Middle Kingdom

I got my Time Machine program signed by all three, and my Roadshow book signed by Neil from the Sunrise venue. It's now the BB&T Center. May try there again.

Not sure of any reference but as of the S&A tour I heard a guy talking to the Garfield guy and he and the cat had been to over 350 Rush shows. So the guys must know him by now. The white haired violinists shirt said "Havlicek stole the ball!"

I saw a guy walking out wearing one, and his said something like "I got this shirt from someone who used to look like Geddy Lee". I think there was more, but he walked by pretty quickly.

I'm pretty sure the kit spin is intentional, since he got up immediately to play the electronic side. I also loved that Geddy dubbed them the "Clockwork Angels String Section", and thought it was fitting when he said it was time to bid "a farewll to strings". (Their final bow could have been lit for us to see them though. I'm sure they'll have a better handle on these things as the tour goes on.)

The good: Subdivsions kicking it off, the strings and guitar solo on The Garden, Grand Designs and Manhattan Project's returns, AMAZING light show (though anything would have been better than that anemic spider like set up from Time Machine, the most lackluster light show Rush has done), and the sound/tone of the drums, also a big improvement from the TM tour. Actually all of this was great, not just good! The Bad: The strings were too low in the mix except for The Garden and Caravan. They really needed to be punched up, especially for Halo Effect and The Wreckers. This was the loudest they have ever played, and it muddled a lot of the tunes. At first I thought it was to conceal Ged's aging voice, but no, he was on most of the night! Not sure why they cranked it up as much as they did, and hope they dial it down a hair. The encore- I said to my son 'I hope they do 3 songs, and 2 of them are not Tom Sawyer and Spirit'.....and they played ONLY those 2 songs. Sigh. When TS led it off, I had so much hope some 70s oldie was going to end it, (What You're Doing? In The Mood? Anthem?) but no, a wasted opportunity. The Ugly: The Big Money solo, Ged not being on stage to start Caravan, Neil not being on stage to do his first drum part in Halo Effect, the keyboard malfunction, and the Tom Sawyer (lack of) solo. Alex's joke: Two guys were in a bar, and got drunk. One guy threw up all over his suit before going home. He is upset because his wife is going to kill him for getting drunk and ruining the suit. His buddy gives him a $20 bill and says 'tell the wife another patron came up to you and vomited on the suit, but gave you the $20 to clean it.' 'You're a genius' he says, and leaves. Getting home his wife sees the suit and asks what happens. He says "this guy threw up on my suit and gave me $20 to get it cleaned". The wife says "that's great, but there's $40 here." And the guy says "Oh the other $20 is from the guy that pooped in my pants".

Tea as well.

Songs I've never seen them do in person: Jacob's Ladder In The End Cinderella Man (would be a great encore opener!) Chemistry Something For Nothing Beneath, Between & Behind Songs they have never played: Cut To The Chase The Big Wheel Heresy Available Light Lessons Take A Friend Before And After Tears Madrigal Different Strings Second Nature The Color Of Right Peaceable Kingdom Nocturne We Hold On

I think I could get from Rush through ATWAS in one day, to start. Any more than that might be pushing it. Maybe I'll try it on my next trip to Virginia, see if I can go longer than that.

Hope it comes to fruition. I would definitely go to one or more of those shows.

That's what makes it sketchy.....

mmmm.....medium cooked steak. Tasty!

Hot fudge sundae.

See

I love the Space Shuttle shaped vinyl single of Countdown I have. It features the red fire hydrant on the reverse side. http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=1824 http://www.popsike.com/Rare-RUSH-SpaceShut...0090418067.html Many other things to choose from, but this comes to mind immediately.

Have not noticed an edit on the dvd before reading this. Now I'll have to check it out. This will always be my favorite issue, especially since I was there. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_mbYzM8axo