So after 23 years of being a Rush fan, I finally got a chance to see them on April 23rd at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. I have to say that I am generally the type of person who has high expectations for a show like this…I mean…c’mon…I’ve been a fan for 23 years after all. So I tried to keep my expectations low so that I would not be disappointed. And, well, I was definitely not disappointed. They opened the show with Limelight and went on to do a great mix of classics and new songs. Honestly, I’ve not really liked anything new that they’ve done since Power Windows (and even that was a stretch), but I was standing between several big fans of the new album (Snakes and Arrows) and they were talking it up. I still didn’t hear the song writing that you found on Moving Pictures or Permanent Waves or even Signals, but a couple of the instrumentals that they played from the new album (at least that’s where I was told they came from) were phenomenal. Strangely enough, one of my first “favorite songs” from Junior High School, Tom Sawyer, was the only one that I thought the “phoned in”. Everything else was played with passion. My buddy Keith says that his test for a band is if they look like they are having fun on stage, in the video, wherever…and I have to say that they did. Getty Lee said “we’re no spring chickens”, but I have to say, if I can still rock like that when I’m pushing 60, I’ll be pretty happy!
Anyway, it was a great show. I missed The Police on their recent old guy tour. I had read some mixed reviews of it (esp. the things that Stewart Copeland said on his blog) and didn’t want to make the effort to go see them on what I’m sure was their last tour. After seeing Rush kick it out, enjoy themselves, and bring back some great memories for me, I definitely regret not going to see The Police. So…a word of advice…if The Cars or The Scorpions come to your town and you never got to see them when you were younger, spend the cash, buy 4th row seats (where I sat for Rush) and go check them out. If they can get out there and rock for 90 minutes at their age, I can certainly show up and enjoy the show.
Kelly
