Rush v. Dirk, Pratt, & Lerxst

[Architeuthis]

The set list was awesome on the Snakes and Arrows tour. I saw them on both legs of that tour in 2007/2008. The only thing I didn't like was that the volume was too low at both shows, and Neil's drum sound was sub-par. The toms were tuned flat and had no resonance compared to other Rush tours I've seen. They stepped it up on the Time Machine tour and cranked the volume back up again. Still, the best drum sound I've heard was on the Presto and R30 tours hands down!

[KevShmev]

The S&A tour sure was awesome for bringing back songs few thought we'd seen again:

Entre Nous (who saw that coming)
Digital Man
Circumstances
A Passage to Bangkok

And of course the return of Mission (which was inevitable). 

I completely agree, but I think the fanbase as a whole definitely lost their collective shit more over Jacob's Ladder, Cygnus, Hemispheres, and full glory Xanadu on the R40 tour, along with the other rare goodies that tour offered.

That's true.  I guess for me, the S&A tour was the last tour where Geddy's voice was tolerable most of the time. I still enjoyed every subsequent tour when I saw them live, since it's easy to get caught up in the euphoria of the show and overlook certain things, but on the live DVDs, it's brutal.

[Polarbear]

I think i said this earlier somewhere, but i would have loved to see them perform Available Light.

Hell, i would have loved to see them live at least once. They didn't exactly visit Finland many times, and i missed my last chance during the CA tour due to personal commitments...

[IDontNotDoThings]

It's always sad to see when a band has a large discography that songs from later albums tend to get ignored unless they're the bigger singles from those albums. At the same time though, it's like "what can you really do". That said, I definitely respect Rush for taking a bit of a risk with their later setlists & bringing back a lot of 80's material. That's more than I can say for a lot of bands.

[King Postwhore]

Rush, U2, The Stones, these bands have the latitude to play album cuts.  Not many bands can do that.

[Stadler]

I think i said this earlier somewhere, but i would have loved to see them perform Available Light.

Hell, i would have loved to see them live at least once. They didn't exactly visit Finland many times, and i missed my last chance during the CA tour due to personal commitments...

I know not a popular sentiment, but they could have played any of Presto at any time and it would have been well received by me.  I love that album, top to bottom. 

[romdrums]

I think i said this earlier somewhere, but i would have loved to see them perform Available Light.

Hell, i would have loved to see them live at least once. They didn't exactly visit Finland many times, and i missed my last chance during the CA tour due to personal commitments...

I know not a popular sentiment, but they could have played any of Presto at any time and it would have been well received by me.  I love that album, top to bottom.

Same.  I'm glad I did get to see them on the Snakes and Arrows tour.  I would have loved to see them on the Clockwork Angels tour, especially since that set was heavy on the Power Windows material.

[AngelBack]

I think i said this earlier somewhere, but i would have loved to see them perform Available Light.

Hell, i would have loved to see them live at least once. They didn't exactly visit Finland many times, and i missed my last chance during the CA tour due to personal commitments...

I know not a popular sentiment, but they could have played any of Presto at any time and it would have been well received by me.  I love that album, top to bottom.

Totally agree, I love every song on Presto.  Read the lyrics next time you listen to Anagram, its like a grade school word search!

[Stadler]

On a related note, RUSH HELP NEEDED!  RUSH HELP NEEDED!
   
 I came across a live version of a "Working Man Medley" and I'm trying to place the date as well as I can.  I'm told it was '1980', but that doesn't jibe with what I've seen of the setlists for that tour. 
   
It's a medley, and it starts with a reggae version of Working Man, then goes into a more straightforward Working Man.  Here's the medley:
   
 Working Man (Reggae)
 Working Man
 Hemispheres: III. Armageddon
 By-Tor and the Snow Dog
 (Something I can't place, but I've heard before; interspersed with Neil on what sound almost like electronic tuned drums or a percussive keyboard sample)
 In The End
 In The Mood
 2112 Grand Finale
   
 Any thoughts?  Ideas?

[King Postwhore]

I'll check my boots. I'm sure I have it and I do think it's early 80s.

[Stadler]

That was the ending to the shows in 1981, wasn't it?  The E...SL video has part of that (no Working Man or Hemispheres). 

[jammindude]

I'm pretty sure the reggae version of Working Man was way later than the 80s. I wanna say it was VT or SAA.

[King Postwhore]

No they did a reggae version in the early 80s as well.

[Architeuthis]

I'm pretty sure the reggae version of Working Man was way later than the 80s. I wanna say it was VT or SAA.

They also did that on the Time Machine tour. It's on the dvd.

[KevShmev]

I would have loved to see them on the Clockwork Angels tour, especially since that set was heavy on the Power Windows material.

That set list was like a wet dream for this Rush fan.  Not only all of those Power Windows tunes, but we got the return of Where's My Thing and The Analog Kid as well.

[King Postwhore]

I was at the opening night of that tour and my buddy was in another section and we were texting like schoolgirls


"OMG!" "OMG!"

[KevShmev]

Texting throughout a Rush concert?  Congrats, you're old AND a millennial. 

[TAC]

He's Milleniold.

[King Postwhore]

Can't argue.

Still it was only seconds and then I was screaming like a teen girl at a Beatles show.

[ytserush]

No they did a reggae version in the early 80s as well.

First appearance of Reggae Working Man was 1980 in the Permanent Waves set.  (Can't remember what I ate for dinner last night, but I know stuff like this.)

[ytserush]

On a related note, RUSH HELP NEEDED!  RUSH HELP NEEDED!
   
 I came across a live version of a "Working Man Medley" and I'm trying to place the date as well as I can.  I'm told it was '1980', but that doesn't jibe with what I've seen of the setlists for that tour. 
   
It's a medley, and it starts with a reggae version of Working Man, then goes into a more straightforward Working Man.  Here's the medley:
   
 Working Man (Reggae)
 Working Man
 Hemispheres: III. Armageddon
 By-Tor and the Snow Dog
 (Something I can't place, but I've heard before; interspersed with Neil on what sound almost like electronic tuned drums or a percussive keyboard sample)
 In The End
 In The Mood
 2112 Grand Finale
   
 Any thoughts?  Ideas?

Give me a link and I'll ID it for you.

Without much thought, I can tell you it's from 1981 and my first inclination is to say it's the audio track from the Exit...Stage Left video since that's the best sounding version of that out there.

There are several other decent sounding versions such as the Chicago Amphitheater show in April and the Anaheim show in June.  There's also one from Hartford (Exit...Stage Left Tour) in December.

[ytserush]

I would have loved to see them on the Clockwork Angels tour, especially since that set was heavy on the Power Windows material.

That set list was like a wet dream for this Rush fan.  Not only all of those Power Windows tunes, but we got the return of Where's My Thing and The Analog Kid as well.

Where's My Thing? Never sounded better than on that tour. They were so much better as musicians than when they last played it in 1991-92.

[King Postwhore]

I had an 80's hard on throughout the first set.

[KevShmev]

You and me both.  As awesome as the 2nd set and encore was of the R40 tour, the set list for the CA tour overall was more to my liking (it was stellar from start to finish, for the most part).  Nearly every song was a winner (except for Far Cry), so there was no down time or "eh, I can't wait for this song to be over" moments. 

[fadetoblackdude7]

You and me both.  As awesome as the 2nd set and encore was of the R40 tour, the set list for the CA tour overall was more to my liking (it was stellar from start to finish, for the most part).  Nearly every song was a winner (except for Far Cry), so there was no down time or "eh, I can't wait for this song to be over" moments.

I agree...the synth-era songs worked well in contrast to the CA songs. I'm partially biased though, cuz Power Windows is my favorite Rush album.

[Nick]

In any case, I'd say all things considered Rush left us on back to back tours of two of their strongest sets ever.

[Architeuthis]

Agreed! Vapor Trails, R30, and Time Machine tours were great setlists too. 

[jjrock88]

I really liked the CA tour set list as well.  The was the last show I saw from the band and probably the last time I will ever see them, so it will have a special meaning.

[TAC]

In any case, I'd say all things considered Rush left us on back to back tours of two of their strongest sets ever.

No question. I bought the Time Machine DVD, but Geddy's vocals basically render it unlistenable.

[Architeuthis]

Geddy's vocals I think are ok on the Time Machine dvd. R40 on the other hand suffers from that. He must have had a bad night when they recorded for that dvd, he sounded great in Seattle on the R40 tour.
 As far as DVD releases go, Geddy's vocals sound best on R30 hands down!

[TAC]

Maybe it's R40. I think you're right.

[jingle.boy]

No, it's Time Machine.  I recall pretty vividly that Geddy had a pretty bad cold that night in Cleveland.  But, when the DVD filming has been planned, it's not like they can reschedule the shoot.

[TAC]

I so confused!

Whatever that last tour was, that's the one.

Just checked my DVD's..it's R40. That's the one I have.

[ytserush]

Absolute peak for me was the Clockwork Angels Tour. R40 (second set) was beginning the trek down the other side of the mountain.

[AngelBack]

Just listened to "My Fave Headache" again for the first time in a while.  I love this album.  You cant help but hear Rush but in a relaxed presentation.  This album gave me some insight as to who in Rush was writing the emotional yet uplifting chord progressions.  Runaway Train is outstanding.

Anyone else love this album?  Admittedly my opinion is peppered with a healthy dose of Rush fanboyism.