Latest setlist change

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

So those of us keeping score know that Limelight has been swapped in, but not sure if there's a pattern to it. We have seen Middletown Dreams, Limelight, and Body Electric in that spot in various shows the last week or so.

 

Doesn't it seem odd that THE quissential Rush song is being randomly swapped in and out. Many of the casual fans adore that song. I'm taking my wife and that's one of the few she knows and loves. It just seems odd to alternate 2 very obscure and relatively unknown Rush songs with their classic.

 

Personally, i really hope to see Limelight not just because I love the song so much, but because I love the energy it brings. Much rather be singling along with the rest of the crowd, then hear Middlwtown Dream with 90% of the crowd sitting on their hands.

 

Really think they should just insert Limelight in that spot permanently

[P33v3]

I think they are getting tired of it and others. Last night at the Tampa show Alex was making goofy almost "not this again" faces during Tom Sawyer. Limelight is my favorite but if the passion isn't there I'd rather they not play it. I have to admit that I enjoyed the Clockwork Angels part of the set last night more than the older songs (maybe with the exception of the 2112 encore that they seemed to be having fun playing).

[mazyyz]

I think they are getting tired of it and others. Last night at the Tampa show Alex was making goofy almost "not this again" faces during Tom Sawyer. Limelight is my favorite but if the passion isn't there I'd rather they not play it. I have to admit that I enjoyed the Clockwork Angels part of the set last night more than the older songs (maybe with the exception of the 2112 encore that they seemed to be having fun playing).

 

I completely agree especially in regards to CA. It was the highlight of the show for me.

[Mika]

I like 'Limelight', it's a great song, and you're right that it's a song that 'casual' Rush fans will easily get into, and a good energy will come off of that. For me, though, I'd prefer the obscure songs instead of 'the usual'. I was sad, at my concert, to see that people weren't generally responding that well to 'Middletown Dreams', and indeed a few left for a pee break, which I thought was kind of sad for Rush to see; a song that has been near the top of more die-hard fans' concert request lists (according to RushPetition.com) was finally played, and with rather lukewarm results, generally.

 

If I could be granted a setlist with all more obscure songs, I'd be very happy, but I know most concert-goers aren't going to go for this. There's going to be more energy coming from a song everyone in the audience knows and at least likes, than from a song that a quarter of the crowd is going to go, "Holy s***, they're playing this! Wow, OK!" Since this is the case, for the crowd's energy's sake, I'd go for 'Limelight'; but for me, I'd rather have 'Middletown Dreams', or maybe something from Vapor Trails!

 

BTW, can you imagine a setlist designed entirely with the hardcore Rush fan in mind? What do you think we'd get? Some 'Xanadu', something from Caress of Steel, more obscure songs....

[Aikenrooster]

I didn't peep at setlist, but instead prepared by listening to as much Rush, as possible, during the summer, and I am a new fan. Perhaps more casual fans should have taken that approach. Sure, I don't know PW by heart, but the songs weren't foreign, either.

[Crimsonmistymemory]

I have to say I love Limelight But I'm very pleased that the band decided to keep the night "A" set list for last nights Tampa show in tact with the exception of the swap of workingman for The spirit of radio. It's just I have seen them perform limelight for many many tours and I hear it on the radio constantly. One of my favorite memorys of Limelight is during Time Machine tour when they played the whole Moving Pictures album note for note and even them I was more blown away by The Camera Eye which I had not witnessed live since the MP tour back in the early "80's" . I really appreciate this new trend for the deep cuts. It is a wonderful feeling, seeing/hearing a song performed that has not been done in 20+ years. Most of my favorite rush songs never(very,very,very rarely) air on the radio so it is a real treat to hear them performed live. Also it seemed all the material was thematically selected to match with the clockwork angels saga. I would have liked them to swap Tom Sayer for The Pass but still an awesome show none the less. Edited November 4, 2012 by Crimsonmistymemory

[mazyyz]

I like 'Limelight', it's a great song, and you're right that it's a song that 'casual' Rush fans will easily get into, and a good energy will come off of that. For me, though, I'd prefer the obscure songs instead of 'the usual'. I was sad, at my concert, to see that people weren't generally responding that well to 'Middletown Dreams', and indeed a few left for a pee break, which I thought was kind of sad for Rush to see; a song that has been near the top of more die-hard fans' concert request lists (according to RushPetition.com) was finally played, and with rather lukewarm results, generally.

 

If I could be granted a setlist with all more obscure songs, I'd be very happy, but I know most concert-goers aren't going to go for this. There's going to be more energy coming from a song everyone in the audience knows and at least likes, than from a song that a quarter of the crowd is going to go, "Holy s***, they're playing this! Wow, OK!" Since this is the case, for the crowd's energy's sake, I'd go for 'Limelight'; but for me, I'd rather have 'Middletown Dreams', or maybe something from Vapor Trails! default/wink.png

 

BTW, can you imagine a setlist designed entirely with the hardcore Rush fan in mind? What do you think we'd get? Some 'Xanadu', something from Caress of Steel, more obscure songs....

 

That's because no one is familar with Middletown. Plus I think you average casual fan as you say is not privy to what the set list is going to be anyway. So they were probably disappointed with the first set to begin with.

[nappy2112]

I'm not a casual Rush fan so bring on all the obscure tunes.

[Mika]

I'm not a casual Rush fan so bring on all the obscure tunes.

 

Agreed! *cheers* *thumbs-up*

[rocketom]

I'm sorry I dont buy this casual Rush fans at concerts. To me a casual Rush fan would be someone who listens to classic rock radio or maybe has a greatest hit cd, the night of the concert has nothing to do so says to a buddy "lets go to the Rush concert". That might happen at the outdoor venues more frequently when you can pick up lawn seats for $30. but in the arena where tix are $70. and up, I aint buying. I could be wrong, if I am who cares, f**k the casual fan, you should be a Hardcore one.

[Todem]

This casual fan stuff is hog wash.

 

I had a bunch of fans around me who no where near as hardcore as I am....not even close. But they loved every minute of the show. One of them put it to me pretty simply by saying:

 

Everything they play.....jams.

 

Exactly.

 

The setlist this year is one of their best ever. And the CA stuff is certainly a major highlight.

 

I will make sure I catch at least two shows on the 2013 leg to soak in the CA stuff.....we are never going to hear this suite of songs again and IMO CA is now one of their very best works.

 

It's that good. I wanted to wait till I saw this stuff live to give it the stamp. And live the songs were even better.

Edited November 5, 2012 by Todem

[mazyyz]

This casual fan stuff is hog wash.

 

I had a bunch of fans around me who no where near as hardcore as I am....not even close. But they loved every minute of the show. One of them put it to me pretty simply by saying:

 

Everything they play.....jams.

 

Exactly.

 

The setlist this year is one of their best ever. And the CA stuff is certainly a major highlight.

 

I will make sure I catch at least two shows on the 2013 leg to soak in the CA stuff.....we are never going to hear this suite of songs again and IMO CA is now one of their very best works.

 

It's that good. I wanted to wait till I saw this stuff live to give it the stamp. And live the songs were even better.

 

Completely agree with the CA comments, but this was not their best set list....not by a mile.

[Todem]

This casual fan stuff is hog wash.

 

I had a bunch of fans around me who no where near as hardcore as I am....not even close. But they loved every minute of the show. One of them put it to me pretty simply by saying:

 

Everything they play.....jams.

 

Exactly.

 

The setlist this year is one of their best ever. And the CA stuff is certainly a major highlight.

 

I will make sure I catch at least two shows on the 2013 leg to soak in the CA stuff.....we are never going to hear this suite of songs again and IMO CA is now one of their very best works.

 

It's that good. I wanted to wait till I saw this stuff live to give it the stamp. And live the songs were even better.

 

Completely agree with the CA comments, but this was not their best set list....not by a mile.

 

I guess it all depends what era you favor.

 

For me Snakes 2007 and this 2012 first leg for CA are my favorite set's over the last several tours. R30 and VT were also amazing. Frankly I have never left a Rush concert (over 25+ shows now spanning tours starting with the Signals tour to the present) feeling unsatisfied.

 

Ever.

[drgrendel]

This casual fan stuff is hog wash.

 

I had a bunch of fans around me who no where near as hardcore as I am....not even close. But they loved every minute of the show. One of them put it to me pretty simply by saying:

 

Everything they play.....jams.

 

Exactly.

 

The setlist this year is one of their best ever. And the CA stuff is certainly a major highlight.

 

I will make sure I catch at least two shows on the 2013 leg to soak in the CA stuff.....we are never going to hear this suite of songs again and IMO CA is now one of their very best works.

 

It's that good. I wanted to wait till I saw this stuff live to give it the stamp. And live the songs were even better.

 

Completely agree with the CA comments, but this was not their best set list....not by a mile.

This casual fan stuff is hog wash.

 

I had a bunch of fans around me who no where near as hardcore as I am....not even close. But they loved every minute of the show. One of them put it to me pretty simply by saying:

 

Everything they play.....jams.

 

Exactly.

 

The setlist this year is one of their best ever. And the CA stuff is certainly a major highlight.

 

I will make sure I catch at least two shows on the 2013 leg to soak in the CA stuff.....we are never going to hear this suite of songs again and IMO CA is now one of their very best works.

 

It's that good. I wanted to wait till I saw this stuff live to give it the stamp. And live the songs were even better.

 

Completely agree with the CA comments, but this was not their best set list....not by a mile.

 

Yup.....right on the money. CA is awesome, but the set list is well below past tours.

[Tarkus406]

This casual fan stuff is hog wash.

 

I had a bunch of fans around me who no where near as hardcore as I am....not even close. But they loved every minute of the show. One of them put it to me pretty simply by saying:

 

Everything they play.....jams.

 

Exactly.

 

The setlist this year is one of their best ever. And the CA stuff is certainly a major highlight.

 

I will make sure I catch at least two shows on the 2013 leg to soak in the CA stuff.....we are never going to hear this suite of songs again and IMO CA is now one of their very best works.

 

It's that good. I wanted to wait till I saw this stuff live to give it the stamp. And live the songs were even better.

 

Completely agree with the CA comments, but this was not their best set list....not by a mile.

This casual fan stuff is hog wash.

 

I had a bunch of fans around me who no where near as hardcore as I am....not even close. But they loved every minute of the show. One of them put it to me pretty simply by saying:

 

Everything they play.....jams.

 

Exactly.

 

The setlist this year is one of their best ever. And the CA stuff is certainly a major highlight.

 

I will make sure I catch at least two shows on the 2013 leg to soak in the CA stuff.....we are never going to hear this suite of songs again and IMO CA is now one of their very best works.

 

It's that good. I wanted to wait till I saw this stuff live to give it the stamp. And live the songs were even better.

 

Completely agree with the CA comments, but this was not their best set list....not by a mile.

 

Yup.....right on the money. CA is awesome, but the set list is well below past tours.

 

Yet I feel that it was one of the best tours

(Aside from maybe Signals but I wasn't alive yet ;) )

[bscsmkr]

I preferred the A setlist with vital signs bsam and ceiling on the VT tour the most since the return.

I think that was one of their best ever even though rtb was played

This tour has been very good with b sides which is great

Still would love pre 1981 tracks though

[DDOZZY]

The CA setlist rocks, the string section, video and pyro gets your attention, the first setlist was weak ,I think the boy's saw the lukewarm responce playing so many keyboard era songs together, that period of music just did not age well. I wish they played limelight at my show, it bring's life to the crowd.

[Mika]

I'm sorry I dont buy this casual Rush fans at concerts. To me a casual Rush fan would be someone who listens to classic rock radio or maybe has a greatest hit cd, the night of the concert has nothing to do so says to a buddy "lets go to the Rush concert". That might happen at the outdoor venues more frequently when you can pick up lawn seats for $30. but in the arena where tix are $70. and up, I aint buying. I could be wrong, if I am who cares, f**k the casual fan, you should be a Hardcore one.

 

I'm not so sure. Quite a few people that I casually chatted with at the concert that I went to expressed not knowing much of the songs being played, other than 'the hits', and had chosen to come out 'just because'. It was actually kind of weird, and I was a little surprised. Quite honestly, I think out of everyone I came across at the concert, I was the most 'hardcore', to use a label for convenience. To me, everything that Rush was playing was A-ok in my book, especially the songs like 'Where's My Thing?' and 'Grand Designs' - as I'd mentioned previously elsewhere, these songs brought out more 'fangirling' from me than 'Tom Sawyer' and 'The Spirit of Radio', which did to most others.

 

But everyone has different tastes in songs. And in the end, it doesn't matter whether a concert-goer is hard-core or just knows the radio hits - as long as the boys play well (which they do) and everyone's open to having a kick-ass time (which tends to happen at a Rush show), there shouldn't be too much moaning about "they didn't play this" or "why are they playing that song?"

 

Honestly, I'm kind of sad to speculate that 'Middletown Dreams' might be removed in favour of 'Limelight'. I like the idea of swapping songs around, and exposing 'less hard-core' concert-goers to good songs that they might otherwise not be aware of.

 

A case in point: at the 2007 Snakes and Arrows concert, I'd been sorely lacking in my 80s Rush education at that point. I wasn't at all familiar with 'Digital Man' or 'Mission', or even 'Entre Nous', and that show offered to me these songs that I thought sounded really good and I got to know them. Hopefully, this tour will push some people to delve into Rush music that they hadn't really explored before.

 

And last point: quite frankly, if Rush was doing a concert that contained nothing except for their 'hits', I wouldn't be quite so excited to attend. But who am I kidding, of course I would go, and have a great time, because it's Rush!

 

I hope 'Middletown Dreams' keeps getting played. But then I also keep hoping for more resurgence of Vapor Trails songs....

[Apollo]

I really hope they play the standard set B for the next show in Seattle, Middletown Dreams has been one of the songs I have most wanted them to play over the years and I was excited to see it pop up on setlists this tour. If they swap in Limelight which I have heard a million (ok maybe 7) times live before, I will be extremely disappointed, although the rest of the setlist is pretty good in my book.

[dtpoet]

It's like the BCS in college football. People want a playoff. If they pick 4 teams, people will want 8. If they did 8, people would want 16. You just aren't going to make everyone happy. You do what you feel is right because you have the power to do so. If people don't like, tough beans!

 

For the members opf Rush to choose a setlist is a lose-lose situation so the only way they win is do what they feel they want to do.

[zac2112]

I cant figure out why the rotate SCOG off CA, it was the best song of the whole show imo, it ROCKED live. The Body Electric however, meh. And so it goes for a band with such a huge category, the guy sitting next to me at the Tampa show was about the same age, and his favorite albums, were my least favorite albums, go figure!

[losingit2k]

I agree, I was at the Tampa show as well, and SCOG rocked pretty hard and TBE just didn't cut it for me. But my 10 year boy just loved it, go figure.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2012 by losingit2k

[bscsmkr]

SCOG is the song that I cared for the least out of the new material and other than BU2B2, it's my least favorite off of the entire album. No biggie though

[zac2112]

I agree, I was at the Tampa show as well, and SCOG rocked pretty hard and TBE just didn't cut it for me. But my 10 year boy just loved it, go figure.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOEwkMq9XSQ&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for the vid losingit! Im glad your son digs the boys, mine had to miss this one, duty calls in Afghanistan, however did get some props from fans sitting near us for my wifes air drumming skills!