Concert Videos. Which is your favourite?

[Bahamas]

Watching R30 and loving Earthshine, they are killing it.

 

But when I watch 2112/Moving Pictures or Rush in Rio or any of the seven concerts on DVD or Blue Ray I have (not getting into sonics here), I wonder...

 

To this very day, this day...I can't decide.

 

Ugh, I say.

 

Which concert would you show to a friend who is not a fan?

 

[Disclosure: Tonight it's a PS3 (Blue Ray) from the basement and portable stereo from the ping pong room (3 way) and an older flat screen (1080p) television for my set-up (my spouse rules the living room)]

[sounds just fine on low volume, honest. But did I mention the part about not being able to use the living room kit?]

[Entre_Perpetuo]

I haven't seen a ton of Rush's concert videos. Of the ones I have seen, R40 is my favorite. I wonder how much else would be able to compare to that setlist, or the inevitable finality of it all. I have no idea if that's the best place to introduce someone to the live band, but in its merit it does have at least one great song from every era.

[pjbear05]

ESL ftw. Rush In Rio good. Wasn't impressed with R40, and what little I've seen of TM i didn't like. Just my .02.

[Bahamas]

I like R40 because I was there and the whole sense of the "possible end" vibe.

Exit Stage Left is definitely a benchmark, it's how they wanted a concert video to be after establishing themselves so successfully.

 

Should an "early days" era of Rush be presented to a non-fan? Or a more recent one with the tonnes and tonnes of stage presentation?

One wonders, doesn't one?

 

In general I love the footage of crew members and how things get set up.

[goose]

For a newbie I'd choose R30. Great setlist, and the intro is a perfect teaser of classic era RUSH.

[Malignant Narcissist]

A toss up between A Show of Hands and Grace under pressure for me.

The setlists may not be optimum for some but for me, they are a nice blend of the guys still playing well, good sound recording and clear video.

Exit stage left is showing it's age a little from a technical point of view, Rush in Rio suffered from recording problems and the later ones having the guys (subtly) showing some physical frailties - in my opinion. Geddy's voice is struggling on some songs, Alex's battling arthritis and Neil doesn't sound quite the monster player he was when he was 1 to 2 decades younger albeit still a monster.

Of course, it might be attributed to them withdrawing a little from the keyboards, click tracks (did Neil?) and other technology when playing live but I'm wildly theorising here.

 

As to what's a good intro to a newbie then that's a different question.

Probably depends on what music you want to introduce to the said newbie depending on what might draw them in.

The later concerts do have the guys having more and more fun videos but some of these are appreciated more by existing fans (Rash anyone?, "...ah, they neve play Bangkok.." etc)

Edited September 20, 2021 by Malignant Narcissist

[lerxt1990]

For a newbie I'd choose R30. Great setlist, and the intro is a perfect teaser of classic era RUSH.

 

I like the medley. Yep I said it so THERE!

[jnoble]

I have to go with ESL because Geddy's voice was at it's peak and their live sound was still very powerful. Once Alex switched to tinny strats and Geddy the Steinberger and then Wal, they lost something they didn't recover until Counterparts and even after that I thought their sound was too distorted and muddy

[Jeffrey]

R30 and the Snakes and Arrows live are my favourites. Digital Man, Entre Nous, Circumstances...so legendary live versions on the latter DVD.