Josh Smith

Saw him in Buffalo. He was in the front row on Geddy's side.

Bastille Day

Nope, not pre-recorded! It's a mix. He's really singing, but I think he's singing over the vocals from the studio version. You can definitely hear his live voice, and his voice with the effects.

I'm glad I got it over OLV in Buffalo. OLV lacks the power live that it has on the studio version. All of the transitions in tempo and guitar effects are awkward, if that makes sense. How It Is was a nice treat since they hadn't played it before this tour, and it was nice that they all added a little extra here and there that isn't on the studio version.

For the first half of the tour, he was using his old Flame Maple Red Fender Custom Shop Jazz. Through the first half of the Time Machine tour, it had no pick guard, and since then has had pick guards with two different alchemy symbols. He was using the Shoreline Gold Jazz for Working Man (and Subdivisions for a short stretch), and the Lake Placid Blue Jazz was being used for either Working Man or Subdivisions (never for both in the same show). Beginning in Montreal, and continuing ever since, he's used the Lake Placid Blue Jazz for Subdivisions, the Shoreline Gold Jazz for Hemispheres, and what I believe is the 1966 Fiesta Red Jazz for Working Man. Speaking of the 1966 Fiesta Red Jazz, I do not believe he has used it for Cygnus X-1 at all. It looks Candy Apple Red in every pic/video I've seen. He did use the 1960 Fiesta Red Jazz for Cygnus X-1 the first three shows (the same one for TSOR). In some shots, you can see wear on the horn on the bass he uses for Cygnus X-1, and it does not match the wear on the red one he uses for Working Man.

TY7GN? It's a reference to the last page of the S&A tourbook: http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/imagedb-tourbook-snakes-and-arrows.php

PRS with piezzo pick-up, I think It's a Les Paul, but with some kind of acoustic effect. He uses a 6-string acoustic for Natural Science, and a 12-string acoustic for Closer to the Heart, though.

I Missed the switch, but I did see hiim looking over at his tech a few times at the beginning of the song... Great view, terrible lag here, tonight.... Now during the keyboard solo in Jacob's Ladder, he's stepped down the stairs on the side of the stage and is having words with his tech. Yeah... He did that in Montreal too... Probably steps aside cos he's got nothing to do during the clouds are parted part... That's a good point. It was probably something like "Check out the nose on that loser behind the keyboards."

I Missed the switch, but I did see hiim looking over at his tech a few times at the beginning of the song... Great view, terrible lag here, tonight.... Now during the keyboard solo in Jacob's Ladder, he's stepped down the stairs on the side of the stage and is having words with his tech.

Alex swapped his guitar during TSOR. Wasn't listening too close. Was it out of tune or did he break a string?

Every B night, including Newark, which was the B set with Losing It instead of The Wreckers. A and C nights, as well as Toronto II and NYC, had the FireGlo one.

But they just played B in Newark the night before (again, with Losing It instead of The Wreckers). I think they'll play set C in KC, which is what was expected before all the special setlists, and makes sense after doing a B and an A. B-A-C makes more sense to me than B-A-B.

Like they've been doing with 2112 since 1996, they've tuned down Hemispheres this tour (both Alex's and Geddy's instruments, obviously the drums can't be easily re-tuned on the fly). This allows Geddy to hit the high notes without wrecking his voice. So yes, it does sound different.

Each time they played it, the setlist was different. In Toronto, they played a B setlist for the first set, switching out The Wreckers to make room, and then the second set was the same as the C setlist. In Newark, the first set was the same as in Toronto, but the second set followed the B setlist. And then last night, they basically added it to an A setlist, leaving out Clockwork Angels to make room. Since the first half of the A and C setlists are identical, the only R40 songs that they have not played in a setlist with Losing It are Clockwork Angels and The Wreckers. While I'm here, I'll add that because of the very unique setlist they played the second night in Toronto, the only two songs they didn't film are The Wreckers and The Camera Eye.

I think it first showed up in Buffalo. It was in front of Geddy's amps during the Overture. I believe that trend continued through the other Canadian-Border US dates. Not sure beyond that.

Geddy really mixed it up in Newark. Most (all?) of the changes can be found in the pics on Cygnus X-1: http://cygnus-x1.net...-06.27.2015.php First and foremost, we have proof that he is using a different Zematis than the one he's been using for Distant Early Warning. The pickup configuration and headstock inlays are different. This second bass has been used for both versions of Losing It, and will likely be used again tonight in NYC. Starting in Toronto, and again in Boston and Newark, Geddy used a Red Precision Bass, which looks like the same color scheme as the Jazz Bass he uses for Cygnus X-1, and it is not listed in the tourbook. It is definitely not the Burgundy Mist Precision Bass he uses for Jacob's Ladder. In a move that blows my mind, he used the Gold Jazz Bass for Hemispheres. This bass had formerly been used for Subdivisions or Working Man (never for both songs in the same show). His signature Red Jazz, which he's used for 2112 since 1996, Circumstances in 2007, and Hemispheres on this tour, was not played. For the first time so far, he used what looks like the Jazz Bass he uses for Cygnus X-1 on Working Man in the encore. The Lake Placid Blue Jazz was used for Subdivisions, which keeps the theme of "all new basses" in the encore. Lastly, even with all the A-B-C-D-E-F setlist surprises, the JetGlo doubleneck has only been used on setlists with The Camera Eye. Toronto II had How It Is and Between the Wheels (like the B set), but the second set matched the C setlist, and the FireGlo doubleneck was present. In Newark, the setlist was B except the Losing It/Wreckers swap, and the JetGlo doubleneck was used. Edit, because I'm watching the periscope feed from MSG right now. He did indeed use both Zematis Basses, back to back, since they played DEW right before Losing It.

It was someone from the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble.

Has to be sonic blue... the lighting in my pic is what makes it look white. He only brought two "white" jazz basses on tour. One has a maple neck with black block inlays (actually blonde), and the other has a tort pickguard - this one in question has a white guard... here is the sonic blue jazz circled in red from the tour book - it is the only jazz with a white pickguard that could be mistaken for white, under hot spotlighting: http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s282/rushbass/RUSH%20R40%20New%20Orleans/Basses%20Used%20-%20Rush%202015%20New%20Orleans/R40%20Basses%20-%20resize.jpg That's definitely the Sonic Blue you have boxed, which has been used for Between the Wheels. There's a good video from Austin on YouTube that has white lights on him introducing the song, and you can definitely see that it's that bass. The Seafoam Green next to his tech is the one he uses for Headlong Flight and Far Cry this tour (and was infamously out of tune at the first Toronto show). Behind it, next to "The Red One" is the Surf Green, which was used on the Clockwork Angels tour, but I don't believe he's brought it out this tour so far. In the periscope feeds from tonight (Boston), and the second Toronto show, it really looked like he was using the Fiesta Red Jazz, with the matching headstock and white pickguard, that he's been using on Cygnus X-1 since show four or so (he used the one without the matching headstock for the first couple nights, the same one he uses for TSOR). Can anyone confirm that? I haven't been able to find any good videos of it from Toronto yet.

I'm sorry to burst your bubble but I'm afraid that simply isn't true. Compare 1:25 on this vid to 4:20 on this vid https://www.youtube....h?v=emoWMrYp_ps Fixing happens all the time on live releases, particularly with the vocals. The only recent one that didn't have that treatment was Clockwork Angels Tour and as a result it has some (imo) sup-par moments that should have been fixed in post-production. We'd have (for the most part) been none the wiser and it would have made it a more listenable and polished album. A better example from Cleveland is Presto. Trainwreck during the solo aside, Geddy was not on vocally either. Compare "What a fool I was for you," starting around 1:45 in both videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcsb8SClvgI

The only thing A has than neither B nor C has is Red Barchetta. So if they throw that into the B setlist, they'll play all the songs in two nights. I'm surprised they didn't do this anyway, since C is the same as A, but they equate Red Barchetta with YYZ AND Natural Science.

OLV, looks like C tonight, and presumably B on Friday?

it was out of tune I wonder if the Scully accidentally gave him one of the drop tuned basses (for Prelude.) Too many basses to keep track of this tour! It was the green bass. I don't think that one's droped tuned I think. The only two basses drop tuned this tour is the Translucent Red Custom Shop Jazz (Hemispheres) and the Black Jazz with tortoise pickguard. (2112) Yup. And the out of tune one he had to swap out was the correct one: Seafoam Green Jazz. He normally used it for Headlong Flight and Far Cry, but it looked like he used the Surf Green Jazz for Far Cry tonight, which he used a lot on the CA tour.

Sure they could. Didn't they have the CA tour dvd out a few months after the tour ended? The tour ends at the very beginning of August. They have plenty of time before Christmas to do it. I hope. :) They filmed two shows late in the first leg of the tour, then released it a couple months after the second leg ended. The Time Machine DVD was filmed on the second leg, and released the same year, so there is a chance this one will be too, unless they extend the tour.

Holy smokes, Geddy's Bass died at the beginning of Headlong Flight, and he stood there for several seconds, strap off, holding it up towards his tech. He's back to using the #1 Jazz now.

Buffalo: Geddy's side, 8th row from the floor, section closest to the stage (but not next to it): Was surrounded by the 40+ crowd, who randomly sat during "not their favorite song." But generally everyone around me was standing for the whole show. Hamilton 2013: Alex's side, 20+ rows from the floor in section closest to the stage. My dad and I stood the whole time, but the rest of our section past row 10 or so did not. We were air drumming, air guitaring, and having a good time start to finish. Near the end of the CA set, the guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could "sit down so his daughter could see the stage for a bit." I did not sit, because the seats were cramped anyway, and I would have had to contort by torso to face the stage. Standing we were able to angle ourselves towards the stage without twisting my torso. I politely told the guy that I was going to use the two square feet of space I had paid for as I saw fit, and his daughter was welcome to do the same. No one else in that section stood up before the opening notes of The Spirit of Radio.