Thursday, September 13, 2007

More Notes On Rush

Because this was my first Rush concert, there’s a few additional bonus tracks to speak on.

  • First of all, my cousin and I agree that all Rush merchandise going forward must include the old logo font, the pentagram, and the naked dude. It’s iconic, and after thirty plus years of this shit, the band needs to start thinking in terms of joining the ranks of the Stones, the Dead, or Triumph.
  • There are very few chicks that go to Rush concerts. There are even fewer at Judas Priest concerts.
  • To the dude that created some of Rush’s computer generated videos: USA networks called and want their Commodore 64 back. Christ. If that’s the best you can come up with, just throw on the lasers and smoke machine instead.
  • Bob and Doug McKenzie look old. I mean really old. I mean the make-up was horrifically noticeable during their video introduction and the bit wasn’t even that funny. Nostalgia wins though; Bob and Doug McKenzie are still cool, and the introduction was better than “Brother Bear.”
  • Lose the pyrotechnics fellas. That shit came across as unnecessary and silly.
  • Alex Lifeson is an awesome guitarist. For years I wondered why he always appeared on top of those yearly guitar magazine polls, but after seeing him live, I understand. Precise and controlled, Lifeson pulled off some incredible solos and did it with soul and confidence.
  • Geddy Lee is a badass. He plays two instruments at once while I can barely play one.
    I was recently informed through a comment at Glorious Noise on my concert review that those were, in fact, real rotisserie chicken ovens. The mics were a gag as Lee plugs directly into the board or somethin’.
  • “Subdivisions” is a fucking awesome tune.
  • “YYZ” was fucking great.
  • “Spirit of the Radio” was fucking incredible.
  • The crowd would get louder every time Geddy did one of those famous Geddy Lee wails. His voice has gotten less irritating over the years, but he can still destroy eardrums if desired.
  • The new material sounded really good live, but then again, most of the shit they did sounded really good.
  • These dudes are incredibly wealthy. Their live show reflects how they’ve achieved their wealth: through their live shows. None of them give a shit how much Snakes & Arrows sell because their banking six figures with every single show.
  • Even the roadies are nerds: most of them hung around the stage and listened to the band during the set. Not because they had to; because they wanted to.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

After seeing them live and listening to the cd about 20 times since the show, I'm going to call Snakes & Arrows their best collection of work since Moving Pictures. I'm not saying that these are the "best" songs that they've done in the last 25 years, just that it's the best collection front to back. It does have Far Cry as the one iconic rocker that will continue to be in future set lists but, there are at least a half a dozen other songs (including instrumentals) that are better than 90% of the stuff that they put out in the mid to late 80's, 90's & 00's. The stuff I'm not talking about is obvious: Subdivisions, New World Man, Big Money, Time Stand Still, Distant Early Warning and a few others. I know die hards refuse to believe that there is any filler on any Rush disc but come on, can we agree that there was at least some "creative drought"? This was the 4th time I've seen and they still have few peers live. Thanks for the opportunity to go to the concert and disc. They are both truely appreciated.