| Current music: | RUSH - 'Freewill' |
Last night, New Orleans Arena echoed with the sounds...
...of the almighty RUSH.
Wonderful night... compared to Houston last summer, it was a good deal more comfortable indoors but the sound suffered from too much echo in our boxy arena (mind you, a friend who works in the building told me that it was the best sound he'd ever heard in there!) The only legit complaints I can offer in comparison to last year are the omission of 'Circumstances' and 'Entre Nous', both personal favorites. I bet that few people complained about the substitution of '2112 Overture' / the 'Temples of Syrinx' for 'Summertime Blues' and 'Secret Touch'! NICE!!! ;^}
The older RUSH gets, the longer (and more precise) they seem to play! They performed from 7:45 to 11:30, with a 30 minute break in between sets. Geddy's voice was in great shape on this sixth stop of their current tour. I heard him duck a few notes here and there but when it was time for him to belt, as in the last stanza of 'Freewill', he delivered solidly. Neil Peart's drumming fit that description as well... his playing was focused and intense.
Reflecting on the setlist, it was kind of eclectic. Rush, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, Farewell to Kings, Power Windows, Presto, Counterparts and Test for Echo were not represented at all. The classic Moving Pictures album, however, got as much attention as the new one. Here's the setlist from last night:
SET 1
01. Limelight
02. Digital Man
03. Ghost of a Chance
04. Mission
05. Freewill
06. The Main Monkey Business
07. The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro)
08. Red Barchetta
09. The Trees
10. Between The Wheels
11. Dreamline
SET 2
12. Far Cry
13. Workin' Them Angels
14. Armor and Sword
15. Spindrift
16. The Way The Wind Blows
17. Subdivisions
18. Natural Science
19. Witch Hunt
20. Malignant Narcissism
21. Drum Solo
22. Hope
23. The Spirit of Radio
24. 2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
25. Tom Sawyer (with "South Park" intro)
ENCORE
26. One Little Victory
27. A Passage To Bangkok
28. YYZ
The little touches really put it over the top for me (Geddy's 'Trogdor' tshirt and the South Park "Real guitars are for old people!" quote during 'Freewill' made both me and Jeannine LOL) The miniature drumset w' Neil Peart doll in front of the keyboard rack also elicited a great WTF moment. And Ged's gracious comments to the crowd made up for lost time in the last 12 years. The packed house made it evident that RUSH is always welcome in New Orleans, despite the clumsy scheduling tactics of the NBA... which Geddy joked about "I think there was a hockey game here last night or something..."
The concert started out kind of laid back, precise but somewhat staid, esp. Alex, who must have been conserving his mojo for such an long evening (the entire concert was 3 hours, and that's taking into account intermission!). The evening became really electric in the second set with the bounty of classics following a great set of songs from Snakes & Ladders. Even the minimoog's volume being turned way down (whoops!) couldn't derail 'Subdivisions' from being so hypnotic that I completely forgot to snap a photo. But I got a lot of other pictures... see this site for some of the best.
I actually videoed the entire second half of the drum solo before being harassed by Arena security... (will try to post that later!)
Fantastic night... I ran into innumerable friends there, many of whom were seeing RUSH for the first time. The dazed, even drained look on those first-timers' faces after the show was priceless! After the show, my group joined Beth and Ron and their new bassist Brad for a VERY late night dinner at St. Charles Tavern (replete with 'Tom Sawyer' blasting from a CD player in the kitchen, and lots of other diners in RUSH t-shirts!) The long wait for food was assuaged by great conversation... Beth DID get to meet Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson earlier that day, at a meet and greet along with 20 other folks, and she enjoyed great conversation with Alex, who accepted her gift of a book of intentionally bad poetry. When she got to meet Ged, alas she was speechless... I'm looking forward to seeing the photos (which were taken by the band management, as cameras weren't allowed in the meet and greet!)
Tonight looks to be promising as well. We've got another round of 'Lab Girl' auditions tonight, and I'm also keyed up to showing the guys the first 20 minutes of the concert video that I've edited. I've been looking forward to practice night more and more these days, which is a good thing! Now I've just got to get off my duff and book another show...
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doctorpinkerton) wrote,
