On a convenient whim, I took up my neighbor Roy’s offer to tag along with him and Mare up to the Rush gig at the Nokia Theatre last night. The Nokia’s a great place to see a show, and I figured the Rush/Nokia combination would be one I’d regret missing. I saw Tool there a few months ago.
Glad I did. Within about fifteen seconds of parting ways with Roy and Mare for the evening out in the Nokia courtyard, a guy who was upgrading to the box offered me a single ticket down in the thirteenth row on Alex’s side. Face value was $154.50. He took forty bucks with a smile and and a gracious knuckletap, wishing me a happy show. Score.
I got into Orchestra section and found my way down to a few empty seats in Row D, fourth row. The band opened with Limelight, and we were off. A few minutes later a couple enthusiastic dudes without tickets came rushing down, sneaking into Row D with me. They were standing there bouncing up and down, cheering the band on, particularly Neil Peart. It wasn’t entirely surprising to notice these two dudes were Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins.
Great show. The band went on at about 8PM, playing until 11:20 with an intermission. What I found inspiring was how you could tell that the reason these guys are touring right now is because of the simple reason that they want to jam. It was all for the love of the game, not out of obligation. They’re players. It’s who they are. It’s what they are. Playing is what they must do, even if they’re in their mid-fifties.
Rush. A drummer’s band. I ended up running into B-Load and Jerrence while I was in there, who each were on solo missions and stuck in Loge. With the help of Roy’s stub during the intermission, we all ended up down near the front. A couple good shots from B-Load. Click each for a larger version:
Three lame shots from my cell:
And speaking of Taylor Hawkins and Rush:
Setlist:
Video Intro (features all 3 band members)
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro)
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline
*Intermission*
Video Intro (What’s That Smell? features all 3 members, Jerry Stiller)
Far Cry
Workin’ Them Angels
Armor And Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer (with South Park intro)
Encore:
One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ
Video Outro (Alex, Neil, Jerry Stiller)
wow; i didn’t know that you caught that show. hell, i didn’t realize they were already coming through town! looks like it was pretty intense. i would’ve liked to hear that song “stick it out” from a few years ago, performed live at some point in my life. the record is just huge. i guess they consider it a throwaway single, though, eh? i suppose i would too, with that catalogue.
if you haven’t done so before, you ought to align yourself with some steely dan tickets for their upcoming show in july. total annihilation, fer realz.