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Canadian prog-rock icons Rush have gone back on the road to support their latest studio album, Clockwork Angels. After the success of last year’s Time Machine tour, based around the 30th anniversary of the Moving Pictures album, many speculated that this time the boys might mark the same milestone for the Signals album. While that album only contributed 2 tracks to the setlist (nor did 2112 get featured for the “pre-centennial”), the 80’s were surely the centerpiece of this show, along with the new album.
The concert opened with Subdivision, from the aforementioned Signals. An unexpected choice that was surprisingly effective, and got the close to sold out crowd at the Bell Centre on their feet and singing along (or air drumming). After diving straight into The Big Money and Force Ten, Rush delighted the crowd of die hards by playing some long forgotten gems like Grand Designs, The Body Electric, Territories and The Analog Kid, a personal favorite of mine. Neil Peart’s showpiece drum solo came earlier than usual, towards the end of the first set, and in shorter form. It turned out that it just got split in 3 and was scattered around the show, to the delight of the many drummers in the crowd.
Geddy Lee has always been a man of few words in concert, and his short interventions mostly centered around reiterating the special link between the band and the city of Montreal (many of their classic albums were recorded at Le Studio in Morin Heights, north of Montreal, and Exit…Stage Left was mostly recorded at the old Forum) and briefly introducing the songs, which must have been useful for any casual fan in the crowd, as the setlist was mainly deep cuts or tracks from their latest opus.
After a short break, a string ensemble (dubbed the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble) set up at the back of the stage, and the band came back with Caravan, the opening track from their latest album, Clockwork Angels. The vast majority of the second set turned to be devoted to this album since they followed with 8 more tracks from this album (out of 12). Understandably, it sucked some life out of the crowd, but not as much as you’d expect: this was a crowd of die hard fans, and most of them were into the new stuff. (But I pity any casual fan in the crowd, who by that time had probably recognized only 2-3 tracks in the show)
After presenting most of their new album, they went back to deep cuts with a spectacular rendition of Manhattan Project. It segued into the last part of the drum solo, and then Red Sector A, a staple of their live set for years that got support from an impressive array of multi colored lights. Finally, they got the crowd back to a frenzy by launching into their classic YYZ, from their Moving Pictures album. It’s a rare feat to get an entire arena so pumped for an instrumental track! They closed the set with the always popular The Spirit of Radio.
As en encore, the band played the unavoidable Tom Sawyer and parts 1,2 & 4 of their epic 2112. Hearing the first two parts is not unusual, but the addition of the Grand Finale part was great, and made for a spectacular end to the concert.
After almost 40 years of career, Rush remains a relevant band that manages to leverage its past while still presenting new material. They haven’t lost a step in their in their instrumental prowess, but you can tell that age (the band members are all around 60 years old) is catching up to Geddy Lee’s voice. Lots of down-tuning and rearranging of the melody lines help him deal with it, but you can’t help wonder how many years they have left. It’s a good thing they’re touring constantly! Let’s enjoy them while we can.
Set One
- Subdivisions
- The Big Money
- Force Ten
- Grand Designs
- The Body Electric
- Territories
- The Analog Kid
- Bravado
- Where’s My Thing? (with Drum Solo)
- Far Cry
Set Two
- Caravan
- Clockwork Angels
- The Anarchist
- Carnies
- The Wreckers
- Headlong Flight
- (with drum solo)
- Halo Effect
- Seven Cities of Gold
- The Garden
- Manhattan Project
- Drum Solo
- Red Sector A
- YYZ
- The Spirit of Radio
Encore
- Tom Sawyer
- 2112 Part I: Overture
- 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx
- 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale
He's also a regular contributor at the excellent news site Montreal Rampage
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