The spirit of Rush

Behold 15,000 Rush fanatics, robustly male, rather sweaty, completely reverent, bowing to the prog-pop power trio famous for feeding urges both primal and cranial.

If you like seven-minute drum solos that'll spin your head around, oh man, was Ford Amphitheatre the place for you Saturday. Rush, which is closing in on 40 years together, played for more than three hours, mixing dense politcal allegory with complex but catchy muscianship. The Canadian-born high-concept band is a little bit AC/DC, a lot Ray Bradbury, brawny and brainy all at one.

Whether you love Rush or hate 'em, it's usually for the same reasons.

From the very start of the show (a rather punctual 7:45, with the sun still shining), the band assumed those classic positions: bassist-keyboardist-vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and the most worshipped drummer of all time, Neil Peart. Each musician is distinctive, bombastic, an aggressive master of his art. They often play warring, tempo-tricky parts on the same song -- and yet ultimately blend in propulsively rocking ways. This was only the band's third show on a tour backing new album "Snakes & Arrows," but their playing is already flawless.

There's Lee, 53, looking like a grown-up Harry Potter, his helium-tinged vocal one of the most unique in rockdom. He immediately hit those heavenly notes in opening song "Limelight." He sings some seriously heavy stuff, but he's not without humor. He thumped his bass not in front of a stack of amps but a row of rotisserie chicken ovens. (In previous tours, Lee has bopped in front of washing machines.) Even funnier, he had Canuck comedy duo Bob & Doug McKenzie introduce new song "The Larger Bowl," and "South Park"'s Cartman lead into "Tom Sawyer."

And then there was Lifeson, 53, who plays with a bluesman's fury. His riffs are tough, macho, strong, like Angus Young with a doctorate in psychology. On the raucous new instrumental jam "The Main Monkey Business," he pounded out wicked licks as footage of lumbering men in gorilla suits flashed behind him. Weird? Yes. Awesome? Heck yes.

And Peart -- good lord, the 54-year-old's kit is mind-boggling. During "Freewill," a video screen showed an aerial shot of Peart's domain, and his drum setup had more parts than the space shuttle. And then there was that long, sexy drum solo, which touched on tribal beats, bebop jazz and straight-ahead heavy metal. At one point, he stood up, and the entire drum kit rotated, giving him fresh skins to pound on.

Three-plus hours is a lotta of Rush for a casual fan, especially since the boys loaded their 27-song setlist with deep album cuts. That said, they were definitely in the mood to dazzle, firing up a light show reminiscent of the mothership in "Close Encounters." During "Dreamline," the best song of the night, they even shot lasers into the crowd. 

Rush is a thing of beauty, or headaches. Me? I dig three dudes who make the noise of 30.

Comments

[Joe]

Prog-pop???

Think you need to listen to a few more albums. . .

[Cuda420]

'"Dreamline," the best song of the night', I agree w/ Joe, listen to a few more albums. How about giving a little hommage to Passage to Bangkok? not like you hear it live on every tour amigo...

[Sean Daly]

And to think I actually LIKED the show. Wow, you Rush fans are effing bonkers. But I dig that about you.

Is it really that scandalous that I enjoyed "Dreamline"? Also, Rush IS prog-pop. Not sure why that's so offensive. Think you need to listen to "Closer to the Heart" or "The Spirit of Radio" or even "Subdivisions," songs with undeniably catchy hooks plugged into complex arrangements.

[Dino]

Nice write up. I traveled from Tallahassee to the show and thought that it was a very strong performance. I was a bit hesitant when I heard prior that they were gonig to play five in a row from Snakes and Arrows but the songs that they picked translate very well live. Far Cry and Workin Them Angels were great along with The Way the Wind Blows. I just wish that they would have played for another 3 hours. Well worth the money and I thought the Tampa crowd was great.

[Chris Cosenza]

Ah my fellow TimesLand friend, calling Rush prog-pop isn't exactly right. I loved your review, thought you had a lot of fun with it. But the latter half of prog-pop insinuates that Rush is popular in the way that Britney Spears and Aerosmith are popular. Rush's success is not because of popular air play on the radio, it is in SPITE of it. It's fan base has permeated it's growth through word of mouth and sheer virtuosity. How many Grammys have they won? ZERO. They don't even register on the popular scale. They have more gold records than any band in history, but they aren't even a country mile near getting into the popularity contest known as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This band is the best thing that Canada has ever produced (well, except for Anne Murray LOL!) and yet they still can't win an award or get any recognition unless it's in the Great White North. Prog-pop? Puh-lease.

[Isorski]

I see where you get 'prog pop' and in some senses I agree but I guess it depends on what era of Rush you are talking about. And yeah Rush fans are a bit batty about Rush. That's why they can debut their new album at #3 on the charts with scant radio support.

I caught the band in Portland Saturday and posted a review on my blog at http://isorski.blogspot.com/2007/07/concert-review-rush.html. Enjoy!