R30 - 30TH ANNIVERSARY WORLD TOUR

I'm listening right now to a wonderful bootleg from this tour entitled Project R30 from 26-05-2004 that has the whole show and that's the only fault of this wodwerful dvd: it did not have the full concert. the songs that are not on the dvd set list are: Bravado, YYZ & The Trees (between RTB and The Seeker) and the great One little victory (after The Seeker) from their wonderfull comeback album Vapor Trails. The second set (corresponding to DVD 2) starts with the funny Darn that Dragon intro and the DVD omissions are Secret Touch (another gfreat track from VT, played after Dreamline), Red Sector A (just before the dum solo) and, after the acoustic set, La Villa Strangiatto & By-Tor and the Snow Dog. I believe that all Rush fans and rock fans in general would agree that these omissions in a celebratory DVD are a misstep, almost unforgettable. I hope that a new edition correct this fault.

Beside this sin (the only thing that robs a 5-star review from me) the show is wonderful played. Very different from Rio as the crowd are less noisy than we south americans are (what is good from a bootlegger point of view but reveals why rock groups like our audiences and our passion). The set list isn't that far from Rio's and only the addition of the lackluster covers from Feedback (where the songs were treated with too much respect and didn't receive a full Rush arrangement) and the eventual change of one song from another (Subdivisions is any day better than the rest of the 80's pieces from Rio's) makes some difference. On the other hand, the atmosphere is very different, with the band closer to the audience. And of course we have the wonderful intro with the oldies we all love but they don't play anymore (Geddy's voice is too tired for Bastille Day or Finding my way).

The extras are the real jewell from this set. "Clips" from the seventies (basically the band mimicking their then new songs - with special attention to the pair AFTK-Hemispheres). The Fly by Night video is from the same session of the Anthem in Rio's. And the interviews are great, really informative and funny.

This is a must-have for all Rush fans and a great introduction for newbies. As I said above the omission of the full concert prevents me of a 5-star rating but this reveals more my frustration than the less-than-perfect quality of this product. Buy it without thinking, even my two years-old boy love it (he asks all the time for Disney's Fantasia and the "Washing machine" show).