If you were wondering why Rush has not toured with an opening act since 1994's Counterparts tour, it is probably so that they can get away with the marathon three hour shows they have been putting on ever since. Not that I am complaining though, a three hour Rush concert still goes by entirely too fast for me. Since the members of Rush, Geddy Lee (bass, keyboards, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitars, synthesizers), and Neil Peart (drums, percussion), are all now in their mid-50's, they do still need to slip in a 20-minute intermission between each of their 80-minute sets in order to recharge and refuel. Thank God. It also gives us concertgoers time to refuel, and to get rid of all that spent fuel - if you know what I mean.
This year's Snakes & Arrows tour certainly continues the trend. Last night at the Nissan Pavilion - somewhere out in East Bumfuck, Virginia - Rush put on a mesmerizing, three hour, 28-song show that somehow managed to leave me a bigger fan than I already was. At 7:45 PM, with the sun still shining brightly on the amphitheater, a hilarious video intro featuring a couple of Snakes & Arrows -inspired dream sequences kicked off the show. This would be the first of many used effectively throughout the show.
The first one features Alex abruptly sitting up in bed saying, "Snakes? Who would dream about snakes, that's so creepy. Honey? Honey...wake up. I had the weirdest dream, it was a snake...", and just then you realize that the person laying next to him is actually Neil. Startled, they both scream "AHHHHHH!". The next sequence features Geddy as he wakes up in a chair groaning, "What did I eat last night?", as an old man dressed in a Scottish kilt, speaking with a thick Scottish accent (played by a barely recognizable Geddy himself), tells him "come on you lazy bastard...the show must go on and that sadly means you! Now wipe that chicken off your face and get up on that stage...".
At this point the band is running out on stage and Alex begins firing off the opening guitar lick to "Limelight", but Geddy is momentarily delayed getting out and poor Alex has to stop mid-chord. Based on some of the fan reviews I have read, this is all a staged continuation of the opening video theme, since Geddy is actually pulling off a bib and wiping chicken off his face as he runs out. I think only the orchestra seating was close enough to be in on the joke, because to me it looked like he just came out a few seconds late throwing a towel to his roadie - and I was in section 103. Awesome seats by the way.
I was close enough to make out the three huge "Hen House" rotisserie chicken roasters, as big as Alex's Hughes & Kettner amplifier cabinets, positioned on the stage behind Geddy. The last couple of tours it was clothes dryers, and now it's frigging chicken ovens. You can't say these Canucks don't have a sense of humor. For those who are still unaware, this began as an inside joke about the appliance-sized speaker cabinets that are often used on stage. Since Geddy was now relying on ear monitors to hear himself, and not bass cabinets, he wanted to balance out Alex's wall of guitar amps with his own "appliances". The funniest part of it all was watching the young lady, dressed in a white chef's uniform, come out and baste the chickens throughout the show.
Opening the concert with "Limelight" was a good move, as it instantly whipped the anxious crowd into a frenzy. If you came to this concert hoping to enjoy your comfortable pavilion seat, you were shit out of luck this night, since the entire crowd was on its feet for the entire concert - except for when they opened the second set with five songs in a row from Snakes & Arrows. That was not a wise move. "Far Cry" and "Workin' Them Angels" sounded especially good live, but by the time they got to "Armor And Sword", many in the crowd were taking a seat. The video shown during "Workin' Them Angels" was particularly moving in that it stunningly depicted various working class heroes draped with huge angel's wings. The ones of soldiers got a particularly good crowd response at this show.
The concert was much too long for me to get into a song by song account, but I will touch on a few of my personal highlights. "Entre Nous" has always been one of my favorite tracks off the Permanent Waves album, and this tour was the first time they have ever played the song live. Some other long forgotten classics that were last performed live when many of you were not even born yet, were "Circumstances" (Hemispheres tour), "A Passage to Bangkok" (Permanent Waves tour), "Digital Man" (Grace Under Pressure warm-up tour), and "Witch Hunt" (Power Windows tour). These songs set the place on fire - "Witch Hunt" literally did with enough pyro to make even Kiss envious.
This leads me to the light show, which was one of the most impressive I have ever seen Rush put on - although I have certainly not seen every tour. The stage was backed with three giant video screens, and these four, huge, suspended lighting rigs, each holding a myriad of rotating colored spotlights and strobes, would occasionally descend down to within damn-near jumping distance of the band and turn the place into a scene straight out of Close Encounters.
After a typically incredible performance of "The Spirit Of Radio" towards the end of the second set, another hilarious video takes over the screen featuring the characters from South Park as Lil' Rush. Cartman is dressed like Geddy and is singing and playing the keyboard riff to "Tom Sawyer" when Kyle is forced to stop him midstream, "Stop! Stop! Those aren't the right lyrics fat ass!" Cartman confidently responds, "Tom Sawyer builds a raft and floated down a river with a black guy. I read the book." Kyle angrily corrects him, "that's not Tom Sawyer, that is Huckleberry Finn stupid!". Cartman fires right back with "I am Geddy Lee, and I will sing whatever lyrics I want!", at which point they start over and count off "and a one and a two and a..." which leads into the monstrous opening synthesizer riff to "Tom Sawyer" - by the real band. It was insane.
Geddy's vocals were the best I have heard in over a decade. Is he getting that singer's second wind? Those incredibly high notes from some of the 70's and early-80's material, were much less of a problem for him on this tour. Alex's guitar work was awesome as usual, and he and Geddy were both having a blast on stage, which really made it a fun show to watch. Neil continues to be a mesmerizing machine behind the drum kit, and his untouchable drum solo, which runs the gamut between epic prog-rock, African and Oriental rhythms, and big band swing, was one of the highlights of the show.
Rush are closing in on their 35th anniversary as a band, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are still playing better than ever. Although they will probably never surpass some of the magic they laid down to vinyl during the holy trinity years of Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, and Signals, they certainly continue to excel in the live concert arena. This was one of the best concerts I have seen since, well, the last Rush tour - and I have seen some great ones. Are you hearing me Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?!
SetlistSet 1:01. Limelight02. Digital Man03. Entre Nous04. Mission05. Freewill06. The Main Monkey Business07. The Larger Bowl08. Secret Touch09. Circumstances10. Between The Wheels11. DreamlineIntermissionSet 2:12. Far Cry13. Workin' Them Angels14. Armor And Sword15. Spindrift16. The Way The Wind Blows17. Subdivisions18. Natural Science19. Witch Hunt20. Malignant Narcissism21. Drum Solo22. Hope23. Summertime Blues24. The Spirit Of Radio25. Tom SawyerEncore:26. One Little Victory27. A Passage to Bangkok28. YYZ
Paul Roywww.concertdvdreviews.com