Alex Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 (edited) HOLY SHIT. Last night Rush played Ottawa as most of you know and I was waiting since 2 o'clock at the bar (very front fence direct centeer in front of the keyboards and mic) playing cards with some people I met. BOY WAS IT WORTH IT. When they first came out and played the opening song I was in total disbelief that Geddy Lee was that close to me! I was one of the only guys who knew the lyrics to every song and I was singing along really loud! Geddy Lee made eye contact with me several times and smiled or gave me a cool facial expression! The best part was when they played Freewill! After Geddy's high vocal part (EACH OF US, A CELL OF AWARENESS etc.) I was impressed! He sometimes has trouble with it but DAMN did he do it well that night. Right after he was done I gave him a nod of congratulations and thumbs up for nailing it vocally. He looked RIGHT at me nodded back and gave me a quick thumbs up back! I couldn't believe it! During the Camera Eye after a certain vocal part that he completely nailed Geddy gave the thumbs up to me first and nodded! I gave him a thumbs up back and nodded he smiled a great smile and the proceeded to keep playing! All in all it was a great night and it was so awesome that Geddy acknowledged me so many times, when I was singing and what not. The entire band performed amazingly and Lifeson came right over to our side too which was great! Neil was having a great time and he himself was even making a few funny faces from behind his kit! Before a certain song, Geddy and Alex went over to Neil's kit. They were talking for a short while and then Neil said something and Geddy and Alex both laughed really hard! Other than Alex having some MINOR technical problems on ONE song, the show was flawless. My story gets better though. Since it was downtown Ottawa, after the show I was around the War Memorial at Parliment just chilling. Some guy and his wife is walking by and he see me and my cousin's Rush shirts and says "Did you enjoy the show?" as he was passing us. I said "Yeah man I was waiting there since 2! Were you there?" I asked. When I said this he turned around, walked back to me and reached into his pocket. "I'm [insert name here (I forget it)], head security for the band." He hands me an autographed Alex pick! I was like " Thanks man." "No problem he responds." and continues on his way. Best night ever. But now I'm worried I'll head into Rush withdrawal. I couldn't believe how being in the front row made the show so personal! Im seeing them next weekend in Toronto bu MAN it won't be front row! Best night ever. I'll post some pictures that I took when I upload them to the computer! Edited July 12, 2010 by Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Very cool experience. Better than mine... but I hate people and big crowds so I was not happy with the venue (standing only). And yeah, Alex had an issue in the first song that took a while to fix, but the video screens went blank a number of times which you likely woudln't have noticed being so close, although the projection screen behind them frequently went black when I know it should have been on. At a venue where it's a level field, the screens are key to people's enjoyment who are further away from the band. Also.. their sound seemed to go in and out.. ie. from mid-way to the back, sometimes they would sound crystal clear, other times muffled or muted. I thought it might be the wind, but i'm not so sure. This was particuarly noticible with Alex's guitars, because everything else would sound okay. But I'm not slagging the show. I enjoyed what the boys did and I'm glad I went. But after beign a hard core fan since 1977 and having seen them 18 times, you tend to get picky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 QUOTE (Atomic @ Jul 12 2010, 12:25 PM) Very cool experience. Better than mine... but I hate people and big crowds so I was not happy with the venue (standing only). And yeah, Alex had an issue in the first song that took a while to fix, but the video screens went blank a number of times which you likely woudln't have noticed being so close, although the projection screen behind them frequently went black when I know it should have been on. At a venue where it's a level field, the screens are key to people's enjoyment who are further away from the band. Also.. their sound seemed to go in and out.. ie. from mid-way to the back, sometimes they would sound crystal clear, other times muffled or muted. I thought it might be the wind, but i'm not so sure. This was particuarly noticible with Alex's guitars, because everything else would sound okay. But I'm not slagging the show. I enjoyed what the boys did and I'm glad I went. But after beign a hard core fan since 1977 and having seen them 18 times, you tend to get picky. Good points! But what are you gonna do! The boys had to set up at Bluesfest right? Not necessarily the best venue to have everything working 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalfan Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tick Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 :pepsi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanadoo Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 I had a huge smile on my face reading that whole story freakin incredible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 QUOTE (Zanadoo @ Jul 12 2010, 01:39 PM) I had a huge smile on my face reading that whole story freakin incredible Thanks man! I really couldn't believe I was that close to Geddy and throughout the entire show we were giving signals to each other! I didn't see him doing that with anyone else! Like I said, he probably notice that I was the only one at the front that knew every lyric! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Trommler2112 Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Wow man what an amazing experience, i wish i was that close! that sounded like an amazing time man, ur very lucky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TullSkull Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthetic Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Very cool - Ged is like that with the die hards who get first few rows... for the Manchester, NH show on the VT tour My sister and I were directly in front of him in the front row... 3rd song into it he says "Nice to see song familiar faces and stares right at me (it was my 14th show of that tour I think)... So very cool and I'm not usually all giddy about making the connections - I just want the music... Grats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvgeddy05 Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 YAY! I love actually interacting with the boys that close. It's great! but... pics?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIAS2112 Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Good story. My first front row experience was in front of Geddy at Milwaukee Marcus Ampitheater. I had won the tix from Rush.com and it was very exciting to have a low stage in front of me. Geddy was very interactive with me and my partner the whole show and even gave my buddy a funny look out of the corner of his eye for my buddy singing falsetto on one part of a song. To top off the joy of interacting with Geddy. While throwing the dryer shirts into the crowd, I yelled 'Geddy!!!!' real loud and he leaned way over and tossed the shirt about 2 ft to me. :-) One of the best nights of my life so far. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echoes Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Thats what it's all about right there, man. Good for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brizel Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Damn i couldn't even imagine how cool of an experience that would be!!! Officially jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetachedandSubdivided Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Add me into the envious pile! Awesome evening for you, Alex! Grats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Enemy_Within Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 soooo cool! I know what it feels like, man. it's amazing. don't know if you saw my post about the first chicago show when i'd gotten back from it... but AMAZING. I'm so glad ya had a good time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presto123 Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I know how you feel. It's great isn't it:) I had front row back in 1985 on the Power Windows tour at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Waited outside all night in the middle of winter to score those tickets. Geddy acknowledged me many times during the show and so did Alex. One example....I was wearing a Montreal Expos hat(by coincidence?...LOL) and Ged came over and pointed at wy hat and winked. I said....I think Geddy just winked at me. HAHA Congrats dude. It is definitely a show I'll never forget and probably my favorite show other than seeing them for the first time on GUP tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Damn lucky bastards and your close-to-the-stage-experiences! Awesome story, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pause Rewind Replay Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Another added to the envious multitudes Closest I've been was 2007 W Palm Beach... 4th row, right in front of Alex. Don't recall any specific looks at me, but I remember that a few songs in he got this kind of smirk on his face that read "We came, we saw, and we're killin'em " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briremo Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 To the OP, I know exactly how you feel and was totally jazzed to read that as I had a similar experience with me RUSH show last tour in Orlando. 2nd row in front of Alex and we had a few nods and acknowledgments back and forth. When the encore started a shirt came right into my hands as he looked right at me like "here bud, glad you've been a fan all your life." it was awesome. http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q224/briremo/2of3.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penzman Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brizel Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) Edited July 14, 2010 by Brizel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Alex, that's a great story! I'm really happy you were able to get front row and that you got so much out of the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
different strings Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Alex I am so glad that you had the experience - NOTHING BEATS FRONT ROW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobodys hero Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Congrats on those great seats and seeing a great show! It is so much different in the front row where you can interact with the band. Glad you got the opportunity to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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