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Lighting then and now.


N.O.RUSH
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I was watching some videos on youtube from the Roll the Bones tour, Presto, Counterparts, and TFE tours. What happened to the sick light set ups?? The lighting now is good, but no where near the level it was in the 90's. Why is that??? The stage set up for the roll the bones tour was insane. Edited by N.O.RUSH
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yeah the Roll the Bones set up was great. I liked the version of Where's my thing on that tour much better as well not to mention the Live version of Ghost of a chance. The lead outro lead by Alex was awesome.

 

 

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Probably comes down to the money—wouldn't you say?

 

I don't know? Tickets were much cheaper then! Then again, I'm sure everything cost much less to rent as well. I guess its all relevent. That tour did have a great set up with the triangular lighting rig. I remember it well.

 

:codger:

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The RT Bones Tour was one of the only ones I missed and that was ONLY because there was a goddam snow storm that day and I couldn't make the drive from Thunder Bay to Minneapolis... the EFFING roads were closed in my area! The tickets went for not... I had good seats too!

 

I hear the lighting shows are better now than ever, no???

 

Can't stop thinking about the lighting shows from '78 and '79.... KILLER!

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yeah the Roll the Bones set up was great. I liked the version of Where's my thing on that tour much better as well not to mention the Live version of Ghost of a chance. The lead outro lead by Alex was awesome.

 

 

Speaking of 'Where's My Thing'... I'd actually replaced the album version with a live version on my ipod, because it just kills live, especially with the atmospheric, ethereal opening. Such a fabulous song to have brought back!

 

But now speaking of lighting: I do like good lighting at a show, and I would prefer it to other 'gimmicks' (or show 'enhancements', depending on your view) such as constantly having a huge rear screen display animation or tvs being suspended above the stage or speakers moving around or (*gasp*) pyrotechnics. I want to see and hear the band, and not get distracted by other things happening around the players. It's like when my BF and I go out to a restaurant, and while talking, his gaze gets pulled by tvs that are invariably creeping up everywhere these days. He's still paying attention to me, but not really. I'd rather, at a concert, watch Geddy do his jumping-around-like-Tigger bit than realize I'd missed his bouncy antics by watching a cartoon on the big screen instead.

 

Lighting effects? Yes, bring 'em on. They do a good job enhancing the action on the stage that is meant to be watched, instead of competing with the band for the audience's eyes.

 

And quite frankly, I'd rather cut the pyros and use that money towards lighting; sure, fiery explosions are a surprising little thrill, but in my opinion they are a bit too jolting when I'm into a song.

 

Unfortunately, my earliest show is 2007 (oh, the regret of having not seen anything sooner!), so I have nothing personally to compare modern Rush shows to. I must add, though, that Rush shows are fantastic, and I'm certainly not going to gripe about anything. I'll take what they give me! :)

Edited by Mika
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Personally I think the entire production is better now but the lighting was probably more interesting back in the day.

And I think there is a reason for that.. it has nothing to do with cost or anything like that... it has to do with technology.

 

Back in the day, Howard had to literally PLAY the entire show with the band.. his fingers were moving just as fast as anybodys hitting buttons to trigger scenes or embelleshments. (plus he had to call out the spotlights).

Today technology has changed all that. The lighting show is mostly preprogrammed. Yeah.. it looks great, but there isn't that spontaneity like there was back in the day. Sure, Howard still has to call out the spot cues and you've got a video director doing live calls for the rear screen... .but the show is mostly staged by technology these days. So it can feel a little 'cold'.

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I actually loved the current tour - I've never seen anything like it. I'd take the artistic quality of now over the crazy lights of before. I felt like I went to a show and also an art gallery at the same time. If I couldn't have heard a note CA would have been an awesome show. I really was impressed.

 

We didn't get the crazy pyro in Boston though :eyeroll:

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A non-issue for me. I don't see too many bands these days but averaged two concerts a month in my youth. I've seen bands ranging from metal to Prince and enjoyed the current Rush tour as much as any I've seen.
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The lighting and production on the latest tour is so far above anything in the past, there's no comparison. I'm not sure what you guys are talking about, or looking at.

Every fixture on that stage can perform multiple effects, change to any color/or multiple, and do them with exact precision. The complete automation, scanning and tracking capabilities makes it possible to pull off any scene imaginable. Not to mention they are almost entirely LED and produce very little heat. They use about 1/3 less fixtures to produce 10 times the show, and no 'par cans'. All intelligent lighting, programmed perfectly to each song.

Honestly, if you don't feel this latest tour was "visually stunning", then you won't be impressed at any concert. The lighting on this tour was about as good as I've ever seen, from any band.

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The lighting and production on the latest tour is so far above anything in the past, there's no comparison. I'm not sure what you guys are talking about, or looking at.

Every fixture on that stage can perform multiple effects, change to any color/or multiple, and do them with exact precision. The complete automation, scanning and tracking capabilities makes it possible to pull off any scene imaginable. Not to mention they are almost entirely LED and produce very little heat. They use about 1/3 less fixtures to produce 10 times the show, and no 'par cans'. All intelligent lighting, programmed perfectly to each song.

Honestly, if you don't feel this latest tour was "visually stunning", then you won't be impressed at any concert. The lighting on this tour was about as good as I've ever seen, from any band.

 

The lighting on the current Rush Tour and on the Time Machine Tour blew my away. They dumped the lasers and went totally state of the art!

 

I thought I read somewhere that Geddy and Alex went to George Lucas and hired Industrial Light And Sound to create their new lighting system.

 

"May The Force 10 Be With You"

 

LOL!

 

RUSH RULES!

 

FUKK THE HATERS!

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Look at those skinny Geddy legs. Ha!!!!

 

 

No kidding... I remember seeing Rush in the 70s and thinking, "Oh my God, where are that dude's legs? I see his ribs, but where are his legs?"

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The lighting and production on the latest tour is so far above anything in the past, there's no comparison. I'm not sure what you guys are talking about, or looking at.

Every fixture on that stage can perform multiple effects, change to any color/or multiple, and do them with exact precision. The complete automation, scanning and tracking capabilities makes it possible to pull off any scene imaginable. Not to mention they are almost entirely LED and produce very little heat. They use about 1/3 less fixtures to produce 10 times the show, and no 'par cans'. All intelligent lighting, programmed perfectly to each song.

Honestly, if you don't feel this latest tour was "visually stunning", then you won't be impressed at any concert. The lighting on this tour was about as good as I've ever seen, from any band.

 

The lighting on the current Rush Tour and on the Time Machine Tour blew my away. They dumped the lasers and went totally state of the art!

 

I thought I read somewhere that Geddy and Alex went to George Lucas and hired Industrial Light And Sound to create their new lighting system.

 

"May The Force 10 Be With You"

 

LOL!

 

RUSH RULES!

 

FUKK THE HATERS!

 

The end of the 2nd set is always cool lighting wise. First set is lacking in a big way. Just let it rip the whole show.

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The lighting and production on the latest tour is so far above anything in the past, there's no comparison. I'm not sure what you guys are talking about, or looking at.

Every fixture on that stage can perform multiple effects, change to any color/or multiple, and do them with exact precision. The complete automation, scanning and tracking capabilities makes it possible to pull off any scene imaginable. Not to mention they are almost entirely LED and produce very little heat. They use about 1/3 less fixtures to produce 10 times the show, and no 'par cans'. All intelligent lighting, programmed perfectly to each song.

Honestly, if you don't feel this latest tour was "visually stunning", then you won't be impressed at any concert. The lighting on this tour was about as good as I've ever seen, from any band.

 

Not too close.

No one will ever top Floyd in regards to lighting and presentation and right now the band that I see and have seen multiple times with the best lighting and effects by far is Tool. They do some amazing things with their lighting and effects. Junior who does the lighting gets along with Howard pretty well I believe. Rush doesn't come close IMO to either of these. I wasn't impressed by The Time Machine Tour and this tour the 1st set was kind of blah before it kicked in nicely for CA

I thought Rush's best lighting was RTB, VT, and S&A

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It's a long way from my very first gig when i was 12... we "borrowed" the guitar player's mom's Christmas lights and set them up all over the stage. The "chicks" thought it (and we) was / were cool.
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