bmorechowder

QUOTE (dtpoet @ Sep 11 2012, 11:19 AM) After a few days - I am going to love this on 10/20 in Newark!. I made a CD and am jamming in the car. Amazing I can still remember all the words to these songs. Here's my irony - I'm an 80's guy. My first show was GUP in what I call "the busiest day of my life" as my father got remarried in the morning, I played a varsity football game in the afternoon, and saw my first concert at night. I went to all the tours from GUP thru RTB. The irony is that while these may be old and unseen by many a Rush fan - I've seen them all in concert before albeit it was 20+ years ago. At first, I was bummed as I always hope to hear a song I haven't heard in concert before. I guess that's why I got excited pre-tour for something like Losing It or Jacob's Ladder. Now - I am stoked! I can't wait. For years and years, I always felt weird being a Rush-80's guys. I love Signals, GUP, PW, HYF, Presto, RTB, but always felt like I was in the minority because I wasn't a diehard 70's guy. I would run into many of them and they always frown uponed the "sythn era" albums and would elude to the fact that I must not be a diehard then. Well - this is my time. Our time. For those of us who love this era, this is our validation. Our stamp of approval that it's okay, that we are real fans. This is awesome!!! I hear you on feeling weird bring the "80s guy" I'm into a lot of heavy music and metal. My first show was PW in 1985 and my mind was completely blown. I remember driving to the show listening to AFTK and talking with my friends , hoping they played Xanadu and Cygnus etc. totally naive about what to expect. Obviously I didn't get anything like that but enjoyed the new songs do much that I skipped seeing Metallica open for Ozzy Osbourne later on so I could catch Rush again. My metal head friends thought I had lost my mind. Maybe I did. This tour f@cking rules.

QUOTE (av450 @ Sep 11 2012, 09:26 PM) QUOTE (bmorechowder @ Sep 10 2012, 08:25 AM) It's anything but lazy. Playing those synth era songs is no walk in the park and the reason they scaled back not only with the keys but also the compositions over the last half dozen records. I get the disappointment for some. I do. We all have our favorite songs, albums, eras...but to call playing Grand Designs lazy is just a cop out because it's not some other song. It was pretty much spot on for me. As another poster mentioned, they have avoided Power Windows and Hold Your Fire like leprosy since the 90s until Mission came back and then Marathon last tour. PW was my first tour and I have a lot of love for that and HYF so it was a blessing to see those songs again. Another thing that made it a winner was it was my son's first concert and he knows Rush from Clockwork Angels. Not only did he get to see all the music that he was familiar with in the second set but also got to experience the Rush that turned me into a lifelong fan in the first set. BIG score guys. Thanks from 2 generations of humble fans. I wish they would have played something less predictable on HYF than force 10. Maybe Prime mover or open secrets Turn The Page and Prime Mover would be at the top of my list these days.

I think the first set juxtaposes the second set nicely. The new album is pretty much a hard rocking affair compared to the synth textured and complex material of the 80s. Smart move.

I think they have X amount of songs prepared and are going to play the ones they feel like playing that night. I doubt it will be an A/B thing throughout the entire tour.

I was 8 when i saw my first concert (Kiss and AC/DC in 1978) and I'm sure there was more smoking and drinking going on then. I turned out ok. Rush shows are good environments for the most part and the fans are mostly good people. I have seen WAY more bad behavior at sporting events than Rush shows over the years and people seem to have no issue with their children at those. Earplugs are probably a good idea. I never used them as a kid and saw Kiss, Jethro Tull, Bad Company, Ted Nugent and others in the 70s to no adverse effect but we know better now don't we? All that said 4 is probably too young to get anything out of the experience and they'd probably be happier at Chuck E Cheese but obviously it's your child and your call. Do what YOU think is right.

It's anything but lazy. Playing those synth era songs is no walk in the park and the reason they scaled back not only with the keys but also the compositions over the last half dozen records. I get the disappointment for some. I do. We all have our favorite songs, albums, eras...but to call playing Grand Designs lazy is just a cop out because it's not some other song. It was pretty much spot on for me. As another poster mentioned, they have avoided Power Windows and Hold Your Fire like leprosy since the 90s until Mission came back and then Marathon last tour. PW was my first tour and I have a lot of love for that and HYF so it was a blessing to see those songs again. Another thing that made it a winner was it was my son's first concert and he knows Rush from Clockwork Angels. Not only did he get to see all the music that he was familiar with in the second set but also got to experience the Rush that turned me into a lifelong fan in the first set. BIG score guys. Thanks from 2 generations of humble fans.

I really enjoyed our setlist. I was not disappointed at the end of the show one bit. However in (reasonable) fantasy land tonight would have gone more like this: Subdivisions The Big Money Turn The Page>Force Ten (just because I've been dying to see it again since the HYF tour and it's got the same groove) Grand Designs Middletown Dreams Territories The Analog Kid The Pass Where's My Thing? (with drum solo) Far Cry Set Two, with string section Caravan Clockwork Angels The Anarchist Seven Cities of Gold The Wreckers Headlong Flight Halo Effect BU2B>Wish Them Well (This one just isn't very good is it?) The Garden The Spirit of Radio>Dreamline (Same positive dynamic but the crowd would've exploded) The Enemy Within>Red Sector A (selfish fan pick YYZ Finding My Way>Working Man (Nice rocking tune to go out with. even if Ged would've struggled it would be a nice change) Encore: Tom Sawyer 2112 Part I: Overture 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale

Hahaha! Awesome. I was only about 2 rows back from one of those. Are they all different?

SPOILERS: I haven't posted here in some time but tonight's show got me to come back and check the reactions. As expected there's a bunch of boo hooing that they didn't play what YOU wanted. I couldn't be more stoked personally. When the words Grand Designs came out of Ged's mouth my jaw dropped and then right into Middletown Dreams!? It was godly. Not to mention Alex ripped one of the best solos of his career in The Analog Kid tonight. Was anyone else scraping their face up off the floor after that? The new material is great live as well especially The Wreckers and The Garden. Some near moments during those two for sure. Aside from that stuff, it was my 8 year old son's first concert and he says to me during the first set "Dad, this is the best thing we've ever done." The boys are still rocking it and keeping it fresh. Be thankful. I am every tour.

Hold Your Fire was to me the last great Rush album. Songs like Prime Mover, Turn The Page and Open Secrets make me feel just as much as anything released before it. Every album since has had excellent songs but just hasn't held up as a whole.