The WAL

And not because it’s the first stadium concert I’ve been to in 18 years, but because it was Rush.  I seriously can’t believe I’ve waited this long to see Rush.  Yes, Rush, in Toronto, last night (the 19th).  I’ve wanted to catch them on the last couple of tours but couldn’t make the timing or budget work.  The same when I was younger, maybe more so.

I’ve been a Rush fan since my favourite uncle gave me Signals for my 12th birthday.  Vinyl and that album got played 100s of times.  I’ve still got it, but a CD version, too, and I’ve downloaded that to MP3.  I bought every album up to Roll the Bones and backtracked a lot of older material.  Roll the Bones didn’t move me like previous work had and I missed the next couple of albums, still listening to the old stuff.  Enter the age of the Internet and the sample track from Vapor Trails hooked me again - I bought it a few days after it released, reeled back into current fandom and haven’t left.

Back to the concert.

Not counting  the intermission, they played for 3 hours and my hands hurt from applauding by the time the lights came up for real.  Two-thirds of Snakes and Arrows and a fantastic selection of other material.  Did they play all of my favourites?  No, but I didn’t expect them to.  I got “Freewill” which is my absolute favourite, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Neil Peart’s drum solo alone was worth the price of admission.  Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are still at the top of their form.  Multimedia, lasers, lights, pyrotechnics, Bob & Doug McKenzie, and a hilarious South Park lead in to “Tom Sawyer”.  Teenagers through to people in their sixties with a few people my age or a little older trailing exhausted looking kids ranging up from 8 (can’t picture my son sitting still for music that loud, that long).

I’m a humble fan.  I can’t tell you any of the historic or biographic details for anything.  I listen to and enjoy the music.  And did I enjoy the music last night.  I can only use the word spectacular.  It rolled over me, literally vibrating my bones and I wish I was still there.  Thousands of us would have sat there if they’d wanted to play all night, or all week.

I’m still only listening to Rush, or watching concert footage going back up to thirty years on You Tube, and humming or singing along.  I know I said it already, but I wish I was still there.  Best concert ever.

Side note:  I find myself with a lot of projects on the go lately that keep me away from everything but my kids.  More sooner than later, I hope.

Oh, and for all you concert-goers and would-be concert-goers, unless you’re participating in or trying to start a standing ovation, sit the fuck down.  Your fat head is in my way.

In the age of downloading, why would anyone actually buy a CD? Someone, somewhere must, at least to get the downloading started, but there must be more than that or the record companies really would go out of business like they’ve been whining/threatening for the last decade. (I have little sympathy for the big music companies. My belief is that they’ve seen their profits go down a bit not because of downloading but because people have finally started to figure out that we don’t have to listen to the same recycled crap the big players keep trying to force feed us.)

So why buy music? Only two reasons that I can think of. First, because you want the artist/band to produce more music. You do this by ensuring that they make money and you do this by supporting what they have done with your money. Second, because you genuinely enjoyed something you heard by them and want to hear more - you reward the artist for entertaining you.

I’ve bought music for both reasons recently, and I don’t buy a lot of music.

I bought “Snakes and Arrows”, the new Rush album, a few days ago. I’ve been a Rush fan since I was 12 or 13 and my uncle bought me “Signals” for my birthday. Not every album has moved me the same way and there are a couple thatwere only okay and didn’t really move me at all. But the great music is in the majority. I want them to make more.

For point number two, I turn to “Has Been”, William Shatner’s return to music. Probably a one shot, it was released a couple of years ago and several decades after his first album. I heard his renditio nof Pulp’s “Common People” and enjoyed it immensely - ridiculous and sublime at the same time. I had to buy the album. Say what you like about William Shatner and his talents or lack of them, but he’s entertaining and that’s why I bought the album. He’s also in his 70s, having a good time with what he does, and still trying new things. I hope I’m as lucky.

Two CDs, two different but equally valid reasons. Why should I have downloaded either of them?

There is no mood that can’t be improved by the appropriate Rush song. This is one of the basic tenets of my faith.

Anyone who knows me a little has at least a chance of telling you I’m a Rush fan. Anyone who knows me a little better can probably say for certain. It’s hardly a topic of constant conversation, but any time music comes up in more than a “I like this song” kind of way, the band is bound to get mentioned.

And shouldn’t it?

Rush is arguably the most influential Canadian rock band of all time with a career spanning nearly four decades so far. No one else comes close in length, breadth, or depth of career. And unlike most successful Canadian bands, they haven’t abandoned their homeland for the US. The combination of lyrics, music, and Geddy Lee’s distinct voice is impossible to match and every album is a new experience. (Wow, that last sentence wasn’t too sickeningly fannish.)

Rush is releasing a new album on 01 May called “Snakes and Arrows.” On the front page of the bands web site, you can find a sample track titled “Far Cry” that has apparently been released as a single (you’d think they’d get more play in Canada, hmm?) I like it. The song doesn’t displace anything in my Rush Top 10, or wouldn’t if I stopped to decide what those ten might be, but I definitely like it.

Excited is too strong of a word, but it’s been several years and I’m ready for some new Rush. I won’t be in line on 01 May to be the first to buy it, and it isn’t too likely that I’ll be near a music store any time in May (but you never know). You will find a copy in my CD collection relatively in the near future, though.

I’m thinking about making “Freewill” my theme music, though some days I look at how fast my kids are growing and think maybe it should be “Time Stand Still”.  Both, and a dozen other Rush songs, are on my MP3 player right now.