almost like deja vu, as it wasn't too long ago that I was last here. So we went down the familiar road, and sure enough, when I saw the giant cut-out of Woody Woodpecker, I remembered that this was the place we had parked when the OSA gang all came here earlier this year. It certainly saved us a few minutes, as my companions were not as familiar with Gibson and were looking for the arrows to point them the way (and it was dark, so they did not see the Woody cutout as easily or as quickly as I did!).
When we got there, I noticed outside the Saddle Ranch restaurant, there was a sign hanging outside the door just like the one earlier this year welcoming the Nightwish fans, only now it welcomed the Rush fans. I tried to get a picture of it, but as it was dark outside and a bit out of range from where we had to go, I couldn't get a good shot. So I will just say to go back to my review of Nightwish and look at the banner there, and just replace "Nightwish" with "Rush", and there you have it.
We went straight to the will call line to try and get RushSon a ticket. We had to wait about another half-hour or so before the window opened, but we got in the shortest line and was about the 2nd or 3rd person at the window. Sure enough, RushSon scored a ticket, and his seats were not bad at all! Yippee! We were all going to the show together!
Another person who called me earlier that day was another friend from the Rush board who wanted to meet up with us; I had never met him in person, but he and RushDad partied together at one of the shows in Vegas on the last tour or so. We were told that he'd be waiting for us at the Hard Rock Cafe, which happened to be just feet away from where I had eaten with the OSA gang moments before our interview! So I kinda knew where we were at this point, although we never went into the Hard Rock Cafe that day. But once we saw the giant guitar, I recognized the scenery and was glad we didn't have to travel much farther.
So I thought there were a ton of people earlier this year wearing Nightwish shirts at Universal City Walk...sorry, but they had nothing on the Rush fans! It seems like literally every single person walking through the area had a Rush shirt on. And everyone who walked past complimented each other on their Rush t-shirts! I can't recall any strangers complimenting any of our shirts at Nightwish, and I was wearing an *Oceanborn*-era shirt then, for Christ's sake! Not like you see those every day in the U.S.! Anyway, I am no stranger to the knowledge that Rush fans all treat each other like long-lost family members, so the fact that every person I ran into told me I had a nice shirt (as I did to them), it was not a surprise. I think it was more a surprise that people with cooler shirts than mine would take the time to compliment me!
Anyway, we got to the Hard Rock, and it was SO crowded! Our friend (let's call him RushBuddy) was meeting us at the bar; good thing, too, because a wait for a table was 30 minutes or more! When we got there, Rush was blasting on the speakers, so the Hard Rock definitely knew their clientele! It was fun meeting up with other Rush fans, although maybe some of them are a little too friendly! At one point, RushSon and I were just hanging out minding our own business, and this guy totally drunk off his ass wants to slap everyone a hi-five wearing a Rush shirt. Nothing wrong with that, but he was totally drunk! I didn't think he'd have the wherewithal to make it to the show!
Anyway, he comes up to me like he knows me, which I always sort of treat with a jaundiced eye. Nothing wrong with politeness, but I guess I am like Neil's lyric "I can't pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend". Especially a drunk one. He wasn't rude and didn't act out of sorts, but when a drunk person comes up to you and a 15-year-old kid and tells you that he loves you...well, I don't need that much love in my life, thanks! Hope you make it to the show and you have a nice time, but I'm sure there are other Rush fans in the house you haven't slapped a hi-five to yet. On with you.
Time flies when you are having fun and warding off drunks, because before long we checked our watches and saw that we had about 45 minutes 'till the show, and we still hadn't had anything to eat! RushDad had a beer with RushBuddy, but none of us wanted to pay the sky-high prices at the Hard Rock, so we went right outside and I remembered the place where I had eaten before the Tuomas interview, which was right on the floor above us. At least we didn't need to walk far!
Oh, and you didn't think any review would be complete without an elevator story? Yes, there was another elevator story, but this time I had nothing to do with it (well, other than being there!). We were getting into the elevator, and this very impatient lady with a baby stroller kept making us come back down to the 1st floor because she kept pushing the button. And then she would yell at us because we hadn't gotten off the elevator yet! We're like, "if you'd let us ride up to the next floor, maybe we would get there already!" Some people!
We had to eat standing up, since by the time we got situated, we had maybe about 20 minutes before showtime, and we wanted to get there with enough time to get into our seats. So we hauled ass down City Walk and to the venue, which I had not seen from the front until then. Once again I went down the familiar wheelchair lifts, of which there are 3 of them. We get to our section, and what do you know? I'm in the exact same area where I sat for Nightwish, only this time I'm in the 6th or 7th row! (To give you a perspective, it's "Tuomas' side" of the stage, only tonight it's Alex Lifeson's side of the stage.)
Our seats are f*ckin amazing, we are so close that I feel inclined to pinch myself and wonder if I am dreaming. I couldn't wait to take pictures!
Not only does Rush put on one hell of a show (as you will find out soon enough), but they are also very punctual. When the tickets say 8 o'clock, they are on the stage jamming at 7:59. Sure enough, the lights went down and the video played, and when the opening notes of "Subdivisions" hit, the crowd went nuts.
Rush shows have no opening acts, so they are split into two parts with a break in-between. This was the setlist for the first half, which was pure unadulterated '80s goodness. Mmm, synths!
First half setlist:
Subdivisions
Big Money
Force Ten
Grand Designs
The Body Electric
Territories
Analog Kid
Bravado
Where's my Thing? (w/ drum solo)
Far Cry
OK, so I joked in chat last Friday that I was afraid I was going to be at this concert like that girl on the End of an Era DVD, the one who bursts into tears at the beginning of all the songs...seriously, when I first saw the setlist for this tour, I wanted to cry at the thought of missing it. Then when I realized I would be *seeing* it, I was afraid I was going to weep at hearing every one of these songs, because so many of them they either don't do that often, or in some cases, haven't done since that particular album came out. Good news: I did not become the Clockwork Angels version of the End of an Era girl. I managed to keep it all in and play it very cool. After all, it's not easy being a female Rush fan, especially surrounded by guys who have seen the band more times than I can count; I've got a reputation to defend here! I can't go around crying like a little b*tch!
So we were on Alex's (Lerxst's) side of the stage, but I have to say, most of my shots of Lerxst came out blurry because: 1) climbing the few steps up to my seat left me very winded and my hands shook a lot during the first half of the show, so my hands would betray me and not take a steady shot, 2) Lerxst would move when my hands were steady enough to get a good shot, or 3) the lady in front of me must have thought that Rush doing an '80s setlist meant that she had to style her hair in the '80s fashion, and decided to have a big pouf of hair blocking my view. I could still see fine, but as far as camera angles went, her Aqua Net head did not leave much room to maneuver and get good action shots.
At Rush shows, they always have some kind of "mascot" or random person/thing wandering on the stage, and I believe it was during "The Body Electric" that this duo came out...
So it looks like Neil has cut his drum solo into 2 parts these days, and the first part of his drum solo was (of course) mind-blowing, but also much more "to the point" than most people might think of when his solos come to mind. Obviously the bells and whistles were for the second half, but the solo was no less intricate or no less able to leave the audience so stunned into silence that you could hear a pin drop.
Shortly after the drum solo, they do another song, "Far Cry" from their previous album Snakes & Arrows, where some very startling explosions and fireworks make an appearance. Not a bad way to wrap up the first half of the set.
Afterwards, the band announces their break and the lights come back on. I didn't really try to take as many pictures during the first half not only for the aforementioned reasons, but these were "old-school" songs, and what I call a "real fan" setlist, as a lot of these songs were not "standard Rush hits", and gems culled from the vault that I wanted to spend time listening to, not trying to take pictures. Since I was not as familiar with the lyrics to the new album (even though I've played the hell out of it over the last 5 months), I figured that would be an opportune time to try my luck with the camera again. The night was young!
After a relatively short intermission where we all discussed our thoughts about the show so far (no real complaints!), the lights dimmed and we were all treated to a very funny video about a man looking for the Watchmaker (an elusive figure mentioned but never seen in the Clockwork Angels concept album), and instead being accosted by 3 gnomes that are none other than Geddy, Alex, and Neil dressed up to look like the Munchkins. I wish I could have gotten a good shot of that, but I'm sure there are plenty of videos on YouTube or plenty of pictures taken by other fans throughout the tour where you can see this hilarious get-up for yourselves!
After the video, out comes the much-anticipated Clockwork Angels string section, and the second half of the show begins...
Second half setlist:
Caravan
Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Carnies
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight
Halo Effect
Seven Cities of Gold
The Garden
Manhattan Project
Neil melodic drum solo
Red Sector A
YYZ
Spirit of Radio
Encore:
Tom Sawyer
2112 (Intro, Priests of Syrinx and Grand Finale)
As described in some other fan reviews, the stage setup is very "steampunk" inspired, as this is the theme of the new album. I don't really know what "steampunk" is, but the stage looked very cool. Rush always has some random item related to appliances onstage with them (be it a refrigerator, or a washer and dryer, so on and so on), so it was not a surprise to see a huge popcorn maker up there, popping up popcorn while the band played on. Some other neat things featured Lerxst's amps resembling megaphones, but with video projections playing inside; and a brain in a jar behind Geddy's keyboards, the keyboards themselves looking to represent some sort of machine with a lot of gears and wheels.
Let's face it...many bands have done the coupling with orchestras and string sections over the years, and it can be a very hit-or-miss thing. Some bands can do it, others fall flat before they get up off the ground. Rush with a strings section was nothing short of beautiful. They both complimented each other nicely. Neither was overstepping the other; the strings were not drowning out the rocking aspects of the band, and the band's playing didn't relegate the strings to background noise. The new songs sounded fabulous, and the tunes are just brought to life in a whole other way when you see them in their element.
No Rush show is complete without pyro and fireworks, which we got plenty of! However, it seems like my camera always catches the moment a second too late, so in these pictures, it looks more like a lot of smoke and less like a lot of cool pyro displays. Nonetheless, it's the best I can do!
The last of the Clockwork Angels songs was the very beautiful ballad "The Garden", which featured some lovely on-screen visuals, as well as Lerxst sharing his talent at piano-playing with us...
So of course as the new songs were written more in mind for a strings section, you're probably thinking, "sure, the new songs sound great, but what about the old stuff?" Well, as soon as the Power Windows favorite "Manhattan Project" kicked in, it sounded like Rush had been playing with a strings section for years. The way they all gelled together was just so incredible. These songs are already so epic in their own right, but adding this extra element to it just gives it this special something that I can't explain. I guess you just have to see it to believe it!
The next song after that was "Red Sector A" from Grace Under Pressure, one of my favorite Rush albums. Hearing that song with the strings made an already bone-chillingly good song even more earth-shattering.
Oh, and then the second half of Neil's drum solo! If the crowd wasn't absolutely mesmerized before, they were all completely cast under his spell now. The solo in the second half featured more of the synthesizers and all his "pulling out all the stops"; the sound of it starting off with this sort of dreamy, ethereal quality. I can't wait to hear this on the upcoming DVD!
And then if it wasn't enough epic goodness to hear "Manhattan Project" and "Red Sector A" with strings...all I will say is this...if you are a Rush fan, you should—no, you *must*—hear "YYZ" with strings before you die. Magically delicious!
The only disappointment to the show is that it must end eventually, so we are getting down to the last of it, where Rush parts with the strings section and tosses a bone to the dogs and plays their "radio hits" like "Tom Sawyer" and "The Spirit of Radio". OK, so much as I may be burnt out on those songs and say I don't care one way or the other if they never play them again, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it any less than the rest of the set. There is really no such thing as a bad Rush song, even the ones that you'd think they would be sick of playing night after night.
The final song of the night was part of the "2112" epic, which is a fine closer to the show. The band rocks it out one last time on the "Grand Finale" section, and before you know it, the show is over. The band played for over 3 hours, but those 3 hours go by so fast!!!
So after the show, I cruise by the merch booth where there are so many Rush shirts to choose from (note to whoever handles the merch at Nightwish concerts in the U.S.: this is how you do it! More than one shirt to pick from, folks!). So many different designs and colors...which one to pick? Yes, a Rush fan at the merch booth is like a kid in a candy store. So many things, and so little money to spend that you can't possibly buy it all! I was caught between 2 shirts in particular, and the lady at the merch booth helped make my decision: "This one [holding up a black shirt with a blue design] has been a best-seller, and this one [holding up another shirt I liked with a gear design] has been selling the least." "I want that one!" I point to the unpopular shirt. I always like to go against the grain! If everyone else in the venue is wearing the other design, I want the one that stands out! And even though I didn't have to, I also bought a small gift for my friend who gave me his ticket and made it possible for me to be there. I wish I could have done more, but hopefully he will appreciate my small token of appreciation.
So me and my carpool companions hit the road and at least for me, I have a long night ahead, as my bus home does not arrive until 6 a.m. I get to the truck stop at about 1 in the morning, and have about 5 hours to kill in the meantime. Lucky for me I am a night owl that is used to keeping late hours! When you have a good book and a Denny's open all night, the time flies by fast! Might I just say that the Hobbit cookie shake is almost as delicious as "YYZ" with strings? OK, maybe not that delicious...but close enough!
Yes, I spent half the night at a truck stop, took a catnap on the sofa inside the lobby, sat outside in 26-degree weather at 5:30 in the morning waiting for a bus, and didn't get home until 8 a.m. Was it worth all of that? You're f*ckin-a right it was! I'd do it again right now!
Needless to say, going 10 years without a Rush show is far too long, and I just hope that I can save up enough money between now and when they tour again in the spring, because the bug has bitten me again and I don't think it will be as easy to shake off this time!
Enigma...you were contemplating whether you should go see Rush in Helsinki next summer? Although this review alone probably gave you my answer, I'll say it anyway...DO IT!!!
Well, you do have a few months to work it out, anyway.
