Syrinx

A little late but hope you had a great one!

What an idiot. He should be charged. I am constantly amazed at the brain dead part of society.

I know the people involved with this. They didn't want it to go the route of the Chromey set at some big auction, so they contacted most of the major vintage drum dealers in the USA, and these are the consensus prices to put on the drums. In Canadian dollars it looks even more daunting! I am not sure they will sell, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that the chrome set would go for $500K. You have rookie cards of baseball and basketball players who have been in the pros for a couple of years, going for hundreds of thousands of dollars, these days. No matter what has happened in the economy the last few years, there are people out there with more money than they know what to do with. That Vapor Trails kit is maybe my all time favorite of Neil's. I remember seeing it on stage and thinking it was a work of art more than a drum set.

I have known about this for a while, but it was being kept under wraps. Very legit and approved by the estate. But you need DEEEEEP pockets! https://souldrums.com/collections/the-bubba-gump-collection

I'm not sure how old you are Syrinx but an old codger like me remembers what the music press were like in the UK in the late '70s ...... boy they hated Rush with a passion. I just turned 60 zepphead. Here are a few early reviews: Rush at Varsity Stadium – Sunday, September 2, 1979 Concert review by Alan Niester – Globe and Mail When it was conceived a few months ago, last night’s pairing of Rush and FM at Varsity Stadium probably seemed like a good idea. After all, Rush members are favourite sons here, and their appearances traditionally draw good crowds. It was the Labor Day weekend, the last slice of summer freedom, and presumably the city’s students would have been dying for one last chance at a summer blow-out. And putting the concert in a nice outdoor setting should only have increased the pleasure two-fold. But somehow, it didn’t quite turn out that way. Only 8,000 fans turned out for the concert, apathetically sitting through conditions which seemed more suited to a late autumn football game than a summer concert. Between enduring the cool breeze and facing the realization that summer had run its course, the audience hardly seemed in a festive mood. And the music provided by the artists both reflected and increased the general audience apathy. FM started it off with what may have been the most ignored set I’ve ever seen in this city. The three-man band, featuring Cameron Hawkins on synthesizer and Ben Mink on electronic violin, plus drummer Martin Dellar, ran through 50 minutes of its own brand of electro-jamming. Although the music tended to be a bit ragged, the trio generally acquitted itself well. Considering the similarities between this type of music (progressive, thought-provoking, rambling) and the headline act, it was quite surprising that almost no one noticed when they left the stage. Of course, Rush fans are an intensely loyal lot, primed for their heroes and having little regard for anyone else. Simply because the band only drew half the number of fans it usually draws, I’m not yet prepared to write it off. The weather was less than inviting for an outdoor concert, and I suspect the CNE has gleaned most of the greens from teen jeans. Rush ran through a lengthy set which revolved around material from its Hemispheres and 2112 albums. Personally, I find the idea of a power trio with a singer who sounds like Lucy Ricardo rather trying after an hour or so. But the Rush fans who hung in through the seemingly endless (often as long as 20 minutes – which in the hands of Rush seems endless) songs seemed to be satisfied, even if they did spend most of the evening hunkered dozily on the stadium infield. For their perseverance, the fans were treated to some new material from the band, including a song called The Spirit of Radio. The new material sounded much like the old material – pretentious and bombastic. But it sells, so why knock it. When all was said and done, however, Labor Day weekend with Rush was certainly not the triumph it should have been. The concert was a “so what” affair, and ended the listless Toronto concert summer with a whimper, not a bang. Yeah, that sounds like the vibes I remember from the time. It never put me off, and I reckon it didn't put you off either eh Syrinx? Are you kidding? I am sure you like all Rush fans wore it as a badge of honour that our band was hated by the critics, but still sold out every show.

Happy Birthday Mr Jennings!

Wow Lorraine I feel for you. Not the way I wanted to see you return here, but know that we have been thinking of you and continue to do so.

Rush at the CNE Grandstand – August 23, 1977 Review #1 by Peter Goddard – The Toronto Star The exercise of power is never more menacing than when it’s done without humour. It seems so monstrously banal, so lacking in human qualities. There’s nothing menacing about Rush’s three members, bassist-singer Geddy Lee, drummer Neil Peart or guitarist Alex Lifeson. Nothing personally menacing, that is, and certainly nothing particularly banal. BIG NIGHT But the moment they become a unit on stage, as was the case at the Canadian National Exhibition’s Grandstand last night, they seem thoroughly depersonalized. It was the Toronto band’s most important concert yet. With 20,800 people jammed into the stadium, it was the biggest crowd the group had played to as a headline act. It also gave Rush a chance to premier material from its sixth album, A Farewell to Kings, the most adventurous album in its career. Yet it all left this reviewer numb. RESTLESS CROWD The crowd cheered everything and then fought or threw sparklers when the blunt, almost brutal excitement waned ever so slightly. And the vast sound system – which seemed better tuned for the opening act, Max Webster, than for Rush – made every piece flutter like a flag to be saluted, even good songs like A Farewell to Kings. There was no style, no grace, no touch of humor to leven this colossal display. Like Peart’s mystical lyrics, there was little to respond to.

Rush at Varsity Stadium, Sept. 2, 1979 – Review #3 By Bruce Blackadar – Toronto Star “Rush tries to bludgeon audience” Attending a Rush concert is like being a masochist who’d enjoy a heart transplant operation in his friendly neighborhood hospital. But the Rush fanatics – who used to be legion in these parts – seem to be losing their addiction to pain. Only 8,000 showed up last night at Varsity Stadium to happily endure the three-man Toronto heavy metal group’s mind-shattering barrage of technological and electronic wizardry that it cunningly disguises as music. It’s meaningless to attempt to review what Rush is doing; that would be like trying to explain the political necessity of planting bombs in churches to a sweet old nun running a children’s orphanage. However, we can say that the trio – Neil Peart on drums, Geddy Lee, vocals and bass, and Alex Lifeson, guitar – are certainly professional, like a team of frogmen who possess an exquisite mastery of technical matters. First, there’s the overwhelming bass line, always present, steering the electronic carnage that makes up the bulk of the band’s albums, like Hemispheres and 2112, this way and that. Then there’s the dentist drill voice of Lee, which after not all that many songs becomes a deft instrument of torture for the listener. It’s a voice that begins immediately at the level of pain and, miraculously, and very unfortunately, proceeds to a higher plane. Finally, there’s the drum work of Peart, the frightful heartbeat, the rhythm of doom. Other ingredients of the Rush assault include a mind-bending sound system, full of hysterical – and meaningless – distortions, a perfectly synchronized light show, and the band’s weird philosophical stance of intellectually primitive conservatism. Much of what the band does – such as The Spirit of Radio, a new song they introduced to their fans last night – is wildly exciting. But the other material is pointless electronic overkill of the highest order.

Rush at Varsity Stadium Review #2 – The Toronto Sun What a bummer for Rush! When last Toronto’s hometown heavies played at home, they sold nearly 50,000 tickets to three nights at the Gardens. This year they had reportedly been booked to play the CNE but were lured back into the arms of Concert Productions International with a fat guarantee. CPI hired Varsity Stadium for them on Sunday and sought to raise the crowd limit by 10,000. But by showtime the attendance was less than 10,000 in all. Was the problem the recession that is scaring many American acts off the road? Was it the length of time since the last album? (Rush will begin to record again next month at Quebec’s Le Studio.) Was it promotion that took for granted that the Rush show was the big event of Labor Day weekend and failed to make it seem so? Was it a ticket price half again as much as the CNE concert by Triumph and Doucette (who drew half again as many people)? Was it the threatening weather that also prevented Rush from using its movies and turned its clouds of smoke into wisps of mist? Aside from bruised feelings, though, Rush was alright. (It was the scalpers hustling passers-by with slashed-price tickets who got burned – and some of them had been burned at the Bee Gees!) The trio played more like the tough little barband that triumphed at Massey Hall just a few years ago. Even the more progressive science-fiction material seemed gutsier without the band’s classy visual distractions – and that’s a pointer towards Rushmusic in the 80’s. The new album will be called Magnetic Air, which describes the buzz they get before going on stage. Neil Peart, whose solo rhythmic showmanship closed the concert on a climax, said he didn’t think there was “a single whiff of space anywhere on the album.” “Not in the lyrics,” agreed singer Geddy Lee, who also mentioned a song that is “almost entirely” in 4/4 time. “That’s a breakthrough for us. Finding something we like that is in 4/4 almost all the way through is an accomplishment.” During the concert they previewed two tight, disciplined creations called Free Will and The Spirit of Radio. The latter is a tribute to progressive CFNY, and while the band didn’t dedicate it on stage (the show was presented by CHUM), they knew the Brampton station’s listeners would recognize references to their promotions.

I'm not sure how old you are Syrinx but an old codger like me remembers what the music press were like in the UK in the late '70s ...... boy they hated Rush with a passion. I just turned 60 zepphead. Here are a few early reviews: Rush at Varsity Stadium – Sunday, September 2, 1979 Concert review by Alan Niester – Globe and Mail When it was conceived a few months ago, last night’s pairing of Rush and FM at Varsity Stadium probably seemed like a good idea. After all, Rush members are favourite sons here, and their appearances traditionally draw good crowds. It was the Labor Day weekend, the last slice of summer freedom, and presumably the city’s students would have been dying for one last chance at a summer blow-out. And putting the concert in a nice outdoor setting should only have increased the pleasure two-fold. But somehow, it didn’t quite turn out that way. Only 8,000 fans turned out for the concert, apathetically sitting through conditions which seemed more suited to a late autumn football game than a summer concert. Between enduring the cool breeze and facing the realization that summer had run its course, the audience hardly seemed in a festive mood. And the music provided by the artists both reflected and increased the general audience apathy. FM started it off with what may have been the most ignored set I’ve ever seen in this city. The three-man band, featuring Cameron Hawkins on synthesizer and Ben Mink on electronic violin, plus drummer Martin Dellar, ran through 50 minutes of its own brand of electro-jamming. Although the music tended to be a bit ragged, the trio generally acquitted itself well. Considering the similarities between this type of music (progressive, thought-provoking, rambling) and the headline act, it was quite surprising that almost no one noticed when they left the stage. Of course, Rush fans are an intensely loyal lot, primed for their heroes and having little regard for anyone else. Simply because the band only drew half the number of fans it usually draws, I’m not yet prepared to write it off. The weather was less than inviting for an outdoor concert, and I suspect the CNE has gleaned most of the greens from teen jeans. Rush ran through a lengthy set which revolved around material from its Hemispheres and 2112 albums. Personally, I find the idea of a power trio with a singer who sounds like Lucy Ricardo rather trying after an hour or so. But the Rush fans who hung in through the seemingly endless (often as long as 20 minutes – which in the hands of Rush seems endless) songs seemed to be satisfied, even if they did spend most of the evening hunkered dozily on the stadium infield. For their perseverance, the fans were treated to some new material from the band, including a song called The Spirit of Radio. The new material sounded much like the old material – pretentious and bombastic. But it sells, so why knock it. When all was said and done, however, Labor Day weekend with Rush was certainly not the triumph it should have been. The concert was a “so what” affair, and ended the listless Toronto concert summer with a whimper, not a bang.

1974 / 75 - Toronto radio. In the Mood and Working Man. My band in high school did a Working Man cover - I am sure that it rocked! :D By the time FBN came out I was a rabid fan.

Wandering the Face of the Earth is fantastic! I kept concert reviews of every concert I went to, in scrapbooks. It is great to be able to go back to a show you attended and read about it in the book. I love the snippets of early reviews. The critics for the most part hated Rush. So funny after all of these years how most people came around and now respect the band's legacy.

It has been legal for a while up here in Canada. The world has not come to an end. There are a lot of pot shops that opened in the last year. I am sure they won't all survive. it is a very trendy, cool business to get into, but it is a business.

Happy belated to my fellow Cowboys fan!

Hope you had a great one!

WOW!

Sounds awesome! That is something I have never witnessed.

Nice to see him out in the spotlight again!

Interesting!

Wow reading this made me very sad! RIP Mr Peart

Underground Railroad

Bruce Springsteen Live in Hyde Park

Wow! Charlie Watts is one of my favorite drummers. Happy 80th!

Chris Cornell looks like Steve Buscemi circa reservoir Dogs era. That doesn't look like Eddie? Pssst, it's a joke. Ha ha a little slow on the uptake!