..and endless compromises,
shatter the illusion of integrity"
shatter the illusion of integrity"
...anyone who has stuck with me so far will know that those words are far too erudite for me, and they'd be right! J They are in fact lyrics from a song called "Spirit of Radio", which happens to lead me nicely into the fact that the band concerned, Rush, one of the greatest rock bands to ever bestride the planet (and surely Canada's finest export?!), are in the UK on their "Snakes and Arrows" tour, and last night I had the great pleasure of 
seeing them play a breath taking three hour set at the Wembley Arena!
Quite simply, these guys are the best musicians, they have quite astonishing virtuosity (stay with me - I'll try and regurgitate the dictionary and resume normal service as soon as possible..), but more than that they also happen to write damn good songs as well.
They played for three hours, with just a small break in the middle, and the set was packed with a host of tunes, a big chunk of which are off the new "Snakes and Arrows" album which I think is probably one of their best in years - outstanding performances of "Far Cry" and "Malignant Narcissism" from this album. They also pleased the older members of the crowd with some stirling performances of their older stuff, "Spirit of Radio" was aired, as was "Natural Science", "Tom Sawyer" (..."A modern-day warrior, mean mean stride, todays tom sawyer, mean mean pride"...), a triumphant "YYZ" in the encore where I swear they must have emptied the back of the sofa for change to put in the electricity meter as they must have turned everything on - volume, lights, lasers, fireworks and some 'interesting' flamethrower devices that I could feel from where I was sitting 20 rows back...! Best of all they also played "Passage to Bangkok" which has to be one of my favourite tracks off the "2112" album... it took me back 30 years to when my mates had clubbed together and bought it for me on vinyl (and I still have it!)...
Astonishing performance, it literally raised the hairs on the back of the neck at times... such is what good rock is all about, and let's hope they're back soon! Thanks guys...
seeing them play a breath taking three hour set at the Wembley Arena! Quite simply, these guys are the best musicians, they have quite astonishing virtuosity (stay with me - I'll try and regurgitate the dictionary and resume normal service as soon as possible..), but more than that they also happen to write damn good songs as well.
They played for three hours, with just a small break in the middle, and the set was packed with a host of tunes, a big chunk of which are off the new "Snakes and Arrows" album which I think is probably one of their best in years - outstanding performances of "Far Cry" and "Malignant Narcissism" from this album. They also pleased the older members of the crowd with some stirling performances of their older stuff, "Spirit of Radio" was aired, as was "Natural Science", "Tom Sawyer" (..."A modern-day warrior, mean mean stride, todays tom sawyer, mean mean pride"...), a triumphant "YYZ" in the encore where I swear they must have emptied the back of the sofa for change to put in the electricity meter as they must have turned everything on - volume, lights, lasers, fireworks and some 'interesting' flamethrower devices that I could feel from where I was sitting 20 rows back...! Best of all they also played "Passage to Bangkok" which has to be one of my favourite tracks off the "2112" album... it took me back 30 years to when my mates had clubbed together and bought it for me on vinyl (and I still have it!)...
Astonishing performance, it literally raised the hairs on the back of the neck at times... such is what good rock is all about, and let's hope they're back soon! Thanks guys...
Silly me. I thought the album cover was a map of your continent with sea monsters drawn on it. Never mind.
ReplyDeleteandygamer
I last saw Rush in 1988 at the NEC on their "Opoen Fire tour. Funnily enough the same show was a feature of a programme on Sunday night on Planet Rock radio.
ReplyDeleteNot a big Rush fan myself but I can appreciate their music and style. My wife however is a fan and would have liked to see this tour but a lack of funds dictate otherwise I'm afraid.