http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rush/2015/bok-center-tulsa-ok-33c8187d.html

==========
(The World Is...The World Is)

1. Clockwork Angels

2. The Anarchist

3. Headlong Flight
(with 'Drumbastica' drum solo)

4. Far Cry

5. The Main Monkey Business
(First time played live since 2008)

6. One Little Victory
(First time played live since 2008)

7. Animate
(First time played live since 2004)

8. Roll the Bones
(First time played live since 2004)

9. Distant Early Warning
(First time played live since 2007)

10. Subdivisions

Intermission
(No Country for Old Hens)

11. Tom Sawyer

12. Red Barchetta
(First time played live since 2011)

13. The Spirit of Radio

14. Jacob's Ladder
(First time played live since 1980)

15. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part I: Prelude
(First time played since 1994)

16. Cygnus X-1
(First time played live since 2� more )

17. Closer to the Heart
(First time played live since 2011)

18. Xanadu
(First time played live since 2004)

19. 2112 Part I: Overture

20. 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx

21. 2112 Part IV: Presentation
(First time played live since 1997)

22. 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale

Encore:

Intermission
(Mel's Rockpile)

23. Lakeside Park
(First time played live since 1978)

24. Anthem
(First time played live since 1992)

25. What You're Doing
(First time played live since 1977)

26. Working Man
(with Garden Road outro)
==========

I'm not sure what to make of it yet. Happy about some, disappointed by others, and really surprised by a couple.

My first (of a million) thought is that they have to include "Limelight" into the set, fast! Doesn't matter that we've heard it a bazillion times already, it's one of the most popular and a real crowd pleaser.

Also, scratch the first 6 right off the bat and include oldies. I know Ged would blow his voice out trying to get through "The Necromancer" the very first time, but they could have done an instrumental version with a really cool stage movie telling the story.

EDIT: He could still sing the opening and closing lyrics, mellow with no "screaming".

But there are plenty of classics and a few surprises (Lakeside' being the biggest, I thought they swore off playing that one live ever again), I just didn't expect any Clockwork' or Snakes'.

I'm thinking "Time Machine" had a better setlist (entire Moving Pictures), especially if this is the one they go out on.

I have so much to say about each selection that I won't say anything yet, my post would be too long, need to take it in for the moment. My biggest disappoint is not playing 2112 in it's entirety (even "Tears" on the B-Side), the whole damn album, I want to hear it...damn.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

But there's some real positives in there IMO, I'll comment on them later.

Gotta say one more thing. Maybe because of where I'm at in my lifespan (even more so the band members), but I would have REALLY loved to have heard Bacchus Plateau (Fountain of Lamneth).

I'd rather not hear portions of their longer songs, so I'd just as soon they took Hemispheres and 2112 off the list. And I was a little disappointed at portions being omitted from Natural Science on either the VT or R30 tours. But all in all I like the set list, it seems to have a good mix of stuff across their career. Lakeside Park is a nice touch No One at the Bridge would really be nice to hear, as well.

Last night I made a concert setlist to listen to today, just to get a feel for the songs in order (although there will likely be a B-List rotation). Better than I first thought (although I listened to all of Hemispheres A-Side), but they should play at least the full 2112 A-Side (as you mentioned), as on the Test For Echo tour (Different Stages).

I'll have a good time regardless, but if this really is a last tour...no Freewill? YYZ? Fly By Night (been a long time)? And no Limelight???

I was hoping to have a B-set by now (Lincoln) but I'm off to bed. I believe New Orleans will get the B-set.

Just wanted to say, I have nothing against Clockwork Angels and I enjoyed the story...



...but IMO they should have just played one song from CA (and I prefer others like "Seven Cities of Gold" and "Halo Effect" anyway).

But, whatever...it's a loooong show.

At least the songs appear to be in the reverse order of time (newest to oldest), I would have just represented the 'eras' a little differently. But it's impossible to please EVERYBODY!

I'll post the rotation when I see it.

Would have been great for us, not so much for Geddy's voice...

...unless...

...he lip-syncs the end! He could also lip-sync the middle of "The Necromancer".

But make it intentionally fake, just to give the audience a chuckle. Find the most banshee wail versions that exist for both songs (or use the studio versions) and let him fake the parts...

Necromancer
==========
"Brooding in the tower, watching over his land
Holding every creature helplessly they stand
Gaze into his prisms knowing they are near
Lead them to the dungeons, specters numb with fear
They bow defeated"

No One at the Bridge
==========
"Call out for direction
And there's no one there to steer.
Shout out for salvation
But there's no one there to hear.
Cry out supplication
For the maelstrom is near.
Scream out desperation but
No one cares to hear."


I think he can still sing the rest, at a lower pitch if necessary (making those parts stand out even more)!

It would be funny... "Did he really just do that?!" lol.

Also, they have to rotate back in "The Spirit of Radio"!

You gotta love how the song was used as the central part of the intro to Time Machine...



LOL!

I'm still confused on the setlist, there's enough other songs on this tour (including some I mentioned) to have a C and a D-show! I'm trying to sort it out now.

Jacob's Ladder.

Yeah, that was a very nice surprise, along with the return of Xanadu (although probably like R30, with a much shorter keyboard intro). I'm glad By-tor isn't back (VT), they butchered it too much to shorten it, IMO.

To clarify my previous post, all the songs I've mentioned (including others mentioned like Natural Science, probably abbreviated as well) will apparently be rotated into multiple set-lists, not just the regular A and B show. I haven't checked recently but I may not know exactly what will be played in N.O. until the concert.

So here's the three setlists (I think tomorrow night N.O. is getting "B")...

Setlist Version A (Clockwork Angels and The Anarchist switched openings)

Set 1:
Video Intro (The World is ... The World is)

The Anarchist
Clockwork Angels
Headlong Flight (with Drumbastica mini drum solo)
Far Cry
The Main Monkey Business
One Little Victory
Animate
Roll The Bones (with celebrity rappers video)
Distant Early Warning
Subdivisions

Intermission (R40 drum kit replaced with throwback replica kit)

Set 2:
Video Intro (No Country for Old Hens)

Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
The Spirit of Radio
Jacob's Ladder
Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres - Prelude
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 1
Drum Solo
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 3
Closer To The Heart
Xanadu (double neck guitars)
2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Presentation/Grand Finale
Encore:
Video Intro (Mel's Rock Pile starring Eugene Levy)

Lakeside Park
Anthem
What You're Doing
Working Man (Garden Road riff at the end)

Video Outro (Exit Stage Left)

**********

Setlist Version B

Set 1:
Video Intro (The World is ... The World is)

The Anarchist
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight (with Drumbastica mini drum solo)
Far Cry
The Main Monkey Business
How It Is
Animate
Roll The Bones (with celebrity rappers video)
Between the Wheels
Subdivisions

Intermission (R40 drum kit replaced with throwback replica kit)

Set 2:
Video Intro (No Country for Old Hens)

Tom Sawyer
The Camera Eye
The Spirit of Radio
Jacob's Ladder
Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres - Prelude
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 1
Drum Solo
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 3
Closer To The Heart
Xanadu (double neck guitars)
2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Presentation/Grand Finale
Encore:
Video Intro (Mel's Rock Pile starring Eugene Levy)

Lakeside Park
Anthem
What You're Doing
Working Man (Garden Road riff at the end)

Video Outro (Exit Stage Left)

**********

Setlist Version C

Set 1:
Video Intro (The World is ... The World is)

The Anarchist
Clockwork Angels
Headlong Flight (with Drumbastica mini drum solo)
Far Cry
The Main Monkey Business
One Little Victory
Animate
Roll The Bones (with celebrity rappers video)
Distant Early Warning
Subdivisions

Intermission (R40 drum kit replaced with throwback replica kit)

Set 2:
Video Intro (No Country for Old Hens)

Tom Sawyer
YYZ
The Spirit of Radio
Natural Science
Jacob's Ladder
Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres - Prelude
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 1
Drum Solo
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 3
Closer To The Heart
Xanadu (double neck guitars)
2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Presentation/Grand Finale
Encore:
Video Intro (Mel's Rock Pile starring Eugene Levy)

Lakeside Park
Anthem
What You're Doing
Working Man (Garden Road riff at the end)

Video Outro (Exit Stage Left)

==========

I can live with Setlist B, except that I'd rather hear "Distant Early Warning" over "Between the Wheels". But I'm happy to get "Jacob's Ladder" (a first for me) as well as "The Camera Eye" ("Red Barchetta" and "YYZ" I've heard enough times live).

So overall I'm pleased.


The Mrs. will be getting home shortly and we're going to watch through a couple of DVDs as a warm up...








One more time!


(the bass really should be black)

Looking goooooood!

Hey Mark, have you seen Chops doing Tom Sawyer yet? Makes me laugh. Chops really gets into it later in the song ...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x4bfHllX2A

That puppet can drum!!!

At first I thought that video was funny (and it is), but later I was thinking that's really impressive.

I made an error in a previous post, "The Spirit of Radio" is being played (on all setlists), I somehow missed it.

My wife is happy to see "Closer to the Heart" and "Lakeside Park" being played, two of her favorites (bested only by the acoustical version of "Resist"...women ).

I'm off, I'll report back later with a review.


Here's an old video that I always thought was impressive...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgLLSzSQaII

and yes, it's YY Zed ... not YY Zee.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ht8_3WYWzo

Well, what an evening and what a way go out! Thank you Rush for 40+ years, from my 8-track collection at 15 to our (wife and I) first Rush concert in '91 ("Roll the Bones"). We've had the hell of a lot of fun at these shows and we'll miss them dearly!

Summary of the evening...

++++++++++

New Orleans:

Having thousands of Rush fans in the French Quarter and all streets in-between is always such a cool sight to behold. Not that we ever feel unsafe during daylight hours, but to look around and see Rush (along with other Rock/Metal bands) shirts walking around everywhere, you can't help but feel safe in the area.

We were originally going to indulge in some of the decadence New Orleans has to offer (food and drink) but then thought the better of it. It wouldn't do to have upset stomachs before a 2-hour concert and we're not used to an abundance of rich/fatty/sweet foods anymore. The grilled shrimp washed down by water with a slice of lemon was still very good (just the right amount of spiciness) although we did split a fried crab cake appetizer with a small cup of seafood gumbo. All went well.

I can't tell you how many miles we walked but we have sore feet today (and we're regular long-distance walkers).

++++++++++

The concert:

Pretty much as I expected (it was B-setlist). I'll compare with other setlists when appropriate.

- Video Intro (The World is ... The World is)

Funny stuff.


- The Anarchist
- The Wreckers
- Headlong Flight (with Drumbastica mini drum solo)

The beginning of the first set was kind of a snooze-fest (compared with "Time Machine", the opener posted earlier), and while the applause was good (if maybe a little half-hearted), I couldn't help but feel the crowd was wondering what was going on as the third "Clockwork Angels" song began (and with a "CA" looking stage). A little too deja'vu (although the �CA� tour didn't make it to N.O.)?

It also didn't help that the sound was horrible, very muddied (think "Vapor Trails" on stage). Uh oh.


- Far Cry

Picking up steam a little, at least the sound improved slightly on this one. I think the pyrotechnics during the song woke some people up.


- The Main Monkey Business

Meh. We didn't get "YYZ" so I guess a groovy instrumental fit in nicely.


- How It Is

Unlike most, I actually prefer this to "One Little Victory" on the other sets, although it isn't the best concert crowd motivator.


- Animate

Picking up a little more steam, I think more people recognized this one than the previous songs, and sound continued improving. Also, by now we noticed the stage kept changing to look like previous tours (Alex with dinosaurs on his amps, Geddy with rotisserie chicken and then washing machines "amps"). The guys from the "Moving Pictures" album cover made constant changes to the stage, a neat idea if not a little distracting at times.


- Roll The Bones (with celebrity rappers video)]

This one is usually a love/hate (mainly the middle rap satire), but the video made a lot of people in the audience laugh (it wasn't the skeleton this time but lots of apparently famous people, most of whom I didn't recognize).


- Between the Wheels

Instead of "Distant Early Warning" as on other sets? Really?

This one would have lured most back to sleep IMO if not for a major screw-up! Alex goes to playing after the keyboard intro and...nothing. Guitar doesn't work. He quickly runs side stage for another guitar and tries again. Still nothing. Meanwhile Neil and Geddy (now playing bass) continue to play while Alex desperately tries to find a guitar that works. The whole time Geddy is looking over at Alex fighting with his guitars with horror and possibly a little humor. The song is half over before there's any guitar! LOL. This was actually a crowd pleaser, reminding all of us that these guys truly are human and that they're really performing live!

I felt sorry for Alex because it's obvious his arthritis is getting the best of him, he can still play as well as ever but he also makes more mistakes than ever. Actually, I think they all do, there were a couple of times it seemed they got out of sync in a song but quickly recovered. I'm sure they have a method for quickly getting back on the same page.


- Subdivisions

The crowd stands for this one, they're starting to feel it. A good way to go into intermission.


- Intermission (R40 drum kit replaced with throwback replica kit)


********** AND NOW THE CONCERT BEGINS! **********


- Video Intro (No Country for Old Hens)

Video full of past concert intros, love how they used Southpark again as an intro to "Tom Sawyer"


- Tom Sawyer

Wait! Who's this band on stage? The last band had a different setup, even the drum set was different. This band sounds better (the sound mix being much improved for the second half, still not perfect but acceptable) and the drums look more like this...



<Note that the crowd would remain standing and very vocal for the remainder of the concert.>


- The Camera Eye
- The Spirit of Radio

Crowd feeling it like never before, this is the Rush we know and love.


- Jacob's Ladder

Even if you don't have "Permanent Waves", surely you have "Exit Stage Left�. IMO, this was the highlight of the entire concert, it sounded so freggin'...Rush! Oh, and the lasers were back.


Geddy tells the audience, "We're going really deep now" and the crowd erupts in response with their approval!


- Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres - Prelude

I think this blew everyone's mind, it wasn't the entire A-Side but when they got to the first vocal part, the crowd realized this was more than a quickie medley.

<Pot usage was now wonderfully obvious>


- Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 1
- Drum Solo
- Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 3

I know the man is hurting badly with tendinitis, but damn can he still drum up a solo, possibly one of his best if a little short. And without all the electronics he's added over the decades, there was something more raw and pure to this solo! Note that he's back to hitting the big tubular metal xylophone thingies like in video above, not sure what you call them.

The crowd is now in a frenzy.


- Closer To The Heart

Good call, but I didn't like the added bass notes at the acoustical beginning (maybe not so obvious with audience singing along).


- Xanadu (double neck guitars)

Double necks aplenty! Alex 12 and 6 string, Geddy bass and 6 string. Nice surprise is that they play the beginning part where Alex's guitar sounds like a keyboard. So freggin' cool!

Can it get any better???

Why, yes it can!


- 2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Presentation/Grand Finale

'Nuff said.


- Encore: Video Intro (Mel's Rock Pile starring Eugene Levy)

Worth mentioning, Eugene Levy introduces this, "New band from Canada, they're pretty good and have even opened for KISS. Yes, KISS!"

Curtain raises to a stage screen of a high school gym, Alex's amp is sitting on a chair, Geddy's bigger amp is laying across two chairs, Neil is beating on a smaller kit and on each side of the band is a dinky light stand setup with cheesy disco ball...


- Lakeside Park
- Anthem
- What You're Doing
- Working Man (Garden Road riff at the end)

It's over, the audience is spent and I'm still hoarse.


- Video Outro (Exit Stage Left)

*** The End. ***


P.S. The middle and ending videos both dropped "F"-bombs (one by Alex, "F-You, puppet!"), as well as a couple of "S"-bombs. Come on guys, at least bleep that s**t out! You're known for being different, for putting on a clean rock show the entire family can enjoy. I didn't mind it at the Van Halen show but I don't expect it at a Rush show, please be above this as you have for 40 f**king years!

Well, too late now but I (we) just didn't find it necessary.

Otherwise, probably our favorite Rush show of all (right up there with "Time Machine")!


Here's a couple of phone pics my wife took (these came out best, the couple of "selfies" we took are too blurry)...

On a related note, what a strange and sometimes freaky city (possibly NSFW, not sure if this one crosses the line, apologies if so)...

<Showed video to wife for opinion, said she loves the video but that I shouldn't post it.>

Ok, if you're interested in New Orleans including (but not focusing on) what you see might see on the open streets in the 'Quarter (especially around Mardi Gras), go to YouTube and look up:

"NEW ORLEANS LADIES" by muffinmanmoon1

Note that it's *not* considered sexually explicit enough to require signing on, I don't even have an account.

If it's the correct video...

Rush plays at the Arena at 0:06, right next to the 'Dome.

++++++++++

Finally, I found a totally boob-less version of this song (in fact, no women at all )...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQvl6bG940I

The problem I mentioned earlier hasn't been posted yet, but here's another example of Alex's guitar problems which he made the best of (unfortunately the sound recording is bad)...

The incident has been posted (although again a terrible recording)...

Rush is legendary. First time I saw them was in Calgary when I was a teenager in the mid 80's. But sadly, I made the mistake of drinking too much too quickly before the concert that I spent most of the concert in the mens bathroom throwing up. I was so ill my Mum had to come pick me up from the convert venue and drive me home. My friends teased me for years after that. My first Rush concert and I missed most of it.

Oh man, that sucks...lol. I quit drinking beer after VH's "Balance" concert when I realized I was in line, not for a urinal but for a sink! I got up to the sink and couldn't do it, so back in line I went for a urinal. I swore I'd never drink at another concert again (and I haven't).

I wish I could/would have gone to Rush concerts in the '80s...

I have a vivid memory of sitting at the Chamblee MARTA station (Atlanta) waiting for my wife in our brand new '89 CRX Si, listening to 96 Rock and Kaedy Kiely announcing they were about to play the new Rush and that it rocked! I remember thinking, "Rush? These old farts are still around?" I lost touch after "Signals".

Anyway, they played "Show Don't Tell", the first track off of "Presto", and then later "Presto" and "The Pass". I liked it. It didn't match the classic stuff but my tastes were evolving a little and it sounded pretty good to me.

Then a year later 96 Rock started playing the next album, "Roll The Bones", including "Dreamline" and "Ghost of a Chance". At the same time a friend of mine kept telling me I HAVE to go to a Rush concert, and loaned me his "A Show of Hands" CD which mostly features the '80s Rush that I'd previously shunned. The CD grew on me quickly, and to this day is my favorite workout/running music.

It's funny that I thought they were already old in '89 when I was in my early 20's.

"Roll the Bones" ('91) was our first Rush concert and we've tried to make at least one show of every tour since.