78jazz

I have read some suggestions by those who went that it may have started on the Hemispheres tour. I *thought* it was the next tour, but I would have to dig out a boot to check. I think ytse is correct; if it had not started by then, certainly Signals shows indicate it was happening then.

If that is talking 1977, Rush did their entire show that night (unless Bob Seger was the opening act).

This interview makes me curious about the introduction of the 17" crash (unless that didn't happen on this tour and I missed it before).

In terms of the boards from this tour, this may have the best performance. I would have to listen to all of them again to decide what I would pick to be the best performance available (Vancouver, Chicago, the first night in Toronto, and Richfield should also be considered for best of tour performance).

This worries me a bit, since I may have the Presto LP coming for my birthday. (And R40 comes out on my birthday!)

Proof?

I will (respectfully) disagree with this. I think the low mids of that Precision give that bass tone a nice punch that the Wal would not have (and I think the black Wal was far more enjoyable to listen to than the red one, but I wonder if Geddy had his tone rolled completely off).

I don't think the fact that he wanted to retire is what is upsetting. It's the manner in which he orchestrated his exit. In many people's opinions, the class thing to do would have been to tough it out for only 3 more months, like the whole organization wanted to. In the grand scheme of things, 3 months is a very short amount of time. It would have changed the whole tone of the tour behind the scenes, and would have eliminated all of the hard feelings it created among the 3 of them. Well, 2 of them, anyway. Now I ask you, considering that it meant so much to not only G&A, but the whole Rush organization, AND the fans, would it have killed Neil to delay his retirement by 90 days? I am curious; would 3 months have been simply more dates in the States and Europe, or were there discussions to play elsewhere besides those 2 locations?

I realize I am late to this party, but I think I have a few that some would cringe at such as: John Rutsey probably played better drums on the first album than Neil would have (and I do not think Neil is anywhere near the best drummer in rock). Moving Pictures is not their best album (and since I am on this, The Camera Eye is terrible. The Signals tour had the most sensible arrangement of this song). I like Virtuality, Neurotica, and Heresy. I can listen to all of Counterparts without skipping a track (and that is the most recent album to do so). Limbo is an excellent instrumental (and The Main Monkey Business is not). Subdivisions is overrated (and Signals seems to get more love than it should, although it may be the most important Rush album due to how much of a transition it marked). I think that is all I have for now.

I expect it around April 1, 2016. ;) Geddy just said there's no plans for any more touring. Not that I have any doubt that it's true, but where exactly did he just say this? I think the fact that Neil recently had ALL of his equipment that was in the bands storage facility shipped to him in CA is a pretty good indicator that it's over. In 40+ years, he has NEVER done that. As it turns out, Geddy, Alex, & management were hoping that once the Emperor got out on this tour, he'd have a change of heart about extending the tour and even going overseas. Which, is something they desperately wanted to do, considering it was the last tour. However, we know how this story ended. As predicted, Neil's selfishness is solely responsible for the death of Rush. Neil's selfishness? I doubt his family feels this way. As a fan I could feel this way, but I don't. The last 15 years have been a bit of a bonus, if you look at it one way. Listening to Neil rave about how awesome touring is on the ESL film, it's almost ironic he is adamant about retiring now. He is at that point in life, if this is what he wants, so be it. Its a shame the fans only got three months notice of the end before the short tour began. But at least we got that and it was special. Fans should not fret, if Ged and Al, or just Ged, want to continue, that would be a way for their music to live on. LEEFSON!! Seeing Roger Waters doing The Wall and Dark Side was awesome. And The Dead/Further/The Other Ones sold out arenas and they had an even tougher job replacing Neil, yet put on a great show for the fans. I realize this may be nitpicking, but IIRC he said he liked "playing live a lot". I can see how this is not saying he likes touring.

I'm not sure in what context you mean. If you mean that I'm projecting feelings that were not only visually obvious, but were also verbally spoken to me then yes, I'm projecting... To think that G&A are not miffed by the situation would be naive. The inner circle, including Neil, are well aware of how they feel. There was a picture I posted a while back (someone else did too) that showed one of their last walks to the stage and it's very telling, IMO. Taken from behind, it shows Neil leading, followed by G&A walking next to each other. Neil appears as happy as a pig in shite, while G&A, not so much. Towards the end of the tour, Neil had a few shirts made - a picture taken of him from behind, riding his bike with his arms raised in the air (in victorious fashion) and a big red circle with a line through it covering the whole thing. The caption was something like, "the end of the road". He presented them to G&A and Alex promptly threw his in the nearest trash can. Of course, they have/would never let their feelings be known publicly, but this was not a fairy tale ending. There was no celebration together - no final night out together, as one might expect. Even at the end of tour bash, there was no touching moment where they all hugged, thanked each other for the amazing ride, and no heartfelt goodbyes. It just ended, with a LOT of mixed emotions. IDK, maybe I'm biased, but for those who say that Neil deserves to be left alone and be with his family, you should take into consideration how HE orchestrated their swan song. IMO, it was a final FU to not only the whole organization, but also to the fans. Neil is a professional, and could have easily toughed it out for another 3 months to give his band mates, and especially the fans (who really deserved it), a proper last tour. It could have been handled differently, with a little more compassion, and a LOT more class. So I ask you to dig deep and wonder for a minute, did his actions seem like those of a team player who took everyone's wants & desires into consideration, or were they selfish and based only on what was best for Neil? This blows my mind (not that you are wrong). In a weird way, this seems to make sense. I am not an insider so I will not say that I know exactly what was/is going on. I do believe that there may be a bunch of stuff that has happened we have no clue about (but I chalk this up to the nature of bands). Like I said in my Denver torrent on DIME, if Denver is the last time I see them (and I assume it is until more dates announced, which I do not assume will happen), then I saw a good show. If there was animosity happening behind the scenes then, maybe that helped make the performances rock more.

Unless I am missing something in this, this photo appears to be a pre-AFTK photo (I base that on the bridge of the bass).

We went with a neutral color for our firstborn (a daughter). We also told virtually no one until she arrived (3 people were told that I recall. I wanted to hold off so that ladies would not just bring clothes to the baby shower).

Great googilly moogilly Well he was very upset, as you can understand.

SUCKS! If I have seen him for the last time, thanks for 3 good shows.

That is the appeal of this song IMO. The ups and downs are much more dramatic (and I do agree that Rush did do this sort of thing a bit more in the '70s).

Count me in as someone else who digs this tune.

(cont.) So, Lorraine, Neil is famous for his use of rudiments and the very of percussion (drum) instruments he builds into his song parts. He has great complexity and "musicality" in that sense. Where Neil falls short of other drummers is in his "feel", or the way he plays those parts that he constructs. If there's one valid knock against Neil it's that he is almost always pounding on the drums. He hits them so hard that it lacks subtlety. And that pounding actually impacts the sound of the drum - or cymbal. Think of a piano being pounded on versus lightly played. There's also a question of timing. Some drummers play slightly behind the beat - intentionally - which gives a sense of swing to the rhythm. Neil is almost always driving the rhythm. This constant driving, combined with the forceful pounding, comes across as harsh. It's technical...scientific playing. I think something that makes La Villa Strangiato so special is that it is a rare moment where Neil does swing. He backs off, and the variation in striking power brings emotion to the entire piece. I like Presto for that reason. On Presto, Neil's drumming has great feel, in my opinion. OK...enough of that for now. Great question, Lorraine. This is fun for me. Don't go yet. If Neil plays without "feel" - please tell me which drummer you think does so I can listen to him to see if I can hear any difference. I realize this isn't directed at me, but I will bite. I'd try some of that Phil Collins stuff in the first half of the 1970s with Genesis. I hear a similar building approach to those songs but with more spontaneity (ROIOs will help with this if one wants to take it that far). Neil is an excellent composer, but not the best and his approach to the drums for a lot of his career has been a bit rigid (by his choice).

I will concur with this. I can think of at least 3 other songs from VT that would have been a pleasure to hear. Oh well.

In the past, his "scowling" onstage persona often carried through backstage, except, around certain people. While I think the onstage face was a combination of concentration, determination, and perfectionism, the identical scowl took on a more self-defense feel backstage. His thinking is that if he looks miserable, people will be less likely to approach him. And, that's the way he wants it. It's a sound strategy that really works! YES, that's exactly what he's thinking. Especially on this tour. He literally counts down shows and the closer to the end they get, the happier he is. Every now & then you'll see him & Alex make eye contact and if he's smiling, it usually means one of 'em just mouthed to the other, "5 more", "4 more", etc. I'll be interested to see how that "covert onstage banter" plays out on the final night... Lorraine, to answer your question (in your heart, you already know this)... NO, no chance. :D I would think that after Alex's Eddie Trunk interview, that would take of the "will the tour be extended?" question.

Hey hey...have you changed your mind about John Petrucci the genius yet? I gave him a fighting chance a few years ago and bought several of their albums because people kept insisting on how good they were. I just can't get into it. They can't write a decent melody to save their lives. However that being said, I can understand why people like them. They just don't appeal to me. Maybe if John Myungs bass wasn't so buried in the mix it would be a little more appealing to me, but I doubt it. For the most part, yeah, but they can occasionally write songs. Goodnight Kiss is an excellent example of this (IMO).

I thought the same thing about Tulsa. Even if you didn't live in the area, if you had the money to travel about, that was a show to have been at. I considered traveling for it because I really wanted to be at an opening night for once. Ultimately decided that flying would be too much hassle and opted for Dallas as a second show since I could pretty easily drive there. Wish I could've watched Tulsa unfold live with the rest of you here, but I tried to stay spoiler free for a week till they hit Austin. :) Ditto for me, but after crunching numbers on ticket prices I opted for Denver instead.

Easily the better of the two I saw (KC being the previous one). If Denver is my last time seeing them (and I have no reason to assume it won't be), then they delivered big. I have yet to listen to all of the recordings and I haven't kept up with Periscope dilligently, but I think Denver may be ranked as one of the best performances of the tour.

If it is any consolation, my concert going experience on this show was awful.

Thanks for this source. I taped it as well and agree it was easily the better of the 2 shows that I witnessed.