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Roughly two weeks from now, I will be in the Greensboro Coliseum, watching my favorite band of all time in what is very likely to be their last tour. :-/
I'm going to miss the guys. They put on a heckuva show, and have made some of the most important, inspiring music of my lifetime.
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So, for those of you who would have loved to have gone, but were on the wrong continent, or were on the right continent but couldn't afford tickets, the show went down like this:
The show opened with the stage set-up like the Clockwork Angels Tour - all steampunked out. The boys opened with three songs from the album: The Anarchist, The Wreckers, and Headlong Flight.
Lights, lasers and pyrotechincs galore. One particular lighting effect used during the Wreckers was especially cool - a simulation of storm-driven rain falling on the stage and crowd.
As they played, their roadies came out (dressed in the orange coveralls from the Moving Pictures album cover, and began changing the set, piece by piece.
They added some props, took away others, and even transformed a few (steampunk machines "Gassy", Brainy, and "Horny" became the clothes dryers from the Vapor Trails tour).
Another great moment: the cheesy CGI skeleton that usually sings the rap part of Roll the Bones was replaced by a montage of celebrity lip-sync-ers; including Jason Segal, Paul Rudd, and.....Peter Dinklage!
Alex and Geddy played instruments that fit each time period. Geddy's keyboard was even replaced with a mini-moog.For Xanadu, Geddy and Alex were BOTH playing double-necks, and Neil's monstrous modern drum set was replaced by double standard sets, with an impressive array of cowbells, hanging chimes, and a xylophone.
By the end of the show, the stage was set to look like a high school gymnasium. Two lonely AMPs were sitting on folding chairs, and the boys were rocking out to What You're Doing and Working Man.
Well worth the price of admission.
Roughly two weeks from now, I will be in the Greensboro Coliseum, watching my favorite band of all time in what is very likely to be their last tour. :-/
I'm going to miss the guys...
<jaw drops>
I hardly ever look at paizo.com anymore, so I never noticed this thread until now.
Is Rush breaking up? Could you point me to a source that suggests this?
What a coincidence that I should read this now. I feel a ramble coming on...
A long time ago, in a vain attempt to turn my interests away from nerdy things, I started listening to popular music on the radio. Over 20 years ago, I decided that Rush was my favorite band, and I maintained that opinion for years and years. I bought their first 17 studio albums, plus their first 3 live albums. Also throw in Chronicles, Geddy Lee's My Favorite Headache album, and the Chronicles and the Show of Hands videos, and I amassed quite a collection.
My enthusiasm for the band died down when I got the Vapor Trails album, which didn't grab me. Neither did Snakes & Arrows nor Clockwork Angels when I checked the latter out of the library, and sampled the former from YouTube.
Last week, I happened to feel a whim to listen to a lot of old Rush songs - mostly from the 1980s - and got hooked again. I was surprised to discover at the library a CD I had never known existed: Feedback. I heard that Rush started out imitating other bands, but I don't think I've ever heard a proper cover from Rush before. And here was an entire ALBUM full of them! I gave it a listen, and I love it!
I was listening to Rush when I happened to browse the Paizo boards, and I found this thread. Dang!
Well, if Rush does break up, at least they're going out with a bang. I remember reading an article back in 2013 about them getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That article mentioned Rush appealing to nerds, which surprised me at first. I had to think the matter over for a full three seconds before realizing that... yeah, Rush does cover a lot of nerdy subjects, and that's one of the appeals that drew me. It's no good for me to try to be cool. It's a lost cause.
Here's a link to the induction ceremony and a quote from 3:44 through 3:48 of that video:
"When the f--- did Rush become cool?"
Well, if I had to guess, I'd guess around 2002, because that's around when I stopped liking them.
What else can I say? In the immortal words of Alex Lifeson:
Blah, blah blah.
Blah blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah.
<sings> I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees...
Is Rush breaking up? Could you point me to a source that suggests this?
Okay, I looked myself, and found this story with the following quotes:
Alex Lifeson has revealed Rush drummer Neil Peart has chronic tendonitis – and it’s a contributing factor in their decision to end large-scale touring.
<snip>
And the guitarist believes there’s more to come when the tour ends – even if it’s just from Geddy Lee and him. He says: “Ged and I are just itching to get back into writing, for whatever purpose. We’ve always talked about doing some soundtrack work.
“Neil wants to take time off and spend more time with his daughter. He’d like to be more connected to his home life. I don’t blame the guy.”
Lee said in February: “We have to slow down, and slow down dramatically” – but added that he could see a future for the band in a lower-key format.
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I agree:
Neil has chronic tendonitis, which is bad news for a drummer, and Alex has chronic arthritis in his hands, which is bad news for a guitarist.
They are unarguably talented musicians, but they are also unarguably in their sixties. The human body can only take so much at that age, and muscle and joint injuries aren't conducive to touring.
If they do an occasional show at a small venue, and that venue is within driving distance, I will hop in the car and get there. And if that's all they can do from now on, I completely understand. They have been tearing it up for 40 years; they've earned the right to slow down at this point. Heck, Geddy and Alex are both grandfathers, at this point.
In my OP, I was mostly sad at the inevitability of it all. Time marches on for everyone, including RUSH. That being said, their performance in Greensboro had me convinced that reports of their injuries were overstated. The boys were absolutely incredible!