In a galaxy not so far away, in a neighborhood called Willowdale … this may have happened …
Entitled RASH: THE REAL HISTORY OF RUSH, this short film was shown explaining the Canadian band’s creation, featuring a mustachioed Geddy Lee as the owner of the Haus Of Sausage. His patrons include policeman Neil Peart and slimeball Alex Lifeson, who calls himself an inventor. Background music provided by a polka-ish young band who get Rushinized when Lifeson hits a button. It is a funny introduction, the first expose’ of three that will be shown throughout the night.
Begin the day with a friendly voice …
Neil Peart is probably one of THE most respected drummers in music. He has made his living pummeling out beats that are untouched by mortals, all the while making it seem so easy. Does he ever even break a sweat? And how are Geddy Lee’s hands not totally torn up by the way he just massacres his bass? And how does Alex Lifeson continue to pull out chords from his imagination that can still send a shiver up the spine? After all these years, how does Rush continue to sound so fresh?
On a summer night in New Orleans, Rush invaded a sold-out arena near the Mississippi River and knocked worshipers out with just a few guitar licks and a set of drumsticks. Well, there were also some killer bass lines, fire and explosions and a drum solo of amazing proportion. You had to see them to believe them.
Nerds with blues-rock hard-ons are who these guys were originally, back in the late 60’s when Lifeson and Lee put together the band in their native Canada. Peart came in after the original drummer left, bringing with him intelligent fantasy-bred lyrics of yonder majestic places. Lee was the musical mathematician, excelling on vocals, bass and keyboards; often covering all three at the same time, which he still does to this day. All three men are, for lack of a better word, musical geniuses.
My eyes have just been opened, and they’re open very wide …
Deciding to add a second leg to their Time Machine Tour was a brilliant idea. Rush are selling out venues left and right and they appear to be having fun, which is a plus for a band that has been together over thirty years. Playing for approximately two hours with a brief half-hour intermission, you can witness the talent firsthand as Peart, Lifeson and Lee give their instruments a work-out; including Lee’s high-pitched vocal chords.
The opening film blends into real life when the polka boys become flesh and blood on the lighted stage and Peart’s drumkit is revealed to the opening chords of “Spirit Of Radio”. It is a moment where the excitement takes over as if you were thirteen again and at your first concert. And there were many young people in the audience this night, proving that Rush is indeed timeless.
“Freewill” was an all-out power jam of overwhelming proportions while Lifeson’s solo on “Working Man” was blistering. Peart’s powerful drumming on “Subdivisions”, “Witch Hunt” and “Temples Of Syrinx” were breathtaking to experience. He really outdid himself when he went into his spotlight following “Caravan”. A bad ass drum session that saw his kit spin three different times to feature his different abilities; his big band extravaganza was just jaw-dropping, to say the least.
Drawn like moths we drift into the city …
Sprinkled amongst the big hits and rambling instrumentals are a couple of new songs that the band hopes to include on an album to “hopefully be out next year”, as Lee explained while introducing “BU2B”. They are also playing an entire album, 1981’s MOVING PICTURES, a feat that everyone from Megadeth to Aerosmith have tried with their own classic albums to great fanfare over the past several years. Rush fans are not that hard to please. They love the hits but they also love the more obscure songs within the band’s oeuvre. So spinning through an entire piece of work only makes them come to life even more.
I could sit here and praise Neil Peart all day but the two other gentlemen are worth noting as well. Rush is a trio of extreme talent and sometimes Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee are overlooked in the whole scheme of things. For instance, the beautiful acoustic guitar solo that Lifeson caringly gives us leading into “Closer To The Heart” causes goosebump. It is also worth noting “Faithless” and “La Villa Strangiato” for Lifeson going off into whole other worlds with his instrument, while Lee’s bass solo on “Red Barchetta” was beyond fantastic.
“Limelight”, “Tom Sawyer”, “Subdivisions”, “Time Stands Still”, “Freewill”, and a “YYZ” that had the band letting loose and totally hammering it, was more than enough to cause a rock & roll heatstroke. That they played about twenty more songs in addition to these, leaves no doubt as to why people worship this band like they do.
SETLIST: Spirit Of Radio, Time Stands Still, Presto, Stick It Out, Workin’ Them Angels, Leave That Thing Alone, Faithless, BU2B, Freewill, Marathon, Subdivisions {INTERMISSION} Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, YYZ, Limelight, The Camera Eye, Witch Hunt, Vital Signs, Caravan, drum solo, Closer To The Heart, 2112: Overture, Temples Of Syrinx, Far Cry. ENCORE: La Villa Strangiato, Working Man
