Happy RUSH Day!

Being the 21st December today, many RUSH fans like to consider this as RUSH Day, after the title of their 1976 album 2112.  Here’s a track from that album, A Passage to Bangkok.

Jon Lord – Lazy

Sad news of the death of Jon Lord from cancer.  One of the greatest of his generation, and the master of the Hammond organ.

International Women’s Day

Shaking the Tree with Peter Gabriel and Paula Coles.

Goodbye to the Big Man

It’s sad to see that Clarence Clemens has passed away after suffering a stroke earlier this week. He’s known mostly for his work backing Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band, but here’s one of his pop tunes from the 80’s.

RUSH live on the lighted stage

Rush in Concert, Newcastle

Note for those who haven’t seen the show yet: Spoilers!

Rush have been going for over forty years but yet they are still pretty much a cult band, albeit a cult band that sells out arenas.  Despite their huge and loyal following, they’re outsiders, and easily one of the greatest rock bands not in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

I’ve been a Rush fan since I was twelve years old, and I’ve seen then perform live a few times. Each time was an impressive show where three musicians expertly took their fans through a musical and multimedia journey. I went to see Rush play at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle last night as part of their Time Machine tour, which is essentially a ‘best of’ tour.  I went in jaded and weary, and came out re-energised and awe-struck.

The show opened with a short film exploring a comic alternative history of Rush, featuring a sausage cafe, a teenage accordion band called Rash, and an extremely rotund ‘rock scientist’ with a music time machine. The rock scientist, played by Alex Lifeson, employs his music time machine to turn Rash’s accordion rendition of The Spirit of Radio into a crashing rock anthem.  And this is where the show started, with The Spirit of Radio.

Time Stand Still from Hold your Fire came next followed by a range of old and new Rush classics.  After an hour the band went off stage for a half hour break, admitting that at their age that they need to catch their breath.

After the break they went into the full Moving Pictures album in track order, followed by Rush standards like 2112, Closer to The Heart and many other classics. Halfway through the the second act Lifeson and Lee went offstage and left Neil Peart to deliver one of his spectacular ten minute drum solos, which received a standing ovation from the full arena.

Neil Peart in action

Tracks Caravan and BU2B from the (seemingly forever) forthcoming album Clockwork Angels also got an airing, with Caravan in particular recieving the crowd’s approval. As ever, the light show was impressive, with a giant spider-shaped lighting rig wowing the audience. The light show was joined by a giant screen showing Rush videos and live footage of the band playing.

They delivered one encore performance, and the show ended with a short comic film featuring the characters from the movie I Love You Man.

So in a nutshell, the show was pure spectacle.

There were some minor weak spots. Geddy Lee’s voice dropped a bit at the beggining of each set, but quickly picked up to achieve those amazing high notes and impossible trademark falsettos. There were some sound issues with the guitar early on, with Alex Lifeson visibly unhappy with the results, but the problems were quickly sorted. It would have been nice to see more of Neil Peart’s performance on the big screen, hidden as he was behind his monster drum kit. There was some excitement in the second set during one of the songs when a lighting technician forty feet up in the lighting rig tried to kick a piece of equipment into place; most of the audience were blissfully unaware.

Okay, so I’m a Rush fanboy, and I’m usually the first to point out that such superlatives are overused to the point of meaninglessness, but in terms of the lightshow, breadth of styles, musical skill and sheer stamina of three guys approaching their 60s, it’s difficult to find a more accurate descriptive categorisation.  My son, who experienced his first ever rock concert last night, described it perfectly.

Awesome.

The camera eye

So for those looking forward to seeing Rush live, I hope you have as much fun as I did.

Bring on the Rushpture

It’s rapture day.  Rush are playing the Metro Arena in Newcastle tonight.  The faithless rock.

Gary Moore – Still Got The Blues

It’s sad news that Irish rock legend Gary Moore died today, a real rock icon.

Godless Sunday music: Let It Snow

After a former life working for over ten years in retail I developed a dislike of Christmas songs. Four weeks of the same Christmas songs CD over and over, every year, can do that to you. 

If The Ipcress File was ever remade, a convincing alternative to pulsating white noise would be The Greatest Christmas Hits Ever CD played repeatedly. After four weeks of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day you’ll be ready to push a rusty nail into your palm to maintain a grip on reality.

However, for me, this song doesn’t join the ranks of mindless Crimbo warbles, and is one which seems particularly appropriate given the light dusting of snow we’ve had here in South Shields this morning.

Godless Sunday music: White Wine In The Sun

Despite being godless I quite like Christmas.  Family, friends, fun and food and much more.  Here’s Tim Minchin’s gentle and touching song about what Christmas means for many people, religious or not.

Godless Sunday music: Sheep

The Pink Floyd classic cynical appraisal of religion.