I've seen Rush 5 times, this was pretty much the best of them all. I was in Grandstand 2, and found that there were quite a few people that kept sitting down 30 seconds into a song, or especially during the new tunes. I stood for much of it, happy to drum & sing along with the best of you all, much to the chagrin of some of the folks around me.
During intermission, I turned around to the father and sons behind me and told them that I wouldn't be sitting down at all through the second set, and that I wished the rest of the crowd would get mot into it. Well, something clicked, because the only time during MP that most people around me sat down was for Vital Signs, and that was ok - I needed a break knowing "Love For Sale" was coming up.
Speaking of which, being a drummer and having worshiped Peart for decades, I was left slightly disappointed with his solo. Not that he messed it up or anything, but I thought there was a bit too much in the way of electronics, or at least "definition" - the sound was sort of blended, rather than a big rhythmic pounding through some of it. The following night, I watched "Live in Rio" on VHI Classic, and the drum solo Neil put together on that was one of the better ones I've seen out of him, with more time spent on the primary kit. While a friend of mine thinks there was some sound issues with the electronics at Syracuse during his solo, plain & simple, I'd like to have seen him more on the acoustic set. Was still great to see him play regardless, and incredibly impressive.
As for the overall feel of the show, I think they fed off a great crowd - the local paper says 12,000 in attendance, but with a venue capacity of 17,000, I'm not sure where they were seeing 5000 empty seats. Tons of energy ( even if people were sitting! ) and a great overall sound to the mix.
Bottom line - I saw 3 guys that love to play music up there, having a great time working together. That is when a band is at its best.
