Empty Mindless Spectre

Honestly, the sound quality on the kRush youtube videos doesn't do them justice. (That Lotus Land youtube of Hemispheres is a higher quality studio recording). I know what you mean about the equipment. I think that myself all of the time. I also wonder about the amount of time and effort these guys spend learning and practicing these difficult songs. All I know is I'm extremely grateful to them for what they do. And beyond blessed to be located such that I get to see kRush and Lotus Land play on a regular basis. It really is an awesome thing! :sundog:

Milton Banana

Lerxst in Flavorland

CaraVanilla. Vanilla ice cream with caramel swirls and perhaps even topped with a layer of caramel.

I've seen Lotus Land several times, and I can attest to their awesomeness. They are based @ 6 hours or so North of me, but make their way down towards my area occasionally and I always get out to see them when they do. HOWEVER… there is another east coast Rush tribute, "kRush", who I honestly believe are a tad BETTER than Lotus Land. I've seen both of these bands several times, and I'm probably splitting hairs because both are great. But if both are playing on the same night within driving distance, I'm going to see kRush. I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have both these bands playing regularly close enough for me to get out and see them on a regular basis! Also, just recently, another band, Solar Federation, has announced themselves as a new player among the elite Rush cover bands. I saw them recently in Lancaster, PA, and they absolutely killed it. I will say that this band is a 5 piece - including a female singer, which may rub some people the wrong way, but if all you care about is hearing the songs played truly and correctly, Solar Federation does exactly that. kRush, Lotus Land, Solar Federation - if you live in the Mid-North Atlantic area, all three of these bands are very much worth seeing as often as possible.

My unpopular Rush opinion is that it must be really difficult for a conservative or tea party supporter to be a Rush fan.

I definitely have to agree with this. But the encore was pretty damn close. Being so lucky to see Lakeside Park, Anthem and What You're Doing was really special, even if the first two were truncated. It isn't lost on me that Geddy really wanted no parts of playing all of these great songs in the 2nd set, and I am forever grateful to him for graciously putting his heart and soul into it just for us. FWIW, I really enjoyed the CA and S&A stuff as well, especially TMMB and The Anarchist, but I'm definitely partial to the earlier albums and was thrilled with the 2nd set and encore on this tour.

Holy shit, I hadn't seen those before! That is so amazingly wonderful! Wow! I can't wait for the R40 DVD to come out so I can see what else I've been missing. The one downfall to having great seats for every show, eh? From what I'm told, you really needed to be towards the back of the venue to have the best view of the light show. I regret not making it a point to get a seat towards the back for one show. Howard really out did himself on this tour.

Well said, and agreed.

Kid Gloves and The Enemy Within are both great songs, but Between the Wheels is the best song on p/g as far as I'm concerned, and I'm very grateful they included it. The (unfortunately) timeless lyrics and three Lerxst solos make it one of my all time faves. As for "representing" p/g, Distant Early Warning has really always been the face of the album, so while I would much rather have seen a change-up like The Enemy Within or Kid Gloves, it's certainly understandable why they chose DEW.

I've always loved everything about this album. It is the perfect blend of sheer raw energy, artistic creativity, and masterful musicianship. And aside from the amazing songs, the name and cover of the album are also as good as it gets. There could never be a more perfect name for a Rush album (especially the earlier stuff) than Caress of Steel. It perfectly describes Rush's sound and style. And the album cover artwork just flat out BAAAAADASSSSSSS! GREAT THREAD!!!!!!

You had me until Tears….

You might want to try to avoid spelling errors when commenting on the subject of stupidity. Love that screen name though! :ebert:

Thank you! Finally someone that agrees with me about this! I understand folks abroad feeling slighted, but I have to say that I think it would seem very, very wrong if the last Rush show ever was not in Canada or The United States.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Geddy play a show or two with The Who. I don't think his heart would be into doing an entire tour, but I could absolutely see a few shows as a realistic possibility. Damn, you're thinking big, but I love the idea. :cheers: That would be amazing. I see your Who and I raise you...Geddy with Yes. Hm...I suppose but who's still left out of the original band? Anyone? Yeah, that's why I think The Who could be a better fit. I saw Yes @ 3 years ago and they were mere shadows of their former selves in my opinion. Not to mention that Geoff Downes, though he is very talented in his own right, was an inept replacement for Rick Wakeman. Also, it is my perception (FWIW) that Geddy was influenced more by The Who than Yes.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Geddy play a show or two with The Who. I don't think his heart would be into doing an entire tour, but I could absolutely see a few shows as a realistic possibility.

I get the impression Geddy isn't processing it well at all. He seems to be a rudder without a ship at the moment. (Or is that supposed to be a ship without a rudder? You all know what I mean anyway - Geddy seems lost to me and not quite sure what to do with himself at the moment.) And if you watch him at the end of the LA show, he seemed a bit overwhelmed by it all. I think we would have gotten more in the way of a "farewell speech" out of him, but Neil distracted him at the end. Anyway, i think Geddy is taking it the hardest and the worst Damn, I thought i was the one taking it the hardest and the worst. My heart sinks every time I think about it. I have no ill will towards Neil though. Just filled with disappointment, but I do respect his prerogative. :(

Just a couple of random comments… In a recent interview on a MLB talkshow, it was very evident that Geddy has not given up on the prospects of more touring in the relatively near future. I remember him saying something like "We have nothing planned right now". And "we're still discussing". But he also said "we all three have very different views on what our future should be as far as touring goes." Please note that I am paraphrasing these comments off the top of my head, so I may not have the exact wording correct, but I am accurate as to the sentiments Geddy expressed. On a possibly somewhat related note, I also remember Geddy making a comment at the Bristow show along the lines of "It's funny how sometimes you just ask someone to do something for you, and they do it", as he turned his body slightly to make eye contact with Neil. We can only speculate on the intended context of that comment, but it seems reasonably possible it may have had something to do with discussions on extended tour dates. So what I take from all of this is that Neil has said he is done with touring, but Geddy (and probably Alex) have not given up on trying to persuade him otherwise. I seriously doubt that there is or ever was any animosity though. Disappointment yes, but animosity between these three seems way out of character and extremely unlikely. I was at 12 shows, and both Alex and Geddy were goofing around quite a bit with Neil (and each other), and all three of them were more visibly jovial in general than I've ever seen them act on stage. Sorry, but I just don't believe that they would act that way on stage and then be at odds with each other behind the scenes.

I understand how you feel… it was a momentous occasion to be sure. But I don't think it was necessarily nice to see, because it had such an air of finality to it. We have, at the very least, seen the end of Rush touring. We have quite possibly seen the end of Rush playing live in any capacity, and maybe even the end of Rush altogether. I'm not ashamed to say that tears were streaming down my cheeks once he started taking pictures. :|

I've seen conversations about this subject on Facebook saying pretty much the same thing. One person was actually able to recognize theirself in the photos from Philly and Montreal because they were front row center, but stated their refusal to pay the absurd prices being placed on them. The prevailing sentiment seems to be that this is the biggest, most sickening money-grab associated with the band throughout their entire history. We're all hoping that absolutely no one buys the photos. :|

I honestly think Losing It is quite a bit overrated myself. It was awesome to see a song that had never been played live, but I would rather have seen Lessons, Cut to the Chase, The Fountain of Lamneth, or Before and After. I'm not complaining though. All in all this was one of the best set lists ever. :haz:

Look forward to seeing this! :haz:

I think that is actually Neil, isn't it? (And a microphone perhaps?)

Haha! Those are 5 awesome peeps right there! Glad I got to meet you on this tour Mike. It was fun partying with you and The Dubber before the Seattle show, though I could have done without the bird pooping on my Rush jersey! Hope to see you at a kRUSH show sometime soon. :cheers:

Got the picture Robert! Many thanks man. I love the picture and I'm happy to be able to add it to my collection to help me remember what a great day/night it was.