Rush: "Time Machine" 2010 tour

Agreed.  I'd say Hold Your Fire is the best of the next 4 albums in the 80s.  There was little guitar, but the lyrics were more meaningful than ever (Time Stand Still and Mission particularly) and quality melodies made up for anything that was otherwise lacking.

Sir GH wrote: Skip, your dream Rush setlist actually isn't too different from mine.  I'd like to hear Nobody's Hero again.  And I, too, was bummed with the lack of Jacob's Ladder after Lifeson promised it.  At least I saw Dream Theater do it a few years ago, note for note like the Exit Stage Left version, intro and all.

As for their studio records, you're right, a lot of their recent records haven't been too solid.  But I'd say Counterparts and Snakes And Arrows are among their top 10.  As far as I'm concerned, Snakes is the best post-Signals record.  It's very ballsy, ambitious, melodic, and diverse... all the Rush trademarks.

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I got into RUSH after hearing "Limelight".  I think that was the first RUSH song that I heard on the radio.  I don't remember
if I heard "The Spirit Of Radio", "Closer To The Heart", or "Tom Sawyer" before hearing "Limelight".

My favorite RUSH era is "2112" through "Moving Pictures".  I also really like "Power Windows".

I'm not too fond of "Nobody's Hero".  I've heard them play it at least once.  It's not a song that I need to hear
again in concert.  The sentiment is good, but I didn't care for the lyrics.  A bit too cliched for me.

I was not a big fan of the synth '80s era.  The synths becoming more important than the guitars didn't appeal
to me.  That's not to say that I didn't like any of the songs.  A few of my favorite RUSH songs come from that
era.

When they dropped/started using less synths around "Counterparts" I was happy.  They were trying to be
heavier again, but to me they were heavier, but not as melodic.  I'm not a fan of Geddy's chordal playing and his
slap/strumming style.  I much prefer him as a lead bass player.  I think some of Geddy's playing on the older
material is more interesting than what Alex was playing.

I'm not a Dream Theater fan.  I did see them once on the their "Falling Into Infinity" tour.  Talented group, but
I'm not into James LaBrie's voice at all.  I'm not a fan of synths being a lead instrument in a heavy metal/hard
rock band.  I'm also not a fan of guitar shredding.  I'm actually more impressed with some of DT's cover songs.
Mike Portnoy is a big KISS fan, but the other members aren't.  He's tried to get them to cover a KISS song, but
hasn't been successful yet.  It would be interesting to hear what they come up with.  I did see their cover of "The
Camera Eye" on Youtube and they did a good job with it.  I'll have to look for their cover of "Jacob's Ladder".

Holly2003 wrote: Sir GH wrote: Skip, your dream Rush setlist actually isn't too different from mine.  I'd like to hear Nobody's Hero again.  And I, too, was bummed with the lack of Jacob's Ladder after Lifeson promised it.  At least I saw Dream Theater do it a few years ago, note for note like the Exit Stage Left version, intro and all.

As for their studio records, you're right, a lot of their recent records haven't been too solid.  But I'd say Counterparts and Snakes And Arrows are among their top 10.  As far as I'm concerned, Snakes is the best post-Signals record.  It's very ballsy, ambitious, melodic, and diverse... all the Rush trademarks. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Signals is the album where many Rush fans say the band starting going downhill, usually becasue the guitar is buried a bit more than previous albums. I think it's their best album. Not a weak track, and great melodies and lyrics. It's one of those rare albums  that always sounds fresh.

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To me much of RUSH's synth era material really sounds dated.  Some of it was during the new wave era
and it sounds dated just like those new wave bands' music.  The type of synths used, the sequencers used, the
over use of the tremolo bar, and the electronic drums date the material.

"Subdivisions" is one of my favorite RUSH songs.  "The Analog Kid" and "Losing It" are great.  "New World Man"
is o.k.  I don't really care for the rest of the lp.

Sir GH wrote: Agreed.  I'd say Hold Your Fire is the best of the next 4 albums in the 80s.  There was little guitar, but the lyrics were more meaningful than ever (Time Stand Still and Mission particularly) and quality melodies made up for anything that was otherwise lacking.

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I saw them perform "Time Stand Still" on too many tours, so that's a song that I don't need to hear again in
concert (they'll be playing it on Monday when I see them).

"Mission" is one of my favorite RUSH songs.

When I purchased "Hold Your Fire" when it was released I didn't care for it.  Played it over and over again
so that I knew the songs before going to the concert.  Still didn't care for it.  Years later I began to like about
half of the songs a bit more.  I like "Lock And Key" more now than when I purchased the lp.

To me "Hold Your Fire" was RUSH going way too far from their core sound.  They realized that and started
to steer back to the middle again.

I saw RUSH this past Monday in CT.

Good show.  The setlist (known by me before the show) was not one of my
favorites.  The first set was far too mellow.  "Faithless" should not have been
played.  Terrible song.  You can find the setlist on www.rush.com.

Nice light show.  Some pyro.  Funny new films (one 
at the beginning, one after the intermission, and one
at the end).  They may have played for 2 1/2 hours.
The intermission seemed longer (~25 minutes).  Their 
playing time seemed a little bit shorter (previous
Evenings with shows have been 2:40 except for the R30 tour which 
was 3 hours).  The drum solo seemed a bit shorter, too.

They changed part of the arrangement on "Closer To The Heart"
and did the reggae intro to "Working Man".  I didn't like these changes. 

Everyone seemed to play well.  Geddy's voice  sounded 
good.  He really pulled off the high part in "Free Will".  I think
he's lost a bit of range in recent years.  He had to compensate
by changing some vocal lines here and there.  No big deal
and no noticeable bad notes.

Due to the setlist I'd rank this show second from the
bottom on my list (that would be 14 out of 15).

For being off of the road for over a year and an half I wish
that they had spent more time on the setlist and less time
making those concert short films.

The films are funny and cool. The band is cool.  The setlist rocks.  The band rocks. The show is excellent and everyone who can should walk, run, crawl, boat, fly or beam there.  End of.

GratefulFan wrote: The films are funny and cool. The band is cool.  The setlist rocks.  The band rocks. The show is excellent and everyone who can should walk, run, crawl, boat, fly or beam there.  End of.

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Parts of the first set were a snooze fest.  RUSH almost put the audience to sleep with "Workin' Them Angels",
"Leave That Thing Alone", "Faithless", " and "BU2B".  "Faithless" really should not have been in the set.  Absolutely
horrible song.

The last three tours are definitely at the bottom of my RUSH concert list.

The films aren't cool when they suck up 15 minutes of the show and the band ends up playing less time
than they have on previous "Evening with RUSH" tours.

BTW, have you even seen this tour?

skip wrote:

Parts of the first set were a snooze fest.  RUSH almost put the audience to sleep with "Workin' Them Angels",
"Leave That Thing Alone", "Faithless", " and "BU2B".  "Faithless" really should not have been in the set.  Absolutely
horrible song.

The last three tours are definitely at the bottom of my RUSH concert list.

The films aren't cool when they suck up 15 minutes of the show and the band ends up playing less time
than they have on previous "Evening with RUSH" tours.

BTW, have you even seen this tour?

=========================

Everybody was probably falling asleep from breathing in each other's CO2 in that poopy little Mohegan Arena venue.  Wasn't a problem under the evening sky on a beautiful Canadian summer night with tens of thousands of fellow fans happy to be there, even if most of them were clapping in French.  It was a fantastic night, and a hell of a lot cooler than what I was doing the week before (whatever that was), and definintely far better than what I'm up to tonight, which is stating the obvious to a guy with a little notebook about seeing Rush 15 times, KISS 19 times, meeting Gene Simmons twice, Paul Stanley three times, Paul Stanley's boyfriend once etc. etc.  The obvious:  Rush is truly one of the great bands.  See them if you can.

I can appreciate that if you've seen them that many times you might get a little jaded and even bored.  Ironically, they probaby do things like play 'Faithless' which was missed off 'Snakes & Arrows' to cater to the completists like you.  Sorry you didn't enjoy/appreciate it.  Maybe you should wait until the set list is known next time and sell your tickets if you know you're not really going to be into it.  Really.  For the average concert goer for whom it's a bit more of a special thing this was an amazing, nearly perfect set list and presentation.

My music buddy at work saw them at  the Ottawa Bluesfest the weekend before the QC date, and the custodian at work saw them at the second T.O. date the weekend after.  By all reports, nobody could have been happier than they were.

I had to add that after staying up far too late writing the above post etc. I was blasted awake by my clock radio this morning singing "You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice,  you choose not to decide you still have made a choice. You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill, I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose free will." Made me laugh. And then the DJ started in on me, so I pushed the snooze button an irresponsible number of times and got to work 15 minutes late. Which was like 20 minutes ago.  So I better wrap up my first break.

GratefulFan wrote: skip wrote:

Parts of the first set were a snooze fest.  RUSH almost put the audience to sleep with "Workin' Them Angels",
"Leave That Thing Alone", "Faithless", " and "BU2B".  "Faithless" really should not have been in the set.  Absolutely
horrible song.

The last three tours are definitely at the bottom of my RUSH concert list.

The films aren't cool when they suck up 15 minutes of the show and the band ends up playing less time
than they have on previous "Evening with RUSH" tours.

BTW, have you even seen this tour?

=========================

Everybody was probably falling asleep from breathing in each other's CO2 in that poopy little Mohegan Arena venue.  Wasn't a problem under the evening sky on a beautiful Canadian summer night with tens of thousands of fellow fans happy to be there, even if most of them were clapping in French.  It was a fantastic night, and a hell of a lot cooler than what I was doing the week before (whatever that was), and definintely far better than what I'm up to tonight, which is stating the obvious to a guy with a little notebook about seeing Rush 15 times, KISS 19 times, meeting Gene Simmons twice, Paul Stanley three times, Paul Stanley's boyfriend once etc. etc.  The obvious:  Rush is truly one of the great bands.  See them if you can.

I can appreciate that if you've seen them that many times you might get a little jaded and even bored.  Ironically, they probaby do things like play 'Faithless' which was missed off 'Snakes & Arrows' to cater to the completists like you.  Sorry you didn't enjoy/appreciate it.  Maybe you should wait until the set list is known next time and sell your tickets if you know you're not really going to be into it.  Really.  For the average concert goer for whom it's a bit more of a special thing this was an amazing, nearly perfect set list and presentation.

My music buddy at work saw them at  the Ottawa Bluesfest the weekend before the QC date, and the custodian at work saw them at the second T.O. date the weekend after.  By all reports, nobody could have been happier than they were.

-----

It was a good RUSH show, not a great RUSH show.  The setlist did them in.

Next up two KISS shows in August.  It's a guarantee that those will be more exciting.

jpf wrote:

It was a good RUSH show, not a great RUSH show.  The setlist did them in.

Next up two KISS shows in August.  It's a guarantee that those will be more exciting.

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Okay, well, If I happen to die between now and then and have to suffer some horrible shit to release myself from purgatory, I'll see you there.