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A True Evening with Rush at Montreal


USB Connector
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I feet the need to share my experience with you guys. Nobody else I know seems to understand how much last night meant to me and I really feel that this is the only crowd that will actually listen. Also, there's a link to the gallery at Cygnus-x1.net at the bottom where I submitted my pictures. WARNING: Massive Spoilers Ahead

 

As some of you might remember I posted a thread about a poster mockup I was making. The poster was simple as my artistic talents do not extend passed the domain of stick men. It said ":rush: inspired me to play drums (insert rock band drum logo). Thank you!". To most people this would have been a minor undertaking, but I spent the equivalent of a full afternoon sketching the Rush and drum logos on paper over the last week hoping I could draw them on a larger scale. I ended up resorting to printing them on paper and scotch taping them to a poster and writing the words in with marker. I had hoped that this would catch Neil's eye from my front row seat. I just wanted to communicate how awesome they are to me.

 

Fast forward to yesterday at about 5:00. I finally finish at the lab and make my way to the Bell Centre with poster in hand, tickets in one pocket, earplugs and a point & shoot camera in the other. I grab a quick bite to eat and line up to get inside the stadium, anxiously awaiting a front row seat to see the guys who single handedly got me to break away from my video game addiction roughly 4 years ago.

 

The gates open and tickets start getting scanned. My turn. The lady comments on how fortunate I am to have front row. The only thing going through my head is how awesome this is going to be when suddenly a security guard about twice my size pulls me over, points at my poster and tells me I am not allowed to have that on me. I ask why not, Rush always allows posters at their concerts. He tells me that I either give it in to the coat check or leave the arena. So I open the poster up and take a picture of it as evidence that those three hours spent with a pencil, eraser, ruler and markers last Sunday actually produced something before dropping it next to a bell centre staff and making my way to my seat. I bid farewell and tried to focus on the positives.

 

http://i.imgur.com/X3GVO.jpg

 

I make my round at the merch booth before proceeding to my seats: much better than indicated on the pdf floor plan I had seen. Here's the catch: I made a mistake in numbering and had to proceed about a meter and a half towards center stage. Location: right in front of Geddy Lee himself. Shortly before the concert begins a guy marches in with 2 or 3 posters, marvelling at his victory (as far as I could tell he was allowed to keep it throughout the concert). He takes a seat in the 20th or so row. It didn't bother me, I'm used to dealing with bullsh*t like this and besides, I was in front of Geddy Lee.

 

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/10.jpg

 

Concert begins: Geddy Lee couldn't possibly be more than 20 feet from me. It's like having my own private concert. I air drum and sing along to every tune while in a state of complete ecstasy, even during Where's My Thing, a song which I typically dislike. The boys were spot on for every note. I couldn't believe that Geddy managed to hit the high note from the chorus of Analog Kid "and I don't know what I'm leaving to FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND". It couldn't possibly get better than vault tunes, classics and the sheer amount of bliss I was experiencing? Could it? Keeping in mind that I knew the setlist, I figured the answer was "Only during 2112" primarily because I figured things couldn't possibly get any better short of playing my favourite song.

 

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/5.jpg

 

Half time: With the poster I figured I might have gotten some recognition by now. A thumbs up from Geddy, a smirk from Neil or optimistically a pair of sticks sent over. Guy in the back still has both posters. Oh well, intermission's over now.

 

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/2.jpg

 

Second half. Clockwork Angels, it was just as awesome as the first half: pure bliss. The strings were a very nice touch despite my apprehensions prior to the concert and added something that I think would have been missing if the sounds were triggered. Now on to Manhattan Project: this next part almost put me into tears of joy. During the first chorus Geddy looks down, I can clearly see his eyes as we both sing out the chorus. During the phrase "the big bang, took and shook the world", I briefly made a hand gesture mimicking an explosion. At the end of the next chorus Geddy briefly mimicked it before going back to keys.

 

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/8.jpg

 

Neil's electronic drum solo that kicked off Red Sector A threw me completely off guard. Mind = even more blown than before. The sounds coming out of Neil's kit could easily constitute a full instrumental song. Red Sector A, as if I couldn't be freaking out more they went ahead and added strings and some of the effects from Neil's drum solo to the mix. Combined with the lower register of Geddy's voice it created an entirely new ambiance for the song which just blows the original away (here's hoping for a live album to be released). YYZ: the usual powerhouse. Jump, sing NANANANA and whip out cell phone lighter app for the synth part. Spirit of Radio and Tom Sawyer brought to mind my very first Rush concert.

 

Finally, 2112, the song I've been waiting to hear all night. Flawless. Flawless. Flawless. Stewie from Family Guy beating up the Starman and taking his place was a nice touch. Alex even played the solo during the finale! What a treat! What better way to have the evening end than with the song I love most?

 

Great seats, a great setlist and a flawless performance by Rush have engraved this concert into my mind. This was quite easily the happiest three hours of my life. I realize this post sounds well beyond fanboyish but Rush got me to shed my video game addiction by learning an instrument. Since then I've learned to play drums, start a band with weekly practices during the summer/winter breaks (we've even written 4 songs), I've been able to keep my education on the top of my priorities list, become more social and make new friends now that my mind is outside the virtual world and just recently I've picked up guitar. I may not have had any heroes as a kid but Rush has been making up for that in the last few years.

 

Check out the picture gallery on cygnus-x1.net, the first half of the pictures or so (as well as the pictures in this post) and the introduction are supplied by yours truly: http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/concert-mo...-10.18.2012.php

Edited by USB Connector
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Wow!!! Great seats and great review.

 

I saw Rush at The Bell Centre for Snakes & Arrows and your night brings back memories of a magical night I had back in 2008.

 

I want my turn ..... 11/17, 11/19, 11/21.....to live in the moment.

 

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Too bad about your poster... But I agree, that WAS an amazing night. Ged's voice was better than I've ever heard from him, from any live DVD or anything (the chorus of Headlong Flight - WOW).

 

1022.gif

 

I was in row C, seat 1, and saw lots of Alex and a fair bit of Geddy close up throughout the night... It was amazing. Alex was SUPER entertaining. During the opening of Force Ten he did some dance moves and mimicked the women's laugh sound effect hilariously. He mimicked smoking a joint during the "he gets high on you" parts of Tom Sawyer. His movements and facial expressions throughout the night were very funny. His guitar box was right in front of me, and I could clearly see him standing beside the stage before each set. It was awesome. When Al and Ged switched sides, Geddy came right up onto the corner of the stage. Making eye contact with him (and Alex as well) made me swell with some crazy energy. Geddy really leapt too, which was so amazing given the fact that he's around 60 and has that heavy-ass bass around him that he's playing so aggressively.

 

The people around me were pretty cool. The guy next to me was at the opening in Manchester, and he was pretty energetic as well as the guy next to him (and the two HOT older ladies beside him too!). The guy in front of me had his young (maybe 12) son with him, which was cute. They were right up against the barrier and the dad would hold him up when Geddy or Alex got close. So sweet. There were two teens I noticed in the front row, one of which who had an anarchy shirt and one who had a shirt with the watchmaker honeybee symbol on it (such a great idea!). There was an older couple in the front with a poster that said "Alex: You gave our unborn daughter a guitar pick - thank you!" At some point in the night Alex read it and mouthed "Oh, thats so beautiful" and during the encore break, he gave the couple a drum stick. Such a sweet moment. After the show a security guard gave me a setlist sheet; a nice memento.

 

All in all, one freakin' amazing night - like nothing I have EVER experienced. I jumped and played air instruments and flailed so hard that I got a stitch in my side! As a huge Rush fan, I am truly lucky for having such an amazing time. A night to remember, for sure!

 

2.gif 2.gif 2.gif

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QUOTE (USB Connector @ Oct 19 2012, 09:29 PM)
I feet the need to share my experience with you guys. Nobody else I know seems to understand how much last night meant to me and I really feel that this is the only crowd that will actually listen. Also, there's a link to the gallery at Cygnus-x1.net at the bottom where I submitted my pictures. WARNING: Massive Spoilers Ahead

As some of you might remember I posted a thread about a poster mockup I was making. The poster was simple as my artistic talents do not extend passed the domain of stick men. It said ":rush: inspired me to play drums (insert rock band drum logo). Thank you!". To most people this would have been a minor undertaking, but I spent the equivalent of a full afternoon sketching the Rush and drum logos on paper over the last week hoping I could draw them on a larger scale. I ended up resorting to printing them on paper and scotch taping them to a poster and writing the words in with marker. I had hoped that this would catch Neil's eye from my front row seat. I just wanted to communicate how awesome they are to me.

Fast forward to yesterday at about 5:00. I finally finish at the lab and make my way to the Bell Centre with poster in hand, tickets in one pocket, earplugs and a point & shoot camera in the other. I grab a quick bite to eat and line up to get inside the stadium, anxiously awaiting a front row seat to see the guys who single handedly got me to break away from my video game addiction roughly 4 years ago.

The gates open and tickets start getting scanned. My turn. The lady comments on how fortunate I am to have front row. The only thing going through my head is how awesome this is going to be when suddenly a security guard about twice my size pulls me over, points at my poster and tells me I am not allowed to have that on me. I ask why not, Rush always allows posters at their concerts. He tells me that I either give it in to the coat check or leave the arena. So I open the poster up and take a picture of it as evidence that those three hours spent with a pencil, eraser, ruler and markers last Sunday actually produced something before dropping it next to a bell centre staff and making my way to my seat. I bid farewell and tried to focus on the positives.

http://i.imgur.com/X3GVO.jpg

I make my round at the merch booth before proceeding to my seats: much better than indicated on the pdf floor plan I had seen. Here's the catch: I made a mistake in numbering and had to proceed about a meter and a half towards center stage. Location: right in front of Geddy Lee himself. Shortly before the concert begins a guy marches in with 2 or 3 posters, marvelling at his victory (as far as I could tell he was allowed to keep it throughout the concert). He takes a seat in the 20th or so row. It didn't bother me, I'm used to dealing with bullsh*t like this and besides, I was in front of Geddy Lee.

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/10.jpg

Concert begins: Geddy Lee couldn't possibly be more than 20 feet from me. It's like having my own private concert. I air drum and sing along to every tune while in a state of complete ecstasy, even during Where's My Thing, a song which I typically dislike. The boys were spot on for every note. I couldn't believe that Geddy managed to hit the high note from the chorus of Analog Kid "and I don't know what I'm leaving to FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND". It couldn't possibly get better than vault tunes, classics and the sheer amount of bliss I was experiencing? Could it? Keeping in mind that I knew the setlist, I figured the answer was "Only during 2112" primarily because I figured things couldn't possibly get any better short of playing my favourite song.

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/5.jpg

Half time: With the poster I figured I might have gotten some recognition by now. A thumbs up from Geddy, a smirk from Neil or optimistically a pair of sticks sent over. Guy in the back still has both posters. Oh well, intermission's over now.

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/2.jpg

Second half. Clockwork Angels, it was just as awesome as the first half: pure bliss. The strings were a very nice touch despite my apprehensions prior to the concert and added something that I think would have been missing if the sounds were triggered. Now on to Manhattan Project: this next part almost put me into tears of joy. During the first chorus Geddy looks down, I can clearly see his eyes as we both sing out the chorus. During the phrase "the big bang, took and shook the world", I briefly made a hand gesture mimicking an explosion. At the end of the next chorus Geddy briefly mimicked it before going back to keys.

http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/concerts/rush-montreal-10.18.2012/8.jpg

Neil's electronic drum solo that kicked off Red Sector A threw me completely off guard. Mind = even more blown than before. The sounds coming out of Neil's kit could easily constitute a full instrumental song. Red Sector A, as if I couldn't be freaking out more they went ahead and added strings and some of the effects from Neil's drum solo to the mix. Combined with the lower register of Geddy's voice it created an entirely new ambiance for the song which just blows the original away (here's hoping for a live album to be released). YYZ: the usual powerhouse. Jump, sing NANANANA and whip out cell phone lighter app for the synth part. Spirit of Radio and Tom Sawyer brought to mind my very first Rush concert.

Finally, 2112, the song I've been waiting to hear all night. Flawless. Flawless. Flawless. Stewie from Family Guy beating up the Starman and taking his place was a nice touch. Alex even played the solo during the finale! What a treat! What better way to have the evening end than with the song I love most?

Great seats, a great setlist and a flawless performance by Rush have engraved this concert into my mind. This was quite easily the happiest three hours of my life. I realize this post sounds well beyond fanboyish but Rush got me to shed my video game addiction by learning an instrument. Since then I've learned to play drums, start a band with weekly practices during the summer/winter breaks (we've even written 4 songs), I've been able to keep my education on the top of my priorities list, become more social and make new friends now that my mind is outside the virtual world and just recently I've picked up guitar. I may not have had any heroes as a kid but Rush has been making up for that in the last few years.

Check out the picture gallery on cygnus-x1.net, the first half of the pictures or so (as well as the pictures in this post) and the introduction are supplied by yours truly: http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/concert-mo...-10.18.2012.php

Nice write up. Awesome to hear other fans enjoy them this much as well.

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QUOTE (stevefoote @ Oct 20 2012, 12:33 PM)
No offense,but earplugs??..lol

earplugs removed all high frequency, it's like listening a concert backstage! This tour have not the bad distortion we had on the past few tour! It was crystal clear! So no earplug needed!

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QUOTE (Spoutnik @ Oct 20 2012, 04:05 PM)
QUOTE (stevefoote @ Oct 20 2012, 12:33 PM)
No offense,but  earplugs??..lol

earplugs removed all high frequency, it's like listening a concert backstage! This tour have not the bad distortion we had on the past few tour! It was crystal clear! So no earplug needed!

I find using earplugs increases the sound quality. Aside from experiencing physical pain from concerts all I ever hear is a wall of sound and find it difficult to tell what's actually being played. Oh and then there's the hearing loss that comes afterwards.

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QUOTE (Skin Bag @ Oct 20 2012, 12:47 AM)
I really enjoyed reading your commentary USB and I totally LOVE wub.gif that picture of Geddy; it has such a natural feel to it with his left hand up at his ear.  Thanks for sharing!!

 

You're welcome. I didn't check any of my pictures during the show and I was really surprised to see that I got that epic shot of Geddy. Also the one of Alex is one of my favourites as well.

 

QUOTE (drbirdsong @ Oct 20 2012, 02:15 AM)
A+ sir, you make this forum worth reading with an entry like that.

smile.gif

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbrkkruaz41qisl9lo2_500.png

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QUOTE (WIDE-ANGLE WATCHER @ Oct 19 2012, 10:40 PM)
Wow!!! Great seats and great review.

I saw Rush at The Bell Centre for Snakes & Arrows and your night brings back memories of a magical night I had back in 2008.

I want my turn ..... 11/17, 11/19, 11/21.....to live in the moment.

 

It looks to me that you'll have three consecutive moments. Enjoy!

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QUOTE (thirteen @ Oct 19 2012, 10:42 PM)
Congrats on having such a great experience. Geddy mimicking your hand-explosion must have been freaking cool.

The thought that one of my heroes copied me as opposed to the usual inverse is just mind blowing.

 

EDIT: changed past tense to present. The thought is still mind blowing.

Edited by USB Connector
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Awesome!!! I got VIP seats for the opening show in NH... TOTALLY worth every penny. I cried so much when I sat down in the 4th row center stage... was the best night of my life. 2.gif

 

Some of the photos I took:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/musicalabby2112/IMG_0986.jpg

 

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/musicalabby2112/530255_412585262134513_201531295_n.jpg

 

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/musicalabby2112/399023_412585418801164_1272394987_n.jpg

 

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/musicalabby2112/alex1.jpg

 

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/musicalabby2112/1.jpg 2.gif 2.gif 2.gif 2.gif 2.gif 2.gif 2.gif 2.gif 2.gif

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Great review, USB! Thanks! applaudit.gif

 

And thanks also to all of the others who have shared their experiences. Montreal sounds like it was wonderful.

 

2.gif 1022.gif

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