New Rush Tour Announced

Rush is fun to talk about because someone’s favorite album is someone else’s least favorite (kind of like Final Fantasy games)

For instance, I think all you people dissing Presto are insane. Admittedly Presto is fresh in my mind because I realized 2 days ago that I had Presto on cassette in high school, but never managed to upgrade to CD or mp3 or whatever. So I picked up a used CD and had the experience of listening to it for the first time in 15 or so years. And it was awesome (though the production seems pretty shitty).

I think Clockwork Angels will be a long-term favorite for me. The first couple of listens left me cold, since the songs are so dense and the hooks aren’t immediate, but at some point it totally clicked and I really dig it now.

Here’s my top 5 (no order implied)
Power Windows
Permanent Waves
Signals
Hold Your Fire
Farewell To Kings

Can’t wait for the Boston show!

I actually find myself skipping the first two songs, likely because I listened the hell out of them over the last couple years. The title track is probably my favorite on the album, but The Wreckers is great, too, and The Garden is so gorgeous the ladies might even dig it.

It took a number of listens to really catch on with me. While it is a concept album it is a bit loosely tied together, definitely worth also reading the liner notes.

Caravan and BU2B are great. I find parts of Clockwork Angels really great, especially Alex’s work (really, as a whole, I found his work amazing on this album), and really enjoyed the back half of the song with Geddy’s singing / speaking in the distance. The Anarchist has an awesome chorus. Carnies has this amazing crunchy riff that I couldn’t get out of my head for a while. The chorus fails it a bit, but still… Not a huge fan of Halo Effect, but it is still very listenable (and only 3m). Seven Cities of Gold is really good. The Wreckers is OK, again, not terrible. Headlong Flight is great, BU2B2 just an interlude. Wish Them Well surprised me – decent song but I really like the lyrics / message. The Garden is OK, but not hugely memorable to me – other than the message, yet another great one.

Are any of the songs in my top 10? Probably not. But it is such a cohesive and even experience that I really appreciate (and I seem to be in the minority on this). Keep expectations low and give it a few listens. One thing about it versus S&A (which is really great, mostly, a bit more uneven) is that it seems to be a bid muddier which is a darn shame.

I actually love the tracks on this album with the exception of two. But those two I absolutely hate! (“Think I’m Going Bald” and “Lakeside Park”).

That is interesting. I love the A-Side and can’t stand the B-side, except for “Something for Nothing”! And it’s not that the songs are bad, just that after the energy and passion infused “2112” the second side just sounds so anemic, anti-climactic.

I can agree with this. “Xanadu” is amazing. And I didn’t like “Test For Echo” much but “Resist”, “Time & Motion” and “The Colour Of Right” are among some of the best songs they’ve written in the last 20 years.

And “Signals” is quite possibly my least favorite Rush album but “Subsivisions” is still freakin amazing.

4 of the albums I listed are definite entries but that 5th slot alternates between “Power Windows”, “Presto” or “Fly By Night”. And with Power Windows it’s on the strength of the first 4 tracks because that album loses steam after that. “Presto” is definitely more consistent but not much there can compete with some of those 4 tracks off PW. And then “Fly By Night” has Rivendell, lol.

I remember my first listen of Rivendell. I put Fly By Night on my parents turntable and I was like, it’s LOTR, yeah, yeah, YEAH!

It really is a pretty horrible song though.

Wish Them Well. For best results play at maximum volume.

I see what you did there.

Nice.

Okay, so, the new tour is awesome, in part because the string ensemble they’re bringing with them really adds to the new songs, especially tracks like The Garden. They even manage to work them into some of their back catalog.

If you go, though, it would definitely help to dig the new album! All in all, they played every single track from Clockwork Angels except BU2B, BU2B2, and Seven Cities of Gold.

Here are a couple pics for your viewing pleasure:

I think the new album is excellent, but it does lack immediate hooks. Took 4-5 dedicated listenings to really appreciate. Really enjoy it now.

Are those your tour pics? Must have been 3 rows back or so if that. Tempted to go to the Atlanta show but tickets at quite expensive at this point.

Happy I saw Rush a few times in the golden age of the band. Think SRV was the best concert I’ve ever seen though. Double trouble were super tight and SRVs playing wasn’t half bad either :-)

Too bad I’m too young to have caught Led Zeppelin, the Who, etc live.

Diego

They are my tour pics, yes. Fourth row, actually.

Nice pics!

Unless you catch the “B” setlist, which swaps Carnies for Seven Cities of Gold (along with a few other changes, including Dreamline, which has incredible NASA footage of the Earth ar night from the ISS).

Great, great photos BTW. From the camera on your phone, or something nicer?

Ooh, sounds like an interesting swap. Carnies really works well in concert, though; why can’t they include both of them?

I’ll be catching them again on the tour (but from much further back), in Montreal, in about a month. Maybe they’ll have changed things up even further by then.

As for the photos, they’re just from some cheap Olympus point-and-shoot I picked up for $40 on eBay. Terrible camera, but you can get cheap batteries for it, and it’s waterproof.

I’ve always liked that Rush seems to stick with a single setlist. “Body Electric”, one of the songs I’ve always wanted to see in concert, is only on one of them. Grrr! Sounds like you had a great time, I’ll probably end up going – just got to get off my duff and get some tickets. Amazing pics! I’ve never been that close in my five times seeing the band. I really like the focus on 80s stuff. I know it’ll turn off some people, but it has been a while since they’ve played some of that stuff.

I’m not a fan of the current setlist, which makes it a little easier that they are not coming to town this time. Like I said earlier, I’m trading off this Rush tour for opening night of the Who doing Quadrophenia, which is my favorite album of all time.

Been a huge fan for over 25 years and have STILL not seen them live. Was thinking of it this tour but damn, if I want to see them I want to see them up close and THOSE tickets are really expensive.

Still, would love a time machine to have seen them during the Moving Pictures tour.

Great pics, Omniscia!

$60 Oct 22. Barclay Arena in Bklyn. Easy subway ride. Nosebleed seats, but you really go for the aural experience over the visual. Plus you finally get to check “see Rush” off your bucket list!

True! Normally I wouldn’t splurge on the super-premium ticket package, but it was my 30th birthday present to myself.

Even then, it’s luck of the draw. The VIP ticket package guarantees you a seat somewhere within the first 15 rows, but you don’t find out where until the day of the show. Obviously, I’d have preferred to be right up front, but 4th was pretty darn close. No complaints here.

It’s not such a bad deal, though, when you consider that in addition to the ticket, you also get a t-shirt, tote bag, poster, tour program, and other assorted tchotchkes. The tour book alone would set you back $20 if purchased separately.

As for the 80s set, and Omniscia please chime in here if I’m wrong, I imagine that was driven by which period of their music was most amenable to being modified for the orchestra. I can’t imagine the 70s material working nearly as well. If this were my first Rush concert I think I’d be upset at the lack of some 70s staples (“Close to the Heart”, “Xanadu”, “A Passage to Bangkok”, and of course some stuff from Permanent Waves), but as it is I’m looking forward to hearing it. Just hope I get Set A, I rather like “Body Electric” and “Manhattan Project” more than the corresponding ones from Set B.

If you want a montage of 70s material, take a look/listen to the R30 Overture. Music starts at the 3minute mark. I listen to this in my car and drive entirely too fast.