CrimsonE

It's regrettable that we won't see anything from this great band, but I look on the bright side: - I got to see them sixteen times since 1988, with none of their live shows being less than average, and most ranging for great to classic. - We had over forty hears of great studio albums and live tours, with very few songs that were stinkers--probably less than 5. How many bands with the longevity of Rush can say that? - This is a band that could have easily packed it in during the late 90's or early 2000's due to the death of Neils wife and daughter. Yet they managed to get back together in 2001 and release some of their best material. This was a band that did not rely on past glories and continued to release great albums--and have the guts to back them up on tour. Most bands that have been around as much as Rush would not have played 9-10 songs from their latest album, even with the extended running time their concerts have been. Instead, they would have relied upon the "hits". - Their tours were always challenging, not only for the band but the audience, as they managed to put together amazing setlists. Unlike most bands that have been around even half as long, Rush has not relied on a steady stream of "hits." Yes, there are a handful of songs that are reliable staples (ASOR, TS, 2112), but they also were not afraid to reach deep in their catalog. Who would ever have thought they'd break out Entre Nous or Digital Man on the S&A tour? Or 2112 in its entirety on the T4E tour, or Presto on the Time Machine tour? This is a band that respected not only the casual fans, but also the die hards, even playing songs they weren't sure they wanted to play, such as Camera Eye. - They ended on a high note, not only with a great album in Clockwork Angles, but also a fantastic tour that took us through most of their career (aside from the synth period, which was played heavily on the previous tour. We even got to see the Holy Grail of fan requests--Losing It. Granted, they only played it on a couple of dates, but still there is a live recording. Since they've call it quits, it's fitting that they've done so on their own terms, which pretty much epitomizes their entire career. So thanks for over forty years of memories.

These guys are great, as I have the chance to listen to music I've heard most of my life with a fresh set of ears. I'll be honest, I was never a huge fan of YYZ. I know it's a good song, but it never really did much for me compared to some of their other instrumentals, most notably La Villa Straingato. However, these guys' reaction made me give this song another chance, and I realized just how much of a groove the song has compared to other instrumentals. Plus, I appreciated their comments on how much the song would jam live (which it does), including how it would be a good show closer (which it has been on several tours). Plus, where else will you see Michael Jackson, Sir Mix-A-Lot and Rush mentioned in the same review? It's a good thing they did this song first, rather than LVS. Given their reaction to Dream Theater's Metropolis, I'm not sure Ryan and George would have appreciated LVS. Let's hope they do some more Rush, with TS and TSOR being the prime candidates, although latter stuff would also be pretty cool. I want to hear their reaction to Geddy's voice.

IMO, it's more of a second set opener than a show opener, which IMO should be more up-tempo. That's why Tom Sawyer never really worked as the opener on the VT tour. It was good, but not as great as some of their other openers (TSOR, Animate, Dreamline, etc).

Probably not Halo Effect

The lasers were pretty cool, particularly when they were used to great effect. I loved when they had the effect that matched the lyrics to Marathon: "More than just a dotted line, more than just a dash" And having them bounce all over the place during Red Sector A was awesome. Finally, the use of them during the guitar solo La Villa Straingato was about as perfect as it can get, especially on the Roll the Bones tour, where the lasers were paired with another set of lights coming out from the stage ramps.

Here are some of the ones I'd love to see (or see again): I Think I"m Going Bald Necromancer (A dream to see in its entirety, but I'd settle for the closing segment as part of a medley) Hemispheres (Again, I'd love to see it in its entirety, but would settle for an abbreviated version) Jacob's Ladder Losing It Kid Gloves (A great guitar solo) Mystic Rhythms (I'm guessing not much will be from the 80's synth era though) Show Don't Tell Red Tide (That guitar solo is awesome) Roll the Bones (Not a rare cut, but I'd welcome this back in the set) Nobody's Hero Peaceable Kingdom Nocturne

I don't see them opening the show with an overture, but we might see one open up the second set. As far as opening songs, I think it will be a newr song (Anyone from Signals) here are a few ones that I'd like to see: Far Cry: This song has a great groove, I'm a bit surprised it didn't open either the Time Machine or the Clockwork Angels tours. Dreamline: My favorite show opener other than TSOR. Headlong Flight: The opening riffs are awesome, but I'm not sure I see the entire song as a whole as an opener. Still, it would be a rocking way to kick off the show. Animate: Just a great song, and one that I'm a bit surprised we haven't seen opening either set of a tour yet.

I Think I'm Going Bald would be a hilarious choice for them. More seriously, 2112: Overture/Temples is almost certainly a given, even though it could use a rest. I'd like to see them bring back In the Mood. In the End would also be pretty cool, but they'd have to rework it to fit Geddy's current voice. It might also be time to break out Xanadu, which hasn't been played since the R30 tour.

No, I'm not claiming that there will be one, because I'm certain that's a decision the band won't make for a looong time. However, how many would like to see the return of the accoustic set? I'd love to see them break out a few classics and hidden gems in purely accoustic form. Here are some interesting choices: Rivendell: This would be awesome, but they'd have to rework the vocals so that it would fit Geddy's current voice. Lakeside Park: If they gave this a more subtle feel to accompany Geddy's voice, this would be perfect. I could imagine Alex throwing in one hell of a accoustic guitar solo. Second Nature: There were rumors floating around that they'd do this song accoustically, but that never came to pass. However, I think that would be perfect. Tom Sawyer: I would love to see the band completely rework the song and have fun transforming it into an accoustic jam. Different Strings: A more traditional accoustic song that might fit nicely. Halo Effect: Perhaps the best song they could break out from the recent batch of songs. For What Its Worth: A very good song from Feedback, and one that would fit nicely into an accoustic set. Jacob's Ladder: This would be a great song to start accoustic up through the middle break, then have Geddy do the keyboard solo, and then shift into the electric guitar for the second half.

This is also time for a note of caution: as good as much of their very early stuff is, given Geddy's voice, it's unlikely that we'll see much of their 70's material. However, there are a number of songs that I think could be reworked to fit Geddy's style now. Also, since the last tour was heavily focused upon the synth era, I don't believe we'll see any surprises from those albums, but we could see more of their 90's material make its return: And so, here is my wish list for surprises to include on the tour: Necromancer Lakeside Park In the End In the Mood (it's been a while since we've seen that one) What You're Doing. Jacob's Ladder (I think this is now the most popular deep cut since Camera Eye was finally played on the Time Machine tour). Heresy or You Bet Your LIfe (never done live) Speed of Love or Alien Shore (never done live) Test For Echo Double Agent Scars or War Paint I'd also love to see them do Hemispheres in its entirety, but that's a song that Geddy really can't sing live anymore, so if it makes its return at all, it will likely be the prelude only.

At least they're not Metallica, who only bother to tour the US when they have a new album, which is about every 5-6 years these days.

Doesn't anyone else find the usage of the song a bit odd given the lyrics? The lyrics aren't really a celebration of the working class—rather the opposite. That would make this song very much appropriate for Wal Mart, although I'm sure the executives wouldn't see it that way if they gave a damn about anything other than having a popular band's song in their commercials. In many ways that juxtaposition is almost as bad as Reagan using "Born in the USA" for his 1984 campaign. Despite the anthemetic sound, the song is about as far as a celebration of the USA as possible. But in that case, Reagan used it without Springsteen's permission, and was ordered to stop once Springsteen got wind of it.

Did you think they were showing the Power Windows tour? Actually, that would have been the Hold Your Fire tour, as the PoW tour began with The Spirit of Radio. As for the show itself, I'm not that disappointed they only did the second half of the show. It would have been great to see the first set in the theater, but watching the second set was amazing. I was getting very tired, so I didn't stick around for the documentary, but I enjoyed watching almost two hours of the band playing,.

They played Atlanta tonight, but I ultimately decided not to go due to the cost BTW, although their prime was in the 70's, they have had a number of very solid albums since. I really enjoyed the concept album "In the Spirit of Things" from 1988—particularly as I caught them co-headlining with Night Ranger, and they delivered an amazing set. Another solid album was "Freaks of Nature" which contains one of my favorite Kansas songs--"Hope Once Again"

I actually dug a lot of Henley's 80's music, and I thought that Building the Perfect Beast was a masterpiece, with a truly underrated gem in Sunset Grill. On the other hand, End of the Innocence was pretty vapid AOR music,

I'm guessing we'll see at most 3-4 subistitutions, which has been their modus operandi when they do multiple North American legs (S&A, T4E). I'm hoping they will not replace album tracks with standards, as I was already pretty pissed that they had exchanged Limelight for Middletown Dreams. We've seen them do Freewill, Red Barchetta, Closer to the Heart and Trees quite a lot over the years. Here is what I'm hoping they put in—and yes I'm stretching to include five): Show Don't Tell (instead of Pass/Bravado) Turn the Page or Prime Mover (instead of Force Ten) The Weapon (instead of Analog Kid) Limbo (instead of Where's My Thing) Resist (instead of Dreamline/Manhattan Project). I would also like to see them do La Villa with the orchestra instead of YYZ. Losing It would be a true dream, but I can't see where that fits in—perhaps instead of Red Sector A. And finally, another true dream would be Jacob's Ladder, but I imagine they would save that for an R40 tour . Plus, I'm hoping that someone on the tour does some planning for locations that they've hit twice, so that they do B setlists for cities in which they did A setlists before.

When Metallica was inducted in 2009, they did Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman. So, you had one major radio hit, and one concert classic. In that vein, I'd say Rush does Tom Sawyer/TSoR, and Working Man/YYZ. If they are allowed, they may do both of the radio hits and either YYZ or Working Man.

Although he may not be mainstream enough, I'd say Les Claypool would be a pretty good choice.

IMO, Where's My Thing is the best of the 90's instrumentals, and it was great to hear it return to the set, especially linked to a drum solo. Yes, it's different, but it's been 20 years, which is a lifetime for a band that likes to change things up as much as Rush does. While it's not quite as awesome as it was in 92, it's still a very good instrumental, and I'm glad they brought this back, rather than do the very overplayed Leave that Thing Alone. Now if they could bring back the very fine Limbo for the next tour (or even the next leg), that would be truly great.

If I had kids that were of the appropriate age (at least 10-12), then I'd definitely take them to the show. Of course, this would be contingient on them actually wanting to go. As much as I love the band, I wouldn't force it upon them: "You're going to Rush next week or you're grounded." On the other hand I see families take that togetherness stuff a bit too far. While Rush is a band that is appropriate for all ages, not all bands are like that, and yet parents bring their kids to the show anyway. The week before, I went to see Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, and I saw a father bring his daughter, who couldn't have been more than 7 years old. That is the type of parent who needs to have child protective services look into the home life. At least wait until the kid is in his or her teens until exposing him/her to two bands who use sexual and violent imagery more often than Quentin Tarintino.

IMO, I preferred the solos of the late 80's and early 90's, which IMO were a perfect mix of electronic and traditional solo. Perhaps my favorite was from the Roll the Bones tour, which featured thd drum pattern from Scars. Just about everything since had become bloated. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of interesting stuff in there, but I think Neil has gone about as far in that direction as he could. This is why I preferred the three shorter solo approach from this tour, which allowed him to still stretch out (while giving the band a bit of a break), yet not go insane into the experimentation and the Big Band stuff (which I never particularly liked). Of course, being a purist of sorts, I'd love to see him replicated the solo from Exit Stage Left, just to blow the minds of the fans, but I'm not sure Neil could even do that solo anymore since his drumming style has changed so much since the early 80's. BTW, I've never been a big fan of the CP solo for a several reasons. First, it is lead into by Leave that Thing Alone, which I consider to be the weakest of the 90's instrumentals. Second, the solo seemed a bit too much like what Neil had done in previous tours, just rearranged. And finally, it closed with a pyro blast, which seems a bit too cliched for a band that usually avoids cliches.

16. As awesome as Neil is, his marathon drum solos, capped off by the jazz improvisation were getting old. I enoyed having the solo broken up into two shorter solos, one that featured electronic drums (three if you count the minisolo in Headlong Flight).

I'd definitely attend a 2nd leg of this tour if they came back to Atlanta. However, I wonder what the setlist would look like on the 2nd leg. Would they continue to do deep cuts, or would they replace some of them with more standard live songs, such as they did on the S&A tour? Or would they replace some of the deep cuts with other deep cuts they haven't done in a while. I'd love for them to break out The Weapon, The Enemy Within, Lock and Key, Show Don't Tell, Nobody's Hero or even Test For Echo.

Just got back from the Atlanta show, and it was another solid performance by the guys. I was disappointed with the inclusion of Limelight instead of either Body Electric or Middletown Dreams, but otherwise they did all of the songs in rotation that I wanted to see from them live. IMO, the main beef I had with thes how was the performance early in the set. It seemed that Geddy was all over the place in singing Big Money, and for whateve reason, the band sounded "off" for much of the first set. It wasn't until The Pass that the band really started to click and the show was excellent from then out.

I don't know if this is acceptable to post here, or if the moderators want this under a different topic, but a few years back, I put together a fairly challenging Rush lyric quiz that might challenge the heartiest of Rush fans. Plenty of deep album cuts and lyrics that aren't necessarily associated with the band. Anyway, here is the link. Feel free to to check it out. http://www.sporcle.com/games/CrimsonE/chal...ging_rush_lyric