Rush - Comfortably Numb

<Break out your best set of headphones>

Any Rush fan knows that Yes and Pink Floyd were very strong influences on Alex and Geddy in their early years.

Listen to Alex's guitar solo starting @4:30 (it builds gradually)...



...and tell me this doesn't sound like David Gilmour in Comfortably Numb! Strong influence indeed, although it's interesting that Rush's song predates Pink Floyd's by 4 years!


Another Rush classic...




This is what I consider to be "8-track Rush", always has been and always will be my favorite!...

One thing that really impressed me about the concert I went to is that I could easily tell just how much Peart, Lifeson and Lee love what they do. The enthusiasm was certainly present.

Yep, they get up on stage and have FUN. No scowls on their faces throughout the whole show, no acting like it's just something they have to put up with in order to get paid.

The band, yes. The fans in Orlando, not so much so.

Was it the heavy Power Windows and Clockwork Angels set-list, or just being in the back of the Arena? I don't know, but the back area where we were sat on their hands the entire concert, even through the classics at the end.

In fairness, the floor and side areas closer to the stage looked to be more active, so maybe it's location. We're usually much closer to the stage, getting our tickets pre-sale (R30 in Atlanta we were row 13). We decided to drive to Orlando after the arena had all but sold out.

Now it was cool walking around the Disney parks all day Saturday and then Downtown Disney on Sunday with Rush shirts, lots of positive comments and the occasional yelling of, "RUSH!" Head/hand gestures to other shirts with a quick shout, "Sunday night!" We're nowhere near Canada so it's nice to see them get recognition down here.

But no comparison to New Orleans, walking the Quarter with other fans before Time Machine, and then an arena full of drunk/high coon-asses hearing Moving Pictures in its entirety, among many other well-known songs. I don't think we sat down the entire concert, the ambiance was incredible! I'm not a sports fan but when Geddy did a "Who 'Dat?", the crowd roar was deafening! But again we had great seats, just off the floor on Alex's side.

I guess that one was hard to follow up, but we still had a really good time in Orlando and they played really well. I just hope on the next tour they dig a little deeper into "the vault", before it's too late.

The concert in Ft. Lauderdale had quite a bit of enthusiasm from the crowd but there was a striking difference between how the audience reacted to their newer stuff like "Clockwork Angels" and their classic hits. There was the typical applause after the end of each track from "Clockwork Angels" but when they started playing "YYZ" the audience erupted!

So yeah, at least for the Rush fans in South Florida, it seems that their older classic stuff is preferred over their newer material.

Forgot to mention, way more pot smoking in New Orleans. We caught a whiff a couple of times at this concert, but in New Orleans the air was thick heavy with pot, some of it coming from the guys sitting on the other side of my wife. Looked to us like joints were replaced by iPhones?

I'll probably never smoke as an adult, but part of my nostalgia of "8-track Rush" is remembering how I would loose myself in the early stuff (although PF's Dark Side of the Moon will forever remain supreme for losing one self). '80s+ steady-beat Rush is at least healthier!

Reminds me, I probably have a Ziplock bag of weed in my house! Quick story, next-door neighbor in Jax liquidated her son's abandoned stuff, gave me a pair of Bose 201s which I cleaned up like new. Son came back one day and I told him I have his speakers if he wants them back. He said, "Nah...don't need them. However, I probably have some weed stashed in the portholes, fish it out and enjoy!" I looked the best I could but I couldn't get in there, not wanting to damage the speaker to get it out. Oh well.

The first time I heard them was in the late 70s. A friend was an amateur drummer and he would listed and play to Neil. I listened to a few songs and was hooked! My favorite group and they should have been in the hall of fame much sooner.

Absolutely agree. It's a travesty that it took that long IMHO.

The Hall of Fame is just a formality for Rush, their hall of fame is the concert hall. How many Rush songs ever got widespread radio airplay? My guess is maybe a dozen at most, yet look where they got just by being themselves. And that's even more true for Iron Maiden (I don't think they're in the HoF.)

My older brother was pouring his meager grocery store paycheck into his HiFi (he still has the vintage Klipsch Heresys). I wasn't allowed to go anywhere near it, nor even think about touching his Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin LPs.

Well, I wanted my own "sound" (equipment and music) so by chance I acquired (very cheaply) a pristine Pioneer Quadraphonic 8-track receiver w/4 speakers (precursor to surround sound) with a decent pair of big padded headphones. My cousin added to my good fortune by offloading his 8-track collection which included every Rush release from the debut Rush to Moving Pictures (brand new at the time).

Rush was exactly that awesome and often weird sound I was looking for! As time goes by I'm enjoying their entire discography, even if I stay partial to the early stuff.

Agree that Rush should have been in the hall of fame a long time ago, but Iron Maiden? don't know about that, I really don't like Bruce Dickenson's singing, Now I am a big Iron Maiden fan, ever since my ears pricked up in the music shop and asked "who is that?" then bought their first album and have been to see them live too at the SECC in Glasgow but they were overshadowed by the support band, wish I could remember who they were! if any one was there on 21/5/1993

One more oldie, and probably my all-time favorite, the second half of Lamneth.

IV Panacea...the closest thing Rush has to a love song.
V Bacchus Plateau...retirement.
...and so on.



I believe the entire song is the stages of life.

Opening act was The Almighty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Almighty_(band)

I LOVE Caress of Steel. It's not my favorite, but every song on it is good. 2 of my favorite Alex guitar solos are in "No One at the Bridge" and the last 3 minutes of "The Necromancer." That one always reminds me of "Blue Sky" by the Allmans for some reason (other than they're both really long guitar solos.) And then there's the clever "I Think I'm Going Bald," the last 2 lines of which IMO are the band's entire musical philosophy "But even when I am grey/I'll still be grey my way."

Thank you Clydewinder

The Almighty from Strathaven, I've stayed in the town a good few times over the years.

Edit:
Opening the Monsters of Rock '92

Alicatt, now I see why Rush is considered to be uncool nerd rockers! BTW, I saw several Maiden shirts at the concert.

NH2112, I probably should have posted Fountain of Lamneth Part 1 but wanted to get closer to my favorite part, Bacchus Plateau. I too like the solo in No One at the Bridge and how the song leads into Panacea.

Lots of unheard/unappreciated Rush IMO, and hopefully I've showed some of it on this thread.

I'm glad Rush doesn't take themselves too seriously on stage (i.e. opening videos, By-Tor video, etc.) except on really serious subjects like suicide (The Pass, love the stage video). I wish they would do The Necromancer in concert with a serious story-telling stage video, make it really dark and creepy.

Also, they should have played Fly By Night on this tour IMO, since everyone's heard it recently on the VW Passat commercial.

Waaaay back in the day I played bass in a band and was an engineer at a recording studio. We band members met up at a friends house and he brought out this album with a "have you heard this?" and proceeded to play 2112 from beginning to end, that was it I was hooked straight away.

The Hall of Fame is a big nothing. There are lots of eligible acts but they only induct a small number at a time, so there's a huge backlog. It's really not much more than the music equivalent of a lifetime Oscar.




The Jedi Master

I was indifferent to the HoF, nice to see some recognition but it can easily become overexposure, although they're probably so close to the end it doesn't matter.

Rush also won some popularity contest recently...
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/rush-wins-the-2013-ultimate-classic-rock-bowl/

If I participated on these fan polls I would have voted Pink Floyd for the win. Rush beating Aerosmith? For me, absolutely. Was I enjoying Aerosmith tunes Saturday on Disney's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster? Absolutely. The ride is a little dated now but it includes perfect party rock, featuring the perfect band.

Only issue I have with the ride is the waiting area. Lots of classic rock concert t-shirts on display, the highlight is Dark Side of the Moon. I thought I saw a perfect spot for a 2112 shirt, somewhere between The Who and Sabbath (IIRC). But they'd have to take down Boyz-II-Men. I'm sure the Boyz are great for their genre, but I don't believe they're considered classic rock. Go figure.

Interesting fact (or not): If you put every Rush studio song (including Feedback covers, but no concerts) on your iPod you get...

175 songs, 15.4 hrs., 1.78GB, just fits on a 2GB Shuffle.

It really is a cool ride...

You talking about retirement?

That's an interesting question--is an act considered done when they stop playing music altogether, or only when they stop producing new material (even if it's covers or something)?

Billy Joel recorded his last vocal album in 1993. He's STILL performing. Ditto many other acts who will go on for decades after releasing their last new recording.

Then you have those, like Rush, who will record new stuff that only diehard fans will have ANY appreciation for, and whose mainstream fans prefer all their older stuff far more. As a result, every concert is a smattering of songs from the latest album, with mostly the big hits from decades past, and pretty much none of the songs from the previous album, or the one before that.

Or is an act done when people stop caring about the new music? If you release new albums, but none of the songs chart and you only sell 100,000 copies compared to the millions you used to sell, are you just selling to your diehard fans who want ANYTHING you make, even recordings of a rough nite on the can after Mexican food?

I don't think there's a clear answer for artists who are still performing in one capacity or another.



The Jedi Master

IMHO, I think as long as a band is either still touring or is writing new material then that band still "exists". Heck, yesterday I saw a billboard along the highway advertising the Lovin' Spoonful's upcoming concert at the Hard Rock Casino. As far as I know, they haven't written anything new in years but obviously the band members are still keeping the Lovin' Spoonful name alive!

Hmm. Without John or Zal, there's not much Spoonful left there.
I think I'd rather opt for a John Sebastian gig.

...I guess the Stones must take the prize for enduring
profile and continuity, on the road again this year.
I've seen the Zombies twice in the last few years,
and they're doing well, but they're one of several
groups that reassembled themselves after a couple of
decades absence - closer to three in their case.

Lynyrd Skynyrd will still be touring 300 years from now, replacing players as needed. The Rolling Stones lost their long-time bassist Bill Wyman to retirement (1962 – 1993) yet they continued touring but did anyone care? Classic rock acts like Journey, Styx and Foreigner continue touring with some (or in Foreigner's case, just one) "original" key members but without their most popular front men. This could be said even of Pink Floyd in '94, the one time I saw them was without Roger Waters.

I think at some concerts the fans are celebrating the music rather than throwing accolades to the band members, who may or may not have had anything to do with creating the song they're playing. And the average concert goer may not know or even care who is actually on stage performing their old-time favorites.

Hardcore Rush fans are kinda picky about that sorta thing. We know that when Rush opened the R30 show with the beginning of Finding My Way, and anytime they play Working Man that our applause is going to Geddy, Alex and John (RIP). But we also appreciate Neil for playing these songs live.

We never felt Rush ever needed a new lead singer because we never thought much about Rush having the typical front man. 3 men on stage of equal importance, facing stage from left to right...Alex, Neil, Geddy, that's the only way it can be. We assume Geddy was chosen as the best singer of the trio (even before Neil), although many songs don't include vocals. I personally never had a problem with Geddy's singing but then I was also listening to Led Zeppelin and old Black Sabbath at the time. When I heard Geddy "screaming" in the harder parts of The Necromancer I thought to myself, "Kinda sounds like Sabbath."

Where Neil, Geddy and Alex personally rank among rock musicians (as if anyone could be a judge of this, other then a popularity contest), really doesn't matter, it's what they do together on stage that matters, IMO. But I can hear them slowing down in their playing as they enter their 60's, their songs are sounding more like the studio versions than how they played live many years ago (i.e. see the Exit Stage Left video in my first post of this thread). I believe their overabundance of stage energy is fading, but studio sounding Rush is still worth buying a ticket for.

Neil writes in his books about retiring from touring and I get the feeling it's coming sooner rather than later. And if you ever wonder just what it takes to put on a Rush show...

Backstage Secrets: On The Road With The Rock Band Rush (2008)
http://www.amazon.com/Backstage-Secrets-...ckstage+secrets

This program certainly helps explain the ~$100.00 ticket price.

I think they're pushing really hard now, possibly taking a small break before a 40th Anniversary tour. They just released and toured a solid concept album in Clockwork Angels (w/300p novel) and were finally inducted into the RRHoF. It just seems a perfect way to me to end it on that note.

If they play too far past their prime they're going to have to play Losing It from Signals on their final tour (Rush fans will get it).

I would kill for an accurate transcription or tab of "Garden Road".(so I can jam it on my guitar One of their hardest, heaviest, unreleased tunes they wrote before Niel Peart joined the band. Anybody got it?

http://rushvault.com/2011/01/29/garden-road/

Good post Mark. It is true that some bands have fared well even after having some changes in personnel but I guess I'm a bit of a "purist" or whatever you want to call it. For example, I know Queen still does some occasional touring with some new singer but I would never bother. To me, Queen died when Freddy died. And besides, I believe John Deacon (bassist) retired long ago as well. When it comes to Styx, that band ceased to exist for me after the split between DeYoung and the other members.

Same here, especially since it was over something Dennis had no control over (his eyes were extremely sensitive to light IIRC and touring would have been hard) and Tommy Shaw (and Ricky Phillips too, IIRC) really seemed to really lay into him over it. So, no more Styx shows for me, I saw them on the Return to Paradise tour (with Kansas opening) and might as well end itvwith good memories (it REALLY was an awesome show!) It's the reason I won't go see Yes if they tour again, Benôit David may sound like Jon Anderson but he ISN'T Jon Anderson. If sounding like someone is all that matters then why not just play prerecorded vocals from past shows with Jon and not even bother with a vocalist on stage? And Rick Wakeman's son Oliver might be good but he's not Rick.

I think the guys from Rush are pretty rare in that there doesn't seem to be any drama between them. Or if there is, they KEEP it between them. I'm pretty sure it's the former, though.

Unlike most '70s/'80s classic rock bands, Rush to me doesn't come off as an oldies act, at least not yet. For one thing, other than early experimental drug use they've stayed clean, drug and/or alcohol abuse hasn't wreaked their bodies and minds. And since their songs were never about poon, their act is aging gracefully.

They're still putting out new albums and I can usually find at least 3 or 4 songs I like on first listen. The rest has to grow on me and usually does. Probably my least favorite album this millennium is Vapor Trails, if mainly for its lack of solos and poor production. But after reading Ghost Rider I can at least understand the heaviness of the album, and this goes a long way for me to accept it.

On my fantasy set-list on another thread I have two songs from Test For Echo, Totem and The Color of Right. Besides being strategically placed in each set as potential bathroom breaks, I get really good vibes from these songs, but it took a long time for me to like them at all as it often goes with Rush.

I was also a big Styx fan (Equinox - Paradise), but I considered it over with the death of drummer John Panozzo (although his brother was still playing bass). If I had a free ticket I'd at least go hear JY and Tommy Shaw play, same with Neal Schon of Journey.

For Van Halen, Michael Anthony would have to return and DLR would have to take the gig seriously. I mean, is he really THIS bad???

http://reviews.ticketmaster.com/7171/772...ing&dir=asc

Journey I pretty tuned out after Steve Perry left.

Yup, to me Journey is the Escape/Frontiers line-up...

Steve Perry, Neil Schon, Jonathon Cain, Steve Smith, Ross Valory

AFAIK, this is the last song they made together...



Kinda sappy (as some Journey is) but I like it, especially watching Steve Smith smash those drums. BTW, Neil Peart has nothing but respect for Steve Smith and his abilities.

Now if you want me to pay a high-price ticket (~$200.00+) then you have to bring back Greg Rolie for the first set, replacing him with Jonathan Cain for the second.

Rolie/Perry together...



These threads are getting me all nostalgic, adding a Styx, Journey, Alan Parsons and Queen Shuffle playlist as I type.

Brain May's distinctive playing is so awesome in Freddie's farewell...

"These Are the Days of Our Lives" always gives me a lump in my throat.

Rock on Freddy...

Man, you're missing out on some really good stuff if you haven't listened to their first 4 albums - Styx, Styx II, The Serpent Is Rising, and Man Of Miracles. They're available as a set called "The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings" or something like that. Original 2nd guitarist John "JC" Curulewski, who left after Equinox, sang on quite a few of the songs and had more of a hard-edged voice than JY. Even Dennis sang on a real rocker or 2, though, like "Earl of Roseland" from Styx II. Good stuff!

I'll keep this in mind NH2112/Phil, I don't know why I never gave the early records a listen, same with Journey pre-Infinity.

I did go looking through the $5.00 bin at Wal-Mart tonight just in case. The pickings are pretty good lately as CDs are being phased out, I guess. I picked up:

Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill
Blackfoot Strikes
Pantera 1990-2000 A Decade of Domination

Yeah, I'm all over the map with these. I think the Pantera will be banned from the car when I'm not alone like pre-Black Album Metallica, a compromise I'll make for banning Country Music radio when I'm in the car. Whatever makes a marriage work.

I know CDs are old-fashion but I enjoy listening to something new on the drive home, plus I still like a tangible product that I can hold in my hands.

I still buy CD's on occasion because sometimes the digital version of the album is the same price or even a bit more expensive (I'm looking at you iTunes!).

Hey PM, here's pics of your concert...
http://photos.rush.com/Rush2013/Ft-Lauderdale/29119545_RW746H#!i=2479149420&k=FR8FRV9

And of mine...
http://photos.rush.com/Rush2013/Orlando/29154058_VFnzM8#!i=2482789964&k=jnWsNjt


EDIT: A pic of me at the concert, making eye contact with Neil...
http://198.65.10.229/DID/Temp/ThatsMe.JPG

lol.

Thanks for that link Mark. It most certainly was a great concert experience for me.