CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) Thought I would give a little review of the show last night. I'm not a critic. Just some schmuck and an old school fan. First of all I'm just happy it didn't rain on us. The amphitheater is a great venue and our seats (row v, floor 4) were great. The first set was amazing. Geddy sounded great. The highlights of the first set for me were Headlong Flight, Far Cry, The Main Monkey Business and Roll the Bones. Man, RTB sounded awesome in concert and the video just makes it so cool. Would have never imagined RTB being a highlight, but the crowd was really buzzing after they played it. TMMB sounded really good too. Might have been the best sounding song all night. Seems like the guys really enjoy playing it too. Second set was great as well. You could feel the atmosphere change because most fans knew the old stuff was coming. Highlights of the second set to me were Jacob's Ladder, Prelude, Xanadu and the entire encore. Geddy did a really fine job on the second half of The Camera Eye after straining a bit during the first half. The only song I thought sounded really sloppy was Closer to the Heart. It seemed like the guys were out of sync on that one. But then the double necks came out and they kicked XANADU's ass all over the stage. I was most surprised with the encore though. Lakeside Park and Anthem sounded good, but What You're Doing and Workin' Man sounded even better. All 3 of the guys absolutely rocked on Workin' Man. Alex made up for any and all other mistakes he made. He absolutely killed the solo. And, WYD. Oh my God! Geddy sounded awesome. Very surprised how good he sounded on that song. Yes, Al made a few mistakes. No, Geddy can't sing 2112 like he could when he was 24. Yes, Neil's solo is shorter than it used to be. But, holy crap those three guys can still rock. Took the wife (who is just a casual fan) and the kids (20 and 13 years old). Wife and sons have never seen the holy trinity. Best part was seeing the wife's reaction during and after the show. She was blown away and could not believe how good they were. 20 year old son thought Jacob's Ladder was the highlight of the concert. 13 year old loved RTB and TSOR. Very satisfying seeing how much the family enjoyed the show. I thought the energy was really good. The light show was amazing. And the music is obviously timeless. I'm Glad I didn't miss this one. Edited May 18, 2015 by CaressMySteel 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Thought I would give a little review of the show last night. I'm not a critic. Just some schmuck and an old school fan. First of all I'm just happy it didn't rain on us. The amphitheater is a great venue and our seats (row v, floor 4) were great. The first set was amazing. Geddy sounded great. The highlights of the first set for me were Headlong Flight, Far Cry, The Main Monkey Business and Roll the Bones. Man, RTB sounded awesome in concert and the video just makes it so cool. Would have never imagined RTB being a highlight, but the crowd was really buzzing after they played it. TMMB sounded really good too. Might have been the best sounding song all night. Seems like the guys really enjoy playing it too. Second set was great as well. You could feel the atmosphere change because most fans knew the old stuff was coming. Highlights of the second set to me were Jacob's Ladder, Prelude, Xanadu and the entire encore. Geddy did a really fine job on the second half of The Camera Eye after straining a bit during the first half. The only song I thought sounded really sloppy was Closer to the Heart. It seemed like the guys were out of sync on that one. But then the double necks came out and they kicked XANADU's ass all over the stage. I was most surprised with the encore though. Lakeside Park and Anthem sounded good, but What You're Doing and Workin' Man sounded even better. All 3 of the guys absolutely rocked on Workin' Man. Alex made up for any and all other mistakes he made. He absolutely killed the solo. And, WYD. Oh my God! Geddy sounded awesome. Very surprised how good he sounded on that song. Yes, Al made a few mistakes. No, Geddy can't sing 2112 like he could when he was 24. Yes, Neil's solo is shorter than it used to be. But, holy crap those three guys can still rock. Took the wife (who is just a casual fan) and the kids (20 and 13 years old). Wife and sons have never seen the holy trinity. Best part was seeing the wife's reaction during and after the show. She was blown away and could not believe how good they were. 20 year old son thought Jacob's Ladder was the highlight of the concert. 13 year old loved RTB and TSOR. Very satisfying seeing how much the family enjoyed the show. I thought the energy was really good. The light show was amazing. And the music is obviously timeless. I'm Glad I didn't miss this one. Great review. Glad you enjoyed yourself and that your wife was so impressed. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Oh crap, I can't believe I failed to mention Between the Wheels. That song sounded awesome. Soooo heavy and brooding. Loved it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 My only criticism of the Austin show was the stage set up. Because of the logistics of the outdoor amphitheater there was no curtain in front of the stage. This meant that the intro video (which ends with silhouettes of the band members ready to play) didn't work the way it was supposed to, and it also meant the crowd was not surprised when the double bass drum kit was brought out for the second set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclonus X-1 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Man, RTB sounded awesome in concert and the video just makes it so cool. Would have never imagined RTB being a highlight, but the crowd was really buzzing after they played it. Yeah, I was surprised by how awesome that one was when I saw them this tour (St Paul). It rocks live, and Geddy sounds great singing it. Nice review, especially the family-reactions part. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 My only criticism of the Austin show was the stage set up. Because of the logistics of the outdoor amphitheater there was no curtain in front of the stage. This meant that the intro video (which ends with silhouettes of the band members ready to play) didn't work the way it was supposed to, and it also meant the crowd was not surprised when the double bass drum kit was brought out for the second set.Those are good points. I knew the chrome set was coming so it wouldn't have been a surprise to me, but it would have been to some. Of course, it was kind of cool to hear the buzz when they rolled the chrome set out. Everyone started pointing and giving high fives. So, it was different but still just as cool. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clem Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 My only criticism of the Austin show was the stage set up. Because of the logistics of the outdoor amphitheater there was no curtain in front of the stage. This meant that the intro video (which ends with silhouettes of the band members ready to play) didn't work the way it was supposed to, and it also meant the crowd was not surprised when the double bass drum kit was brought out for the second set. Interesting. I was there, and this was my only show this tour, so I didn't know there even WAS a curtain. You're right, it would have been better not to have seen all that stuff. On a side note, this was the first Rush show I've seen in an outdoor venue, and overall did not like the outdoor aspect. My main gripe is that it's not dark enough, so you can see everything that you're not really supposed to be seeing (the band coming on stage, swapping out instruments between songs, etc.). Plus you can also see the crowd - which I don't like. I get too distracted seeing people on their cell phones, walking up and down the aisles to get beers, etc. At an indoor show, you can mostly ignore that and focus on the stage only. And, geez, you're right about the weather! With the weather in Austin this last week, we got very lucky we didn't get drenched! I also felt very sorry for the folks on the lawn. It just seemed too far away for those poor folks. We were in section 107, and that seemed too far back for my tastes. Plus, the lawn folks were probably in line for several hours in order to get a good spot. I'm not a huge fan of the Frank Erwin Center (the indoor venue in Austin), but I'll gladly take it over this place. Fortunately the show kicked!! Clem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 A couple videos from the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 On a side note, this was the first Rush show I've seen in an outdoor venue, and overall did not like the outdoor aspect. My main gripe is that it's not dark enough, so you can see everything that you're not really supposed to be seeing (the band coming on stage, swapping out instruments between songs, etc.). Plus you can also see the crowd - which I don't like. I get too distracted seeing people on their cell phones, walking up and down the aisles to get beers, etc. At an indoor show, you can mostly ignore that and focus on the stage only. Yeah, good point. It was odd to have them playing when it was still light out. I do prefer the focus to be on the band, not the audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merely Space Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Gotta throw in a little love for the Austin show myself. My wife and I drove up from Houston, and we were lucky enough to have 15th row dead center seats. Great show! Maybe the best I've seen. Every time Neil hit the kick drum, we could feel it in our chests. Damn, he hits those drums hard! The setlist, the stage show, the videos were all top notch. Sounded (and felt!) great. It was nice being close enough that the vagarities of outdoor sound played no part for us. One of the fun parts of this show was Geddy and Alex changing instruments so often. I'm pretty sure they changed after every song. Alex had some guitars that would reappear and be used on multiple songs. But Geddy used a different bass for every single song, I think. He went through a shit ton of Jazz basses, a couple of Rickenbackers, and even a fair number of Precision basses. Alex had a couple of Les Pauls that kept reappearing, but he also played a Rickenbacker on The Wreckers that I've never seen before. He must have borrowed it from Geddy! Also, a beautiful 12-string PRS electric for How It Is. Great show, great time, great not getting rained on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Was the black and white Alex played on Roll the Bones a Les Paul? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clem Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 So did anyone else notice that the two side video screens were slightly "off"? It seemed like there was about a 1/2 second delay between real video/audio and what was shown. The center screen looked like it was synced properly, but the side ones were too distracting to watch. Unfortunately for me, my seats were waaaaayyy over on one side, so looking at the video in the center wasn't the best option. Clem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 So did anyone else notice that the two side video screens were slightly "off"? It seemed like there was about a 1/2 second delay between real video/audio and what was shown. The center screen looked like it was synced properly, but the side ones were too distracting to watch. Unfortunately for me, my seats were waaaaayyy over on one side, so looking at the video in the center wasn't the best option. ClemWe were down front about 5 rows behind MS so we didn't notice the side screens too much, but I definitely think there was a slight delay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merely Space Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Was the black and white Alex played on Roll the Bones a Les Paul? Sure looked like it to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merely Space Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) So did anyone else notice that the two side video screens were slightly "off"? It seemed like there was about a 1/2 second delay between real video/audio and what was shown. The center screen looked like it was synced properly, but the side ones were too distracting to watch. Unfortunately for me, my seats were waaaaayyy over on one side, so looking at the video in the center wasn't the best option. ClemWe were down front about 5 rows behind MS so we didn't notice the side screens too much, but I definitely think there was a slight delay. Yeah there was definitely some lag on the side screens. It made them hard to watch, especially if it was a shot of Geddy singing. In fact, when I first noticed it, I immediately thought "Well, great, this is going to start a conspircay theory about how Geddy is lip synching this tour!" Edited May 18, 2015 by Merely Space Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Was the black and white Alex played on Roll the Bones a Les Paul? Sure looked like it to me.Beautiful guitar. The Rick was cool too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merely Space Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Was the black and white Alex played on Roll the Bones a Les Paul? Sure looked like it to me.Beautiful guitar. The Rick was cool too. Yeah, I kept drooling every time new instruments came out. I really liked the crimson AL signature LP he started the show with. Just gorgeous! But the Rick really caught my eye, just because I had never heard of him playing one at any point in the past. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Was the black and white Alex played on Roll the Bones a Les Paul? Sure looked like it to me.Beautiful guitar. The Rick was cool too. Yeah, I kept drooling every time new instruments came out. I really liked the crimson AL signature LP he started the show with. Just gorgeous! But the Rick really caught my eye, just because I had never heard of him playing one at any point in the past.Red for CA. Alex was very color coordinated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 A crappy cameraphone pic from Austin, but this is still the coolest thing: http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o371/x1yyz/IMG_20150516_223316_zpsuhnawpfr.jpg I noticed something on this tour that I hadn't seen before (maybe it's because Alex is digging out some old guitars?)--several of Alex's guitars have names. Here the 12-string is called "Henry" and the 6-string is called "Bastard." 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 A couple more videos from the Austin show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7TaTsM5zZw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaressMySteel Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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