Grover

Is it just me or does the bass pedal seem absent in a few key moments? I hear it at times but sometimes it just isn't there.

I appreciate the feel of the behind the scenes and audience approach but would not have used poor shots from some of the stage cameras. Perhaps it was an artistic choice but me no like. On my secondary system (2.1) the sound was very flat. Snakes and Arrows had excellent sound with big full drums. Here the drums sound thin and distant and at times I see Geddy playing bass but can't hear it. There is no power or dynamics in this mix. If they did it right once (R30 was also very good) there is no reason not to do bit right again.

La Villa Strangiato Natural Science

Having Manhattan Project not in the set allows them to call it a bonus without actually going into the vaults for stuff. Having the Hall of Fame induction would be great and timely. Some old concert footage, even if poor quality would be interesting. But I am happy if the quality of the main set matches anything since R30.-

Anyone who attended the Montreal forum show will know they filmed it. That does not mean they might not have replayed some songs to get better shots. I don't know if they did or didn't. The film was edited for TV which is why it was not the full show. There was no video release planned at the time.

If they could include their R&R HoF induction that would be great.

They didn't play Halifax on the Vapor Trails tour. They shot outdoor scenes for TPB in Halifax and the show clips in Toronto at their concert at the Air Canada Center.

I enjoy Rush more and listen to Rush way more. The Beatles had the ability to write hooks and draw in a listener. At first they were catchy but there was a lot of fluff. They developed into better songwriters and I would consider them ahead of Rush in the ability to write somewhat simple but great songs. This does reach the masses but also lasts. Complex bands or composers do not usually gain lasting fame with those pieces. Some of Led Zeppelin's more popular pieces are not the most complex or my favorites.

Most of my shows have been in Toronto. The low attendance point was Presto and Roll The Bones. Presto had the smallest crowd that I recall post Moving Pictures at Maple Leaf Gardens, but they had two shows. The Roll the Bones tour only had one show in Toronto and it did not sell out, many upper level seats open. Funny but the production was a definite step up on those tours in comparison with the earlier tours. As for lame crowds, I prefer a quiet crowd during the songs.

1. Hemispheres 2. Permanent Waves 3. Moving Pictures 4. Power Windows 5. 2112 6. Snakes & Arrows 7. Hold Your Fire 8. A Farewell to Kings 9. Grace Under Pressure 10. Signals 11. Clockwork Angels 12. Counterparts 13. Presto 14. Roll The Bones 15. Test For Echo 16. Caress of Steel 17. Vapor Trails 18. Fly By Night 19. Rush

Around 1981 I believe Neil gave an interview about slipping into autopilot during a show and your mind wanders and when you come back to the moment you often forget what you are playing, and he mentioned that geddy has forgotten the lyrics at these moments.

For me, most Rush songs need time to grow on me before I get into them, sort of like they need to get imprinted on my brain.

The title track (For Those About to Rock) seemed designed as a way to insert pyro into the show, and I don't care for the lyrics, but I never went beyond the title track. My impression is they play fun heavy rock and are not untalented musicians, and they know how to entertain a crowd but I don't find them interesting. Never been a kiss fan but with Kiss or AC/DC if I were given tickets to a show I-d probably enjoy the spectacle. I bought The Number of the Beast and enjoyed that album, but never bought any others from Maiden. In interviews they seemed quite intelligent.

Have not ever been an AC/DC fan, but did pick up a free copy of Back in Black in 1982. Didn't like Dirty Deeds and though For Those About to Rock was silly. However, they were a bigger crowd pleaser at the Toronto SARS benefit than Rush. I think Neil's opinion about rock artists mellowed in the 90s? I always thought of Madonna while listening to Superconductor and was surprised to read that Neil liked her many years later.

I've seen every tour in Toronto since 1981. The Grace Under Pressure show was an hour and 45 minutes. I was disappointed since the previous two tours were 2 hours. Power Windows was an hour and 55 minutes. HYF was 2:05. Presto and RTB were about the same. CP was about 2:10 I think. The opening bands for the Toronto shows were: MP tour - FM, Signals Tour - The Payolas, GUP tour - Red Rider, PW tour - FM, HYF tour - Chalk Circle, Presto Tour - Voivod, RTB tour - The Tragically Hip, CP tour - I Mother Earth.

Can't complain whatever they decide. They were planning an R20 in 1994 and then word came that it was most likely no gonna happen. So they may be planning an R40 but Geddy is not too keen on the idea at the moment. If they do an R40 and can manage at least 50% different than R30, that would be great. Composing new material could be done with Geddy and Alex in Toronto and Neil in California, for the most part. One kick-ass extended instrumental for the R40 tour (not a medley but a new piece) would be fun. I also think we will see an R40 tour and then one last album and tour, but no complaints whatever they decide.

Still hoping for side 1 of Hemispheres before they retire but not expecting it. Given its place in their career, it's a shame that the whole 2112 suite has not been captured for a DVD. If they are not going to correct the 1997 Toronto show problems, then I'd like them to play side 1 and capture it on video. Change up the first set but keep the rarely played theme. Keep Clockwork Angels where it is. Do all of 2112 for the encore, and if the time is too long, cut a song from the first and second set.

Some halls, especially famous ones, make you pay a large fee to film a show in them (or at least to release it), so Rush at Radio City Music Hall would cost a lot more to produce than Rush at some fairly new arena.

The first Toronto show sold out, the second did not. They closed off about half the rows of the 300 sections and upgraded some of those who had tickets in those rows (including me) to better seats.

Given the current setlists A and B, I prefer the B song in every instance or was happy to see the second Toronto show.

QUOTE (MarKo @ Jul 13 2012, 03:09 AM) QUOTE (jnoble @ Jul 13 2012, 03:06 AM)And the messed up part of all of this is that Ged and Alex both specifically said that the last couple of albums had too many layers and overdubs and CA was going to get away from that. Way to follow through, guys Agree 100% Alex seemed really determined to pare back his sound in those interviews. I think we have to look at the "professionals" who Rush pay to craft the sound of the album. They've done a poor job..... Simple as. Music and sound are analog at source and the human ear hears in analog. The increasing tendency to push natural waveforms through digital processing..... Filling the sound spectrum artificially....cutting and pasting etc....is what's creating this mess..... Along with the iPod generation. Back to magnetic tape and vinyl.....!!!... That's what I say. Can't wait for the live versions of these songs Got nothing to do with sound and ears being analog. All energy is quantized and the way our ears and brain process sound is not continuos (eyes too). I find CDs to have excellent capabilities but they are not being utilized properly. 96khz and 24 bit is better... but 44.1khz and 16 bit is quite good and better than all the types of distortion that you get in analog (hiss, rumble, wow, flutter, dust, scratches, tape saturation). I still have a good turntable, and I recall the ritual of cleaning the record, using a static gun, cleaning the stylus, and tinkering to try and get a bit more from the sound... but I prefer digital if it is done right. With digital, you get none of these, but harsh waveform clipping if you exceed the loudest allowable signal on a track. Digital has made it easy to add tracks and to cut and paste various takes together. Easy to do, hard to do well. For a band that hardly gets radio play, it is insane to play the loudness war game. The dynamic range possible on a CD is huge, compared to what is being used. Stop with the compression!

From about 1985 on they have been saying that each tour or album may be their last. In an old interview they said that after they made Power Windows they decided that they were an album by album proposition. Lately they are speaking more positively, but perhaps because they don't want to slide into that 'time to end it' mentality. I recall a fan who spoke with Ray Daniels and suggesting a 40th anniversary tour and Ray asked "have you been reading my notes". I suspect there will be something for the 40th, but then again they considered a 20th anniversary tour and then decided against it. I suspect they will do some form of 40th anniversary tour and then one more album and tour, which won't be billed as the last, but it will be. But I really have no idea.

I like that we get most of the new album to keep the setlist fresh. Happy for Grand Designs, Middletown Dreams. I will enjoy the show. It is not my dream setlist, which would include some frequently requested classics, but I'm okay with it on two levels. 1. Hoping that this may be their desire to represent these songs well in a live set (DVD???) and will not be a sign of future setlists. 2. After slagging this era, they wanted to give it an updated sound. I hope they do an R40 tour with some of my longtime wishes, but even if they decide that they love the 80s stuff again, I'll still enjoy it. Really would like: 2112 side 1, if they can't fix sound from T4E Toronto show Hemispheres side 1 (but not holding much hope) Xanadu in full Jacob's Ladder (just because it's been so long) La Villa Strangiato with acoustic intro and no fooling around Different Strings or Cinderella Man or A Farwell to Kings Have not checked out the live video, but am happy for the multiple drum solos. For years I've thought it would be more exciting to build short drum solos into the songs/set rather than doing one 8 minute solo.

I suspect there will be a 2014 40th anniversary tour, and that they will take a break and then come back with one more tour around 2016-2017, probably with a new album as well. They won't call that a farewell tour at the time but I suspect it will be the last.

I would love Xanadu, but not if it's the shortened version... we have that on DVD. Play the whole thing with the whole intro and both verses or not at all. The singing is not that high compared with some others...