Milwaukee WI Summerfest Review/Synopsis (SPOILERS)

**coolcool23** · July 4, 2010

Here's a short synopsis of the night song by song with my own opinions injected throughout:

----------------------

SET ONE:

----------------------

The Spirit Of Radio - Great intro song, really kicked the crowd into high gear.

Time Stand Still - Definitely carry over from TSOR, but sounded like everyone was into it.

Presto - Here's where we start losing ground (at least for me). It's cool that they're finally playing this live, but I just don't like the arrangement at all. That's definitely personal bias (since my least favorite albums are by far Hold Your Fire/Presto/Power Windows), but it seemed to me that the crowd wasn't quite as into this. I certainly wasn't. Alex's guitar was absent for a few seconds during the acoustic strumming even though he was playing, it eventually kicked in.

Stick It Out - No problems here, I think that most of the stuff on Counterparts is cool and this was played well.

Leave That Thing Alone - A personal fav, great to see it live. Probably a bit of the downer on the crowd but not me. Great Bass solo.

Workin' Them Angels - A decent choice from Snakes and Arrows, photos of soldiers with wings gave me chills.

Faithless - Probably not the best idea to put these two back to back, but I enjoyed it. (As with most of Snakes and Arrows)

BU2B - Compared to what we've been hearing, the PA system almost exploded when this song started, or at least I thought it was going to. Sounds great loud and seemed like it surprised a few people. (Both because of the noise and the quality of the song itself)

Freewill - A classic that everyone got into.

Marathon - Another song off of one of my least favorite albums (the only other stand out for me would be Mystic Rhythms), but hearing it live has changed my mind. A great tune and one that many people were singing with, to my surprise. Solo sounds cooler than I remembered, this will have to get played a bit more on my commutes.

Subdivisions - Another personal favorite, a good way to end the first set. Crowd roared when the opening notes were played.

------------------

SET TWO:

------------------

TOM SAWYER - Great response, everyone was definitely waiting to hear Moving Pictures.

RED BARCHETTA - An excellent tune, but marred by an unexpected flub: Alex and Geddy seemed to get off beat from Neil towards the middle. It sounded bad for a second or two, but he made up the half beat and everything was back to normal.

YYZ - Excellent, classic rush staple. Everyone loved it, and why not? It's like one of their signature songs. It would feel odd if they didn't play it.

LIMELIGHT - Same as above. Well executed and a classic that everyone loved.

CAMERA EYE - How could this song be bad? They could have totally screwed it up in any way and it still would have rocked. The arrangement seems spot on, except for the part where Geddy says, "Hello? ... Mornin' Gov." That got cut as far as I could tell. Still sounds AWESOME live.

WITCH HUNT - Great to hear this live, sounds awesome. The guitar is really in your face rather than the studio version.

VITAL SIGNS - I believe Alex's guitar cut out here as well. The synth suddenly ended towards the beginning and he ran to the side of the stage to quickly grab another guitar.

CARAVAN - Love this tune as well. Again, sounds louder than the others for some reason.

LOVE 4 SALE - Great solo from Neil, sounds pleasantly different from the recent ones I've heard so many times. (Not that I dislike the others, but the sound change was welcome and he changed up his normal patterns a bit differently)

CLOSER TO THE HEART - Alex's new intro is unique, but not quite stand-out-ish enough IMO. More than a few people mentioned Broon's Bane leading up to it, that may have been a disappointment for them. (Although it would hardly surprise me that a very context specific guitar solo was not repeated years later, haha)

2112 OVERTURE / TEMPLES - Nothing wrong here. Just a great tune, played loudly and warmly recieved by the audience. Including me.

FAR CRY - A good way to "end" IMO, especially with the pyrotechnics.

-----------------

ENCORE:

-----------------

LA VILLA STRANGIATO - Ugh... too bad that another flub happened here; this time it's a biggun. The polka intro goes fine, but as soon as there is supposed to be guitar, there isn't. Alex madly scrambles to get a working one (again) while Geddy and Neil continue playing. Geddy gets the spotlights for a second until Alex comes in and the rest of the song goes great.

WORKING MAN - Again, a classic Rush staple that no one can't like to hear live. Nice to end on a positive note. (Ba-dum-tsch)

--------------------------------------

There it is, most of the critical details from tonight's show as best as I can remember. Interesting from a young fan's perspective to hear all of the miscues because of Rush's reputation for perfection: then again my only other tour was Snakes and Arrows and I don't remember that show very well because I was only a beginning fan then who didn't know much of their material.

Anyways, a good show overall which probably deserves a "B-" because of all the problems. But since They're my favorite band and they played The Camera Eye, they get an "A." rules.

**BIAS2112** · July 4, 2010

I caught all the same mistakes you did. Twas my 14th show and I was kind of disappointed at the musical and technical failures because I never hear more than one or two minor ones. I too like RUSH for their perfection. It's early in the tour and I'm sure they will get it together.

Another thing: I started off with earplugs in before they started playing and I had a perfect mix in my ears. Bass was equally prominent with midrange and Highs. I took them out to see what it sounded like and I felt that the whole mix was nothing but mids and unbearable highs (except for the drum solo). Anyone else feel that way?

**AVman9** · July 4, 2010

QUOTE (BIAS2112 @ Jul 4 2010, 02:15 AM)

I caught all the same mistakes you did. Twas my 14th show and I was kind of disappointed at the musical and technical failures because I never hear more than one or two minor ones. I too like RUSH for their perfection. It's early in the tour and I'm sure they will get it together.

Another thing: I started off with earplugs in before they started playing and I had a perfect mix in my ears. Bass was equally prominent with midrange and Highs. I took them out to see what it sounded like and I felt that the whole mix was nothing but mids and unbearable highs (except for the drum solo). Anyone else feel that way?

The EQ was a bit weird. Definitely too many searing highs. And you are right about the mids; they were very overpowering. The only instruments that sounded really good were the synths, acoustic guitar, and the drums during the solo. Everything else seemed a bit off.

I also noticed Alex's mix level would change in every song. I understand the guitar is supposed to be more prominent in some songs than in others, however when I can't make out his solos, I get agitated.

Also I felt bad for Alex because of the technical problems he had all night. That is exactly why I will never use a wireless unit. I can almost guarantee that is what caused the problems.

And why of all guitars did the White ES-355 have to cut out on La Villa?

On another note, I was really impressed with Geddy's voice this time around. He really surprised me. He still struggled on the really high notes, but he was better than the last time around.

The short movies were entertaining as well. I was quickly laughing, as I expected I would be.

Overall though, I really enjoyed the show. Actually the problems they had didn't bother me much. I have always liked Rush because the guys were so normal. Having an imperfect night just goes to show that they aren't much different from us. They make mistakes; it happens.

PS: Alex's Hughes and Kettner Radios are the greatest thing ever.

**BIAS2112** · July 4, 2010

QUOTE (AVman9 @ Jul 4 2010, 03:25 AM)