An Important Review

Yes, Hombres, I attended my first Rush show in 21 years last night. Ridiculous, right? Right. Truth be told, I drove 112 miles and paid stupid dollars to do it. But you know what? Worth it.

The guys can still play. Absolutely. In fact, dare I say (and I do), they played everything with about 98% accuracy. For lots of bands/musicians, that would be a total turnoff. But not with these guys. That's what they're about. And if people complain about that, then the show is not designed to make them happy anyway. The critics that complain about the cold calulation of the music are the ones that don't get it...you don't go to a Rush show for either groove or improvisation. Nope. Not to be found. But that is not a critique from this critic, because the context matters, and the Rush context demands accuracy of a few dozen thousand riffs that have been memorized by the multitudes for well over 30 years of geekdom.

So.

Geddy: As time goes by, he's a better singer (howls of laughter from the critics), and he seems like a genuinely likable guy. Very good musician in his context. He seemed pretty badass to me, and believe me, I'd be ready to tell you that he had lost it. But I don't think he's lost it...I think he's better than he used to be, more comfortable fronting the band and playing and having fun.

Alex: Alex! As time goes on, he has become my favorite Rush member. Far and away. He's the soul of the band. He's the one with the taste (more howls of laughter from critics), he's the one with the texture, the subtlety, the nuance, and the Guitar Rock God moments. He never lets you down. He's got the coolest riffs in the joint, and he has more fun than anyone on that stage. He's lost some weight (I REALLY wanted to call my last band "Fat Alex"), and he plays an absolutely badass collection of Les Pauls. Alex is the man, and I wish I could hear him play with other musicians. I think he's the one guy in the band that could absolutely play with other people and still sound great. Alex makes me happy, and it was a ball to watch him play last night. Go Alex!

Neil: I've bashed Neil far more than I've praised him in the last five years, and that has been hard to do since he's the #1 guy for me in my formative years. As much as I talk about Stewart, it was about Neil. Stew was important and way "cooler," and I got to hang out with him, but it was always about Neil first. Embarassing, yes, but true. So Neil really impressed me last night, because I've recently found his playing and personality so damn depressing. And you know what? You don't have to be a rock star. If you hate it that much, turn in your sticks. And I had been just done with his dour attitude and cold approach in the last handful of years. But he actually smiled once and possibly twice last night, and that's a lot for him, and it did a lot for me. Besides the fact that he's still a badmotherfucker. Repetitive? For sure. Silly? Yep. But badass. And if you don't think so, then it's not about you anyway. For what he does, he's still the best in the biz, and the dude is 55. He played freakin' great. Futher, his solo...which I was not wanting to hear because he has played roughly the same solo for about 30 years (see: all the live recordings and DVDs for proof). My reaction to the solo last night: First half of the solo was freakin mind blowing awesome, and worthy of his drum god status. Second half of the solo was an embarassment and pathetic and depressing, and totally brought me down. I have more thoughts on this that I may share in a later post. But that first half was fucking balls on rock god badass motherfucker drum solo. That's what he's about, and I'll give him a 50% on the total drum solo, but that 50% was 100% on the money.

They had a hysterical intro to Tom Sawyer, which you can see here and other places. The last coupla seconds of that vid gives a good visual of what the show looked like. And yes, those are roasting chickens behind Geddy in place of his bass rig.

The crowd: I'd say 95% dudes. White. Waiste size 42 or greater. Lots of goatees (doh!). Air drummers. Bad hair (mulletts and bald, sometimes both). People talking about Dream Theater (oh say it ain't so).

Me: In the crowd (goatee, some air drumming, some air guitar, very sad indeed).

Totally fun show.