Jaybird's Jottings

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Snakes and Arrows)

 Tour: Snakes and Arrows

Dates: June 13, 2007 to October 29, 2007, April 11, 2008 to July 24, 2008

Number of Shows:  113

Running Total:  1,790

Cost: $52.50 to $125

Recap:  RUSH fans have a hard time pronouncing Nick Raskulinecz’s name, but we’re very confident in saying he did a fantastic job producing the band’s 18 studio record.   Snakes and Arrows, which debuted at number three on Billboard’s charts, is arguably RUSH’s best since Moving Pictures.

Tour Highlight:   RUSH played nine songs off Snakes and Arrows (as Eric notes, that’s the most ever for a new record) and reached back for A Passage to Bangkok and Circumstances.  I think the humorous clips were the best to date (Remember Count Dracula??)

Personal Note:  Of the three times I’ve seen RUSH at Nissan Pavilion (get this, it’s now called Jiffy Lube Live) this one was the best.   I love Spindrift and Armor and Sword and they played both.   Geddy, Alex and Neil were in the best of moods, especially Alex.   I had an aisle seat, and no lie, on the drive to the show I saw a Jacob’s Ladder.

Photo:  Only thing I have from this record is the CD and my ticket stub somewhere hiding.

Concluding Thoughts

Well, there you have it, what I hope is an accurate tally of the information we have on RUSH’s shows.   Apologies for any mistakes I made.

I doubt we will ever know the exact number of shows from the pre-Neil years, but we know RUSH with Neil is approaching the 2,000 mark.    One can hope they would celebrate that milestone, one few bands reach.

In doing this compiling, I have gained a greater appreciation of RUSH as a touring band.  I’m a little bleary eyed from pushing myself to get this project done.   We, as fans, can only imagine what they felt like at the end of each tour.  

Note:  Thanks again to Eric and his awesome PowerWindows site, and Ed Stenger who keeps us informed on all things RUSH.   And of course, thanks to Geddy, Alex and Neil, and all those who help them keep the show on the road and get to the next concert hall...  

 

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (R30)

 Tour: R30

Dates: May 26, 2004 to October 1, 2004

Number of Shows:  58

Running Total: 1,677

Cost: $49.50 to $95.00

Recap:  R30 marked their 30^th year together with Neil.  The tour supported Feedback, the band’s way of paying  homage to their British influences.

Tour Highlight:   30 songs, Jerry Stiller, the covers and the medley of older songs.

Personal Note:    There’s been an on-going debate about rock concerts.   If you are the kind of fan who likes to stand the whole time, should you be considerate of those behind you who don’t, and sit down when they do?  

I’m no spring chicken so I admit to sitting down when everyone else does, but it is a funny feeling.   I guess it depends on the song, too.  Anyway, I remember this being a problem with some of the fans near me at the R30 show in Bristow.   If you are among those who do stand when you feel like or the whole time, I defend your right to rock out the way it should be.   Bring back festival seating I say!   Ok, maybe not…

Photo:  These are from Neil’s book Roadshow, the National Park Passport Stamps he collected from his visits while on the R30 tour.   As you can see, he included Virginia.  In fact he is rather fond of the Old Dominion, saying, “…I became enraptured by the area, and still consider it some of the best riding in the East.”   

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Vapor Trails)

 Tour: Vapor Trails

Dates: June 28, 2002 to November 23, 2002

Number of Shows:  66

Running Total: 1,619

Cost: $47.50 to $94.50

Recap:  In the summer of 2002, RUSH fans like myself purchased an item at the show, one that we wish did not have to be.   Ghost Rider, Neil’s second book, documents the tragedies that struck him five years earlier, and his recovery process.   Time did its healing and RUSH, whose future had been very uncertain, got back together to record Vapor Trails.

Tour Highlight:  For the first time in their career, RUSH head down to South America.  Brazil opens its arms with three big shows.   The crowds go crazy, singing along to YYZ, something that has to be seen to fully appreciate.   Rush in Rio is recorded.    The band also bring back Cygnus X-1, Working Man and By-Tor and the Snow Dog.  And who can forget the crazy ramblings of the lead guitar player?

Personal Note:  I remember buying Ghost Rider at the show and reading the first part as the crews set up.   I'm not afraid to say I got teary-eyed.

Photo:  I stopped collecting RUSH memorabilia after Counterparts.   For this photo, I took one from the VT Tourbook.  Photo by Andrew MacNaughtan.

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Test for Echo)

 Tour: Test for Echo

Dates: October 19, 1996 to December 1996   May 7, 1997 to July 4, 1997

Number of Shows: 68

Running Total:  1,553

Cost: $35 to $45

Recap:  The “Evening With Rush” era begins, no opening bands, and a 20-minute intermission (“to rest some brain cells,” Geddy quipped).  RUSH also began to play the pavilions and amphitheaters. 

Tour Highlight:  If memory serves me (it better because a lot of this is from my recalling), this tour was the first to have the big video screens and band-cams.  I remember thinking it was either the best thing to happen to concerts or the worse.

Personal Note:  Derek came down and we saw this one at the US Air Arena in Landover.  We were high-fiving when Alex started to play Discovery.    They also brought back Natural Science, a real crowd pleaser.    

Photo:   I stopped collecting RUSH memorabilia after Counterparts.   For this photo, I took one from my Vapor Trails tourbook.   Photo by Andrew McNaughton. 

 

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Counterparts)

 Tour:  Counterparts

Dates: January 22, 1994 to May 7, 1994

Opening Bands: Candlebox, The Melvins, Primus, The Doughboys, I Mother Earth

Number of Shows:  54

Running Total: 1,485

Cost: $20 to $35

Recap:  RUSH cut back big time on the number of shows, almost half of Roll the Bones.    

Tour Highlight:  Recorded Different Stages.

Personal Note:  I was stationed in Phoenix and saw them there.   Not much stands out in my memory.  A buddy of mine went with me, and I appreciated that.   I nicknamed Candlebox “Chatterbox” because the lead singer liked to talk a lot.  (You’re hired to play, not give long stories).

Photo:  Article from Guitar World, photo by Andrew MacNaughton.   

 

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Roll the Bones)

 Tour: Roll the Bones

Dates:  October 25, 1991 to June 28, 1992

Opening Bands: Eric Johnson, Vinnie Moore, Primus, Mr. Big, Andy Curran, The Tragically Hip

Number of Shows:  103

Running Total: 1,431

Cost: $19 to $25

Recap:  Rejoicing echoed across Rushland as the band bumped up their show total to 103, the most since Signals.    The tour returned to Europe, including a rare date in Paris.

Tour Highlight:  RUSH fans got itchy feet waiting to see them, but the opening bands, at least on paper, on this tour were the best ever.

Personal Note:  I was stationed in Tunisia.  Got extremely lucky to get some training and a conference back in the states in March.   Robert and I drove to see the show in Chapel Hill.  We hit Franklin Street that afternoon, the main drinking drag at the UNC campus, and then walked over to the Dean Dome for the show.   Enjoyed hearing Les Claypool and Primus.   Rush rocked the full house as usual but we didn’t have great seats.   I was really spoiled before that, always getting good to excellent seats.

 Photo:  Geddy’s Bass Player Magazine interview, Jun 1992, photo by Andrew McNaughton

 

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Presto)

 Tour: Presto

Dates:  Feb 15, 1990 to June 25, 1990

Opening Bands: Mr. Big, Chalk Circle, Voivod

Number of Shows: 65

Running Total: 1,328

Cost: $18 to $20

Recap:  RUSH get mean and lean with 65 shows, their lowest total since 2112.  

Tour Highlight:  The bunnies, of course!

Personal Note:  Robert and I drove down to Greenville to see the opening night of the tour.  That afternoon we threw the frisbee and some softball in the parking lot.   In my photo, you see the fans gathered.   Rush definitely stripped things down for Presto.   We enjoyed hearing this back to basics approach and the rocking bunnies added a humorous touch.   

Photo:  Tour ad, our ticket stubs, and a photo I took of fans hanging out in front of the Greenville Auditorium.     

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Hold Your Fire)

Tour:  Hold Your Fire

Dates: October 29, 1987 to May 5, 1988

Opening Bands: MSG, Tommy Shaw, Chalk Circle, The Rainmakers

Number of Shows: 83

Running Total: 1,263

Cost: $15.50 to $18.50

Recap:  Another mid-size tour, but the fans in England and Western Europe are pleased once again. 

Tour Highlight:  Recorded A Show of Hands video and album.

Personal Note:   The list of ho-hum warm up bands for RUSH is a mile long.   But on this tour, if you were lucky enough to catch MSG, you were in for a treat.   With Greensboro being skipped, Robert and I drove to Charlotte and Raleigh to see the show.   What a great guitarist Michael Schenker is.  I remember the way he made his guitar sounds and effects change throughout several songs.   

Photo:  Article by Paul Gallotta from Circus magazine. Photo by Rick Gould.

Those Other Files

Life for a blogger can be rough.  My editor just jumped on my back for falling behind on things non-RUSH.

Here we go.

Events

A couple of fantastic, grow-the-sport gets in the making for DC.     Although nothing is official, it appears the first stage of the 2012 Giro d’Italia, one of cycling’s Big Three, will be held here.  As VeloNation notes: “It will be the first time a Grand Tour has ever featured stages outside Europe, and will be a massive boost for the sport in the US.”    No brainer with the Washington landmarks, wide avenues, local officials well-versed in cordoning off the streets and biking has taken off here.   

As New England Hockey Journal first reported, and now the mainstreamers are saying is probable, the NHL’s Winter Classic 2011 will be played at Nationals Park.     Mark New Year’s Day on your calendar, and the hair of the dog party that night.

Something more cerebral and less of a wait is DC’s own Tim Wendel, author of the new book, High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time.  In March, he will be appearing at the Barnes and Noble in Potomac Yard.   By the way, Giants and Tim Lincecum fans will want to search his book at Amazon.  Wendel sat down with The Enchanter.    There’s also a photo of Lincecum and below it is Steve Strasburg.  Dare we dream the two young fireballers meet at Nationals Park this year?

Visits

Took in the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum last weekend.   It’s tucked away in the US Trade and Patent Office campus in Carlyle.   Small, but worth a visit.   Don’t miss the Portrait Gallery where Steve Wozniak talks with his fellow tinkerers.     

Watching

The Olympics.  The hockey has been great and there is no greater drama in sports when four years worth and sometimes more of training and devotion comes down to a couple of minutes of pressure-packed performance.   The better half has turned me into a figure skating fan.   Don’t let their outfits fool you.  These are, arguably, the greatest athletes of them all.

Observing

When it comes to news reporting, I’m not sure which is better.   The Cronkite old way of waiting and being sure before reporting on something, or the new trickling out, uh-oh we jumped the gun, ok now it’s being reported but not official yet way.   This just in -- I’m a news junkie so I like both.

Reading

Lincoln:  Great American Historians on our Sixteenth President.    C-SPAN put it together last year, a collection of essays from 56 leading historians, journalists and writers.   Among them are Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Herbert Donald, James McPherson, Harold Holzer, and Shelby Foote.

I am thoroughly enjoying these oral to paper essays.   At first, I picked them out by the author name, then a couple by topic, but now it’s just by turning the page to the next one.   This book is that good.

One thing worth mentioning is the level of passion towards politics back then.   Next time you hear someone say, politics has gotten out of hand, it’s so ugly these days, ask them to read Mark Neely’s essay.

 He writes:

“In nineteenth century America, people got so excited about politics that by the time elections rolled around, there were often scuffles in the streets, canings of newspaper editors who had printed some calumny about a politician, and a little violence at the polls.  When the politics campaigns got very heated, a politician would challenge another politician to a duel.” 

My continuing challenge is to get up to speed as we head into the Civil War 150 commemorations.

What do you think?  Should I tackle Team of Rivals?

Uh-oh, my editor is frowning and shaking his head…

 

 

 

 

 

Concert Hall: RUSH by the Numbers (Power Windows)

 Tour: Power Windows (Plus Warm Up)

Dates:  March 10 to March 15, 1985 December 4, 1985 to May 26, 1986

Number of Shows: 76

Running Total : 1,180

Cost: $13.50 to $15.50

Recap:  No doubt they were disappointed over the pond that RUSH was not coming, but the boys were now past 30 years old, had kids growing up, and were planning for the long haul.     

Tour Highlight:  Recorded A Show of Hands at the Meadowlands.

Personal Note:   I was back in the States so it was great to see RUSH after a three-year hiatus.  BOC is my second favorite band so it was cool to have them as the supporting band.   We recalled the show in 1976 when the two had played together. 

I remember having a peak experience after this show.  Robert and I talked about what RUSH meant to us, how the videos added a great dimension to the show (Marathon!), and how great it was to be back in Greensboro, our hometown.   

Photo:   A photograph (by Mark Weiss) from International Musician and Recording World magazine (Dec 1985).  RUSH was on the cover.