First show of the 2011 tour last night in South Florida. Great show as always. Same set list as the 2010 Time Machine Tour. Neil and Alex’s solos were changed up a bit. Great time. Ears are still ringing.
I’m going this coming Sunday in Nashville. Can’t wait.
Wooooooo!
…is all I have to say.
Also, check the calendar if you’re going to the Greensboro or Toledo shows, as they’ve been delayed. Greensboro just by one day, but Toledo? Who knows?
Toledo is April 13, iirc.
Just got back from the Greensboro show. It was awesome! I’ve seen them five times now (Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, Test for Echo, and Time Machine) and this is up there with the best of those five. It’s hard to compare them, though – I got to see Primus (I’ll be seeing them again in May) open for them on one tour, heard the complete 2112 and Xanadu (my fave) on some others, and the TfE show was where my wife and I first felt our first child kicking in the womb. But it was great.
That same child, 14yo this month (wow, time flies!), was with us tonight for her first rock concert (she’s seen Brad Paisely and Sugarland – it’s the wife’s fault!) as well as my son, 11yo, for his first concert ever.
Sounded great, just wish they’d turn down the volume just a teeny tiny bit. I know its hard to nail that sweet spot of plenty loud but no hissing – but Iron Maiden pulled it off when I saw them in Maryland in 2008 so it’s doable.
Looking at the set list I figured it would be short but it didn’t end until 10:30ish or so (about three hours). I also wasn’t that enamored with the chosen songs on paper but it really worked live. I was particularly impressed by how well “Brought Up to Believe” (I’m sorry, I can’t call it “BU2B”, friggin’ textese!) and “Caravan” played live and am more psyched than ever for that album.
The light show was awesome, nice pyrotechnics, and the drum set was AMAZING. I really love the look. Also, I know this is blasphemy for some but normally I don’t get super-psyched by the drum solo – but this one kept me entertained.
As for merchandise, I picked up my normal tour book (my fifth, yay!) and the wife snagged a pretty neat magnet with guitar picks in it (we collect magnets). The kids got shirts and my daughter paid for a hoodie with her own money. I really liked the baseball jersey but, being a fatty and a cheapskate, had to pass it up. $100 is a bit steep. I probably should’ve gotten it, though, as I still kick myself for not getting the soccer (football, whatever!) jersey from the Iron Maiden show.
Anyhow, like I said, wonderful. Any questions just ask…
Were there lasers?
You know, I don’t recall there being any… Strobes, very cool combinations of focused lights, fire, some steam geysers (which was really cool, for the two Clockwork Angel songs), even some fireworks, but I don’t recall any lasers. They did some cool stuff with Marathon with “dotted line”, “dash”, and “shot in the dark” too.
Yeah, I didn’t remember seeing any lasers at SPAC last year, but we’ll see how things go in a couple weeks.
How did your kids like the show?
Great show in Nashville. It’s amazing they can go for three hours, although there was an intermission because, as Geddy put it, “we are exceedingly old men.”
I was REALLY impressed with the visuals. The set was beautiful, steampunky stuff, and the video was great. It alternated between shots of them performing and some prepared stuff they had. Each half of the show opened with a funny video sketch.
I love that these guys don’t take themselves too seriously. I can’t think of another band right now of their vintage that is as creative and vital as they still are - the rest seem either stuck in the past or just going through the motions for the money, or both.
I brought my kids to the 2010 leg of the Time Machine tour which was at an outdoor amphitheater and back on the lawn. It was actually a great place for them to lay on lounges and have some place to move around, but the volume did hurt their ears. My friend and I left them home this time because as loud as it was outside, it was way louder inside and it was probably the right call, especially for my 7yo.
They weren’t all that loud last night in Nashville.
And why oh why did I look out over the crowd last night and see hundreds of cell phone screens belonging to people trying to take video of the concert? Cell phone video of an indoor concert looks and sounds like ASS, especially if you’re far from the stage. People, you’re missing a really good show to take really crappy video.
I really don’t like that. Whenever I go to a live event, half the crowd has their phones in the air. It’s distracting!
My daughter (14yo, nearly) loved it. She’s been listening to Rush for a couple of years and knew nearly all the songs. My son (11yo) had some issues with the noise initially (said he had a headache, etc.) but he adjusted to it and had a ball about midway through the first set until the end. My wife, a very casual Rush fan, even enjoyed it a bit and particularly loved “Presto” (it is an album that is highly underrated).
As for phones, yeah… Distracting and pointless. Just take a pic or two to say you were there and wait for the really nice concert DVD / Blu-ray that we know is coming (they’re recording the April 15 Cleveland show for it). This isn’t Phish where each concert is different, it’s essentially the same show every night.
and particularly loved “Presto” (it is an album that is highly underrated)
Very much agreed! I really like that album.
Hey, guys, guess where I went last night, and why I went there?
Great show. The seat would have been fine, if not for the people in the row in back of mine. The people in the row in front of mine stood through the entire show, which my row wanted to do, but the guys sitting in back would have none of it. As soon as we stood, or sat on the upturned edge of the seat cushion, they’d be screaming at us and whacking us on the back until we sat down. We tried to reason with them – the guys sitting next to me spoke French, as did our assailants – but they didn’t care.
It was just easier to give in than potentially get into a fight with a bunch of surly, drunk French guys, and potentially get chucked out of the show for it. Security was nowhere to be seen during all this.
Still, the music was audible, and that’s why we go, right?
Also, I swear, there were literally tens of women at the show, possibly even dozens. Many of them were young and attractive, and several of them did not appear to have been dragged along by a significant other.
I totally wasn’t expecting that.
“I think I saw 4 in the balcony. That must be some kind of world record.”
Yeah. I love that. Great way to close out the show.
I think ~90% of the people at the Bell Centre stayed to watch, and gave it much applause at the end.
So, like, the new album hits in June, eh?
And it sounds like a steampunk-themed concept album, with an accompanying novel written by Neil Peart and Kevin J. Anderson.
And there will be another tour!
30-second fragment of “Headlong Flight” here: Billboard – Music Charts, News, Photos & Video
Which I may or may not have listened to 50 times already.
Wow that sounds great. I’m really excited about this album, I like Caravan but BU2B does nothing for me. Hope they make it to Scandinavia again!