Saturday, July 27, 2013

What A Rush!

Original title, eh?  ;)

(So I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus the last week or so, as you may or may not have noticed.  It's been a busy time, and will continue to be so, so posts may continue to be sporadic for a while.  Wedding planning and all that.  As it turns out, even the little ones are a lot of work!  Oh, but it sure will be worth it!)

But, I digress.  This post is a catch-up post, about a certain little rock 'n' roll show BF and I attended a couple weeks ago. And by little, I mean HUGE!

On the evening of Sunday, July 14th, legendary Canadian rock band, and recent inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rush, graced us Haligonians with their presence.  It was their first time here in over 25 years, so you know, kind of a big deal, and, well, they did NOT disappoint!

The show began with a weird little steampunk style short film, showing the band members actually being created in a factory.  Both the films and the steampunk theme continued throughout the whole show.  Then the gents came out!


I have to say, the stage production - the films, the light show, the on-stage props, all added up to make the coolest stage show I've ever seen.  Every song had either a gorgeous video in the background or a beautiful light show.  There was never a moment when your senses weren't fully engaged.


 Musically, these guys are still geniuses, tight as ever, and still, clearly having the time of their lives with each other.




As expected, the great Neil Peart provided the crowd with several mind blowing solo performances, always followed up by the audience exploding in eager, and loving appreciation.  If only someone would buy the poor guy a few more drums for his kit. . . .


Never a dull moment!


I don't know how they did it, but the show, despite being the Metro Centre at full capacity, and being pretty darn elaborate and fancy, somehow felt intimate.  Maybe it's because probably everyone there has listened to the band all their lives, and the guys, despite being rock gods, still maintain the kind of personas you can imagine sitting around having beers with.



After a bit over an hour into the show, the gents joked about being "very, very old" and took an intermission break.  Not to worry though, the screens were soon filled with a funny short film starring Jay Baruchel as a tax collector, and the band themselves as gnomes (Alex and Geddy) and a troll (Neil)!



When they returned, they were joined by the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble, the most enthusiastic and rockin' string ensemble you're ever likely to see!




At one point, local celebs, the Trailer Park Boys came out, a visit that was foreshadowed by a brief appearance in the screens behind Alex, earlier in the show.



 They did a weird little brawling skit, cracking Alex up.  As you can imagine, the crowd went wild.

The background entertainment continued too, with the addition of ten smaller screens that added to the giant one at the back of the stage.  Gorgeous animated films were shown, the smaller screens moving around to provide even more visual interest.



During the video shown above, the light show became part of the film, with streams of white lights shooting down across the stage to make it look like the rain in the film was coming right off the screen.  It was breathtaking!

Then there were just really pretty, non-narrative videos as well.



And one of the best light shows I've ever seen.


And some weird and wild stage props, like Bassy, Brainy, Horny and Corny:


You really never knew where to look!  The band themselves, always grinning and grooving and wailing out, the films, the lights, the pyro, the fireworks, even the audience, all stirred up into a blissful frenzy.  My face hurt after the show, from all the grinning and laughing.  Pure entertainment!


I have to confess - though I've listened to Rush seemingly all my life, and always thoroughly admired and respected their musical talents, I wasn't a huge fan of them before the show, but was excited for the experience.  Now?  HUGE FAN!  :)  

Did you get the chance to see them when they were here?  Who are your summer show sure things?

Till next time friends!


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