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This was my first show on the 2011 "Time Machine" tour, and my third for both legs of the tour.

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I flew down to Phoenix to visit my friend Dan and family and see a Rush show. On our last adventure in 2010, Dan and I traveled to Las Vegas to see Rush at the MGM Grand (Rush hadn't played in Phoenix for the 2010 leg). That had been an amazing show -- and quite a contrast from the outdoor show I'd seen in Washington State at White River Amphitheater.

This time, Rush was playing the indoor U.S. Airways Center instead of the usual outdoor Cricket Amphitheater (or whatever it's called these days). Given the oppressive Phoenix heat (only 110-degrees Fahrenheit!), I thought this a wise choice� until I walked in the venue, where it felt like a sauna. (And it never cooled off throughout the night, so I'm assuming the AC was broken.)

Before the show

Like the Vegas show, Dan and I got some excellent seats right off the floor -- but on Geddy's instead of Alex's side.

Since we were an hour early, Dan and I sat, talked, and did a lot of people watching. Dan spotted the professional golfer Rocco Mediate backstage, talking to some of the Rush crew. Given that Dan is a huge golf fan (and excellent golfer himself), he was excited to see someone like Rocco there.

When Rocco walked from backstage onto the floor Dan called out to him, and Rocco waved back. A few minutes later, Rocco walked up the steps from the floor, and he stopped to say hello. Dan asked if he'd been golfing with Alex Lifeson that day (on Thursday), but Rocco said they'd golfed the day before. Rocco asked if we'd seen the show, and commented on how amazing it was. (Weeks after this encounter, whenever I mentioned to golfers that I met Rocco Mediate at a concert, they think I was lucky. I guess the playoff he had with Tiger Woods in 2008 was a big deal in the golf world.)

The next celebrity we spotted was Randy Johnson, former MLB fastball pitcher for (my) Seattle Mariners, (Dan's) Diamondbacks, and the Yankees (among others). He was talking to Gump and a few other Rush crew members backstage. When the other photographers gathered before the show, Randy gathered with them holding his camera. He shot photos during the first three songs, but also took pictures throughout the show (at one point, he took photos behind Neil's kit). Read more about Johnson's love of music and photography here.

Set One

After the opening video (which I still find hilarious), the band blasted through "The Spirit of Radio." The crowd around us was supercharged for the first two songs, with guys high-fiving and hugging each other. After that, they seemed to settle down. (Of course they settled down...it was 85 degrees in the building.)

When Geddy greeted the crowd, he also commented on the heat:

A friend of mine, Paul Secord, had mentioned how "dialed in" Rush was at a show in Chicago earlier this year, and now I knew what he meant. Not only were they playing tighter, but there was a more relaxed feel to what they were playing. It seemed like Rush had arrived at some new level of musicianship, something that had started during the Test for Echo tour.

For Neil Peart in particular, he seems to have found the sweet spot of playing composed drum parts with fire, fluidity, and some improvisation. This difference in feel is one of the reasons the songs have such a nice groove on this tour.

Geddy has always maintained a high level of musicianship, and I've rarely seen him make mistakes (which is amazing, when you consider all he has to do). While he's been working on his "Flamenco" bass style since Counterparts, the way he locks in with Neil is one of the signatures of the Rush sound. And he's not afraid to add improvisation at the right moment: At the end of "Leave That Thing Alone," he started ripping on the bass, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Afterward, he apologized for his "self-indulgence."

Alex Lifeson also seems to have found a new groove on the "Time Machine" tour. While not as precise as Geddy and Neil, his playing is like an emotional current racing across the rhythm section. In the older songs, like "La Villa Strangiato" and "Working Man," he played solos that made my jaw drop. As I commented to Dan, "Alex is the the most underrated guitar player out there."

Dirty Dancing at Rush

Concerts are always an interesting place to people watch, but some of what I saw at this show was new to me.

Right in front of me stood a very attractive woman and her male counterpart. Not only was she dancing along to every song, she and her companion were dirty dancing. After a few too many beers, the dancing  got so sensual and provocative that even the Rush crew started to notice. The woman finally made the guy stand in front of her so he couldn't run his hands all over her anymore. (You can actually see them change places in the video above.)

Set Two

Then came the second part of the show, the part where Rush plays Moving Pictures in its entirety. I wondered if I would grow tired of hearing this album by the third show, but I didn't.

During "The Camera Eye," I noticed that Geddy wasn't playing anything on the keyboards. The entire keyboard beginning of that song is sequenced (which I understand given that Geddy probably wants a short break ). But on this night, some of the keyboard parts were out of sync somehow -- and Geddy wasn't happy, as he motioned for the guy on the side of the stage to fix it. I've seen this before with Geddy, where he gets visibly frustrated. During moments like this, you get a sense of his perfectionism.

Drum Solo

Neil's solo was once again amazing -- probably the best I'd ever seen. The looser, more fluid technique helped propel the beginning improvised section. I especially noticed during the "floating snare" section.

The electronic section also sounded fresh, but I'm not sure how much he's changed it from last year. The triplet rhythms he plays across the on-the-beat tambourine part are really tricky, especially when he's playing the melodic part on the midi marimba. I'm always amazed how he keeps everything together.

And just when you think he can't do more, he shifts to the "Love for Sale" section. I remember getting a little bored with the horn sections he played in the 90s (like the solo on Show of Hands), but the Jazz sections of his solos since Vapor Trails have always kept my interest and are the perfect climax for the solo.

"Closer to the Heart" onward

From "Closer to the Heart" to the end of the show, the "Time Machine" set built to a crescendo. While I used to tire of "Working Man" on previous tours, I think the Reggae style at the beginning really helps to keep that song fresh. There are moments in "Working Man" where Rush seem like they're just jamming -- like you walked into their garage. While the solo section of this song isn't as structured as, say, the middle sections of "Free will," "Caravan," or "Marathon," it's no less interesting. I swear Alex almost set fire to his guitar with the solo he played.

At this point, I pointed out to Dan that the concert seemed sold out. There were people packed to the rafters, except on the sides, which were blocked off with black curtains (possibly due to obstructed views). (I've found out since the concert that Rush sold 10,777 out of 12,472 available seats.)

Dan and I agreed beforehand that we'd exit during the outro "I Still Love You, Man" film, since we'd seen it already and it would give us a jump on traffic. We dashed out onto the downtown streets by 10:50 and were home by 11:30. As is tradition, we stopped at Wendy's by Dan's house in Tempe. As I was eating, I realized I had salt stains on my t-shirt -- something that doesn't happen to me unless I'm playing drums at a concert.

I guess salt stains can happen at Rush concerts, too (especially when the damn AC is broken).

Labels: concert review, Time Machine tour 2011

Every Rush tour, I try to see a show with my friend Dan Martin in Phoenix. For this tour, the closest the band would get to Phoenix was Las Vegas. So we bought VIP tickets (I figured if we were traveling all that way, we might as well have great tickets).

This show came only a week after my first "Time Machine" show in Auburn, WA, which was one of the best Rush shows I'd ever seen. But I was curious if that had been a magic show -- or if the band was playing like this every night.

Seeing them in Las Vegas would help answer this question.

Flying to Phoenix

On Thursday, I flew down to Phoenix and Dan picked me up at the airport. Since the show was on Saturday, this gave us time to catch up. I got to visit with his wife Kim, his kids, and even do a little swimming. (I also had my face melted by the 110-115-degree heat.)

One funny anecdote: Alaska Airlines sent my luggage to Alaska instead of Phoenix. So we had to wait around at Dan and Kim's house on Friday for my luggage to be delivered. When it arrived, it had the following tag attached:

The road to Vegas

On Saturday, Dan woke me up at 5:00 a.m. and we headed out under a pastel dawn sky. (Dan wanted to wake me up at 4:30, but I told him that I didn't function very well before 5:00.)

Having been friends since third grade, Dan and I had taken many trips together (including my first Rush concert in Tacoma, WA, in 1984). In addition to sharing a love of Rush and many other rock bands, we enjoyed talking about movies, technology, books, computer games, and many other subjects. This trip was no exception, except we ended up talking about our kids as much as the other subjects. 

As we drove closer to the Nevada border, the scenery changed from flat desert to dramatic mountains and rock formations.

We stopped at Hoover Dam, which I'd never seen before. Hoover dam is part of Highway 93 between Phoenix and Las Vegas. There were traffic jams before 9/11, but now with the security checks, the jams extended for miles on bad days. But we were crossing early in the morning (one of the reasons Dan wanted to leave early).

To the south, we saw the new bypass bridge that will be diverting cars around the dam in early November, 2010.

Checking into New York, New York

Dan and I arrived in Vegas around 12:30 p.m. and went directly to the hotel. We used the time before our room was available to eat lunch, gamble, and people watch. (Dan said, referring to our gambling luck, "It would be better to just give the hotel our money upon arrival to save time.")

This was the third Rush concert I'd seen in Las Vegas -- the last two being the Test for Echo tour in 1986 (at Thomas and Mack Center) and R30 in 2004 (at the MGM Grand). Once again, we'd be seeing Rush at the MGM Grand.

Once our room was available, we enjoyed spectacular views of the New York, New York, rollercoaster from our window. After that, we just relaxed -- because we knew it would be a long night of standing -- and we had gotten up damn early. (Once Dan tuned into golf on TV, I started to feel sleepy.)

Showtime

Dan and I walked across the sky bridge between New York, New York, and the MGM Grand. Like the previous show, there was a current of people flowing to the arena -- and most of them wore Rush t-shirts. This current would sweep us past thousands of slot machines, the MGM lion habitat (about a month before a lion attacked a trainer), stores, restaurants, and finally the Box Office.

For some reason, we had to pick up our VIP tickets at the Box Office (as opposed to getting them in the mail). As we waited there with the other Rush fans, a parade of bikini-wearing young women walked by us (coming from the pool, I guess) -- as if it was normal to be walking in a "mall" with a bikini. It was entertaining to say the least.

Once we were inside the arena, we were met by the tuxedo-wearing MGM ushers. These are professional ushers -- not the temp worker security people you see at other venues. At the last show, I watched them take out concertgoers who would have gotten away with murder at any other venue.

After we ate some food, we peered into the arena. A fog hung over the dimly-lit space that made everything look blurry from a distance. Dan and I walked down to our seats.

As many fans know, these seats were not cheap. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed. Talk about a perfect sightline:

While we still had an hour before the show, time passed quickly. I pointed out Rush crew members to Dan, including manager Ray Daniels, keyboard tech Jack Secret (he seemed to have quite a few friends in the crowd), and lightning director Howard Ungerleider. We talked to the usher in our section, who told us Lady Gaga had performed at the MGM the night before (it was a mad house).

Set 1

The lights went out, the crowd exploded with energy, and the intro film started up. Unlike the show I'd seen a week before, this was indoors -- so there was almost total darkness, unlike the pre-twilight of an amphitheater show. Dan loved the opening film. But what he loved more was that the owner of the seat to his left (which was on the aisle) hadn't shown up. This left us with a lot more room to spread out.

The band ripped through their set with the same intensity I'd seen in Auburn. Neil, in particular, was playing with the same controlled fire, and, if anything, seemed even more intense. The other thing I noticed was the sound was much better than it had been at my previous show. I could hear everything perfectly and didn't need earplugs.

There were a few downsides to being on an aisle. First, we watched the battle between the crowd and the ushers. Obviously many of these people didn't know they were dealing with professionals who weren't letting them pass without a ticket for the front section.

Second, there was the constant distraction of people making beer runs (funny how no one from our VIP section was making beer runs). We saw the same thing over and over (like a bad joke): A guy walks down the stairs with two beers; has to put his beer down to get his ticket; can't find his ticket; has to go find his girlfriend who happens to be rocking out near the front row.

Then there was the woman who wanted backstage. She got so violent, the police had to be called in.

There was one guy in the seats above us that Dan pointed out who practically made my night: As he was dancing around, he seemed to be miming the lyrical meaning of each song with hand gestures and body movement. It reminded me of something I'd seen at my only Grateful Dead concert. While I thought it was mostly entertaining to see someone displaying this type of musical interpretation, there was also something kind of pure about it.

Finally, the guy who owned the seat next to Dan showed up on the last song of the set. Dan and I were both wondering how someone who paid that much to see a show could arrive that late. I'm sure he had a good reason.

Through it all, the band played as well or better than the first set I'd seen in Auburn.

Set 2

As I watched Rush play all of Moving Pictures again, I realized that much of the magic from this tour was coming from the power of those songs. I think listening to those songs in order brings back strong memories for hardcore fans -- as well as people who just love that album. There's a feedback loop between band and crowd that grew in intensity with each song.

After it was all over, Dan turned to me and said, "That was incredible!"

Once Neil started his solo, I noticed a more improvisational flair than at the other show. It didn't hurt that we had a perfect view. I did see him throw in the double-hand crossover, which I hadn't seen in Auburn, which made me smile.

When Alex played his guitar solo, I took the opportunity to sit down for a moment (as many of the people did around us), and prepare for the final few songs and the encore. I was starting to feel my 5:00 a.m. wake-up time in my legs.

When the band got to their last song, "Working Man," I was more blown away than usual with Alex Lifeson's guitar solo. Alex isn't usually flashy, so when he starts shredding on an old song like this it becomes clear how underrated this guy really is. (And, hearing the Reggae version of "Working Man" again, I have to say it was growing on me even more.)

When the band was done, and the "I Still Love You, Man," outro completed, Dan said that he still hadn't seen that movie. I knew that we'd need to rent it before I flew back to Seattle (which we did).

As we walked out of the arena, I heard the polka version of "Closer to Heart," on the PA, which was starting to grow on me, too. I now had my answer about whether I had seen a magic show in Auburn or if the band was playing like this every night.

Dan agreed it was probably the best Rush show he'd ever seen.

Labels: concert review, Time Machine tour

This review is from the White River Amphitheatre show in Auburn, WA, that happened on 8/7/10. It's taken me a while to write this, but here it is.

The short review: This was one of the best Rush shows I've ever attended. The band played at a level I'd never seen before; the stage design was imaginative and fun; the crowd was electric. What more could someone want at a Rush concert. Or any concert?

Pre-show: 5:05 p.m

I stood in the rain outside White River Amphitheatre with my 10-year-old son, Cameron, listening to the sound check. I hadn't heard Rush do a sound check since the Roll the Bones tour in Vancouver, B.C. (Gone are the days when they had jam sessions during sound check. Here's one that Billy Sheehan posted of a jam he had with Alex and Neil [RealPlayer file]).

"Why does it sound so strange?" Cameron asked, referring to the booming sound echoing from the amphitheater.

"Because we're listening to it out here instead of inside," I said.

First, they played "Faithless," from Snakes & Arrows. Then came the title track from Presto, in its entirety. Finally, "The Spirit of Radio," from Permanent Waves, which would be the first song of the night. I heard a little bit of "Subdivisions" keyboard from Signals, and they were done.

Cameron and I gathered my wife Brenda and brother Erik from of the car and headed into the VIP entrance, the rain still beating down on us.

Living in VIP land

The VIP area at White River is a cordoned off section with a bar and free food (this is not the same thing as the VIP Rush package from Live Nation). We'd scored these tickets from Aaron, Erik's old roommate, and the VIP service came with them (thanks Aaron!). For us, this meant lounging around on a leather couch, eating BBQ sandwiches, chips, pretzels, and drinks.

After an hour, we left the VIP area and headed to the mile-long line in front of the merch tent. Fortunately the rain had abated. I bought a new blue Time Machine shirt, and Cameron got a Moving Pictures shirt.

Time Machine: Set 1

Once we got to our seats, I said hello to all my friends, Steve, Monica, Dave and Keith from B.C., Paul, his son Nich, and Jen. It was nice to catch up, but there's never enough time before a Rush show.

Here's the view from our seats before the show:

Here's a Photosynth that a friend of mine did from seats very close to ours, where you can see the entire amphitheater before showtime.

The show started with the intro film, which I'd seen on the Internet -- but it was even funnier with the anticipation of the show. And then Rush blasted into "The Spirit of Radio." A wave of energy released from the crowd, more intense than just about any Rush show I'd attended . 

Our seats were dead center in section 103, row two, which had its advantages and disadvantages. First, these were great seats (thanks again, Aaron!) -- some of the best I've had at a show, and they worked well for Cameron, since he only had one row in front of him. However, because we were in front of an aisle, it was a little distracting to see a constant stream of people flowing by.

As Rush played through their set, which I'd read beforehand but hadn't memorized, I realized how different this show was from the previous years:

• "Time Stand Still" hadn't been played in 16 years.
• "Presto" had never been played live.
• The funky, eclectic instrumental "Leave That Thing Alone" was back after a few tours, and it sounded better than ever. 
• The opening riff to the new song "BU2B" was heavier than just about anything Rush had written in years, and the background visuals were stunning.

By the time the band got to "Marathon," I started to notice a confidence in Neil's playing that was fresh and exciting -- even a little dangerous.

As most fans of Neil's know, his style and technique is always changing. When he joined Rush, his playing also had an adventurous quality, like Keith Moon, but more controlled. But as he and Rush developed over the years, his playing became more and more composed and confident. Since studying with Freddy Gruber before 1996's Test for Echo, I've heard a more improvisational style of playing creeping into Neil's performances.

On this particular night, Neil seemed relaxed behind the kit, with new drum patterns emerging where another fill or beat once had been. I knew it wasn't just me: my brother and I kept sharing looks of disbelief. These new elements had the effect of lifting a song's intensity, and I think this is one of the reasons "Marathon" sounded so good.  

Rush ended the first set with "Subdivisions," which felt as smooth and powerful as ever. Geddy made the comment that Rush were "no longer spring chickens" and needed a rest, and it was intermission. I was surprised by how fast the first set had flown by.

Time Machine: Set 2

As the intermission came to an end, you could feel it in the air: the anticipation of hearing Rush's1981 breakthrough album, Moving Pictures. As many fans have pointed out since Rush returned to playing live 2002, they've played every song off Moving Pictures except "The Camera Eye." They've also played most of the songs off Permanent Waves, with the exception of "Jacob's Ladder" and "Different Strings." I was curious and excited to hear the original sequence of the the songs on Moving Pictures. After all, this album was from an era when song sequencing was an art form -- each song building on the last, like the stories in a book of short stories.

After the hilarious intro film, Rush tore through the songs of Moving Pictures as if they were as excited to play them as we were to hear them. They all sounded great, but for me the real gem I was waiting for was "The Camera Eye." I wasn't disappointed. In particular, I enjoyed the visuals, showing scenes of New York and London -- "Grim faced and forbidding, their faces closed tight" vs. "Wide-angled watcher of life's ancient tales."

Once again I noticed how Neil changed fills or beats throughout "The Camera Eye." One of the most interesting was the way he expanded the "double-ride" beat bridging the two parts of the song (he usually goes into a more conventional Rock beat about halfway through). They also cut some of the more repetitive sequences.

In short, the performance of Moving Pictures exceeded my expectations. I wondered if they could play it with this level of intensity every night (I knew I'd soon get a chance in Las Vegas to compare).

The new song "Caravan" also sounded great live, with a jam session in the bridge reminiscent of "Free Will." The visuals on the screen were also jaw dropping -- a perfect backdrop for the music.

Drum Solo

After reading Neil's August, 2010, blog entry, I was curious how he would approach his solo. In his section about traveling: "I: The Art of Improvisation," he wrote:

This tour I have deliberately designed my drum solo to be more improvisational than ever before, and that has led me into some "adventures" that have their analogues to the art of traveling…

My solo is built on three rhythmic foundations, which I think of as "The Steampunk Waltz" (freeform melodies and rhythms in 3/4 time), "The Steampunk Stomp" (polyrhythms in 4/4 with upbeats against downbeats), and "The Steampunk Mambo" (a Latin ostinato, or repeating rhythm--regular readers will recall its root in the Italian word for "obstinate," or "stubborn"). Through a couple of different variations, including the electronic drums at the back, I continue to explore and stretch my limits in all of those frameworks, and all of them converge toward the end--the big-band climax of "Love For Sale."

On this night, the improvisation over the "rhythmic foundations" certainly made the solo a lot more unpredictable -- even though I recognized patterns and melodies. Considering how many years of solos Neil has played, it's impressive that he continues to change and refine it.

Mr. Ray Daniels

One of the interesting things I noticed at the show was how Ray Daniels, Rush's manager, was watching the show -- usually from the handicap section, which was right in front of us. He seemed to know a lot of the people there, shaking hands, hugging people. He also seemed to be patrolling around the front section of the venue.

Erik turned to me and said, "Is Ray Daniels now doing security?" and we both laughed.

This was the second time I'd seen Ray Daniels at the Rush show in Seattle. Perhaps he'd always been there, but I'd never noticed him. 

The Final Act

As Rush continued through their final songs and into the encore, I was once again surprised.

In the final verse of "Closer to the Heart," the band downshifted into 6/8 time (a fast waltz), stretching out the music and the lyrics. Gone was the long jam on three notes with Alex introducing the band.

"2112: Overture" and "Temples of Syrinx," followed by "Far Cry," created a wave of energy that took the band into the Encore. (One "nugget" as Geddy called it during "2112" is worth noting: During the "And the meek shall inherit the earth" bridge between the two songs, as Geddy tried to sing Alex played the wrong notes. Geddy finally exclaimed, "Where is that guy?" When they started playing "Temples," Alex hid behind his amps in mock shame, with Geddy and Neil laughing.)

"La Villa Strangiato" started off as a kind of post-disco Polka. Neil played bells on the midi-marimba during this section, too. I have to say I didn't recognize anything at all until the "La Villa" riff, which finally blasted into the heavy version we're all used to.

For some reason, I never grow tired of "La Villa." All of the different movements, all the amazing musicianship, it truly fits the subtitle of the song, "An Exercise in Self-Indulgence." Only "The Main Monkey Business" from Snakes & Arrows has come close to the same level of self- indulgence, but in a much more compressed way.

"Working Man" with its Reggae opening was a tour-de-force, and Alex Lifeson was particularly brilliant. While I know this song has been played much in the past 8 years, I enjoyed the new arrangement.

And then they were done.

The outro film, I Still Love You, Man, riffed on the move, I Love You Man, starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, and I thought it was absolutely hilarious. The two Rush fans sneak backstage into Rush's dressing room, and then Rush arrives after the show. I especially like how Neil gets really mad, with deep sighs, steely-eyed glares.

Also funny was when they call Neil "Mr. Part." Neil says, "It's just Peeert."

"Are you sure?" the two fans ask. "Because we're pretty big fans."

White River blues

Trying to get out of the White River parking lot is an exercise in futility and patience. Unless you leave the show early, it's just a sad reality with this venue. The infrastructure isn't set up for 15-20,000 people trying to leave the parking lot at the same time.

It took us 40 or so minutes to get out of the parking lot, and my brother swore he'd never see a show at that venue again. I don't blame him.

I was home by 1:00 a.m.

Epilogue

The next day I slept in. I mean really slept in. Cameron had tried to wake me up several times because he wanted to play all of Moving Pictures in its entirety on the drums. My wife kept him at bay until 11:00 a.m.

Just to hear Cameron playing along to those songs in his own way was one of the great benefits of seeing that concert. That's Rush and Neil Peart -- inspiring on so many different levels.

And, as Jack Black said in the documentary: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, they've still got the "Rocket Sauce."

Labels: concert review, Time Machine tour