Rush tour.

I went to the Portland, OR show during the R30 tour, and found it quite disappointing.  I love Rush, but I think they are losing their stride and consistency as a live act.  I won't be shelling out my hard-earned cash for the Time Machine tour, but if I am impressed by the forthcoming "Clockwork Angels" and they decide to go on tour to promote that album, I will likely give them another shot.    

Harry Hood wrote: Keep in mind that many of these artists, including Rush, are getting to be about retirement age. Most of them don't want to be recording/touring until the day they die. And as you can see in the thread, a lot of people are willing to pay the prices because it "may be their last chance" to see them perform. So the artist gets to earn enough money to retire comfortably, and the fans get to see them one last time. Not a bad scenario, unless you really expect these guys to keep doing this forever, which is just ridiculous. (How would you like it if you had to work until you dropped and never got to retire?)

I'd also be more open to seeing them on this tour if "Stick It Out" and "Presto" were not included on the set-list.  The scenario you describe is indeed not a bad one at all, but if Rush does not keep up their end of the deal by playing an excellent live show, then I have a problem.  I shelled out over $75 to see them live when I was in high school, and it was not only the worst show I have ever been to in my life, but also the most expensive.  The crowd was horrible in that they were obnoxious to everyone else around them, the security was rude, and the sound quality was atrocious (especially for the first half, the second half was decent but not really anything I would call life-changing) .  The only two memorable aspects of that concert were Neil's drum solo, and the light show. 

Seriously, this is coming from a guy who has seen Flogging Molly live.  Rush tries hard, but their show really stunk it up badly.  I felt so sorry for Geddy, it seemed like he was trying hard to hit those high notes.  Alex sounded horrifyingly bad, most of the time.  I can't stand those awful Hughes and Kettner Amps he uses, they distort and mutilate everything good about his guitar tone.  It was not happening that night, I guess.  Again, Rush are my favorite band so this is a pretty big deal for me to admit that I was disappointed by my first and only Rush show.      

You know its worth it though. Saw them in Florida. 5 star show.

I saw them in Sarnia and Toronto at the Molson Amp...good show except that they took the videos too far, and didn't play enough true 'Time Machine' material (only 4 songs from pre-80's - 5 if you count the Temples as separate from 2112 Overture). I loved the MP set, but I mean the last song before the encore was Far Cry. Far Cry? Really? Come on guys, that documentary psyched me up, I was hoping to see some Xanadu action or something from Caress of Steel. Maybe even Anthem or By-Tor, or (God forbid) the Hemispheres Prelude or A Farewell to Kings. I noticed that this most recent leg they started playing the Cygnus X-1 riff at the end of Working Man - they couldn't have just taken out some of the 80's catalog they've played over the last few tours and played all of Cygnus X-1? Auuuugh those guys like to mess with our minds! And seriously, what was with the sausage machine? And the guys from I Love You Man in the last video? Give me a break. I heard 'Time Machine Tour' a few months before it started and imagined a revisiting of the old days with kimonos, doublenecks, Marshall stacks, analog drum effects like tubular bells and chimes and a gong, Rickenbackers, Gibson ES-355'/345's/335's/Howard Roberts Fusion, less cheesy videos, and an AWESOME setlist comprised of old favorites. It's not my fault I'm too young to have seen them in the glory days, they should give every fan of today's age an opportunity to hear the same songs live now that they played in the 70's, not just the 80's and 90's. You can only play Far Cry so many times...had I known the setlist in advance (I don't peep for concerts, I maintain surprise) and hadn't already bought tickets to both shows I would've only seen the Sarnia show and sold the Toronto tickets. I love those guys but they need to snap out of this weird phase they're in!