My history with the band Rush is sort of vague, and I have just recently become a big fan. Back in 1989-90, I bought my first cd-player. It was one of those stand-alone players, that had external hookups for a stereo. I had two cd's to start with, Metallica - And Justice for All, and Rush - A Show of Hands. Metallica, of course got the most cd time from me, and Rush was what I used too fall asleep to at the time. Since the Show of Hands album, I bought a couple other albums, but the band sort of fell off my musical radar. Rush has played many times near Auburn, but I could just never get myself motivated to go. Being a big fan of Dream Theater, who are heavily influenced by Rush, I should, by default, be a fan of Rush. But something always turned me off about them, and that something was Geddy Lee's voice.
It was announced in April that they were playing at the New York State Fair grandstand. Chris and I talked, and decided to get tickets, though we decided for some reason to just get separate tickets. The day the tickets went on sale, we were right there at 10am, online, clicking away furiously. Though for some reason there was a slight delay before the tickets were available( around 3 minutes after 10am ), which seemed odd. We both ended up with seats in the front elevated section, which was fine, though a bit strange that we were so far back. It turns out that there was a fan-club pre-sale that we totally missed out on. We will know next time.
A couple weeks prior to last nights show, I decided to check out the bands setlist online. I had most of the albums on mp3, and what I didn't have, I bought and put them in a playlist, in order of the bands set. I listened to all the songs over and over and I noticed something amazing happening. The annoyance I had with Geddy's voice was completely gone, replaced with complete admiration for the lyrics and his delivery. I started to "get Rush". Admittedly before this, I have been a fan of Neil Peart's books. He is a traveler amongst many other things, and rides to all of the Rush concerts via motorcycle. He is the primary lyricist for the band, so this in-turn peaked my interest in them.
Chris and I arrived at the fair around 3:30 pm, both quite excited to see the band. After taking part in the most "important" parts of the fair; butter sculpture, cup of milk, and eating the same food that everyone eats every year, we made our way around to the grandstand. It was around 4:30 and we walked into the back of the in-field behind the stage. There was a fence, and you could easily see the tour buses. I spotted Neil Peart's bus immediately, as that is the bus with the attached motorcycle trailer. Under a small extended canopy on the bus, sat two motorcycles. We stood there for a bit and the bus door opened. Out walked the man himself, wearing a red ball cap. He stood talking with a couple of guys and then made his way to the stage. I knew we would see him later, while he was "working", but it was very cool to see him in a relaxed state like that. We didn't dare say anything to him, as he is fiercely private, and is uncomfortable with fan adoration. He eludes to this in his books, and one of their songs , Limelight, deals directly with this subject.
We left, and went in a big loop around the midway area of the fair. I am not a fan of the midway by any means. As we were walking, two large state troopers were standing around scanning the area, one of them yelled "JOHNNY BENDER!". I turned around and half-waved, not sure what to do. I thought of Neil Peart when this happened, though it was very cool being recognized, it was sort of uncomfortable. We arrived back at the main gates just as they were about to open at 6pm. We walked through, showed our tickets, and were not checked at all. This never ceases to amaze me. In this day and age everyone should be frisked, they were only checking people with bags. I made my way right over to the merchandise and purchased a shirt, then we found our seats. Well I found mine, Chris was a different story. His seat did not exist. He was supposed to be in the same row as myself, but ultimately his seat number would have placed him inside the sound-booth. He was "upgraded" to the floor area on the right. I was happy for him, but was very pleased with my seat.
The band started around 7:45 with a hilarious intro video. It was called "The History of Rash", and was a pseudo version of the band playing in a tiny German Pub. The video quality was just amazing, crystal clear hi-definition, the likes of which I have never seen on such a large platform. The on-screen band was playing many versions of the song, The Spirit of Radio; polka, disco, country, etc. Then the covers that were hiding the band equipment were removed, and the band walked out and played The Spirit of Radio. I can only describe it as pure electricity. The mix of the music sounded very clear, loud and powerful. The setlist continued on pretty much exactly as I had found online.
The band's playing was ridiculously tight. The video screen, behind the band, showed various video clips relating to the song they were playing. The videos were funny at times and serious in others. For example the song Red Barchetta, which is about a sports car. On the video screen they showed cars made of sausages zipping around, but then followed that with a real-life sequence of a car racing through the desert. The song Working Them Angels, off the snakes and arrows album, had imagery of people working menial jobs, but they all had angel wings on their backs.
For the bands second set they played the entire Moving Pictures album, among a few other staple songs. Again they opened with a hilarious intro video, showing a video shoot for the band "Rash". This time the song was Tom Sawyer and when the time machine button was hit in the video, the band members were replaced, with children, or monkeys, or swapping instruments. Neil Peart looked hilarious playing the guitar. Then the band came out, performing the first song from the album, Tom Sawyer. During the song, the screen showed real monkey's playing behind them, in time with the music. It was hilarious. They continued with the entire album, and played it flawlessly. I absolutely fell in love with the band last night. The fact that they are not afraid to make fun of themselves. They are the tightest live band I have ever seen. Their production is well and beyond any other tour out there at the moment.
Here was the setlist....
1. The Spirit Of Radio
2. Time Stand Still
3. Presto
4. Stick It Out
5. Workin' Them Angels
6. Leave That Thing Alone
7. Faithless
8. BU2B
9. Freewill
10. Marathon
11. Subdivisions
12. Tom Sawyer
13. Red Barchetta
14. YYZ
15. Limelight
16. The Camera Eye
17. Witch Hunt
18. Vital Signs
19. Caravan
20. Drum Solo
21. Love 4 Sale
22. Closer To The Heart
23. 2112 Overture
24. The Temples of Syrinx
25. Far Cry
26. Encore:
26. La Villa Strangiato
27. Working Man
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