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Opening Song - Next Tour


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Time to look forward now that the S&A tour is amazingly almost a year in the rear-view mirror.

 

For the majority of their careers Rush had a very specific format for the opening song...it would always be the first song (the "big" song) from one of the most recent albums - and they'd never backtrack. For the following tour they'd either keep the same song or just move on to the new most recent big song. For example, it was 2112 for a number of tours, then it was Spirit of Radio for several tours, then it was Big Money on the HYF tour, followed by Force Ten on Presto, still Force Ten on RTB, then Dreamline on CP and Dreamline again on TFE. They broke this format after they returned from their hiatus - choosing to go with hits that had previously been in prime spots in the setlist and perhaps needed some freshing by being moved to a different part of the set. Tom Sawyer, a fixture as main set closer, opened the VT Tour. The R30 Overture was created at the last minute to open the R30 tour, but Spirit of Radio was the first full song and was likely the planned opener until late in the game. That had been the main set closer on the VT Tour. On Snakes & Arrows, Limelight (closer on the previous tour) became the opener.

 

So what's next?

 

Main set closer this tour was Tom Sawyer again - doubtful.

Show closer was YYZ - could be a really interesting way to open and definitely wouldn't surprise me.

 

Other *realistic* possibilities to me would include resurrecting 2112 Overture/Temples which would surely get the crowd rolling and they might want to generate some new energy into it (they dropped it for the first half of S&A so obviously they're a little sick of it), or - going back to the old format - One Little Victory or Far Cry which are both recent first singles and uptempo powerful songs. One Little Victory might make some sense as it has a killer beginning and it could use a freshening otherwise. About the only other possibility I can come up with is something old like Working Man which pops in and out of the set and would be popular way to start.

 

Thoughts? Predictions? Again - this is meant to be realistic based on logic and history and what people think they WILL do, not what they'd like them to do or think would be good. In other words, they're not opening with Working Them Angels or Animate or Something For Nothing.

 

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subdivisions.
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I could maybe see One Little Victory, but I could also see that one given a break.

I'd love to see YYZ as an opener. Just for something completely different. My all-time favorite opener was Force Ten.

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smile.gif best opener i ever saw was anthem ,dont remember which tour but it was early 80s.

those bonecrushing opening chords nearly punched a hole in my chest

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QUOTE (MMCXII @ Apr 27 2009, 04:40 AM)
subdivisions.

That'd be a great one! Get things going with a universal crowd favorite.

 

yes.gif

 

Then follow it with up with Freewill or something esle with a wicked solo.

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An interesting thing about the "Limelight" opening is that it's the first and only time in Rush's history that they've opened a tour with a song that isn't the first song on an album.

 

They could go several different directions with the opener. I like that they've never opened a tour with a song from the current album. I could see either "Far Cry" or "One Little Victory" being an opener somewhere down the line, but I really hope they give OLV a break now, it's been played for three tours in a row (four if you count the two legs of S&A as separate tours), and there are other songs from VT I'd rather hear.

 

I think they'll keep with their trend of post-hiatus tours opening with an established classic. I know it's way early in the game and the tour is at a minimum two years off, but I'll tentatively throw out a "Subdivisions" prediction.

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QUOTE (tel @ Apr 27 2009, 03:14 PM)
smile.gif best opener i ever saw was anthem ,dont remember which tour but it was early 80s.
those bonecrushing opening chords nearly punched a hole in my chest

Rush didn't play "Anthem" at all in the '80s, asides from 1980. Even then, it was at the end of the show. They opened with it on the Hemispheres tour.

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QUOTE (Xanadu93 @ Apr 27 2009, 02:05 PM)
QUOTE (tel @ Apr 27 2009, 03:14 PM)
smile.gif best opener i ever saw was anthem ,dont remember which tour but it was early 80s.
those bonecrushing opening chords nearly punched a hole in my chest

Rush didn't play "Anthem" at all in the '80s, asides from 1980. Even then, it was at the end of the show. They opened with it on the Hemispheres tour.

punched a hole through your memory too it seems lol

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Well, if we're wishing for songs, might as well be Camera Eye.

 

But, I'd like to hear Big Money again. Great opener. Maybe even YYZ.

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