Tonight's the night!!! (Aug 6, SLC)

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:54 pm

And I'm excited!

Wendy · Post by **Wendy** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:37 pm

Salt Lake City Rocks

Have a great nite ElfDude!

Mr. Potatoe Head · Post by **Mr. Potatoe Head** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:47 pm

Have a good time Elf, it's a fabulous show!

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 3:04 pm

Wendy wrote:Salt Lake City Rocks

It will tonight!

Kares4Rush · Post by **Kares4Rush** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 3:21 pm

Oh BOY Elfie!!!

You've GOT to be psyched!!!!

I just found out a friend is unexpectedly going to that show but she's already flown out and I have no way to contact her now or I'd say hook up.

Give a report!

Middle Kingdom · Post by **Middle Kingdom** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:12 pm

Yes a nice big report.
Should be into the second set now.

awip2062 · Post by **awip2062** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:34 pm

I want a full report!

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:39 am

awip2062 wrote:I want a full report!

Well, you'll have to wait. I gotta get to bed. But for now, two words: absolutely amazing!

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:21 pm

Here's the local paper's review:

Geddy Lee made several quips Monday night that he and his Rush bandmates were old. True, the Canadian power trio has been making music and touring for over 30 years. But even today they bring a youthful energy, musicanship and polished showmanship to the stage that many of today's "younger" bands can't match.
Monday night was no exception as Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart were in top form, performing 28 songs during nearly three hours of music before a packed USANA crowd. The band appeared to be in good spirits (even the normally stone-faced Peart was seen cracking a smile) right from the show-opening guitar riff of "Limelight."
For bands like Rush whose career spans three decades, it's hard to narrow down a set list. For this tour, the band concentrated on a heavy dose of its new album, "Snakes and Arrows," as well as a healthy selection of songs from the late '70s to late '80s era. Lee's voice was in exceptionally good form, and he seemed extra enthusiastic as he hopped around the stage while singing rarely played gems such as "Entre Nous," "Mission" and "Witch Hunt." Those songs blended nicely with crowd favorites such as "Subdivisions," "Freewill" and "Dreamline."
Some of the new songs off "Snakes and Arrows" sounded better live than on the album, such as "The Way The Wind Blows" and "The Larger Bowl." Lee, Lifeson and Peart were a tight unit all night, showing off their masterful playing skills on the instrumental "The Main Monkey Business." Peart, "The Professor," added some new elements to his infamous show-stopping drum solo. And the air drummers in the audience waved their arms in unison during "Natural Science" and "Tom Sawyer," the song every aspiring rock drummer tries to play when they first buy a kit.
As is the standard with Rush shows, the lighting, lasers, pyrotechnics and large digital screens in the rear of the stage complemented the music, making for a full assault on both the ears and eyes. Unfortunately, the west-facing USANA stage doesn't get dark until after 9 p.m.
Rush also showed that despite its deep lyrics, it also has a sense of humor. Lee was flanked on stage not by a stack of speakers but rotisserie chicken ovens. And an absolutely hilarious South Park clip led into "Tom Sawyer."
The crowd went ecstatic as the band finished its main set with some of its most popular songs, including "Distant Early Warning" and "The Spirit of Radio."
The encore was filled with the more recent "One Little Victory," followed by "A Passage to Bangkok" and the classic instrumental "YYZ."
Not bad for a bunch of old guys.

Additional comments from me (forthcoming) will mostly be about musical gear.

Loved the video of Bob and Doug McKenzie on the Great White North set that was used to introduce Larger Bowl. For me that was pure nostalgia. For my daughter it was fun to actually see them for the first time.

Also.. a big snowy owl flew over us at one point (not common to see around here). Seemed strangely a propos. And it made me think of BBO.

awip2062 · Post by **awip2062** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:13 pm

BBO didn't come to the concert I attended! Hmph!

*wink*

KaelMwithascrubbrush · Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:56 pm

ElfDude wrote:Also.. a big snowy owl flew over us at one point...

Take off, eh! Like it was flyin' by night, you hoser!

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:00 pm

KaelMwithascrubbrush wrote:
ElfDude wrote:Also.. a big snowy owl flew over us at one point...
Take off, eh! Like it was flyin' by night, you hoser!

Exactly!

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:05 pm

As a guitarist, I found Alex's choice of instruments interesting.

That is to say, until the encore, we saw nothing but Les Pauls. Very different from the last two tours which included Gibsons, Paul Reed Smiths, and Fender Teles.

Some of them I recognized and some were new. One was obviouosly something he'd had the Gibson Custom Shop build up for him. It was a Les Paul Standard, but with highly figured abalone inlays on the fretboard (as opposed to mother of pearl like all his other Gibsons) and it had a Floyd Rose bar and locking nut installed. THere were also two other Les Paul standards which he'd had piezo pickups installed in so that he could play acoustic parts on them.

This was the first time I'd ever seen him play Les Paul customs. He had two black ones there.

And it was SO cool to see Geddy play fretless for the first time. And also so cool to see the Rickenbacker bass come out and get played during "Passage"! Haven't seen him hold one of those since the 80's.

KaelMwithascrubbrush · Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:08 pm

I can't remember which guitar mag it was, but I seem to remember Alex saying Geddy told him he should only play Les Pauls...and he also talked aout the piezo pick ups. Apparently he had fun with them while recording S&A. As far as Geddy's fretless, was it just a fretless Fender jazz, or was it something else? I assume it was a fretless 4-string, eh, you hosehead?

Kares4Rush · Post by **Kares4Rush** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:37 pm

KaelMwithascrubbrush wrote:I can't remember which guitar mag it was, but I seem to remember Alex saying Geddy told him he should only play Les Pauls...and he also talked aout the piezo pick ups. Apparently he had fun with them while recording S&A. As far as Geddy's fretless, was it just a fretless Fender jazz, or was it something else? I assume it was a fretless 4-string, eh, you hosehead?

The fretless is a Jaco Pastorious tribute bass that was sent to him during the recording of S&A by suggestion of Andy Curren (sp?). He was playing with it in between takes and Nick hit the "play" button and MalNar was born.

Geddy goes into detail about this in this interview where he discusses the history of ALL his basses.

http://www.rushisaband.com/video.php?id=764

Also they go into it in the MVI and you actually SEE the birth of MalNar on the documentary where Geddy is just fooling around with the bass. I LOVE that part!!!! Nick says, "can we have TWO instrumentals on the album?"

By-Tor.com