With the start of Rush’s ‘Fifty Something Tour’ at the weekend, I thought a thread to share news / views of the tour was a good idea. Some of you are lucky to be seeing them in North America, others are waiting until the European leg.
I’ve looked at reviews, videos and setlist of the first night and, if it is possible, I am even more excited. The shows have been very well received and Anika Nilles hasn’t collapsed under the weight of expectations.
I expect the songs to be rotated, and Amy Mann is not going to appear each night, but feel free to share you hopes and dreams!
p.s. Snow Dog’s memory of a famous ‘Sounds’ headline led to the thread title.
There’s a lot of (mostly shonky) clips on YouTube as you say but what struck me is that the musicianship was intact (Lifeson must be the most relaxed lead guitarist ever), Niles was great, the crowd enormously welcoming etc but Lee’s voice was…awful. Almost unbearable now he cannot hit those highs. Not entirely surprising at his age of course.
I saw them in Manchester in the mid 80’s. They were fantastic and although I have no problem with the Tour I don’t want to see them again. Or pay those prices! I listen rarely to their stuff now.
As a side note there’s a couple of long form interviews with Lee and Lifeson ((I will dig out the links) that do show they are genuinely the nicest people.
I’d certainly agree with your recommendation @BruceW regarding the interviews. Alex and Geddy are friends since school days and their relationship is quite touching.
I note that the setlist for the second night features almost half the songs changed. They did say they would do this but it does show the level of rehearsals they have put in. Geddy’s voice has always divided opinion and I thought it was interesting that he has engaged a vocal coach - a lot of reviews comment how much better his singing is now compared to 10 years ago. I will wait until Manchester to find out!
I am lucky that both Snow Dog and I have been massive fans across all the eras of their career but I know that for many, they only really enjoyed certain periods. I’d agree with The Professor - Clockwork Angels, their last album, did everything they were great at. His view was that album couldn’t be surpassed so they should stop recording. They obviously enjoy playing live and I for one am happy to join them in that!
Started to look and have then actively resisted. There is a decent video of the somewhat silly film which opens the show but I stopped about 3 minutes in as I like a sense of surprise at a gig. The 21 year old whose 21st present will be a belated trip to Montreal to see the favourite band they never thought they’d see live has of course been consuming all of YouTube for a couple of nights but it’s not for me. I can wait.
I feel the same @mikehughescq. I watched two brief clips but have then resisted the temptation to look further. I was struck by how well Alex looked after some health issues and the way Geddy kept checking with Anika to make sure she was OK / hitting or providing her cues.
I do like the sense of fun they exude on stage - they seem very comfortable and enjoying performing. Nice to see.
Seconded. But I have spent the fabulous ticket prices on a couple of Powerlines instead so that I can keep the Rocinante fully charged for future black hole expeditions.
