Now, as big a Rush fan as I am, I must call things honestly and say I was a bit disappointed with the sound and part of the performance. I understand the front row is not the best place to judge the mix, but you do have the side-fills and stage-edge speakers coming right at you, so if things are badly out of balance you should have some idea. I felt the bass was underrepresented and the guitar was often muddy. When they started one of the new tunes, “Caravan,” it wasn’t until the vocals began that I could pick out any discernable melody. Alex also did a 12-string solo piece leading into “Closer To The Heart” that sounded out of tune…or contained some repeated wrong chords. Perhaps just me, but I’ve heard more clarity at other shows. And it didn’t seem the guys were on their A-game until a little into the second half. Obviously from our position we had the best view of Alex as he did the shoe gaze all the way to the break, without moving around much. There was just a lack of energy, although his playing was fine. Geddy, also, seemed to be going through the motions in the first half; not really being “into” the show. I also thought his vocal delivery was strained quite a few times and he did a lot of sliding up to a note vice hitting it straight out. Granted the man is well into his 50’s so getting the pitch he did as a 20 year old at all is impressive, but I suspected his voice might simply have been tired. Understandable considering they’re in the last quarter of this tour. But things improved noticeably after the break with a lot more movement, energy, and smiles across the stage. What came across was that they started enjoying themselves. Of special note were the new songs, most of “Moving Pictures” (they played the whole album), and “La Villa Strangiato” and “Working Man” for the encore. “Working Man” even started with a reggae verse and chorus before breaking into the original style. Clever. But don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have traded the show for anything and we had a great time but I think this was a bit of an off night for them. Good to know that can happen to the best considering Supernal Endgame’s struggles in Sanger a couple of weeks agoJ. What was never missing, however, was the mastery they all have over their instruments. Watching that kind of playing up close is pretty stunning, and they make it look easy. But that kind of comfort and control never ceases to impress me and gives a target to aim for in my own performance. The lesson I took away from the entire show was “master the material and enjoy yourself.” This is nothing new but worth reminding oneself before ever getting on stage. The audience senses when you’re tense or uncomfortable and it damages the end product in their eyes. Someone told me once that the vibe you give off is actually more important than hitting all the right notes. I wouldn’t be so quick to discount the latter when playing “musician’s music” like prog, but he had a really good point that I’ll need to keep reminding myself of. So, bottom line: Don’t be afraid to spend money on this show because the odds are you’ll get a spot on night from some fabulous performers!

I took my wife to the Rush concert here in Dallas last weekend (billed it as a combined birthday present for us and I GOT AWAY WITH IT!:-) and I must say sitting in the front row spoils you for anything else. Yes, the front row for the first time ever! Over the years I have slowly moved forward at successive Rush shows until I finally reached the stage. Granted with the price of those two seats I can no longer send my kid to college but hey, these guys may be on their last tour or twoJ But boy do you feel like you’re part of the action. We were almost directly in front of Alex’s mic stand as the pictures testify (and I find it humorous that they’re telling you “no cameras” as you walk in yet even before the lights go down all the cell phones are snapping away. I even saw some people whip out full-sized 35mm SLRs with zoom lenses! To think I felt like such a rebel with my little Sure Shot tucked down my underwear….where do people hide the big cameras??). It’s funny how even the security staff is more deferential to you once you get that blue wristband put on (indicating front row seats). But as one of the guys told us we were two of only 34 in a full house of probably 12,000 or more…I guess that is pretty special. Right next to us were five guys in matching red jumpsuits adorned with all manner of Rush patches. One of them told us this was his 75th show. Where do people get the money and the TIME to get to so many concerts? The five of them varied from mellow to occasionally spastic but they all knew every word, every drum kick, and every air guitar solo to every song…even the new ones. I wondered if the band recognized them. Of course, who am I to criticize Rush nerds? I could name quite a few members of the crew from documentaries I’ve seenJ. But I suppose I would prefer to see shows only occasionally (even if I had the means for more) as it’s more special, more memorable taken in small doses. Visually the show was scintillating, as always. They’ve gone to a single, nearly stage-wide video screen behind them although they used a lot of split-screen and multi-image shots of the live show. They also had the funniest intro video clips I’ve seen them do. The “chicken” skit on the Snakes and Arrows tour was good for a chuckle, but the semi-alternate-time/reality youth band “Rash” this time was actually a real knee slapper. The lighting centered on a spoke-and-hub articulated truss centered over the stage. Periodically the spokes would dip creating some interesting lighting angles. But from underneath it felt more like a giant spider reaching out its legs. A little creepy….hmmm, sounds like musical arachnophobia. They also had more side stage lighting and strobes were used a bit more that other tours.