Cleveland thoughts

[Snaked]

QUOTE (hughes&kettner @ Apr 16 2011, 03:53 PM)

QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 03:43 PM) QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? No.   The Cleveland crowd was great but thats because they were filming and everybody in the arena knew it.   It was a phenominal atmosphere but you could feel that it was a bit forced. That didnt take anything away from the show, but had there been no film crew and extra lights it would have been an entirely different story.     Best North American crowd I've ever seen.. but not better than Rio. cleveland shows are actually a lot like last night, EVERY night. having seen numerous bands- same tour- different cities, and comparing crowds- NO other city rocks like cleveland. it did have something to do with the whole video taping...but not much. and unless you have been to shows in cleveland other than last night, you'll just have to take my word. I've seen many shows in Cleveland and last night was an anomoly by comparison to RUSH shows in the area (Counting Blossom) over the last 9 years.   Consider that in '02 they barely drew 7,000 to the Gund and the Blossom show in '07 was just a bit over 10,000.     The show last night was sold out due to some very good marketing by Anthem. Announcing WAY early that the band would be filming a DVD at that show pretty much guarnteed that every fan with the ability to travel would be in Cleveland for the show... and that tactic worked in spades.     Back in the Richfield days the crowd wasnt even as wild as they were last night and those Richfield shows from the mid 80's through early 90's were NUTS

[Josh Smith]

Made the drive from Rochester, NY yesterday morning with my dad and my roommate. Saw the boys 2007, 2008, and twice last year. Checked into the hotel (double tree by the RRHOF), walked over for the protest, and after a while, they started to play Moving Pictures on the PA (like that's gonna make us go in lol), and posed for the picture. Props to everyone who made a banner, especially the main one. Headed to the hard rock cafe for dinner, found a pharmacy and picked up some earplugs (if you put them in part of the way, they make it sound SO MUCH BETTER! Takes away the chaos of the live blasting music and improves the sound quality ten fold, plus you don't wake up with a music hangover). Lines/security were nothing to get in and reasonable for merch. Got to our seats, 3rd row, aisle seats on the stage side of section 125. AWESOME seats! We were about 15-16 rows from the stage if we were on the floor, but being up that little bit made the view much better. Plus, there was no one in my way for maximum air drumming potential! The band was ON FIRE last night, and the crowd really got into it. Sounded like there was a trainwreck coming out of the solo in Presto, and Geddy missed "Don't ask me, I-" in the first line there. But they more than made up for it with the rest of the show. Geddy's voice was hot, and he tore it up at the end of Leave That Thing Alone. Can't wait for the Blu-Ray so I can find myself in the crowd!

[hughes&kettner]

QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 04:01 PM)

QUOTE (hughes&kettner @ Apr 16 2011, 03:53 PM) QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 03:43 PM) QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? No.   The Cleveland crowd was great but thats because they were filming and everybody in the arena knew it.   It was a phenominal atmosphere but you could feel that it was a bit forced. That didnt take anything away from the show, but had there been no film crew and extra lights it would have been an entirely different story.     Best North American crowd I've ever seen.. but not better than Rio. cleveland shows are actually a lot like last night, EVERY night. having seen numerous bands- same tour- different cities, and comparing crowds- NO other city rocks like cleveland. it did have something to do with the whole video taping...but not much. and unless you have been to shows in cleveland other than last night, you'll just have to take my word. I've seen many shows in Cleveland and last night was an anomoly by comparison to RUSH shows in the area (Counting Blossom) over the last 9 years.   Consider that in '02 they barely drew 7,000 to the Gund and the Blossom show in '07 was just a bit over 10,000.     The show last night was sold out due to some very good marketing by Anthem. Announcing WAY early that the band would be filming a DVD at that show pretty much guarnteed that every fan with the ability to travel would be in Cleveland for the show... and that tactic worked in spades.     Back in the Richfield days the crowd wasnt even as wild as they were last night and those Richfield shows from the mid 80's through early 90's were NUTS i dunno brotha- i remember quite a few richfield shows to be rather wild. and the first show they played at the Gund (now the Q) on test for echo was NUTS!   in any case- last night literally made HISTORY!

[softfilter]

I share h & k's hometown pride and enthusiasm my lack of a speaking voice today, plus went to Monsters playoff game earlier this afternoon attest to the fact. However it is important to give credit where credit is due and hats off and many thank yous for ALL the out of town visitors who made this a night to remember!!

And now some bit of a downer from me but have to say it, in my row Section upper 100 , not exactly a energetic group surrounded me and my wife. Nothing against older fans talkin in there late 50's early 60's but it was quiet as a nursing home at times except for polite hand clapping. Nobody standing getting crazy. EXCEPT me and wife, older lady seated in front of us telling my wife "He's to loud!!" That didn't go over to well, my better half told the crabby ol bag " IT'S A F*CKIN ROCK CONCERT AND MY HUSBAND IS A HARDCORE RUSH FAN!!! Which made me more focused on turning it up to 11!!!

Edited April 17, 2011 by softfilter

[abaco]

QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 05:43 PM)

QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? No.   The Cleveland crowd was great but thats because they were filming and everybody in the arena knew it.   It was a phenominal atmosphere but you could feel that it was a bit forced. That didnt take anything away from the show, but had there been no film crew and extra lights it would have been an entirely different story.     Best North American crowd I've ever seen.. but not better than Rio. +1   Best North American crowd, but not better than Rio.

Edited April 16, 2011 by abaco

[Ruefus]

QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 03:43 PM)

QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? No.   The Cleveland crowd was great but thats because they were filming and everybody in the arena knew it.   It was a phenominal atmosphere but you could feel that it was a bit forced. That didnt take anything away from the show, but had there been no film crew and extra lights it would have been an entirely different story.     Best North American crowd I've ever seen.. but not better than Rio. Hang on a sec.   First - 14,000 people cannot compete with 40,000. Can't be done. So no, the Rio crowds were superior. But consider they'd never even SEEN the band before. Cleveland has been listening to Rush longer than any American city.   Now...   Vapor Trails came after a 4 year period where THEY thought they were done. Almost no band can come back after a 4 year absence and draw heavy. It's not like they were following up Moving Pictures. They were a new band to many. Rush had let an entire high-school generation graduate since their last album.   The Feedback tour (the Blossom show you refer to) was an album of covers. Totally out of character for Rush. I'm a long-time fan and I didn't care much for it. I'll bet their attendance was down at most shows that tour. The show still kicked ass.   'Forced' is not a term I would use for the atmosphere last night. Perhaps where you were sitting. Of course the place was jacked a little higher....they were filming a DVD. Wasn't forced from my perspective. That's a privilege anyone would want - and we got it. The 9 and 13 year old sitting next to us were as jacked as the 40 somethings next to them (us). 9 year old William likely can't talk today any better than I can.   I've been to at least 10 Rush shows in the Cleveland area. None were what anyone would call 'sedate' crowds. Last night was easily the loudest. The worst was Counterparts at Polaris in Columbus. Still...killer show.   For a band with no opening act, in this economy, in a city *just* this side of failure and no album or radio support - the sellout show lived up to the band's and the city's reputations as both anomalies an anachronisms.   They didn't pick to film here out of some obligation. Cleveland Rocks and Rush knew it.

Edited April 17, 2011 by Ruefus

[Snaked]

QUOTE (Ruefus @ Apr 16 2011, 07:16 PM)

QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 03:43 PM) QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? No.   The Cleveland crowd was great but thats because they were filming and everybody in the arena knew it.   It was a phenominal atmosphere but you could feel that it was a bit forced. That didnt take anything away from the show, but had there been no film crew and extra lights it would have been an entirely different story.     Best North American crowd I've ever seen.. but not better than Rio. Hang on a sec.   First - 14,000 people cannot compete with 40,000. Can't be done. So no, the Rio crowds were superior. But consider they'd never even SEEN the band before. Cleveland has been listening to Rush longer than any American city.   Now...   Vapor Trails came after a 4 year period where THEY thought they were done. Almost no band can come back after a 4 year absence and draw heavy. It's not like they were following up Moving Pictures. They were a new band to many. Rush had let an entire high-school generation graduate since their last album.   The Feedback tour (the Blossom show you refer to) was an album of covers. Totally out of character for Rush. I'm a long-time fan and I didn't care much for it. I'll bet their attendance was down at most shows that tour. The show still kicked ass.   'Forced' is not a term I would use for the atmosphere last night. Perhaps where you were sitting. Of course the place was jacked a little higher....they were filming a DVD. Wasn't forced from my perspective. That's a privilege anyone would want - and we got it. The 9 and 13 year old sitting next to us were as jacked as the 40 somethings next to them (us). 9 year old William likely can't talk today any better than I can.   I've been to at least 10 Rush shows in the Cleveland area. None were what anyone would call 'sedate' crowds. Last night was easily the loudest. The worst was Counterparts at Polaris in Columbus. Still...killer show.   For a band with no opening act, in this economy, in a city *just* this side of failure and no album or radio support - the sellout show lived up to the band's and the city's reputations as both anomalies an anachronisms.   They didn't pick to film here out of some obligation. Cleveland Rocks and Rush knew it. First off, the Blossom show I mentioned was in '07 - the S&A tour.   Second, I was 5th row center. Standing in the middle of many people who had traveled from various parts of the country simply to be part of the DVD shoot. Hell, I'm from Detroit.. an easy 3.5 hour drive and if it wernt for the filming I would have skipped Cleveland this time around.   The energy level was there but it was manufactured by everybody knowing the show was being filmed. Combine the brilliant marketing from Anthem and Sam and Scot going onto the stage 10 mins before the lights went out to rally the crowd to be the best audience captured on film and you've got the result.     I'm not putting Cleveland down, not by any means. I've seen more RUSH shows in Cleveland than just about anywhere other than Detroit. And like I mentioned before those shows at the old Richfield Coliseum were amazing, second only to Toronto in my memory. I'm just saying that the audience reactions were not a natural occurance.     People saying that the Cleveland audience was better than Rio are just wrong. 98% (if not more) of the people at the Rio show had never seen RUSH before. The reactions captured on film that night were a result of real emotion. Pure joy to finally be able to see one of their favorite bands after so many years. I'm sure the film crew announced to the stadium they were filming that night as well... however Rio didnt need any pumping up to be that hyped up. You could have had RUSH on an old wooden pallet playing just through their amps and the people in Brazil would have gone out of their mind to see them.   Friday nights show was a great experience. A much different atmosphere than I have been part of since Toronto in '84 (and yes, Cleveland was better than those Toronto shows). The band was good.. not great. There were quite a few mistakes. Some of which I'm sure will be fixed in editing.. some of which will probably be left in just to add a little charm.

[Ruefus]

QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 07:43 PM)

QUOTE (Ruefus @ Apr 16 2011, 07:16 PM) QUOTE (Snaked @ Apr 16 2011, 03:43 PM) QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? No.   The Cleveland crowd was great but thats because they were filming and everybody in the arena knew it.   It was a phenominal atmosphere but you could feel that it was a bit forced. That didnt take anything away from the show, but had there been no film crew and extra lights it would have been an entirely different story.     Best North American crowd I've ever seen.. but not better than Rio. Hang on a sec.   First - 14,000 people cannot compete with 40,000. Can't be done. So no, the Rio crowds were superior. But consider they'd never even SEEN the band before. Cleveland has been listening to Rush longer than any American city.   Now...   Vapor Trails came after a 4 year period where THEY thought they were done. Almost no band can come back after a 4 year absence and draw heavy. It's not like they were following up Moving Pictures. They were a new band to many. Rush had let an entire high-school generation graduate since their last album.   The Feedback tour (the Blossom show you refer to) was an album of covers. Totally out of character for Rush. I'm a long-time fan and I didn't care much for it. I'll bet their attendance was down at most shows that tour. The show still kicked ass.   'Forced' is not a term I would use for the atmosphere last night. Perhaps where you were sitting. Of course the place was jacked a little higher....they were filming a DVD. Wasn't forced from my perspective. That's a privilege anyone would want - and we got it. The 9 and 13 year old sitting next to us were as jacked as the 40 somethings next to them (us). 9 year old William likely can't talk today any better than I can.   I've been to at least 10 Rush shows in the Cleveland area. None were what anyone would call 'sedate' crowds. Last night was easily the loudest. The worst was Counterparts at Polaris in Columbus. Still...killer show.   For a band with no opening act, in this economy, in a city *just* this side of failure and no album or radio support - the sellout show lived up to the band's and the city's reputations as both anomalies an anachronisms.   They didn't pick to film here out of some obligation. Cleveland Rocks and Rush knew it. First off, the Blossom show I mentioned was in '07 - the S&A tour.   Second, I was 5th row center. Standing in the middle of many people who had traveled from various parts of the country simply to be part of the DVD shoot. Hell, I'm from Detroit.. an easy 3.5 hour drive and if it wernt for the filming I would have skipped Cleveland this time around.   The energy level was there but it was manufactured by everybody knowing the show was being filmed. Combine the brilliant marketing from Anthem and Sam and Scot going onto the stage 10 mins before the lights went out to rally the crowd to be the best audience captured on film and you've got the result.     I'm not putting Cleveland down, not by any means. I've seen more RUSH shows in Cleveland than just about anywhere other than Detroit. And like I mentioned before those shows at the old Richfield Coliseum were amazing, second only to Toronto in my memory. I'm just saying that the audience reactions were not a natural occurance.     People saying that the Cleveland audience was better than Rio are just wrong. 98% (if not more) of the people at the Rio show had never seen RUSH before. The reactions captured on film that night were a result of real emotion. Pure joy to finally be able to see one of their favorite bands after so many years. I'm sure the film crew announced to the stadium they were filming that night as well... however Rio didnt need any pumping up to be that hyped up. You could have had RUSH on an old wooden pallet playing just through their amps and the people in Brazil would have gone out of their mind to see them.   Friday nights show was a great experience. A much different atmosphere than I have been part of since Toronto in '84 (and yes, Cleveland was better than those Toronto shows). The band was good.. not great. There were quite a few mistakes. Some of which I'm sure will be fixed in editing.. some of which will probably be left in just to add a little charm. Anyone who is saying the Cleveland show beat Rio hasn't watched the Rio shows. Those people were RABID for Rush.   Anyway.....the fact of the matter is that the show was exceptional for a variety of reasons. Not mistake free (they never are). The Presto hiccup was the most noticeable the rest just live performance.   Was some of the atmosphere manufactured? Of course - and it should have been. But, I know not of the marketing you mention. I basically live in my car with the radio on during the week. Don't recall one spot mentioning the show. I bought tickets two weeks ago thinking it'd be stupid not to go. THEN I found out about the DVD.   Regadrless, the DVD will come out and it'll be great simply because it's Rush....and we were there. That's something I've dreamed of since I don't know when.

[laughedatbytime]

QUOTE (Ruefus @ Apr 16 2011, 03:43 PM)

QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? I don't know how you could get more rabid than 40-60,000 fans at once.   But like Rio - we WERE singing to YYZ (and others), and at times you could hear the crowd well over the band. Hopefully, it was loud enough for them to hear at the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame.

[Phantom]

The only glitch that I noticed was that during Neil's solo, his electronic kit seemed to have some problems. I noticed that when he'd hit his electronic cymbals, there was no sound.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they deal with that on the dvd.

 

Other than that, helluva show.....the boys were on fire !

[softfilter]

I think the" majority" of Rush fans these days are hardcore( excluding some of the dulls next were i sat ) And the reaction was genuine and naturally more stoked because of the filming. Those Blossom shows mentioned that i also attended, R30- Snakes & Arrows the crowds were inline with the tour averages 9- 10,000 and considered better then other places on the outdoor circuit Rush went to on both tours. Yeah the 2002 VT tour was a puzzlement at the Gund("Q") On the floor for that one remember the crowd was very vocal regardless, lower bowl was sold out and floor. And h&k was completely correct T4E large crowd for that one and the "Q" loud and crazy!

I think Cleveland has a pretty good track record overall and it shined Friday night with help from all the cross country loyalist!!

btw, many travel to multiple shows even when there not being recorded it's dedication. What I'm saying other places Rush visits attendance not 100% from there.. To characterize NYC , LA, Chicago, Detroit crowds rock( sure they do!!! but it's one big Rush fan family travel far and wide)

I just can't afford to do that and happy Rush still considers North East Ohio important enough to keep coming here Blossom/Q

Edited April 17, 2011 by softfilter

[lagoon380]

My gal friend and I were in the floor section 1, row 17, I'm a bit on the tall side so I had a spectacular view. The show was great but I have to agree with some of the others, you could tell some people were there just to get on film. There were two seat jumpers right in front of us who were uber annoying, one guy was hitting on the gal next to him who was obviously there with her husband, he was pawing her and being a total gob, I was sure a fight was going to break out. The crowd did seem to be "acting" for some of the songs but there were genuine moments of brilliance and spontaneity on the crowds part, such as during "The Temples of Syrinx" which the boys really nailed. Other highlights were songs such as the reggae version of "Working Man" and of course the staples like "Tom Sawyer." The instrumentals were great, "YYZ" and "La Villa Strangiato" were ridiculously good.

 

Geddy and Alex really brought their A game, it was the best performance I'd ever seen from Alex, I have a new found respect for his abilities. Neil was a bit off in my opinion, his solo was not nearly as impressive as some I've seen him do in the past.

 

I am by nature a fairly laid back person and I think a lot of Rush fans are probably in the same boat. I think it may not be in our nature to jump up and down like a bunch of fools, no offense, this perhaps can account for the tenor of the crowd being less enthusiastic than perhaps the film makers were hoping for.

 

Overall an stunning performance by the guys, will go down in my mind as one of the better shows I've seen, and I've seen a lot of the heavy hitters, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, Rolling Stones, etc.

[Laura]

Great show! I think most of the enthusiasm was genuine. Compared to the crowd in Rio it was subdued. That crowd moved like it was one giant organism. But audiences in Brazil are "livelier" in general.

 

I didn't know a couple guys went on to rev up the crowd with talk of the dvd. They must have done that quite early (we were in our seats by 7:15.)

 

Who knows how the crowd will appear once edited?

 

I hope the next time I hear Rush it's at the Rock Hall induction. And they better get inducted in 2012 or 2015 when the induction is in Cleveland and we regular folks can get tickets. It wouldn't seem fitting if they were inducted at one of the elite NYC inductions.

[Vive le Rush]

QUOTE (usb_connector @ Apr 16 2011, 12:46 PM)

I'm so jealous of those who attended. I can't wait for the live CD/DVD.

My thoughts EXACTLY!!!!!!!! I'm sure it was a MAGNIFICENT night!!!!!!!!

[Ruefus]

QUOTE (laughedatbytime @ Apr 16 2011, 08:26 PM)

QUOTE (Ruefus @ Apr 16 2011, 03:43 PM) QUOTE (jesse2112 @ Apr 16 2011, 02:45 PM) Question: Did Cleveland give a better audience than Rio '02? I don't know how you could get more rabid than 40-60,000 fans at once.   But like Rio - we WERE singing to YYZ (and others), and at times you could hear the crowd well over the band. Hopefully, it was loud enough for them to hear at the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame. Meh.....people make way too big a deal out of it.   The band has said more than once they don't care. Really, it fits with Rush - outsiders, always.

[softfilter]

Anyone who has gone to a pro or college sporting event see the fans acting the same way when the "camera eye " is on them, they go crazy!

Just think it's a natural reaction, still think the locals held there own in C town, I cheered loud and strong like i ALWAYS do when seeing Rush nothing was different for me excited and thrilled getting into it!!!

[Laura]

QUOTE (softfilter @ Apr 17 2011, 10:11 AM)

Anyone who has gone to a pro or college sporting event see the fans acting the same way when the "camera eye " is on them, they go crazy! Just think it's a natural reaction, still think the locals held there own in C town, I cheered loud and strong like i ALWAYS do when seeing Rush nothing was different for me excited and thrilled getting into it!!!

There were 4 drunken guys in front of us who pestered one of the cameramen until he filmed them screaming for the camera.

 

To our left were 2 young (high school?) guys with their Rush t-shirts, singing to every song, staring at the stage in almost a trance. The camera guy filmed them for a long time. They never acknowledged him. They were too into the concert.

 

Who do you think is more likely to make it into the film?

[Merely Space]

QUOTE (Laura @ Apr 17 2011, 10:25 AM)

QUOTE (softfilter @ Apr 17 2011, 10:11 AM) Anyone who has gone to a pro or college sporting event  see the  fans acting the same way when the "camera eye " is on them, they go crazy! Just think it's a natural reaction, still think the locals held there own in C town, I cheered loud and strong like i ALWAYS do when seeing Rush nothing was different for me excited and thrilled getting into it!!! There were 4 drunken guys in front of us who pestered one of the cameramen until he filmed them screaming for the camera.   To our left were 2 young (high school?) guys with their Rush t-shirts, singing to every song, staring at the stage in almost a trance. The camera guy filmed them for a long time. They never acknowledged him. They were too into the concert.   Who do you think is more likely to make it into the film? Good observation!

[softfilter]

[Cbus Rush]

This was my 62nd time seeing the band since 1980, many shows in many different places. I thought it was a great show from both from an audience and a player point of view, both were on fire.

 

That being said, I would go out on the limb and say that this was the best Rush show I've seen since the PW tour (JMO), better than the PW tour. Still tossing around in my head if it takes over the my #1 show of all time which is Queen on the "Game" tour.

 

I could careless about the Rio show because I was not there however I was at the Cleveland show and it truly is a memory that I will keep for the rest of my life.

 

Thank you !

[Rushchick10]

I flew out from Idaho just to be there for the show. I paid an obscene amount of money to be where I was (3rd row center...first time I had been center since R30) and then flying there from Boise was an expensive nightmare.

 

I met some of the most amazing people and had the most amazing concert experience of my life. It was worth every penny, every second of travel, ever hour of overtime at work, and every hour that I worked at a second job. I couldn't NOT make it to that show!

[tapermike]

QUOTE (Rushchick10 @ Apr 17 2011, 03:26 PM)

I flew out from Idaho just to be there for the show. I paid an obscene amount of money to be where I was (3rd row center...first time I had been center since R30) and then flying there from Boise was an expensive nightmare. I met some of the most amazing people and had the most amazing concert experience of my life. It was worth every penny, every second of travel, ever hour of overtime at work, and every hour that I worked at a second job. I couldn't NOT make it to that show!

I really appreciate this post. This is a real fan and I know what that flight and ticket must have cost. Sometimes in life you just have to say "what the heck"

[MCM]

It's taken me a few days to collect my thoughts on this show. I'm going to say that it was one of my best overall concert experiences.

 

I felt that they just outdid themselves in every respect; I first saw Rush on the HYF tour so I missed those early years, but it seemed to me that someone forgot to tell them how old they were Friday night, those three acted like they were youngsters on that stage.

 

Some say that the last show you saw is always the best show you've seen until the next one, but it will be hard to top this one. I thought they were spectacular in Hershey the week before and only hoped they would be that good for the show that was filmed. I had no idea they could top that show, but they did.

 

The first half of the show is great, but from the moment they come out after intermission, it just climbs and climbs to above excellence. This is truly a band that is improving with age.

 

I read somewhere in all the posts and reviews that Ged was "fighting a cold" but you would never know it, he must be employing some new tactics to protect and preserve his voice because I think his voice is sounding better than it did on last years Time Machine tour. This show far exceeded the show I saw in Pittsburgh last September.

 

I was thrilled when I walked up to the door of the venue and saw the notice on the door signed by Banger Films. Who better to do this DVD, we'll get a quality DVD done with care. I thought the crowd was great, the anticipation and excitement in the air was almost visible. I was able to get a floor seat thanks to a fellow TRF'r who proved to be an excellent person and excellent seatmate, (thanks Phantom) the tall guys in front of me were kind enough to offer to switch seats with me if I couldn't see over them (how cool is that?) Going to a Rush show alone isn't really going alone, it's just spending time meeting new people who happen to share a common love. I've almost decided that from now on, I'm always going solo to see Rush.

 

I spoke to a total stranger in the hotel lobby, ended up talking for quite a while and it turned out this total stranger was TRF's own Spike. The Rush fan is a rare breed indeed. Good to meet you Spike, I did go to the Lerxt thread and look for the skin pic, couldn't help myself.

 

Cleveland was a great host, hotels were close (thanks to Tripdad for the hotel suggestion); walking distance to the venue and a nice venue.

 

It was worth every penny spent and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[upstateNYfan]

We drove from Syracuse and it was well worth the time and effort! Amazing concert!

[Ruefus]

A note from the nosebleed section. A priceless moment for me was during Temples with the call and response with the crowd, the floor was lit up both literally and figuratively. It was just a sea of arms moving in unison. I may have been three rows from the top - but that view made it worthwhile. Looked not unlike waves on the ocean. Awe inspiring and one of the moments I'll never forget.

 

For the band to film in Cleveland (where I live and work) is quite literally a dream come true and more than I could have asked.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Ruefus