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Archive for June 19th, 2007

But the band played on…

It was with great excitement and anticipation that I went to the Rush show last night. I’m a huge fan of theirs and have been since my teens when I came across the song “Tom Sawyer”. I figured any band who could write songs about Mark Twain characters was someone I had to investigate further. And I was right; they were a band with a message and meaningful lyrics. Neil can certainly turn a phrase. I was hooked on their many meanings of their songs and the dedication they had to their craft. Each member devoting countless hours to ever expand and perfect how they play. They are a lesson in dedication, skill and above all friendship.

It’s been over 3 years since I last had the chance to see them and boy did I give it my all! I saw the show here in Charlotte, then went down to Raleigh 2 nights later and then jumped down to Atlanta for a final showing. Of course, when they added more dates to the end of the tour I drove down and saw them again.

It was a hot one last night, but we all sweated together. Rush played almost half of their new Snakes and Arrows album/CD/Disc and took us all on a trip to the past with a score of their older material. Digital Man, YYZ, Limelight, Spirit of Radio, and of course Tom Sawyer. It was a great night, with powerful drumming, and expert guitar work from Alex and Geddy.

I took 14 year old son to the concert with me. He’s just slightly younger than I was when I first began tuning in. But he’s had the last 5 years of me playing their music to get his feet wet. Even though he wasn’t “into it” like I was, he was still amused by their on stage presence and antics. No matter who you are, you can still be “wowed” by how Alex plays the guitar. You can still appreciate that dexterity, the speed, the finesse, and the delicate touch he has.

Few can match the power and rhythm of Neil. Sitting behind his shiny new Red drum kit he rattled us all with his powerful technique. At times he was a flurry of motion while at others he simply tapped out a background beat. Neil’s drum solo, which has become the stuff of legend, was a change of pace. Instead of the awesome display of power and speed, it was a display of skill and melody. You could hear parts of the solo from years gone by, which lead into all new material. Neil still showed he had all his speed and power by dazzling us all with speed and flourish over all the pads he had at his disposal. And to pay tribute to Buddy Rich, he finished off with a bit of swing and big band.

Geddy has mellowed and his voice has smoothed out over all these years, but he can still hit those high notes when he wants to. And not to be outdone by his counterparts, Geddy showed his prowess with the bass, belting out heavy baselines and “tearing it up!”

It was a great show and I’m really glad I got to spend time with my son there. I had a lot of memories of being close to his age, getting a job, thinking of my college days ahead, my friends, the classes I was taking in school. I guess if Rush is still touring, I really haven’t grown up!

“Get on with the fascination…”