JARG

11 minutes ago, HemiBeers said:

I first knew about Rush having 2112 as one of the albums on Columbia House records. I thought that was unusual and ironic in my case, which i'll explain below. 

 

Fast forward a couple years around my senior year in high school in 1980. Perusing the albums at the mall record store, I came across ATWAS and was enamored with the stage set on the front cover. So eventually saved up the $10 or so (which was 2 whole mowing jobs) and bought in without ever hearing Rush. I didn't know if I'd like them, but that stage set RAWWWKED. I lived in a radio desert of 70s AOR...Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Eagles, ad nauseum. My personal tastes at the time was 70s prog, ELP and Kansas mostly. I was hooked as soon as Bastille Day kicked in...ballsy and proggy...who the hell changes keys about 6 times in the middle of the guitar solo?

 

Back to the irony of the 2112 album. That caught my eye because our house address was 2112 First Street. Built by my dad and still in the family today. Do a zillow search of 2112 1st st and you'll find it. 

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2112-1st-St-Hughson-CA-95326/15991496_zpid/

On 11/16/2025 at 12:09 PM, Nova Carmina said:

 

Like with lots of things as I get older, I really wish I could go back and listen to 2112 for the first time again. 

This is why "first time hear" Rush reaction videos are so appealing to me.

I didn't care for Rush the first time I heard them. I was 11 in 1976 and one day a buddy and I were walking across the town square when his older brother pulled up to ask us what we were up to. He had an 8-track of 2112 and it had just started playing when he pulled up. I thought the spacey intro was weird -- it didn't register as music in my ears -- my musical sophistication in 1976 had recently graduated from novelty songs (think "Snoopy vs Red Baron") to disco, so you can imagine how how myopic my budding musical tastes were at the time. If it didn't have a beat, I wasn't really interested.

1977 was a watershed year for me. By early fall of that year both Star Wars and Wizards had been released and I was at the perfect age for those two movies to have a huge impact. What had been a mild interest in SciFi and Fantasy become a full-blown obsession.

And so it was on my way home from school one day, I heard blaring from our house this bombastic music with extremely prominent drums (it was, in fact ByTor and the Snowdog that my brother was blasting on the stereo). I came into the house right at Neil's last of the "big 3" drum fills in the song. As I walked in, my brother correctly read my astonishment and handed me the album. Hey cool, there's an owl on the cover, and check it out, the record sleeve has song lyrics. I poured through the lyrics to ByTor and found that bands (or at least this band) we writing songs with themes right up my alley. The music was such a far cry from disco. Here was a song where the music was as cinematic as the lyrics, and it seemed that that was by design.

Yeah, I was hooked big time.

1 hour ago, TheGhostRider said:

If I remember correctly Anthem filmed these videos at Seneca College in Toronto.  But all of the performances are live not dubbed, so it gives us a good idea of what the England footage was probably like. 

What's always amused me about this particular performance was Alex not changing to the B chord on the word "maples" when Geddy first starts singing. Oops!

2 hours ago, Todem said:

No particular order. These tunes are must plays for me in terms of the "popular" "crowd pleasers" stuff.

 

1) The Spirit of Radio

2) Limelight

3) Subdivisions

4) Red Barchetta

5) Dreamline

6) Distant Early Warning

7) Tom Sawyer (yep it kicks ass to this day folks and it will be played every show)

8) Freewill

9) The Trees

10) The Big Money

Those for me; the rest, if never played again, wouldn't be that much of a disappointment to me.

On 11/6/2025 at 5:18 AM, losingit2k said:

Here are your Choices: 

 

RUSH

Take A Friend

 

FLY BY NIGHT

Making Memories

Rivendell

 

CARESS OF STEEL

I Think I’m Going Bald

The Fountain Of Lamneth

 

2112

Lessons

Tears

 

A FAREWELL TO KINGS

Madrigal

 

HEMISPHERES

Every song from this album has been played live.

 

PERMANENT WAVES

Different Strings

 

MOVING PICTURES

Every song from this album has been played live

 

SIGNALS

Every song from this album has been played live

 

GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

Every song from this album has been played live

 

POWER WINDOWS

Emotion Detector

 

HOLD YOUR FIRE

Open Secrets

Second Nature

Tai Shan

High Water

 

PRESTO

Chain Lightning

Anagram (For Mongo)

Red Tide

Hand Over Fist

Available Light

 

ROLL THE BONES

Face Up

The Big Wheel

Neurotica

 

COUNTERPARTS

Cut To The Chase

Alien Shore

The Speed Of Love

Everyday Glory

 

TEST FOR ECHO

The Color Of Right

Totem

Dog Years

Carve Away The Stone

 

VAPOR TRAILS

Peaceable Kingdom

The Stars Look Down

Vapor Trail

Sweet Miracle

Nocturne

Freeze

Out Of The Cradle

 

FEEDBACK

For What It’s Worth

Mr. Soul

Seven And Seven Is

Shapes Of Things

 

SNAKES AND ARROWS

The Bravest Face

Good News First

We Hold On

 

CLOCKWORK ANGELS

BU2B2

Highlighted.

2 hours ago, FlowerbedPiano said:

Back after a long break. Episode Four! Hope the Rush fans here like it. Always delighted to hear thoughts and answer questions....
 

 

Oh hell yes.

A stunningly beautiful tribute to what, on the surface, is a fairly simple and unambitious song. Much like Pat Suzuki's cover of How High The Moon, your treatment of Closer to the Heart transcends and elevates the original. You've accomplished this not only in your arrangement, but also in your performance, bringing a dimension of tenderness not found in the original. Well done.

14 minutes ago, TheGhostRider said:

And the coolest comment in the whole thread goes to you lol. That's amazing that you got to see that tour, and still remember some of the show. 

I wish I'd been older. I saw the Hemispheres tour a week after my 14th birthday. It was my second concert (the first was Foghat, the previous year). I was still at an age where concerts were magical events and I didn't have the foresight to view them more analytically (the way I do now). I think if I'd been of the mindset that "some day you're going to want to remember this in as much detail as possible), I would've approached the whole thing differently. Ah well, hindsight is always 20/20.

Thinking back to the announcement video where Geddy said he'd like to spend more time goofing off with Alex, and that being the main reason why they might use a keyboardist; there are a lot of songs where Geddy is singing while playing the keyboards, so even if they have a keyboard player on those parts, he's still not going to be free to goof off with Alex as he'll be tied to a mic.

So what songs have keyboard parts that don't have Geddy singing while he's playing them? The solo section of Marathon immediately comes to mind, as does the outro solo in Mission, and the solo in Red Sector A. What are some others?

8 hours ago, Timbale said:

 

I take your point... when I saw vids from early on The Who tour, and saw that Simon Townshend was playing the rhythm part in Pinball Wizard, it helped make the decision to not attend this tour.  I am a gigantic Who fan (and love Townshend's solo work), but to me that was indicative of the fact that they shouldn't be out there doing it if they can't, well, do it.  I have extended that band a lot of grace over the years...but when rock's greatest rhythm player isn't playing the rhythm parts anymore, I feel ripped off.  Or at least would if I had bought a ticket.

You probably should just stay home. 

54 minutes ago, chemistry1973 said:

I have wanted to see what the Cygnus X-1 film looked like, for DECADES.

If memory serves (and we're talking about me pulling up memories from 46 years ago), I seem to recall an image of sailing ship set amongst the stars for part of it.

3 hours ago, Brava Doh! said:

Black Sabbath had a couple of shadow players on their “The End” tour as well. Ozzy brought them out of the background and introduced them during the show. I dont think anyone minded. 

As did The Who. Shit, Pete's brother was the one to play the iconic strumming parts on Pinball Wizard. No one seemed to care. If you can't extend a little grace to those in their 70s and 80s doing what they can to share their music, you probably should just stay home.

I'd be open to a 2nd guitarist who could take on some of the lead work in songs that are beyond 72-year-old Alex's ability, but I doubt Alex would be open to that. Those songs will either not get played or Alex will attempt to bluff his way through them (which is fine, as many fans aren't guitarists and so probably won't care/notice).

26 minutes ago, Todem said:

Agree wholeheartedly with you. We may see an old intro video montage with Neil, play a few select songs with Neil montages on the rear screen (think Ghost Rider and The Garden). 
 

I don’t think it will be cheesy or contrived. 
 

And yeah the entire setlist is a tribute. He wrote all the lyrics sans Working Man or anything from the debut. 
 

 

Not to pick nits, but...

3 hours ago, bscsmkr said:

Still see the drum solo taking place after an instrumental as Geddy announces "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Professor on the Drum Kit" and the lights go dark and the video of Neil playing a solo is shown on the screens. 

I would find that hugely disappointing. If I want to watch a video of NP playing a solo, I know where to go for that. I'd much rather see a live drum solo from Anika.

11 hours ago, thizzellewashington said:

Would be a hell of a way to introduce a new drummer to start off the show.

Yup.

49 minutes ago, blueschica said:

You know, I spoke too soon ! My purchase is in there, and the listing of my seats, but I can't access the actual bar code stuff. Do we have to down load them to Google wallet to be able to see them? I tried that and kept getting an error message. I have a help ticket in with Ticketmaster. I want to see them so I don't have to do a charge back. I think it's just my lack of mad skillz! 

Sounds like there's something glitchy. The tickets in my TM app have a black button in the section below the pic of Geddy and Alex that says "View Ticket". Clicking that button displays the barcode. Maybe it's a network issue on your end? Are you checking while you're on WiFi?

2 minutes ago, Todem said:

That's also a bombastic way to introduce Anika. 

That would indeed be one of the reasons I was thinking it'd be a good choice.

It's a good way for Alex and Geddy to say to the audience, "see? she's no slouch!"

50 minutes ago, ZachenFoot said:

The only prediction I'm going to make is that they're not going to roll with an opener everyone is expecting. Subdivisions and The Anarchist were very unorthodox choices none of us would lead our fantasy setlists off with, and I think they started to enjoy the challenge of surprising people. 

One Little Victory might make a good show starter, for a number of reasons.

13 hours ago, HemiBeers said:

I'll pick on your list, since it's the most complete. 

 

As much as I like them, I think that you can cross off any where the guitar solos are complex. I don't think Al has the chops for these anymore. That being Analog Kid, La Villa, perhaps Xanadu (although he could fake his way through the solo flurry), perhaps Bytor (although that's mostly noise). I'd also cross off the meh tunes...Secret Touch, Vital Signs, Roll the Bones (ugh not again), Leave that Thing Alone and Dreamline. It be great if they dusted off some oldies from the earlier albums like In the Mood, Beneath, Between, Behind, Bangkok, etc.

The success of any live song Rush chooses to do is limited by both Alex's decline in his guitar playing facility and Geddy's decline in his vocal facility. That doesn't mean they won't attempt songs they have no business attempting, but it does mean there could be some cringe in our future.

1 hour ago, Laurabw said:

Question only for people who got their tickets on Ticketmaster… Do you already have them in hand? Or electronically or on your phone? I know sometimes they delay delivery.

Yes, already in my iPhone Wallet.

Someone mentioned Anika being able to groove. If that's the case I'm hoping for Alien Shore.

2 hours ago, 9/4 said:

I've played guitar for 45 years.  Not a believer in fine-grained ranking of guitarists based on technical skill.  It's not STEM, and it's not a sport.  Bottom line is that Alex came up with great complex music, and was able to play it very well on the guitar, both in the studio and live.  Can't ask more than that of an artist/musician.

 

Coincidentally, a friend of mine - who LOVES Rush - was opining today that Neil wasn't a technically skilled drummer. 

This isn't a discussion about whether or not Alex is a good guitarist. As I said, he's my favorite, and I think he's a fantastic guitarist. This is also not a discussion about the merits of being a technical guitarist. This is a discussion about whether or not the guitarist in the video is a better technical player than Alex. You don't think he is. I do.

nm, my question was already answered.

1 minute ago, 9/4 said:

Disagree.  Odd time signatures, complex chords, melodic lines and solos that have nothing to do with anything pentatonic or blues.  A harmonically and melodically innovative player, no one else like him in the history of rock.  The guitar work on Hemispheres is incredible. 

Yes, his work on Hemispheres is insanely good. But comfort in odd times and unusual chord voicings or having an ear for melody or the ability to solo are all available to players with low technical skill. From a technical perspective, I'd say Alex is in the same league as, for example, Gilmour, Young, and Gibbons (though Gibbons stays truer to his roots in his playing), and is not in the same league as Van Halen, Vai, Gilbert, Satriani, Bumblefoot, and many others.