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So, I'm winging it down to Vegas for a family thing - 50th wedding anniversary - and I'm reading the airline magazine they stick in the seat pocket when I see that RUSH is playing on Saturday night in Vegas...
I hadn't really thought about seeing them while down there. I had always been scoping out tickets close to home - Buffalo, London, ON, Toronto, ON...
And we didn't have any set plans for Saturday night.
Soooo.....
A couple of calls and we scored a pair of tickets.
Not the greatest seats in the house, but it's hard to find a bad seat in the MGM Garden Arena.
What an awesome show!
I hadn't seen them since the Subdivisions tour.
The one thing about these guys that some people complain about is that they don't really have a show. That's to say that there aren't a lot of pyro effects - there's some, but it always works with the song. They don't over do it at all...
They always have the green lasers, it seems.
The video screens play some pretty wild and crazy stuff and there's always something funny as an intro to a song or two. Bob & Doug MacKenzie did the intro to The Larger Bowl.
The thing is, the "show" is the musicianship that these three guys can pull off effortlessly.
Alex was busy switching off from electric, to 12-string to mandolin.
It seems he's got some pretty wild modelling amps now because he had all kinds of guitars all wrapped up in one Les Paul and he'd switch from one to the other with a kick of a foot switch.
Then there's that drummer guy, Neil. the one thing that's tough to do at a RUSH concert is tap your foot to the beat. With all those crazy time signatures - and multiple signatures in one song, it's hard for a rythmically challenged moke like me to keep up. I once read that he had to teach himself how to play in 4/4 time for the song Witch Hunt.
These guys play tight. Complex, but still tight. It was amazing.
and the drum solo - done at the tail end of Natural Science - was ecclectic.
The best part was the last section where Neil goes into a jazz drum solo along with a horn section. For years, I've heard that while Neil is a great drummer, he's no Buddy Rich. Well, I think he was channeling Buddy on Saturday night. I think the horns were triggered by him, too but I don't know..
They played for 3 hours with about a half hour break.
Geddy has replaced his clothes dryers with gourmet food vending machines - the latest in amplification technology. The "chefs" came out a few times to tend to the food.
Alex had the Marshall stacks 6 in a 2X3 array if I remember correctly.
Neil had the 360 degree, 2-kit, kit. The acoustic drums are a brand new design from his drum maker - according to the program.
The sounds coming out of the electronic kit during the drum solo were crazy. That's the only time I noticed him playing the electronic kit - although I bet he spun around a few times during the night - I just didn't notice.
I think I might try and swing some tickets for the Toronto show and go see them again.
We tried to get a note to the band - we're from St. Catharines which is where Lakeside Park is located and Neil grew up around here - so we thought there'd be an outside chance that they'd invite us backstage...
hey . it's worth a try.. but no one would take the note to them. Everytime we'd chase down someone wearing a laminate, they'd disappear.
I'm really liking their new album, Snakes and Arrows. It's very rockin' - lots of back to basic rock under it all.
I hadn't really thought about seeing them while down there. I had always been scoping out tickets close to home - Buffalo, London, ON, Toronto, ON...
And we didn't have any set plans for Saturday night.
Soooo.....
A couple of calls and we scored a pair of tickets.
Not the greatest seats in the house, but it's hard to find a bad seat in the MGM Garden Arena.
What an awesome show!
I hadn't seen them since the Subdivisions tour.
The one thing about these guys that some people complain about is that they don't really have a show. That's to say that there aren't a lot of pyro effects - there's some, but it always works with the song. They don't over do it at all...
They always have the green lasers, it seems.
The video screens play some pretty wild and crazy stuff and there's always something funny as an intro to a song or two. Bob & Doug MacKenzie did the intro to The Larger Bowl.
The thing is, the "show" is the musicianship that these three guys can pull off effortlessly.
Alex was busy switching off from electric, to 12-string to mandolin.
It seems he's got some pretty wild modelling amps now because he had all kinds of guitars all wrapped up in one Les Paul and he'd switch from one to the other with a kick of a foot switch.
Then there's that drummer guy, Neil. the one thing that's tough to do at a RUSH concert is tap your foot to the beat. With all those crazy time signatures - and multiple signatures in one song, it's hard for a rythmically challenged moke like me to keep up. I once read that he had to teach himself how to play in 4/4 time for the song Witch Hunt.
These guys play tight. Complex, but still tight. It was amazing.
and the drum solo - done at the tail end of Natural Science - was ecclectic.
The best part was the last section where Neil goes into a jazz drum solo along with a horn section. For years, I've heard that while Neil is a great drummer, he's no Buddy Rich. Well, I think he was channeling Buddy on Saturday night. I think the horns were triggered by him, too but I don't know..
They played for 3 hours with about a half hour break.
Geddy has replaced his clothes dryers with gourmet food vending machines - the latest in amplification technology. The "chefs" came out a few times to tend to the food.
Alex had the Marshall stacks 6 in a 2X3 array if I remember correctly.
Neil had the 360 degree, 2-kit, kit. The acoustic drums are a brand new design from his drum maker - according to the program.
The sounds coming out of the electronic kit during the drum solo were crazy. That's the only time I noticed him playing the electronic kit - although I bet he spun around a few times during the night - I just didn't notice.
I think I might try and swing some tickets for the Toronto show and go see them again.
We tried to get a note to the band - we're from St. Catharines which is where Lakeside Park is located and Neil grew up around here - so we thought there'd be an outside chance that they'd invite us backstage...
hey . it's worth a try.. but no one would take the note to them. Everytime we'd chase down someone wearing a laminate, they'd disappear.
I'm really liking their new album, Snakes and Arrows. It's very rockin' - lots of back to basic rock under it all.
