March 6 2014 – On February 22nd we were lucky enough to witness Toronto’s best RUSH band at the Rockpile East and they delivered a major league set. The main news about this show is that the band was featuring a new guitarist Francisco Meza who came on to take over the Lifeson licks and he performed admirably. His playing got stronger as the show progressed and he nailed song after song like a gunslinger in the wild west knocking down all the cans on the wooden ledge.
Needless to say Jason Popovich was a drumming machine yet again and the concentration on his face was a testament to he complexity of the music he was faithfully reproducing. Mirko Zadravec played a mean bass and keyboard and was all smiles as he felt the power of Rush elevate him to that magical place all musicians strive to be while on stage. Last but not least the singing machine that could – Frank Marino. Marino warned us that he had a cold early in the night and was sipping warm tea throughout the show but he sure gave it his all.
The show was a phenomenal success and we strongly endorse MFH for all Rush and rock lovers in Toronto and in fact the band plays March 22 2014 at the El Mocambo – so see ya there!
Check out the setlist to see the epic Rush journey.
Great show, too bad about his voice but he was a trooper and tried his best. What was with the band after them. Posers. I made it through about 5 songs and had to leave. Opener was ok, they sound similar to the Hip.
Hi Jim, didn’t know you were there! Yes the opening band is called JK Mantis (search for them on our site we have covered them a few times) and we liked them a lot. Marino told me before the show he was fighting the flu the last 2 weeks but he would give it his all, and he sure did a great job as far as I’m concerned. The band after took a very long time to set up and I think that really made them lose a bit of momentum – we only lasted one song before we left. All the best man! Terry