Rush: Classic or Dud?

The show last night was incredible. I think I need to find a way to go back on Wednesday

Finally bought the movie this weekend, will be digging in on my day off tomorrow.

Certainly have to offer a big "fuck off" to B3st Buy over this, btw. That was the only local place that had it (other than B@rnes & Nobl3 where it was thirty bucks!) and it was to be on sale for like 15 bucks first week of release. Stopped by on the day of release, said they'd only got one copy in and it sold right away. Since it was right next door to where I was working, I stopped by several times to see if it was in yet. Never showed up, until the day AFTER the sale price ended and suddenly they had 30+ copies. I hate when places pull stuff like that.

[end rant, back to Rush talk]

Plus those superstores buy product at a discount so the filmmakers get an even smaller cut when you buy that way. Amazon is the same deal. Buy direct whenever you can.

Anyway, yes I studied the set list from opening night and have to say I could not be much more excited. I don't care about seeing Moving Pictures particularly but the rest of the set is an outstanding selection.

Alex Lifeson talks about his new amp and the "steampunk" look of the Time Machine stage show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNih6vLAQc&feature=player_embedded

I'm loving the Steampunk look. I can't believe I have to wait until September to see this show! Too long!!!

Show last night was pretty good! Alex was a tad sloppy, but I was shocked by how many more fills and licks Neil and Geddy were fitting into the arrangements. Geddy in particular has gotten better than ever. Neil is so rudiment oriented now that he's super-efficient around the kit, which in turn makes all his extra kit seem that much sillier. Only time he used the electric half was for the solo, and my attitude is: if you have pieces that you just need for the solo, then you don't need it.

End of the show "I Love You, Man" sequel short is really funny, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxIH1zcm7ws&feature=related

I wish they'd come to the Canadian prairies, but they rarely if ever do. Maybe it's because we don't have sheds.

And wow, are those amps ever cool.

Seems like they slavishly tour the US and hit a few Canadian mega-markets and that's about it. Like, UK every 8 years, Brazil once ever. Japan once, ever. How weird.

Lucky for me anyway! :)

Well, they play Chicago TWICE ... lucky me indeed :)

I am definitely going back tomorrow, by hook or by crook, I'll eat ramen for a month i don't care...

shocked by how many more fills and licks Neil and Geddy were fitting into the arrangements. Geddy in particular has gotten better than ever.

^^ this. of course I've always considered Rush a "musicians" band -- and last night was the third time I've seen them live -- but there was something about last night's show that was particularly, I dunno, "musicianly". Geddy in particular, not so much Neil. But yeah, Geddy was all over that bass in a way I don't really recall him being live. But it wasn't just flash for the sake of flash, it just was super neat playing. At times I thought I was at a Weather Report concert with Jaco or something, not a Rush show .. but all in a good way

"Marathon" was totally the highlight for me. pure bliss

(btw, I didn't even look at that setlist that Fastnbulbous posted ... No spoilers!!)

also, I was sitting directly behind the most awesome family, they'd driven up from mid-Indiana for the show. A couple and their 8 year old daughter. The girl was totally into the show and dancing and singing the whole time.. And she knew most of the words!! it was awesome...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4769227727_a6a02c6c88_m.jpg

the dad is in the white shirt top-right, looks like I missed him in my pic, oh well ... swell dude, he knew all of the lyrics too. the whole fam had pasted-on smiled for the whole three hours, as did I. good times

I can't believe I get to see Weird Al, Air Supply, and Rush all in the course of 5 days. I am blessed.

Sorry, didn't mean to spoil. Here's setlist from 7/3 in Milwaukee, slightly different. I think of it more like having the program to a classical concert that rocks! I also downloaded the songs from the 90s on the setlist that I didn't know. Hard to get into them, but maybe I'll appreciate them more live.

Plus those superstores buy product at a discount so the filmmakers get an even smaller cut when you buy that way. Amazon is the same deal. Buy direct whenever you can.

Yeah, I know I should have done this, but I was way too impatient for mail order on this one.

I can't believe I get to see Weird Al, Air Supply, and Rush all in the course of 5 days. I am blessed.

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, July 6, 2010 9:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

How are you wrangling such a monumental feat? I had a fleeting thought of Weird Al and Air Supply collaborating on "All Out of Gloves"

Air Supply is at Spirit Mountain Casino. I'm taking my Mom for her birthday, but also the guitar player of Witch Mountain is equally excited and going with me.

Weird Al is a the Roseland.

Rush is up in the greater Seattle area.

So there's some driving to be done on my part (and I do have to spring for the Air Supply tix). Otherwise, it's just good timing!

So it rained really hard from 6:45 to 7:30, then it stopped or sprinkled. Bought an $11 can of beer, got our seat, and at 8:00 they canceled the show, saying the forecast saw thunderstorms in another half hour. That's not what we saw on the weather radar. Sure enough, it's after 10 and still no storms. I thought that venue's policy was rain or shine. They said they would reschedule, but I don't know when they can. What a let down.

That's a real shame...I'd be devastated.

"I liked the Wals at the time, but I far prefer the rich, growly tones he gets from his Fender basses, and I love his classic Rickenbacker as well. The Wals and Steinbergers, in retrospect, were a bit too punchy and thin for my taste."

Not to be gear dude again, but I'm guessing that you've never played a Steinberger or Wal bass. I suggest that the less impressive bass sound you're hearing was more a result of the synths bogarting all the good frequencies.

It certainly may have a bit to do with the production of the time. Those late 80s/early 90s Rush albums have a distinctive lack of low-end compared with their more recent recordings.

However, there was definitely a trend at that time toward basses with active pickups, very clean tones, graphite basses with no bodies (Steinbergers), and a twangy/punchy quality. It was all about a sharp clean tone with little or no distortion.

On their last bunch of albums, the bass really fills out the low-end, it sounds fuller and somewhat distorted. Part of this has to do with changes in the way Geddy Lee plays. He used to pick each note with individual fingers, in a more traditional bass style. Now you'll see him strumming the notes in an up and down motion using his whole hand a lot of the time. However, I still contend that the move to Fender basses is a major contributing factor in the overall improvement of the bass sound over the last 10-15 years.

Don't know why I know this, but Geddy used to use "Funkmaster" strings, in the '80s, and now I presume does not. Plus, he uses Fender jazz basses, which I also presume it what helps him boost the bottom rather than ride on top.

Taking that as confirmation on never having actually played a Steinberger or Wal, then.

I'm not exactly sure what your point is. Are you saying Wals and Steinbergers sound exactly like Fenders? Or even like each other? They all have distinctive sounds.

FWIW, I haven't played those basses, although I'd say that my Modulus has a lot in common tonally with Wals. But I'm not really sure why it would matter either way. I have ears and I can tell the difference between these various basses.

I think that both the Steinbergers and the Wals sound good. I prefer the Wals over the Steinbergers and I prefer the Fenders over both. It is my personal opinion that Fenders are better suited for a rock sound. Geddy Lee's move back to Fenders coincided with the band's move back to a more hard rocking sound. I believe he changed for exactly this reason, but feel free to disagree.

My point is that your idea of what these instruments sound like is based on reading magazines and listening to records and not on any actual experience with the instruments. I was startled by how "old fashioned" (in a good way) and, well, ROCK the two Wals I have played sounded -- not at all like the Modulii (an M-92 and an old Quantum V) I have played did. Similarly, Steinbergers are not TURBOTWANG IN YER FACE instruments, as their continued use in reggae (and nearly nowhere else) will indicate. Steinberger and Wal no longer make new instruments and no longer have marketing departments, and the availability of a well-made instrument and the strength of a marketing department have much more to do with what instruments a star bassist says he uses or actually uses than you would believe.

i just saw DEVO last weekend, first time i'd seen a steinberger in a LONG time

I get that the sound that ends up on record is a combination of instruments, amps, and recording techniques, and that perhaps in "real life" these basses can sound much better. However, I think there is no denying that the basses on all the Rush albums from Grace Under Pressure through Roll The Bones have a very clean and twangy sound and often lack depth. The fact that these were the albums on which Geddy used the Steinbergers and Wals, leads me to make the (possibly spurious or just plain ignorant) assumption that those basses have something to with the sound as recorded. Am I really off-base here?

Likewise, Alex Lifeson played Signature guitars on a bunch of these albums. I have in fact played these, and they did actual sound every bit as thin and terrible in "real life". I think his change back to Gibsons, PRSs, and Fenders helped fix this. Maybe I'm just smoking crack...

Would their last bunch of albums have sounded better if they just stuck with their late 80s gear?

I'm glad DEVO came up on this thread. I wore my 2112 backpatch at the DEVO show last year and got A LOT of love from that crowd. Big-time nerd crossover between those 2 bands.

As for all this bass gear talk--way to take a nerdy thread to new depths. Fancy a game of Magic, anyone? ;)

I can't help it. I'm a bass nerd and I basically learned how to play by being in a Rush cover band in the late 80s/early 90s and trying to immitate Geddy Lee's sound as much as I could, so it is a passionate topic for me, boring to everyone else.

As for another nerdy intersection, I hail from Akron, the not very fabled land of DEVO and former Akron mayor Tom Sawyer, who is...wait for it...

my father.

So much for his mind not being for rent by any government, then.

you make the joke, i've probably heard it

wait La Lechera, I was born in Akron and go there almost every year for the holidays

You are all part of a secret government project to create Rush/Devo fans.

Really? He was mayor from '83-'86 iirc. The guy who was mayor after him has been mayor ever since.
uh oh someone has figured out my secret plot.

I'm kind of uncomfortable with Rush new status as a cool band

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Rush: Time Machine tour was great last night. Anyone who misses this tour is gonna end up seeing them next time around--and you can bet that half of that set will be Clockwork Angels material. (not that that's a bad thing).

Looking forward to october!

how was weird al!?!

Weird Al was GREAT! I saw Styx the same week. What a week! Air Supply I had to pass on :(

Nate was all out of love for Air Supply :(

Exactly two weeks left until the "makeup" date in Chicago for the show that was rained out last month ... can't fucking wait

Don't remind me. I have a fucking wedding to go to that day, so I will miss Rush yet AGAIN. So pissed that they chose that date.

Nate was all out of love$ for Air Supply :(

Things I didn't know:

As a group, Rush possesses 24 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, placing them fourth behind the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kiss for the most gold and platinum albums by a band in music history.[1] According to the RIAA, Rush's sales statistics also place them third behind The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band.

Actually their most current press kit has them in the #3 spot now. A few years back they were #5.

I think they plan to live/record long enough to hit the #1 slot.

Of course, having "consecutive" gold/platinum records is fairly specific distinction (though it's still profound).

Oh, nevermind. That's clearly indicated in your post. That's what I get for skimming info I already know. D'oh!

http://news.2112.net/

Last night Rush returned to Chicago after the July 7th rain out, which led to one fan suing the band seeking reimbursement for the ticket but also his airfare and other travel expenses (story below). As a thank you for standing in the downpour on July 7th, RUSH gave fans attending the August 23rd makeup performance an exclusive baseball hat which includes the stitching ""The Rain Date Chicago-2010"

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/tours/100823hat.jpg