No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
If I recall, they had only ever played it live on the Permanent Waves tour, which was in 1980.
I've seen a few videos of it because I know I won't get to see themsad
So jealous.
Long post coming, spoilered for your avoidance pleasure:
A bit of a preamble:
Been a fan since, what, 1981? When Moving Pictures came out, all the older kids were all over it, and songs like Tom Sawyer were pretty ubiquitous. I was 10 so it's not like I went out and bought all their prior albums then, but, I knew who the band were and remained a fan. I saw them on tour for the first time when they were supporting Hold Your Fire, this was late 1987 I think. Tommy Shaw opened for them. This was the 2nd concert I ever attended.
Since then, I've bought every album and have seen them in concert about 6, maybe 7 times, but I had not seen them 2002, a pretty long gap. Every time I have tried to see them between 2002 and last night, I got sick or had to go out of town on business, etc, events just conspired to keep me from their shows.
I'm not a fan of any one era of theirs, or any one type of sound. I find their early years kind of endearingly goofy, and can take or leave the whole albums but certainly have songs during that period I love. But, I mean, the point is, I'm not all "their keyboard era sucks ass", etc. Hell, I love albums like Roll the Bones (not the title track, which was played last night) and Hold Your Fire. Every time I see the band I wonder how many other people are thinking "Gosh I hope they play High Water".
So, anyway, there's the long preamble, sorry. Just wanted to establish that I'm a long time fan, they're a top 10 favorite band for me, I know damn well that they are the object of much ridicule for a very long time now and I'm not sure if that ever bothered me, but if it did, it sure hasn't for a long time now. We like what we like.
Last night. Highlights:
I'm a gigantic fan of Xanadu so hearing that again was really awesome for me and the only time that I kind of felt some measure of nostalgia as opposed to just being in the moment. That's not a bad thing, it brought back some pretty strong memories and associated feelings.
Hearing Parts 1, 2, 4 and 7 of 2112 right after Xanadu didn't suck.
Jacob's Ladder, as discussed was pretty great. A big surprise and the crowd seemed pretty rapt. When the song was over the camera zoomed in on Geddy and he had this great look on his face, it looked like 1/4 part relieved but 3/4 like he just blew his own mind.
Closing with two songs from their first album was fun. I'm not a gigantic fan of either tune but they sounded good and you know it means something to the band to be up there playing these songs that are 40 years old. I wonder how Peart feels about playing these songs. He must not mind, I guess.
As far as the simple pleasure of "rocking out" goes, coming back from an intermission and playing Tom Sawyer then Red Barchetta then The Spirit of Radio is a pretty good way to get a bunch of middle aged cats playing air drums and/or guitar. I was probably a little Tom Sawyer'd out by the last time I saw the band but it was welcome last night. Red Barchetta is my favorite of that trio, though. I was into it, let's just say.
Losing It was a nice treat. It was sandwiched between Distant Early Warning and Subdivisions so it slowed down what could have been pretty good momentum into the intermission but it was pretty. I looked at some recent set lists this morning and it looks like Analog Kid is normally in that slot, which, fuck, I really love that song but whatever. Subdivisions is my favorite Rush song, so, that's probably the overall highlight.
The only real lowlight for me was Roll the Bones. I genuinely dislike that song, but, it was at least mitigated by some amusing lip synching on the video screen by Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, Peter Dinklage, etc.
The last thing I'll say is that one of the best things about Rush shows is the crowd. Everyone there is into it. I mean, of course, there are always gonna be a few that got dragged there or were curious or whatever, but for the most part if 17k people are there, 16.5k are big fans. So, there are no dead moments, no songs where there's a mass exodus to the bathroom. It's a fun shared experience, every time. I used to wonder how a band that makes a song like The Spirit of Radio doesn't achieve wider popularity, but, well, selling out arenas for decades seems like a decent amount of popularity….and, it has kept their crowds the way I like it, adoring and passionate. It blows my mind that two of the bands I latched onto earlier in life, U2 and Rush, are still around, still have the same line up (sorry John Rutsey) and still put on great shows.
I was watching the video screen on and off during the show and when they'd zoom in on any of the trio playing their instruments, I thought to myself that I hope to be 1/10th as good at anything in life as they are at playing music when I reach their age.
Been a fan since, what, 1981? When Moving Pictures came out, all the older kids were all over it, and songs like Tom Sawyer were pretty ubiquitous. I was 10 so it's not like I went out and bought all their prior albums then, but, I knew who the band were and remained a fan. I saw them on tour for the first time when they were supporting Hold Your Fire, this was late 1987 I think. Tommy Shaw opened for them. This was the 2nd concert I ever attended.
Since then, I've bought every album and have seen them in concert about 6, maybe 7 times, but I had not seen them 2002, a pretty long gap. Every time I have tried to see them between 2002 and last night, I got sick or had to go out of town on business, etc, events just conspired to keep me from their shows.
I'm not a fan of any one era of theirs, or any one type of sound. I find their early years kind of endearingly goofy, and can take or leave the whole albums but certainly have songs during that period I love. But, I mean, the point is, I'm not all "their keyboard era sucks ass", etc. Hell, I love albums like Roll the Bones (not the title track, which was played last night) and Hold Your Fire. Every time I see the band I wonder how many other people are thinking "Gosh I hope they play High Water".
So, anyway, there's the long preamble, sorry. Just wanted to establish that I'm a long time fan, they're a top 10 favorite band for me, I know damn well that they are the object of much ridicule for a very long time now and I'm not sure if that ever bothered me, but if it did, it sure hasn't for a long time now. We like what we like.
Last night. Highlights:
I'm a gigantic fan of Xanadu so hearing that again was really awesome for me and the only time that I kind of felt some measure of nostalgia as opposed to just being in the moment. That's not a bad thing, it brought back some pretty strong memories and associated feelings.
Hearing Parts 1, 2, 4 and 7 of 2112 right after Xanadu didn't suck.
Jacob's Ladder, as discussed was pretty great. A big surprise and the crowd seemed pretty rapt. When the song was over the camera zoomed in on Geddy and he had this great look on his face, it looked like 1/4 part relieved but 3/4 like he just blew his own mind.
Closing with two songs from their first album was fun. I'm not a gigantic fan of either tune but they sounded good and you know it means something to the band to be up there playing these songs that are 40 years old. I wonder how Peart feels about playing these songs. He must not mind, I guess.
As far as the simple pleasure of "rocking out" goes, coming back from an intermission and playing Tom Sawyer then Red Barchetta then The Spirit of Radio is a pretty good way to get a bunch of middle aged cats playing air drums and/or guitar. I was probably a little Tom Sawyer'd out by the last time I saw the band but it was welcome last night. Red Barchetta is my favorite of that trio, though. I was into it, let's just say.
Losing It was a nice treat. It was sandwiched between Distant Early Warning and Subdivisions so it slowed down what could have been pretty good momentum into the intermission but it was pretty. I looked at some recent set lists this morning and it looks like Analog Kid is normally in that slot, which, fuck, I really love that song but whatever. Subdivisions is my favorite Rush song, so, that's probably the overall highlight.
The only real lowlight for me was Roll the Bones. I genuinely dislike that song, but, it was at least mitigated by some amusing lip synching on the video screen by Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, Peter Dinklage, etc.
The last thing I'll say is that one of the best things about Rush shows is the crowd. Everyone there is into it. I mean, of course, there are always gonna be a few that got dragged there or were curious or whatever, but for the most part if 17k people are there, 16.5k are big fans. So, there are no dead moments, no songs where there's a mass exodus to the bathroom. It's a fun shared experience, every time. I used to wonder how a band that makes a song like The Spirit of Radio doesn't achieve wider popularity, but, well, selling out arenas for decades seems like a decent amount of popularity….and, it has kept their crowds the way I like it, adoring and passionate. It blows my mind that two of the bands I latched onto earlier in life, U2 and Rush, are still around, still have the same line up (sorry John Rutsey) and still put on great shows.
I was watching the video screen on and off during the show and when they'd zoom in on any of the trio playing their instruments, I thought to myself that I hope to be 1/10th as good at anything in life as they are at playing music when I reach their age.
) away from me singing along at the top of his lungs.
is for
