MY REVIEW!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

[Retrospective]

For some reason my browser isn't letting me quote, so I apologize.

 

I'm glad you had such an awesome time! Better late than never, for sure. ;)

 

Also, your husband and I can be friends. I can't stand bassists who use picks unless it's a conscious tone decision. Which it really never is.

 

And Geddy vocal haters can suck it! He was totally rocking the vocals to Headlong Flight when I saw them two weeks ago - absolutely crazy. I couldn't do that and I'm 40 years younger than he is!

[msilver]

I'm glad to read of the wonderful concert experiences you folks have had. I remember my first Rush concert at Bluesfest in Ottawa in 2010. I had a permanent smile on my face for hours afterwards. When the first notes of 2112 were played I totally started to geek out. My wife took a great picture of them during the song. I don't think I could have stayed steady long enough to get a good one. :)

[foxontherocks]

I was at the Summerfest show, too. I debated not going, since we had seen the show at the United Center in Chicago last September, and I'm not a huge fan of Summerfest (although I never remember how much I hate it until I get down there...oh well). My husband and I both agreed that the show at Summerfest was better than at the United Center. Just more energy. It didn't hurt that the Marcus could fit inside the UC with plenty of room to spare. The weather was beautiful, and everything went off without a hitch. All in all a great night, and although I was slightly disappointed in the UC experience, I could have watched Rush do a whole other show at the Marcus. It took me a long time to see Rush live as well (how this happened, I am not sure), as my first show was last year for this tour. I am truly a fan for life and look forward to many more tours. I can't wait until they release this tour on DVD.

 

As for the drunk lady, that's why I can't stand Summerfest --- people are getting totally trashed the whole time and they make your life hell! The night of the Rush show wasn't too bad, as we didn't hang out on the grounds very long and the crowds were tamer in general. We saw Alice Cooper earlier in the week, and the headliner was Pitbull (ugh --- enough said). I had a whole bunch of people being weird and harassing me.

Edited July 6, 2013 by foxontherocks

[hobo73]

we got to our seats 30 mins. before showtime. We had bleacher seats but we had a PERFECT view of the stage. Unobstructed. We saw everything. =D

A lady sitting directly behind me was TRASHED. In that half hour before the show, she chugged 2 more beers 0_o

.....In the middle of the 2nd set, she fell smack on her face, burst into tears and her boyfriend had to half carry/half drag her out of there. Sucks for him lol.

 

LMAO

 

Sounds like something out of a Monty Python skit. I've never understood why people get so rip-roarin' drunk that they can't or aren't able to enjoy the event that they spent good money on. I'd be PO'd if after the tix purchase, wait, etc. I woke up the next day to find out it had come and gone and all I remember is paying for parking.

 

My dad saw Queen when he was younger- his "only chance" at seeing Freddie Mercury, and he got trashed and doesnt remember a single song from the show!!! >.<

I had a single beer hours before Rush came onstage lol. I never wanna be blottoed for a concert haha

[Aikenrooster]

It's long, but I don't care!!! I am FLOATING today. On cloud 9. hehehe, my Rush concert cherry has been broken bahahaha. ;)

 

first let me say- skeeter, it was AWESOME meeting you and your daughter!!! :D

 

Jeff and I got to summerfest around 2 so we could check out Animation. They were actually really good! Yes, there were times when their equipment messed up/keyboards drowned out the vocals, but overall it was very good. Jeff was horrified the bassist was using a "f*cking PICK. UGH." hahaha.

 

I got an awesome new Rush tour shirt and concert prgram. 20 bucks, WELL WORTH IT! That's the best program ever lol. It's like a book! Not like most shows I go to where I'm like "UM...you want HOW MUCH for THAT?!" hahaha.

 

we got to our seats 30 mins. before showtime. We had bleacher seats but we had a PERFECT view of the stage. Unobstructed. We saw everything. =D

A lady sitting directly behind me was TRASHED. In that half hour before the show, she chugged 2 more beers 0_o

.....In the middle of the 2nd set, she fell smack on her face, burst into tears and her boyfriend had to half carry/half drag her out of there. Sucks for him lol.

 

I am not ashamed to say, I shrieked when they came onstage haha. AND OMG THEY PLAYED THE SETLIST I WANTED!!!!! THE BODY ELECTRIC AND BRAVADO!!!!!!! THE SPIRIT OF RADIO!!!!! AGHHH!!!!!!!

Ahem. Sorry. =D

 

I was SO HAPPY to see so much material from Presto and HYF live. Ugh. Amazing.

They sounded pretty damn good the 1st set, but after they came back from intermission with the string section- HOLY MOLY. It was like a whole new band. They gave us our money's worth a hundred times over. =0

They were flawless. And I have to give it to the string section, I ended up watching them a LOT. Love how they were headbanging while playing lol. Extremely talented bunch. <3

 

The guy on violin far stage left kept giving it away whenever a firework or flames were about to go off, because he'd cringe and jog over to the middle of the riser lmao. =P

 

That 2nd set....oh my god......wow. Wow.

LOVED the video that kicked it off!! hehehe Rush gnomes!!! we were laughing so hard watching it hahaha.

When The Wreckers started, in my head I was like "hold it together...don't cry....DON'T CRY....." I started tearing up and tried SO HARD, but....nope. by the end of the song I had tears streaming down my face. It was so gorgeous.

I turned to Jeff like "OMG I'm so embarrassed! I'm crying!!!" and he just said "It was beautiful. It's OK." :)

 

But I have to say, The Garden was the highlight for me, personally. beautiful.

I LOVE the CA album, but seeing it live brought it to a whole different level for me. I will NEVER listen to it the same way again.

 

I was really happy to hear that some of the "deep cuts" got more applause than Tom Sawyer lol. When neil's 3rd drum solo gave way to red Sector A, I immediately looked over at Jeff and his face lit up in a way I've only seen a couple times before :)

I. JAMMED. to that song.

 

I went all "concert nerd" during TSOR- clapped and did the chicken hand-dance thing haha. And screamed when he sang CONCERT HALL!!!!!

 

Overall, on a scale from 1 to 10, that show gets a 200 from me. And you know what? All those "geddy's vocals" haters out there can SUCK IT!!!! He hit a lot of high notes and held them throughout the show, he sounded awesome!!! That man can still sing. Y'all are crazy lmao.

They sounded absolutely perfect, and again, I bow down to the very talented string section. They really added a lot to an already-kickass show, everyone onstage couldn't have been more perfect!!!!

 

Also, it was fantastic to see Neil's lack of expression live.

-__- (Neil drumming)

lol

 

Here's me in the hotel room after the show, glowing and very content in my new Rush tour shirt!

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/hobo73/IMG_0860.jpg

 

I'm still in awe.

Rush, you are fantastic. worth so much more than we paid. <3

Glad you finally got to experience Rush. I can tell the difference in your posts; they're way more cheery.

 

But, unfortunately, you'll have to deal with PCD: Post Concert Depression. This will probably kick in Monday or Tuesday and it sucks. Hopefully, we'll all get to see Rush one more time, in the future.

[Principled Man]

It's long, but I don't care!!! I am FLOATING today. On cloud 9. hehehe, my Rush concert cherry has been broken bahahaha. ;)

 

first let me say- skeeter, it was AWESOME meeting you and your daughter!!! :D

 

Jeff and I got to summerfest around 2 so we could check out Animation. They were actually really good! Yes, there were times when their equipment messed up/keyboards drowned out the vocals, but overall it was very good. Jeff was horrified the bassist was using a "f*cking PICK. UGH." hahaha.

 

I got an awesome new Rush tour shirt and concert prgram. 20 bucks, WELL WORTH IT! That's the best program ever lol. It's like a book! Not like most shows I go to where I'm like "UM...you want HOW MUCH for THAT?!" hahaha.

 

we got to our seats 30 mins. before showtime. We had bleacher seats but we had a PERFECT view of the stage. Unobstructed. We saw everything. =D

A lady sitting directly behind me was TRASHED. In that half hour before the show, she chugged 2 more beers 0_o

.....In the middle of the 2nd set, she fell smack on her face, burst into tears and her boyfriend had to half carry/half drag her out of there. Sucks for him lol.

 

I am not ashamed to say, I shrieked when they came onstage haha. AND OMG THEY PLAYED THE SETLIST I WANTED!!!!! THE BODY ELECTRIC AND BRAVADO!!!!!!! THE SPIRIT OF RADIO!!!!! AGHHH!!!!!!!

Ahem. Sorry. =D

 

I was SO HAPPY to see so much material from Presto and HYF live. Ugh. Amazing.

They sounded pretty damn good the 1st set, but after they came back from intermission with the string section- HOLY MOLY. It was like a whole new band. They gave us our money's worth a hundred times over. =0

They were flawless. And I have to give it to the string section, I ended up watching them a LOT. Love how they were headbanging while playing lol. Extremely talented bunch. <3

 

The guy on violin far stage left kept giving it away whenever a firework or flames were about to go off, because he'd cringe and jog over to the middle of the riser lmao. =P

 

That 2nd set....oh my god......wow. Wow.

LOVED the video that kicked it off!! hehehe Rush gnomes!!! we were laughing so hard watching it hahaha.

When The Wreckers started, in my head I was like "hold it together...don't cry....DON'T CRY....." I started tearing up and tried SO HARD, but....nope. by the end of the song I had tears streaming down my face. It was so gorgeous.

I turned to Jeff like "OMG I'm so embarrassed! I'm crying!!!" and he just said "It was beautiful. It's OK." :)

 

But I have to say, The Garden was the highlight for me, personally. beautiful.

I LOVE the CA album, but seeing it live brought it to a whole different level for me. I will NEVER listen to it the same way again.

 

I was really happy to hear that some of the "deep cuts" got more applause than Tom Sawyer lol. When neil's 3rd drum solo gave way to red Sector A, I immediately looked over at Jeff and his face lit up in a way I've only seen a couple times before :)

I. JAMMED. to that song.

 

I went all "concert nerd" during TSOR- clapped and did the chicken hand-dance thing haha. And screamed when he sang CONCERT HALL!!!!!

 

Overall, on a scale from 1 to 10, that show gets a 200 from me. And you know what? All those "geddy's vocals" haters out there can SUCK IT!!!! He hit a lot of high notes and held them throughout the show, he sounded awesome!!! That man can still sing. Y'all are crazy lmao.

They sounded absolutely perfect, and again, I bow down to the very talented string section. They really added a lot to an already-kickass show, everyone onstage couldn't have been more perfect!!!!

 

Also, it was fantastic to see Neil's lack of expression live.

-__- (Neil drumming)

lol

 

Here's me in the hotel room after the show, glowing and very content in my new Rush tour shirt!

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/hobo73/IMG_0860.jpg

 

I'm still in awe.

Rush, you are fantastic. worth so much more than we paid. <3

Glad you finally got to experience Rush. I can tell the difference in your posts; they're way more cheery.

 

But, unfortunately, you'll have to deal with PCD: Post Concert Depression. This will probably kick in Monday or Tuesday and it sucks. Hopefully, we'll all get to see Rush one more time, in the future.

 

You just had to tell her about the PCD...... ;)

[pony2112]

Glad you waited for the right one! lol

[hobo73]

After the show I told Jeff that Geddy's pants were "delightfully tight", and he shook his head and went "He HAS no butt, you know."

I scowled at him. AmIright, ladies??? ;)

 

haha oh yeah- right before Carnies started, when the video showed the carousel I yelled "AWHOO!!! FLINT AND STEEL!!!!" and immediately I was embarrassed. Then I looked around and thought "eh, screw it. I'm not the only one." lol.

[rushfanforever!]

After the show I told Jeff that Geddy's pants were "delightfully tight", and he shook his head and went "He HAS no butt, you know."

I scowled at him. AmIright, ladies??? ;)

 

haha oh yeah- right before Carnies started, when the video showed the carousel I yelled "AWHOO!!! FLINT AND STEEL!!!!" and immediately I was embarrassed. Then I looked around and thought "eh, screw it. I'm not the only one." lol.

After the show I told Jeff that Geddy's pants were "delightfully tight", and he shook his head and went "He HAS no butt, you know."

I scowled at him. AmIright, ladies??? ;)

 

haha oh yeah- right before Carnies started, when the video showed the carousel I yelled "AWHOO!!! FLINT AND STEEL!!!!" and immediately I was embarrassed. Then I looked around and thought "eh, screw it. I'm not the only one." lol.

 

Hey Hobo! Glad to hear that :rush: knocked your socks off!! What a show! Now the "no more shows" depression starts in for me! LOL!! Had a 4 show run so I can't complain about that!

[goingbald]

You know, the last show of this tour is in Kansas City...which is within reasonable driving distance from Milwaukee....nome saaaAAAAAYYYN?

[HalfwayToGone]

Hobo73, so happy for you! I managed to get to 3 shows in the 2nd leg and one in the first leg. If I had it to do over, I'd have maybe waited til later to get tix, and gone to fewer shows with better seats, but it was still great. I also would not have bothered with VIP for the first leg show. I've been 0 for 3 in being able to be online the moment presales started, so the aftermarket is better, but I still paid too much by buying too early.

 

As far as the experience, I will totally agree about the strings. Even my brother (who really suffered through the entire first set due to idiot fans blocking his view with giant signs begging for sticks and picks, and hates all the stuff after moving pictures, and never heard CA) mentioned that he thought the strings were really good and he even went so far as to say he wished they stayed for the entire rest of the 2nd set. High praise from someone so down on most of the show, and a real old school fan who also teaches music professionally. Usually when I think of rock bands touring with orchestra musicians, it's cringe-worthy, but RUSH knocked it out of he park.

 

I would say that Geddy's voice is fantastic considering he's 60, but whenever something from ATWAS or ESL pops up on my iPod, it's a reminder of how much of his upper range is just gone completely. Not that he can't sing mind you—I'm 45 and until about 3years ago I could hit every note of anything he ever did, and on a very rare day I still can, but I'm 15 years younger than he is, and plus nobody sings that high. Nobody. Not even Chris Cornell on his best day, and he gets pretty f'n high. So Geddy at 60 gets a pass on the super high vocals. Especially if a young'un like me can't hit 'em. Can't escape time, unfortunately, which is why I splurged so much this tour. They're eventually gonna be too old, and then it'll be memories and videos only from then on.

 

Good on you for getting out to see them while they're still able to rock a great show, and I hope you can have more opportunities to witness those guys doing their magic. And as far as their chops go, all three of those guys are in top form on their axes. They have never played better, so you aren't missing out at all on that aspect of their greatness.

[skeeter]

Hobo, glad you (and everyone else) had a great time. I had a most amazing time as well. It was fun hanging out with you, seeing how excited you were getting as the show approached. It made me wish that I could remember the details of my first Rush show...think it was GUP at the Rosemont Horizon a long time ago. Anyway, I don't think you could have picked a better venue/date to see them. The weather was PERFECT all day, maybe 70s with some breeze off the gorgeous Lake Michigan. Summerfest crowds weren't too bad and they were in great spirits (although admittedly I didn't hang around the Harley Davidson stage long, so maybe their were a few ruffians in the crowd ) :laughing guy: . Animation was pretty darn good, I'm not going to complain over a few technical glitches...I mean, sitting just off Lake Michigan and listening to a bunch of live Rush material was, for me, a great lead up to the big Rush show. Huge crowd at the Rush show, the sound was light-years better than the Tinley Park show 6 days earlier (I wish Rush would just quit playing that place, it is such a hassle to get to and the sound SUCKS). My 15 yr old Rush-freak of a daughter had POUNDED Clockwork Angels into our heads, playing it repeatedly between the Chicago and Milwaukee shows. We really appreciated this show so much more than Chicago...way better sound, the crowd was huge, and we so much more prepared with the new material for this show...acoustically the new material is amazing, and I think the lyrics are really some of their finest ever. Also, it didn't hurt that we were only 3 rows away from Alex for the show....such a different experience when you are up close with these incredible musicians who really pour their hearts out every night to put on an amazing show. I kept looking down at my daughter during the show, and I've never seen her "beam" so much, singing along to nearly every song with a huge smile plastered on her face. When she got to the show, she smiled and said "Dad, I feel so comfortable now that I'm around my own people". Any that the truth?? It doesn't get any better than that, for me. The crowd interaction was awesome. I had some superb seatmates around me, we talked before the show about setlists and the band. Really, Rush has some of the best fans period....the guy in front of us kept sitting down during the show and apologizing to us when he stood up. I couldn't believe how concerned he was that he might be blocking our view (though he wasn't). The guy even bought me a beer to boot. Lucky bastard caught a Geddy shirt too! Yep, Rush fans are the best. So an unbelievable show, I can't even try to top Hobo's description of it. I had to go to work the next day, and put on CA as I worked away on the PC....and boy did the post-concert depression set in...."oh man, I'm not going to see these guys live for another year....or two???" Yes, I too was also looking at that final Kansas City date and thinking "hey, we could do that". Looking forward to seeing several more shows before these guys decide to hang it up....I will never take a Rush show for granted. Cheers to the best band ever!

[hobo73]

Hobo, glad you (and everyone else) had a great time. I had a most amazing time as well. It was fun hanging out with you, seeing how excited you were getting as the show approached. It made me wish that I could remember the details of my first Rush show...think it was GUP at the Rosemont Horizon a long time ago. Anyway, I don't think you could have picked a better venue/date to see them. The weather was PERFECT all day, maybe 70s with some breeze off the gorgeous Lake Michigan. Summerfest crowds weren't too bad and they were in great spirits (although admittedly I didn't hang around the Harley Davidson stage long, so maybe their were a few ruffians in the crowd ) :laughing guy: . Animation was pretty darn good, I'm not going to complain over a few technical glitches...I mean, sitting just off Lake Michigan and listening to a bunch of live Rush material was, for me, a great lead up to the big Rush show. Huge crowd at the Rush show, the sound was light-years better than the Tinley Park show 6 days earlier (I wish Rush would just quit playing that place, it is such a hassle to get to and the sound SUCKS). My 15 yr old Rush-freak of a daughter had POUNDED Clockwork Angels into our heads, playing it repeatedly between the Chicago and Milwaukee shows. We really appreciated this show so much more than Chicago...way better sound, the crowd was huge, and we so much more prepared with the new material for this show...acoustically the new material is amazing, and I think the lyrics are really some of their finest ever. Also, it didn't hurt that we were only 3 rows away from Alex for the show....such a different experience when you are up close with these incredible musicians who really pour their hearts out every night to put on an amazing show. I kept looking down at my daughter during the show, and I've never seen her "beam" so much, singing along to nearly every song with a huge smile plastered on her face. When she got to the show, she smiled and said "Dad, I feel so comfortable now that I'm around my own people". Any that the truth?? It doesn't get any better than that, for me. The crowd interaction was awesome. I had some superb seatmates around me, we talked before the show about setlists and the band. Really, Rush has some of the best fans period....the guy in front of us kept sitting down during the show and apologizing to us when he stood up. I couldn't believe how concerned he was that he might be blocking our view (though he wasn't). The guy even bought me a beer to boot. Lucky bastard caught a Geddy shirt too! Yep, Rush fans are the best. So an unbelievable show, I can't even try to top Hobo's description of it. I had to go to work the next day, and put on CA as I worked away on the PC....and boy did the post-concert depression set in...."oh man, I'm not going to see these guys live for another year....or two???" Yes, I too was also looking at that final Kansas City date and thinking "hey, we could do that". Looking forward to seeing several more shows before these guys decide to hang it up....I will never take a Rush show for granted. Cheers to the best band ever!

 

Oh yeah, a Rush crowd is the best crowd to be in! Jeff and I were just saying, we had NO jerks around us during the show. Drunkies, yes, but no irritating people lol.

I thought the weather was perfect!!! the breeze off the lake, watching a tribute band was the best way to wait for Rush, you're right! ;)

Ugh, haha yeah, the people in front of you not knowing anything past Moving Pictures- had a couple of people like that behind us. "ARE THEY GOING TO PLAY THE ENTIRE NEW ALBUM OR WHAT?????"- uh, that's the main point of this show. The CA album, ya dolts lol ;)

Or, "THIS isn't Tom Sawyer. I wanted the hits, I don't know any of these songs."

I love saying it- if you're a casual fan who loves their radio hits only, do NOT see this tour. You will not know the songs lol. I love that I got to see so many "deep cuts"!

It was fantastic to see a sea of people bouncing/dancing/air drumming/singing at the top of their lungs! It was awesome knowing I wasn't the only one haha.

 

So glad to hear your daughter had so much fun!! 3 rows?! that's amazing!!! =0

Man, they threw out a bunch of goodies! It was so cool to see them walk onstage with big boxes of stuff lol. Always great to see a band do things like that for the fans. :)

[ALifeson85]

Ugh, haha yeah, the people in front of you not knowing anything past Moving Pictures- had a couple of people like that behind us. "ARE THEY GOING TO PLAY THE ENTIRE NEW ALBUM OR WHAT?????"- uh, that's the main point of this show. The CA album, ya dolts lol ;)

Or, "THIS isn't Tom Sawyer. I wanted the hits, I don't know any of these songs."

I love saying it- if you're a casual fan who loves their radio hits only, do NOT see this tour. You will not know the songs lol.

 

Oh GOD, that irritates me THE MOST at Rush shows, lol. I remember when I saw the first leg of Snakes & Arrows in 2007, after the show was over and my friend and I were heading back to our car, we overheard some dumbass saying something like, "What was THAT sh*t??? I paid to hear Chronicles - not all this 'new' sh*t...!!"

 

I just looked back at the guy, rolled my eyes, and shook my head, haha. :P

 

Glad to hear you had a great time at your very first Rush concert!! *cheers* :)

Edited July 7, 2013 by ALifeson85

[tommyali]

I was SO HAPPY to see so much material from Presto and HYF live. Ugh. Amazing.

 

I'm so glad that you had a great time, but what was all the material from presto and HYF? You saw "bravado" so no "pass" and the only "HYF" song was force ten.

My first show was counterparts at MSG. I was so stoked that I argued with my friend for years that they played "cut to the chase".. Then the Internet happened

[willowroolz]

A lady sitting directly behind me was TRASHED. In that half hour before the show, she chugged 2 more beers 0_o

.....In the middle of the 2nd set, she fell smack on her face, burst into tears and her boyfriend had to half carry/half drag her out of there. Sucks for him lol.

 

That reminds me of one time we were stood behind three guys who were absolutely blitzed for the whole show. Alex kicked into Limelight and the guy in the middle threw both arms out in celebration and decked both his friends in the process. Tee hee.

 

Glad to hear you had such an amazing first Rush show :D

[toddf74]

Glad you enjoyed it Hobo73. You looked so happy in the picture! love it.

[hobo73]

hehe, drunk people are hilarious ;)

 

Oh and idk if I mentioned it, but there was a 90-something year old woman in a wheelchair, rocking out wearing a Rush shirt lol