Wednesday - August 29, 2007

RUSH! 

 So for the first time in I think close to a decade, I went to a Rush concert. I was way overdue. These guys RULE, and they sounded great as ever last night.

The tickets were kind of last minute, so I gathered up whoever could go with me. Unfortunately, the logical choices to bring along weren't able - sorry again, Trevor and Ed. You were missed. Ed, sadly, had to work, so he couldn't accompany Amber. Trevor had to work because he was picking up his co-worker's work load... because his co-worker had 5th row tickets.

We met up in Ferndale at Amber's place a little before six, and used my father's Tiger's tickets to get $1 Hot-And-Ready pizzas from Little Ceasar's. Apparently, if the Tigers score 8 or more runs in a game, the ticket becomes a coupon for the next 48 hours. The night before, the Tigers TROUNCED the Yankees, 16-0. So, pizza it was for us!

Gorged on pizza, and riding in my newly cleaned out car, we hit the I-75 traffic almost immediately. It was horrible, but luckily we weren't TERRIBLY late. We were just getting to our seats as the first few licks of Limelight (their opening number) were playing, at about 7:45. VIP parking was neat, and we got into the theatre okay.

The set was a strange mix of new and old. They pulled out stuff from Hold Your Fire and Hemispheres, but entirely avoided playing ANYTHING off of Test for Echo and featured almost nothing from Counterparts save for Dreamline. No Roll the Bones last night, either. But, on the other hand, they DID dust off great tunes that you don't normally hear in concert, such as Natural Science, and, much to my shock and pleasure, Witch Hunt.

Having not heard any of Snakes and Arrows, and only a few selections from Vapor Trails that I didn't particularly care for at first listen, I found myself ill-prepared for this concert. Over half of the set list was from those two albums. That didn't make the songs any less enjoyable, but it has a certain magic to it when you're listening to an old classic rather than hearing something for the first time at a concert. One likes to sing along when they're 20 rows from Geddy Lee himself.

A friend of ours, Tommy, was also at the concert, and did us the favor of posting the set list and his review of the concert, which I think was spot on. You can read the review and set list here.

Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, which I'm glad for. I wasn't worried about Amber or Arica enjoying themselves - Amber was glad to be at a concert in general, and I know that's her style of music. Arica is open to that style and is marrying one of the biggest Rush fans in the continental U. S. of A. Carl, on the other hand, I had concerns with. He says he "listens to everything" but I think he's pickier about his music than he lets on. Concerns aside, he seemed to have enjoyed himself well enough, even if he does hate Geddy Lee's voice. But then, deep down, who doesn't?

We got home to Ferndale about midnight. Luckily, it was a straight shot down I-75 and went quickly. People hung out for a little bit, and then everyone was on their way.

This morning, I pulled out my laptop - which has a bluetooth connection - and pulled the photos I snapped at the concert off of my phone. They're not GREAT quality, but considering they came off a PHONE, I'm pleased!