June 18 2015 – In late 2012 we saw Rush on their Clockwork Angels tour and knew this was a band at its peak (a peak that has lasted over 30 years by the way), and were hoping the slope down would be gradual and not an abrupt drop from a cliff. Well word has it that this tonight’s show will be Rush’s last major tour before they contemplate moving to residencies and one-offs. While the thought of that is both an awakening call to how fast time marches on as well as a realization that we must enjoy Rush while they are still doing what they do, there is nothing as exciting as a Rush hometown show. The idea of residencies will certainly involve Toronto (my speculation not a cited fact) because unlike Motley Crue, Celine Dion, and Def Leppard, Rush does not strike us as a Vegas band. Imagine a 20 night run at Massey Hall over the span of a month!
This is what we had to say in our article of must see shows for 2012 – “When they boys from Rush play the hometown of Toronto there is magic in the air. With Rush not only do you get to see a band with 24 consecutive gold albums under their belt but you get to see the world’s best living drummer in Neil Peart. Throw in Geddy Lee who aside from being one of the best bassists ever, can also sing and play keyboards at the same time as kicking bass pedals. Guitarist Alex Lifeson completes the trio with his mind-blowing riffs. The technical mastery of the three local rockers is unparalleled by any band….”
Tonight on Wednesday June 17 2015, we saw Rush in Toronto’s Air Canada Center for the first of two sold out shows on this, their 40th year anniversary tour named R40 Live. As usual the band begins their shows with a funny video of themselves dressed up as various characters – an attempt to keep things light-hearted before they dive into the musical wizardry that defines their being. This night’s video was an animated look at the band’s history full of images from album covers, songs, and general band associated brands (i.e Starman), not only did the imagery flash before our eyes, our protagonists hair and fashion made similar transitions to their current day which is the point they light up the stage with The Anarchist from the band’s latest album Clockwork Angels.
Clockwork Angels was T-Mak World’s number one album of 2012 (full top 10 list is here) and the cyberpunk concept album/book of order vs chaos was well represented. On the last tour Rush played (almost) the full album with an orchestra accompanying them but tonight it was just the three guys on stage with a trio of songs from that album to kick off the night.
After three songs Lee finally addresses the crowd with “Well look who have here…. Toronto, Canada! How are you guys? So great to be home, so nice to play for you all, thank you for coming out, not only tonight but the last fourty plus years. We got a bit of a celebration going tonight – smile and look pretty.” And he kicks off Far Cry.
What happens through the night is a reverse chronological time machine of the band’s 40 years of rock. Starting with the latest album and going back meticulously to earlier albums, until we get to the very beginning with Working Man to close the night. In between we make stops to visit 15 of the band’s 20 studio albums (the only ones that got no love were the late 80’s trio of Power Windows, Hold Your Fire and Presto as well as 1996’s Test For Echo and their 2004 covers album Feedback).
In fact the stage transformed throughout the night to accompany the timeline being played, all the way down to a single amp on a chair at for the finale of Working Man. Great lasers for the songs from the 70’s, the imagery of the 80’s, the pyrotechnic explosions of the 90’s – it was all there. The beauty of concerts like these is that they are so much more than simply the music – every little detail is there for a purpose.
Although the 40 year mark is somewhat arbitrary because Neil Peart actually joined the band 41 years ago, their first album came out 41 years ago, and the band formed 47 years ago, but whatever – call it what you want guys, when the music flows like it did – WOW! Gee and Lifeson are 61 and Peart is 62 but they have lost very little bounce in their step and could easily be mistaken with their 40 year old selves.
The tour so far has featured 3 variations of the setlist – “A”, “B”, and “C” as the fans have called them on the forums. The differences are as follows:
- Setlist “A” features Clockwork Angels, One Little Victory, Distant Early Warning, and Red Barchetta (as well as the 20 common songs and the drum solo)
- Setlist “B” features The Wreckers, How It Is, Between the Wheels, and The Camera Eye (as well as the 20 common songs and the drum solo)
- Setlist “C” features Clockwork Angels, One Little Victory, Distant Early Warning, and YYZ and a bonus song Natural Science (as well as the 20 common songs and the drum solo)
Toronto got Setlist A which is unfortunate as YYZ is almost a must in this city – surely they will play it on the next show in Toronto. The other cool thing about tonight is that the concert was being filmed for the DVD release of this tour. No matter how many times you see Rush it still is a very cool feeling knowing that these guys go to the same movie theaters, eat at the same restaurants and drive the same streets that you do everyday. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are still residents of Toronto, although drummer Neil Peart has moved away to LA and no longer calls Toronto his home.
While the first third of the show featured the “new” stuff and was certainly the least familiar for many in attendance, the second third of the show which straddled the intermission featured the commercial peak of Rush in the early 80’s. Oddly enough the band did not dwell too much in that era tonight and only featured Distant Early Warning, Subdivisions, Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta and The Spirit of Radio and Jacob’s Ladder. This was the segment in the show that had the casual fans most excited.
After the commercial hits were rolled out, the hardcore Rush fans (a large portion of the attendees tonight) got what they came for. The golden age of Rush kicked off with Jacob’s Ladder – an epic rocker that was not on the setlist since 1980. Cygnus X-1, 2112 (most of the multi-part song was played) and Spirit of Radio. The Air Canada Center was lit up and Rush had their hometown fans in the palm of their hands.
Xanadu – double neck guitar AND double neck bass. This is getting really intense as most in the audience have been with Rush since the 70’s and 80’s. This is the imagery and sounds of our youth – the analogue years – a time of vinyl and where concerts were not a Twitterfest.
The encore brought our heroes back to a simpler time. A smaller stage set up, Peart on a small drum kit like he started with, just one amp sitting on a chair, and no video backdrops. Lakeside Park, Anthem (!!!!), What You’re Doing, and Working Man brought us Toronto boys back to our high school days. What an emotional ride.
The show was about 155 minutes of Rush magic and the band plays Toronto again on Friday June 19th. Needless to say it is sold out but if you missed the gig tonight a visit to your friendly local “Broker” is highly suggested.
The show was easily one of the best we have seen Rush deliver however there were a couple of minor things we noticed. The sound seemed a bit flat where we were sitting – one of our editors described it as a tin can sound – not enough bass. The second complaint we had was that the crowd was extremely mellow tonight and were not going as crazy as we would have expected for such a monumental show. Then again this is quite typical of Toronto audiences overall. Last but not least was the absence of Professor Peart’s epic drum solo – there were a couple of star moments for him but there was no long drum solo and rotating drum kit like in the past.
Verdict: 5 out of 5 – It should be no surprise that Rush playing in Toronto approaches the unreal, but Rush playing Toronto in what is widely regarded as their last major tour has special meaning. The band has earned a 40+ year hall of fame type of history and their meticulous reverse chronological trip tonight stirred deep emotions for the audience. We have no doubts we will see Rush again, but this show goes down in the annals of rock history as epic. To sum it up nicely:
“I could live my life A lot better than I think I am I guess that’s why they call me They call me the working man”
