Am I weird....

[Mika]

So... I have a question.

 

I saw Rush in Edmonton a few weeks ago - my third Rush concert. It was awesome, of course! I went without checking out the setlist beforehand, although some songs had become known to me through the ether of the internet.

 

I stood standing for the entire concert (what a fantastic view!), and mildly danced along to all the songs, helping Geddy sing, too. I got most enthusiastic with the more obscure songs, like 'Grand Designs', 'Territories', 'Where's My Thing?'* (ooh, I squealed at the start of that one!), 'The Pass', and pretty much all of 'Clockwork Angels'.

 

I didn't get as enthusiastic for 'The Spirit of Radio' and 'Tom Sawyer', which is quite different from most of my concert-going-mates' reactions - these are the 'crowd pleaser' songs, and everyone gets hyped up from them. I noticed a small gaggle of girls diagonally behind me that had stayed seated through the entire show but got up and started loudly dancing when 'The Spirit of Radio' came on.

 

See, I recognize these concert standard songs as being the hits, and I recognize that they are very good songs, but they're just not my favourites! These are the songs that I'm most likely to skip on my ipod (if I ever skip any Rush songs) in favour of, say, 'Grand Designs' or 'Territories'. I remember once asking a Rush fan his favourite song, and I was a bit puzzled at his response of, "Tom Sawyer." Certainly, to each his own, but I thought it was a bit cliched. And then after the show some guy complained that they didn't play more 'hits', especially 'Working Man'. I was just happy to have seen them play anything at all, let alone some of my (more obscure) favourites!

 

So, my question: because I'm not so enamoured of 'the hits', does that kind of make me a weird Rush concert-goer? Should I just join in with the enthusiasm of the crowd, or is it ok to show my enthusiasm for the songs I really do feel animated by? When 'TSOR' and 'TS' played, I was kind of thinking in the back of my mind, what if Geddy glanced over at me (I was in pretty full view of him), to see that I wasn't responding to these songs quite like the rest of the crowd? And surely his eye would be more drawn to the girls dancing away!

 

I've always kind of glided over the 'hits' of bands. I listen to all of a group's music, and make my own judgements, if not of 'hits', then of the songs that speak most to me. Years ago, when The Beatles '1' album came out, I remember feeling weird that I wasn't interested in buying it, then realizing it was because the songs included on it weren't my favourites, and in fact the ones I'd probably least like to listen to.

 

Maybe I'm just weird?

 

But hell, at least Geddy maybe got some kind of satisfaction to seeing some girl groove her heart out to 'Where's My Thing?'! (And harmonize in 'Grand Designs' with him! )

 

 

 

 

*Upon proof-reading this, I'd discovered that I'd typed 'Mystic Rhythms' instead of 'Where's My Thing?'!

[CygnusGal]

The one thing I do know for a fact about Rush is that the fans are very diverse. We all hold different songs as favourites for different reasons. Each of us, a cell of awareness.

 

I don't think you're weirder than other Rush fans. Although, a strong argument could be made that as Rush fans we're all weird.

 

 

[OGr8imL84AD8inF8sBlackSedan]

Weirdest person on TRF...You should seek treatment.

[default236]

QUOTE (OGr8imL84AD8inF8sBlackSedan @ Oct 22 2012, 03:50 AM)

Weirdest person on TRF...You should seek treatment.

It's in your best interest

[J2112YYZ]

I saw them twice in 2010 and Tom Sawyer didn't do much for me either time. I was even in the front row at one of them and song still didn't do it for me. I stood there and sang along with it but wasn't going out of my mind like everyone else. To me it was just Tom Sawyer and that's it. Don't care at all for The Trees or Working Man but those are also among the popular songs everyone seems to love way more than they should. I get the love for Tom Sawyer, but i've just never been that nuts about the song to begin with. Yes, it was one of the first Rush songs I ever knew and it's a good song, but I just never saw it as being that good.

 

On the last tour I was way more excited to hear TSS, Presto, Marathon, BU2B, Caravan and TCE for the first time. This tour i'm very much looking forward to hearing the new stuff, Grad Designs, The Body Electric, Territories, Analog Kid and Manhattan Project way more than I am about any of the hits. I still love SD, TBM, F10, YYZ, TSOR and 2112 but I will be one of those people rocking out harder to the deep cuts and new material.

 

No, you're not weird. That's what tends to happen when you're a dedicated fan and you know and love most, if not all of the bands material. Unlike the bulk of the concert goers who are there only because they know the hits and nothing else.

Edited October 22, 2012 by J2112YYZ

[Jaminbenb]

Nope...you're normal...One of my favorite albums is Caress of Steel, and even though they don't play it, I STILL love it! Tom Sawyer and Spirit are played at EVERY SHOW and therefore, to me, BORING! The "radio hits" are what gets the casual fan into the show... Now don't get me wrong, there ARE people that got into the band with Moving Pictures, and Tom Sawyer may very well BE their favorite song....whatever floats your boat, I guess....

 

Funny story that you reminded me of....

 

I first realized the severity of people that are merely "radio" fans of any given band when I went to see a ZZ Top concert several years back (friend that didn't drive won tickets on the radio)

 

I consider myself a "casual" ZZ fan, and feel that I know a decent bit of their entire body of work, and figured that it would be a great show, since those guys really can play the crap out of things! They played a LOT of older stuff at the beginning of their show, and there was this group of people sitting in front of us (Outdoor show, on the grass) that pretty much sat on their hands the whole show...but when they played some of the 80's "MTV" hits, they were ROCKING like crazy! then just as quickly as they started, stopped rocking when they went back to the 70's stuff.

 

I always thought that was weird...but you like what you like, I guess...

[J2112YYZ]

The weird thing I find is the people who go to concerts just to hear the hits. Yes, when a band plays bigger venues like Rush does 90 percent of the people there are those type of "fans". I just don't get why people would pay the money for a ticket, especially with how much they cost today, if you're not at least familiar with three quarters of the material from the band you're going to see? I understand it's not always possible for a lot of people to know everything from the band they're seeing, but at least be familiar with a sizeable portion of the discography.

 

To me it's just a waste of a hundered bucks to go see a band just for the hits unless it's someone like Billy Joel or Elton John who have so many huge songs there's no way they can avoid playing most of them.

[Jaminbenb]

QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Oct 22 2012, 09:36 AM)

The weird thing I find is the people who go to concerts just to hear the hits. Yes, when a band plays bigger venues like Rush does 90 percent of the people there are those type of "fans". I just don't get why people would pay the money for a ticket, especially with how much they cost today, if you're not at least familiar with three quarters of the material from the band you're going to see? I understand it's not always possible for a lot of people to know everything from the band they're seeing, but at least be familiar with a sizeable portion of the discography. To me it's just a waste of a hundered bucks to go see a band just for the hits unless it's someone like Billy Joel or Elton John who have so many huge songs there's no way they can avoid playing most of them.

But then again...when you go see bands like Billy or Elton, that's ALL you get! you don't get too many obscure tunes during the course of a show, you get "THE HITS" period!

 

So if you've seen them once, you really don't need to see them again! At least Buffett swaps out a few obscure things here and there.

 

But I agree...if you're a casual Rush fan, why would you go see them if TS and tSoR is all you want to hear?!?!

[Cygnus27]

I've seen them on every tour since RTB, and those obscure songs totally made the show for me. Regardless if the songs themselves were my favs or not, it was different.

[zac2112]

I am glad they are bringing out new songs, just wish they would have brought out one or two heavier classics, and one or two less synth era songs. heres my fearless prediction that would have made this show much more appealing.

 

nix- the body electric

add- a passage to bankock

 

nix-red sector a

add- fly by night

 

either way im stoked for the show in a couple weeks

[TheWK90]

To the OP: You're no weirder than me at least. After going to the Pittsburgh show last month and finding out that I lucked out with a front row seat right in front of Alex, I was rocking out to just about every song, but those "deep cuts" like "Territories," "Grand Designs," "Analog Kid," etc. got just a tad bit more energy in the fist pump than the others.

 

Sometimes I'm not sure, though. Do I like those songs more because I TRULY like them more, or do I enjoy hearing them more because I'm not burnt out on them like the other staples?

 

I'll enjoy Rush no matter what they play, but even after having gone to only 2 Rush concerts so far (3rd coming up in Cleveland), I wouldn't mind not hearing some of the "staples" again. But if (and when) I do hear them, fine, but I'll always get more animated (another song I wish I could hear them play) for the rarities that I never thought I'd be able to hear in this day and age of classic rock/metal bands going out on greatest hit cash-grab tours.

[likeclockwork]

Ummm...show your enthusiasm for things (songs) you're enthusiastic about!

[Mika]

I agree that it's ultimately best to show my enthusiasm for what I'm most enthusiastic about! It's being true to myself, after all.

 

It does seem that maybe a lot of Rush concert-goers are most familiar with 'the hits', and so that's why these songs get such a generally enthusiastic response. More obscure ones like 'Grand Designs' et al are likely not very well known at all, and so only a handful of people are likely to give them an animated reception! I guess I'm part of the camp that is more interested in the obscurity!

 

Part of the fun of going to Rush concerts is finding out what songs are going to get played this time; if the same old (hit) songs were played tour after tour, it would get really quite boring. I love when stuff like 'Digital Man', 'Grand Designs', and 'Presto' get pulled out.

 

Maybe Rush should spend two nights in each town, and play two different set lists - one with all the hits, for the hit-lovers, and one packed with more obscure songs, for people like me!

[Bangster of Goats]

Yeah, just personally speaking, on a selfish note , I'm not upset about the reduction in "hits"... I wouldn't be upset in the slightest if they dropped Tom Sawyer in fact. Seen and heard 'em all a million times... I'd rather they go deeper and bring to life some of their more obscure songs. Of course, that's just me speaking as a veteran of many Rush shows. A newer convert who hasn't seen them as much might be a little miffed that some of those oldies they haven't heard live yet aren't being played. Edited October 23, 2012 by Bangster of Goats

[cfmoran13]

I think you're thinking too much about it. If you're excited when they start playing a song, show it - sing, air guitar, whatever. If you're not so excited when a song starts, do whatever you feel like.

 

At the Newark show, there was a dude screaming "Headlooong Fliiiiiight" during the entire first set. When they broke into the song, he totally freaked and was singing louder than Geddy. Was it annoying? Hell yeah! Did I say anything to the guy? Hell no! The dude was having a blast and the song that he absolutely wanted to hear played was being played. Why should I crap on his parade?!?

 

Bottom line, you payed your money to see a band play songs. As long as you're having honest reactions, who cares what you do?!? Whatever you do at a show, have a good time.

 

[eshine]

QUOTE (Mika @ Oct 22 2012, 12:51 AM)

Should I just join in with the enthusiasm of the crowd, or is it ok to show my enthusiasm for the songs I really do feel animated by?

No - you should enjoy the show and have your own experience without worrying about what the rest of the crowd is thinking.