The Mighty Dudad

Oh, Geddy's a HUGE scarf-aholic... http://andrewolson.com/blogpics/RushatClarkCountyAmphitheater_11C08/geddy_neil_cc_mzae4de5dd749743c995a40204f3cf56c9.jpg http://www.deviantart.com/download/171290831/Geddy_Lee_by_NobodysHeroine1994.jpg http://www.musicintheabstract.org/rush-oddities/images/geddy-alex-3-2006.jpg http://cache.fanity.com/2012/10/06/134952062392_square.jpg http://cdn100.iofferphoto.com/img/item/105/792/357/l_EbCo.jpg ok, that last one may not be his, but you get the idea.

...like this. Happy Friday.

I listened to it last week after taking a long break as well. Damn is this a great album. I have unexpectedly been given the opportunity to see them on their last 2012 US date (Houston, 12/2), so will likely only dip into it lightly over the next 3 weeks so as not to burn out before the show.

Twice? Three Times? Ten Times??? Absolutely...especially when there are setlist differences. The more the merrier.

Did the hot violinist change her hair to blonde? Or was that a wig?

QUOTE (rocketom @ Oct 12 2012, 02:07 AM) 7:40-7:45 In Chicago, the lights went out and video fired up at about 7:40. The opening video is quite short.

Warning..this update does contain a few spoilers, so proceed with caution. Also contains a bit of stuff that will certainly get the haters hatin'. A good read, in my opinion.

Rush: Need Some Love Fly By Night: Rivendell (if this was the first Rush song I ever heard, I would never have listened to another one...absolutely horrendous) Caress of Steel: I Think I'm Going Bald (fun, silly song, but to me clearly trails the rest of this album) 2112: Lessons (if for no other reason than I looked at the track list and couldn't for the life of me recall how this song goes) A Farewell to Kings: Cinderalla Man (nice song, but falls just a bit behind Madrigal for me) Hemispheres: Circumstances (All four songs are winners, but if I had to pick one to be 4th, this would be it) Permanent Waves: Different Strings (a cut below the rest) Moving Pictures: Vital Signs (but still in the top 50% of their portfolio) Signals: Chemistry (never got into this song...ever) Grace Under Pressure: Red Lenses (but i vaguely recall it being really well done in concert) Power Windows: Emotion Detector (or "Lack Of Emotion Detector", to be precise) Hold Your Fire: Tai Shan (I kind of sort of like this song, a little, but for me it marks the beginning of the "lets add extra songs that aren't really good because a CD can hold more music than a record" phase. Ironically, it's usually the second to last song during this phase that suffers the most) Presto: Hand Over Fist (another victim of the "second to last song" enigma) Roll the Bones: Neurotica (yet another victim of the "second to last song" enigma) Counterparts: The Speed of Love (even though they started making full length CDs without too much filler with Counterparts, this song ranks very very high on my least favorite list) Test for Echo: Virtuality (Neil at his pedantic worst with lyrics, plodding music. The jarring transition from Dog Years to Virtuality is hard on my ears) Vapor Trails: The Stars Look Down (the first song from this CD that I regularly started to skip over) Snakes & Arrows: Good News First (just never got this song) Clockwork Angels: BU2B2 (kind of a cop-out, as this isn't really a song IMO)

I say there is almost zero chance that they will change anything up during any of these mid-tour leg mini breaks. If they make any changes, they will happen between tour legs.

QUOTE (losingit2k @ Sep 25 2012, 05:17 PM)Its an honest to God true phenomena. Post Rush Interactive Concert Syndrome(PRICS). Many people suffer and are carriers of (PRICS). Specially after a great RUSH experience. Its a condition that usually affects men, but there have been rare documented cases of women haing (PRICS). Women suffer from a contrary affliction know as (LOPRICS) or Lack of (PRICS). Usually combining people with these polar afflictions will help release the other. Which is the reason you will find more women at RUSH concerts as of late . So if you suffer from (LOPRICS) and you know someone with (PRICS). Welcome them. Give them a hand, job, or something that will get them excited to face life again. Having (PRICS) is sometimes overwhelming. The condition sometimes makes you do strange things you wouldn't usually do. Like going into lonely dark alleys seeking SEX Pistols CDs or worse. So treat people with (PRICS) with tenderness. Cause the next person that grabs a dose of (PRICS) might just be you! Now that's funny.

QUOTE (nappy2112 @ Sep 25 2012, 03:50 PM)They could retire tomorrow and I'd be OK with it , I've seen them 9 times now since 1981 and yeah they're my favorite band but at least I got to see them. Not seeing Queen , Dio , Led Zeppelin etc. is what's a bummer. So I take it you don't subscribe to the Losing It philosophy, eh? Sadder still to watch it die than never to have known it... To theWK90 - A Road Trip to every show that Rush is scheduled to play certainly would keep the blues away! Time to go buy some lottery tickets, I guess.

QUOTE (professornutbudder @ Sep 25 2012, 09:25 AM)You're not crazy, at least no more than the rest of us. I'll admit, when I walked out of the show last week, I felt that same pang of "man, that may be the last time I ever get to see them play". I even felt the sting if a tear in my eye when I started thinking about that possibility. I've been listening to these guys for well over 30 years. To say that their music has been a part of my life is a serious understatement. I endured ridicule in high school for being a fan of "that guy with the big nose", heartbreak in the late 90's when I was sure they were gone forever, and felt elation learning they were coming back with Vapor Trails. I'm sure that someday we'll all wake up to find our favorite band is no more. But until that day, and I'm sure long after, they will continue being a part of my life every day. So, are you crazy? No more than me. I just spent 5 minutes explaining to a group of strangers how crazy I am. Well then, I guess we can all be crazy together!

QUOTE (Tombstone Mountain @ Sep 25 2012, 08:52 AM) QUOTE (The Mighty Dudad @ Sep 25 2012, 08:25 AM) So, it has been a week and a half since I spent 3 amazing hours with the best rock band in the world and 10,000 or so of my closest friends at the United Center. Everything about the show was fantastic. Great set list, the band was "en fuego", the crowd was loud and appreciative, the production was killer. ...so why am I in a post-concert funk?? Seems to happen to me everytime I see Rush. Actually, that's not quite true. It really has only been happening the last 10 years, since the Vapor Trails tour. Prior to that, I don't recall ever feeling down after seeing them. Yes, I realize that Rush is just a rock band, and that this as all a bit silly. That said, I've been a rock music fan since I was 11 or so...a good 37 years now. No band, NO BAND, has ever played a more significant and constant role in my life over all those years than Rush. My amateur psychologist wife says it's because at this stage of their career, I go into the concert thinking, subconsciously or not, that this may well be the last time I see them. While that feeling helps drive my anticipation and enjoyment of the concert itself, it also fuels the funk the follows. "That may have been the last time I ever see this band live" is a pretty powerful feeling. I'm sure she is absolutely correct (she usually is... ). Am I the only crazy person? Good post Dudad--How's the earwig eating business? Surpisingly recession-proof, thanks for asking.

So, it has been a week and a half since I spent 3 amazing hours with the best rock band in the world and 10,000 or so of my closest friends at the United Center. Everything about the show was fantastic. Great set list, the band was "en fuego", the crowd was loud and appreciative, the production was killer. ...so why am I in a post-concert funk?? Seems to happen to me everytime I see Rush. Actually, that's not quite true. It really has only been happening the last 10 years, since the Vapor Trails tour. Prior to that, I don't recall ever feeling down after seeing them. Yes, I realize that Rush is just a rock band, and that this as all a bit silly. That said, I've been a rock music fan since I was 11 or so...a good 37 years now. No band, NO BAND, has ever played a more significant and constant role in my life over all those years than Rush. My amateur psychologist wife says it's because at this stage of their career, I go into the concert thinking, subconsciously or not, that this may well be the last time I see them. While that feeling helps drive my anticipation and enjoyment of the concert itself, it also fuels the funk the follows. "That may have been the last time I ever see this band live" is a pretty powerful feeling. I'm sure she is absolutely correct (she usually is... ). Am I the only crazy person?

Section 109 in Chicago (near back corner on Alex's side) stood the whole show, except for a few folks here and there. I love standing...makes it easier to rock! That said, I wouldn't have lost sleep if the section turned out to be a "sitting" one. The sections that were way in back directly facing the stage looked to be sitting more than standing.

QUOTE (jasonw2112 @ Sep 21 2012, 01:02 PM) The place ass filled! "ass filled"??

QUOTE (Smug Monkey @ Sep 21 2012, 09:52 AM)...snipped... Headlong Flight was the show stopper of the evening in my opinion. Everything about this song lends itself to a big grand production. Geddy sounded so damn good in this song. I can't say enough about his performance. The high notes, and the length he held them gave me chicken skin (goosebumps). ...snipped... Yes yes yes yes yes. Headlong Flight is phenomenally HUGE in concert. The highlight of the Chicago show that I saw on the 15th...and it earned one of the loudest responses of the night QUOTE (pdurbin22 @ Sep 21 2012, 10:30 AM) Great to read such a positive review, and I completely agree that "Headlong Flight" was the highlight of the night both in terms of performance and overall energy. How many bands this far into their career can claim a new song as a highlight?? That's the power of Rush... No kidding, right? I don't even care if it turns out that Geddy is getting a bit of "vocal assistance" on that last long "AGAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnn". I would buy a ticket to another show just to see this song again.

QUOTE (willowroolz @ Sep 19 2012, 01:45 PM) Btw, we went to Buddy Guy's Legends one night and I was chatting to a drummer at the bar there, and mentioned we'd been to see Rush. He called over an older guy who told me he'd played in a band that had opened for Rush in the 70s. The main guy in the band was Bob someone, who went on to win ten Grammies, apparently. I think the surname started with an 'M' - any ideas? Glad to hear you had an awesome time in Chicago. It was a phenominal night. Regarding your question...I wonder if it was Montrose?? They were together for some shows around 76. The lead singer at that time was Bob James. Not sure about the Grammies or who opened for who back then, however.

Thanks for posting/sharing. Great article...and we get a definitive answer to the question of the "clicking drum sticks" during the title track, which was discussed back in June. "In particular, "Clockwork Angels" is a song Alex Lifeson brought in as a demo with much of the sections already in place. As soon as Peart heard it, he knew, "I want to play to that, because it's something we had rarely done." Still, even with Peart's exceptional ability to play complicated parts, the time shifts in "Clockwork Angels" proved challenging. For this reason, in one transition from four to six, Peart can be heard clicking his sticks on beats 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Peart initially expected the stick clicks would be edited out of the final recording, but they remain because they sound good. Still, even with the song's rhythmic shifts, Peart's approach is more about phrasing and "inflection" than counting subdivisions. "I'm thinking lilt, honestly - I'm not conscious of the six and four difference." "

QUOTE (tangy @ Sep 17 2012, 02:48 PM) think i will sit that one out. an army of dudes raising their arms as ged sings about goddesses will most likely not be synchronized or graceful..... True enough... That said, it wasn't so much Geddy trying to get everyone to raise their arms as it was the lighting effect coupled with the lyric that made it happen. Kind of a "sweeping of light" from the front row all the way to the nose-bleeds in the back, with folks raising their arms as the light passes over them. In Chicago, most seemed to catch on the second time through. It is one of those hokey "only doing it because I'm at a concert" kind of things, but all part of the fun.

They are doing them. I saw someone at the Chicago show wearing a "Meet & Greet" pass and asked him how it was. He said it was really REALLY quick. There were about 24 people, and they were told to cheer when Geddy and Alex came in, step up quickly, shake hands, smile, and move on. No time for small talk, autographs, or anything like that. Sounds like "Meet & Greet" should be renamed to "Shake, Smile and Scoot".

Loved hearing all of the PoW songs in Chicago on Saturday. Territories really stood out for me in the first set. Grand Designs sounded a bit off, but that could have been a combo of UC acoustics and the song's funky syncopation rythms.

I've mentioned this a few times in other threads, but in looking back at Saturday night, I just can't get out of my head how absolutely stunningly monstrously amazing Headlong Flight was in concert. The band and strings played it with such tremendous ferocity, and when the band rejoined after Neil's brief solo...just wow. The crowd completely ate it up and rewarded the performance with what I think was the biggest response of the night. Am I alone here??

Here is a brief clip of TSOR from Saturday's amazing Chicago show. Not so much for the song, but to give you a sense of the crowd and the level of excitement in the building. Apologies for crappy blackberry quality. I wish I had taken a video of Headlong Flight. That song as absolutely MONSTROUS in concert, and earned one of the biggest and loudest crowd responses of the night.