Rush tickets!

[Kanada Kev]

There are some good seats avail through a Q107 promo right now. I just scored 2 in the second row of Sec 103 for a third off the normal price ($93 instead of $137 and down low).

Go to this link and enter Q107 in the promo code.

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/100048AA9BEA6510?did=q107

Edited October 11, 2012 by Guest

[Freak By Night]

Right on Kev, are you going to both shows? They're rotating different setlists on this tour.

[Kanada Kev]

My tickets are for Tuesday.

Hmmmmm ... i'm tempted. Maybe I'll go in on Sunday and see if I can get on the CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!

How varied are the alternating sets?

[Freak By Night]

Well, they're not mixing it up like Phish or moe. I think 4 or 5 of the songs are different from show to show.

Check the tour's setlists on setlist.fm if you're not one of those fans who doesn't want to know the set in advance.

Edited October 11, 2012 by Guest

[kookycanooky]

I need to rant about this show. I hope you guys had a good time and enjoyed the night, I'm not slagging rush (maybe a little) and I don't want to be a wet blanket especially since I got a free ticket - who am I to complain? Hey, the beauty of the internet. Lets just blame the ACC as usual.

First of all, I'm no big rush fan...I enjoy some selections from each album made until the early 80's when the dreaded synths and headless bass started to spew out dribble that I can't manage to understand...but I digress. I should note that I wasn't there in the 80's, I only got into rush in highschool, late 90's.

Last night a sin was possibly committed as a $350 6th row seat smack in front of geddy was wasted on a non-believer like me (a very generous offer from an old friend) and did you see the setlist? If you read the last paragraph you'd guess that I had no idea what was happening for the better part of the show. With exception to the opener, Subdivisions (meh), I didn't recognize a single song until the 23rd number.

Aside from those that I did recognize (both really like or really dislike), I was given no real chance to try and understand the unfamiliar material - including the new album - because the sound where I was sitting (and probably the entire front floor section) was absolute BULL HISHT.

Rush has decided to forgo their stage amplifiers and hand over their music to the soundman's wet dream of being in complete sound control. No more difficult mixing situations with trying to balance the pit v.s. nose-bleeds, contending with a loud stage volume...(which probably does makes his life easier). Maybe the sound was OK in other parts of the arena, but being near the stage (and the PA was flown really far forward of the stage - not sure if this is always the case or just a limitation of the ACC) you couldn't hear shit. If there were subwoofers being used, we couldn't hear them. It wasn't a rock concert at all up front - to put it in perspective, it was all mids and highs (muddy, at that) and zero bass. 6th row in front of the bass player should be a damn rock concert with chest pumping bass, I should be able to feel the show. Even though I was only out $50 for my transportation for the night and not the actual ticket cost, I must say the concert was incredibly disappointing. Even some of my favorite songs (the end of the night) were impossible to enjoy.

Neil was the only one who actually had sound being projected off the stage, with real drums and all. Although he did lose points for playing some of his solos (he had 3) on his roland V-drums...WHY? Not to mention the string section and copious backing tracks the band plays along with to make those 80's dreams come to life (at least not for me). Rush plays "analogue kid" but there is nothing analogue about it.

OK i'm done now. I may have gone off-track into gear-nerd territory but the point remains. The good seats may not always live up to the cost (even if you get them for free). Not sure if the band or venue dropped the ball, i'm going with both.

How did it sound from your vantage points?

Edited October 17, 2012 by Guest

[Kanada Kev]

Sound started out a bit "thin" but picked up just fine from where I was. Mind you I was 2 rows off the floor just behind the soundboard where the dude controlling the sound was hearing it. I could have used more bottom end at times but it was still present from my seats.

Did you try moving around at all? I always do that and then be able to determine if it's the whole house or just a bad pocket that you were stuck in.

I was glad I wasn't hearing a "hits" show start to finish. I've had those before and I don't want to hear the same songs every tour. The new album is great and I'm happy they played it. I really don't know what the string section brought to the show. They didn't do it for me. Give me a HORN SECTION to spice it up

R U S H

Another fantastic live Rush experience. I'm f'in tired today but it was all worth it.

I love the way that they incorporate awesome video footage on their massive back screen. Also some really cool ways of displaying the band members as they perfrom. They also do more of those "skits" like a couple of posts above.

I was there with my son and a friend of mine with his son. Rush initiation night. I help coach my son's hockey team with this guy. We had to bail on a practice to go to the show. Asking a few other parents to step up and run the practice for us in our absence. We end up running into one of them preshow and he's hanging with one of the musicians who join Rush on stage in the second set. Never would have guessed this dude played violin ::::

Three hours. Three incredible musicians. Three hundred dollars spent last night :

My kid LOVED the show and can't wait to go to more in the future. He had no problem standing, jammin', playing air guitar/drums/bass for the full 3 hours! And he got up and went to school today.

Here's a couple of mediocre pics/vids from last night.

Videos:

20121016 Tom Sawyer

20121016 Spirit of Radio

Rush

Air Canada Centre

October 16, 2012

Subdivisions

The Big Money

Force Ten

Grand Designs

Middletown Dreams

Territories

The Analog Kid

The Pass

Where's My Thing?

(With Drum Solo)

Far Cry

With the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble

Caravan

Clockwork Angels

The Anarchist

Carnies

The Wreckers

Headlong Flight

(With Drum Solo)

Halo Effect

Wish Them Well

The Garden

Dreamline

Drum Solo

Red Sector A

YYZ

The Spirit of Radio

Encore:

Tom Sawyer

2112 Part I: Overture

2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx

2112 Part VII: Grand Finale

Edited October 17, 2012 by Guest

[Freak By Night]

Very interesting to see these two opposing viewpoints posted side-by-each!

Rush, much like Phish, is certainly not for everyone.

I didn't go to either of the Toronto shows, but I'm going tomorrow night in Montreal. As a long time fan I can already tell you that my review is going to be more like Kev's that kooky's.

[kookycanooky]

I don't think the two reviews are totally polar opposite. Different experiences due to new sound techniques, that's all. FYI, my frustration is definitely not rooted in the song selection or their performance. I totally respect their choice of setlist and I agree it is refreshing to hear forgotten non-radio numbers. The sound was so washy that I found myself really concentrating on the notes of the familiar songs just to follow along. If I could barely follow the songs I did know, how could I get into the ones I didn't?

Kev, I did not move around, however at the ACC is that even possible? Ushers execute their jobs with military precision, especially the closer up you get. The most unfriendly venue I know (not to mention the $5 water at the concessions...). I didn't really feel right trying to move since I didn't want to abandon or drag my host around (who had an incredible time).

This was such a surprising night because the boys in Rush have never compromised on their live shows, they're always killer, they always deliver. How do you have a rock concert with no amps? It makes sense that the sound would have been about equal all along the front few rows given the position of the PA. I think I would have had a better time in front of Alex because he actually cut through and he's a damn wizard to watch hit all those notes.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Guest

[edger]

Lovin the picture of you and your boy KK! By the way kooky, you still in the business of tuning up pianos? Do you move them as well or know someone who does?

[Velvet]

Rush ditched onstage amps a long time ago. I think it's fairly common with the popularity of in-ear monitors but I think lots of bands set up dummy amps.

I am surprised at the setlist, but I suspect I woulda liked the show. When I saw that there was a string section I was hoping for Losing It, or maybe not hoping for it as I'm skipping them this time around.

[Freak By Night]

The show Thursday night in Montreal was amazing.

The proper way to do a Rush concert is to enjoy a dinner of delicious borscht and perogies at the Euro Deli before the show. In honor of Geddy's Polish heritage of course.

Had excellent seats right up front on the side. I agree, the sound wasn't so hot right of the bat. It was a bit thin.

I've been catching this band every tour since the early 90s, so I found the setlist to be well-chosen and refreshing. In Montreal this evening, of the two setilsts they've been rotating, I got the one I preferred with 'Bravado' instead of 'The Pass' and also an old fave 'Body Electric' instead of 'Middletown Dreams'.

Attentive Expos fans cheered as they caught Geddy's subtle nod to the now defunct baseball team in 'The Analog Kid', a song from 1981 resurrected for this tour.

By the 2nd set all the sound issues had been sorted out and the rest of the show sounded very big. Accompanied by a string section, they played most of their new album followed by some old classics. Not all of the new songs are great, but a few of them are real gems, like the riff-tacular 'Seven Cities of Gold', and 'Caravan' and the mellow song 'The Garden'. Geddy was in excellent voice for the rocker 'Headlong Flight'.

I thought the string section was a nice addition. They knew when to give and when to take and added a nice visual element.

I enjoyed the way one long drum solo was divided up into 3 smaller ones. Neil's third solo featured some sounds that reminded me of many a 'drums' performance at Dead shows.

I posted some photos on facebook if you'd like to check 'em out here