D-Day's Revenge...

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Rush concert review by D-Day

Rush "Time Machine" Tour 2010

Jiffy Lube Live Pavillion

Bristow, Virginia

I need to first set this up by explaining how this trip happened. I got a call from Trish at some time after 8 am on a Saturday morning while still hungover from getting carried away with the beer (as usual) during my Friday night show on Wicked Spins Radio. She didn't seem to be in much better shape after a night at the bar while explaining that her son came knocking early and asking if she'd like to see Rush that evening. I was in the frame of mind to say "no", but eventually said that I would go... and I'm so glad that I did!

I've always been a Rush fan, but had gotten distant from them over the years with the exception of songs like Tom Sawyer on the radio, and the memories of how much I loved the 2112 album back in the day. Seeing them live would also be a first, and their recent appearance on That Metal Show helped to get my interest back up as well. So why not?

Let's get to the show......

There was no opening band and no need for one. (As a note, the crowd turned out to be even bigger than the Ozzfest show I saw at this venue a few years back. All for one band versus many....) The lights finally went down and a very funny video skit started up to everyone's delight. The band members played some of the parts and it was somewhat of a slapstick look at how their band could have started back in time. I'll just say that polka music, some memorable characters, a line about "holding your sausage", and what turned out to be a time machine were involved.... then the lights go up and the band is in action live!

There was a good mix of old and newer material from the first set and the band was simply outstanding musically, vocally and with their stage presence. Something that impressed me also was the fact that the members were out in the average shirts, jeans and sneakers.... and there was no need for running around yelling "everyone clap your hands!" or holding the mic out for the crowd to sing. Geddy and Alex simply smiled at the crowd on occassion, made some faces and gestures and moved around the stage every so often to keep the crowd yelling and playing air guitar. Obviously, Neil was extremely busy in his cavernous drum set....

After an announcement from Geddy that the band was "getting older by the minute", they took an intermission. The sad thing about this was that I was just about to go to the bathroom anyway, but now had to contend with what seemed like the whole freakin' crowd standing in line. Blah... my luck.

Another part of the video skit comes on (still funny) and then they break into Tom Sawyer as the crowd goes wild to start the second set. Actually, they then play the entire Moving Pictures album song for song! Very cool! Perhaps the main highlight for me was the VERY great "Overture/Temples of Syrinx" performance a little later from 2112. I even started joining in on the air guitar at that point. The sound and lighting effects were phenomenal throughout.

While I think that it is getting towards the end of the tour at this point, I highly recommend that anyone with a chance to catch this show... do it! It obviously rekindled my appreciation for this great band that has been around forever and is still going strong and sounding amazing! As stated earlier, the music is exceptional, the effects are amazing and even after all these years.... Geddy is still getting that high voice out there. Very entertaining and  worth admission. Not sure about those $11 beers though....

9/20/10