Went with my uncle, cousin, parents and brother. Was at Scottstrade Center. Bought a rad R40 baseball jersey at the merch stand.
We had some pretty decent seats. We were pretty far up by near the
stage close to Geddy. Not ideal but not bad. This did bother me for the
first handful of songs; I kept focusing on the negatives (venue's too
big and impersonal for my standards, they don't improvise enough, etc.)
but then I realized how ridiculous I was being. Rush is my favorite band
and I should sit back, relax, and enjoy, instead of worrying if it's
going to live up to my expectations. And when I did that I got wrapped
up in the show. The boys delivered an awesome two set (plus encore) show
with lots of fan favorites and a few deep cuts (Jacob's Ladder, What
You're Doing) with Rush's trademark virtuosity with minimal mistakes and
a good amount of energy. Being an anniversary tour, and possibly their
last, R40 is set up like a walk back in time. Starting with a few tracks
from the recent Clockwork Angels, they slowly played their way back
into their catalog until they finished with Working Man (and an excerpt
from the unreleased debut album outtake Garden Road), all the while
roadies in jumpsuits took away the steampunk stage paraphernalia from
the last two tours and replaced them with washing machines (2000s
tours), then stacks of amps (for show, of course), then broken down to
just a few amps on chairs and a discoball, just like the 70s highschool
gymnasiums they used to play would have (only bigger). They did gloss
over the 90s and 80s material but if you saw the last tour you'll have
gotten your fill on that material. They also had the standard comedic
videos, admittedly cheesy video effects, and laser lights. Neil's drum
set was also notably small(er), with no electronics, just an acoustic
glockenspiel and some bells.
Overall it was an amazing concert and I had a wonderful time. If
this is the last time I see my favorite band then it will be a good show
to end off with. Bravo boys, thank you so much :)
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