Rush R40: A Religious Experience

I can now say that there is no worse feeling that a Rocker can feel than standing but 10 feet from one of the greatest of life's experiences.

"What if they start on time? They are very nice Canadians who probably won't keep people waiting."
"Everyone we've seen has started at 9."

We got to the Pepsi Center after finding parking that cost less than $30. Through the metal detector. Pretty lame crowd. No metal here (get it?). In the elevator. It was pretty quiet on the ground floor other than the janitor saying "Getty is right there, dude! I just opened the door and-" Once in the elevator though, every time the door opened was like an audio invasion. The crowd was cheering. We reached the 3rd floor just in time to hear the smash of Peart's set. They were very punctual Canadians.

That's when it happened. "In need to go to the bathroom."
Seriously? Who does that. "If you're not out in 5 minutes, I'm leaving you. Not there, I mean we are through." 
For the next 4 and a half minutes, I sat there doing a potty dance outside the Men's restroom. I didn't have to go, I just couldn't stand listening to Rush when I could have been screaming at the boys. Oh, god we are missing it!!! Talk about distress. 

The second I caught site of my partner in crime, I didn't say a word, I just ran like I had robbed the band. It didn't help that the place had the most confusing signs ever, we just kept busting into curtains until we found our rightful place. It was like a stage light drenched dream. Why was I seeing Rush? What the fuck is this? WHO AM I?! Talk about surreal.

My ears were instantly assaulted by sick Rock and Roll and my eyes blinded by the lights. My brain failed to believe that the site in front of me was real. I've had MY HERO Robert Plant look right at me, and I fully believe that happened... My seeing Rush... all the proof I have of that is the $70 missing from my bank account and the concert T I have covered in chocolate.

My readers know how I like to get to the nitty gritty of a whole show, but I was so Dazed and Confused that I can't even recall the show. I swear, I was sober.

Before I knew it, I had pealed all of my nail polish off and was getting ready to start my toes. I was itching to stand up, but damn, people are tight asses in the nose-bleeds. I was enticed by the young man (maybe 16?) a few rows down who was standing on the railing, Throwing his body back and forth over said 3rd story railing drumming, and pointing angrily at the stage while yelling at his mom. He was feeling it.

I can listen to Rush and bang my head on a wall all day, but even I am not fully versed in the art of Rush's discography. The first half of the show was an hour and a half that went by in 20 minutes. In that time, they squeezed in Roll the Bones, the album we listened to on the way up, and Clockwork Angels. Oh yeah and Subdivisions. AND on Roll the Bones, there was a breakdown. The boys got funky and added the some funky familiar faces to the mix. I'm not familiar with all of the guys in the video, but it was a spectacle. 

I'm 100% against recording videos at concerts, but I even steadied my boyfriend's hand when he held his Die-Pod out in front of my face to get proof to show his family. Do these guys know how to party?! oookaaay...

Rush is the only band we've seen that has taken an intermission. You know who opens for Rush? Rush. I took this time to contemplate if I should buy the most expensive T-shirt I've ever owned. It took about 5 minutes for me to decide yes, I need this. I could have plundered all my funds at the merch table, but I began twitching again when I heard the man next to us say "Yeah, they just got done playing the video." My timing was just off that night. I hurriedly paid for my shirt as that sweet beat from Tom Sawyer began to play. We ran, slowing around the guards, back around to our seats. I was pulled into a random gate just in time to see Peart's iconic dshdshdshdsh CSHHH with my own eyes. 

QUICK! to the opposite side of the building! In the second half, things changed. Most of the jams from the beginning were softer, less known, the lighting wasn't as bright, and the use of pyrotechnics was far in between. My eyes and ears had adjusted by that point, but I had a fking heart attack when I looked down for a fraction of a second at my hand and a set of fireworks when off. I've seen horror movies, I've had spiders land on me, but I jumped out of my skin, literally a foot. I think I have PTSD now.

The second half was all the radio plays and YYZ. I haven't heard that on on the radio, but I screamed like a banshee when those cute little dings rang out. I played bass for a long time, and that song killed that dream for me because I knew that I would never be able to top that. Thanks, Geddy Lee. 

The Spirt of Radio was another anticipated piece.It is

fun and everyone can get down with it. If every one knows it so well, why talk about it? Well I was just overjoyed by the lights they chose. Living in Colorado, everything these days seems to be Rasta coloured. I hate it. I think that this was the first time I have ever seen that red, green, and yellow and screamed with excitement. The Reggae pause was accentuated perfectly.

There was a lot to notice while watching the show. Other than the wonderful fact that the venue was also the place where the state's hockey team played and there was a Canadian flag hung from the rafters, the stage was constantly evolving. Or devolving. As the halves went on, washing machines and amp stacks grew and then dissipated. The red jumpsuit clad roadies had to get roofing ladders to reach the top. after each song it seamed Alex Lifeson and Geddy were changing guitars, and even after the intermission, Niel had magically changed drum kits. Actually, our seats were off to the side so it wasn't that magical to see behind the curtain, but for musicians, the art of stage presence was a show in itself.

The show progressed and things touched back down to Earth for Jacob's Ladder. It was something I had never heard, but it was serene and vibrant.

Of course on the way to the show we had joked about how the entire show would be one song, ha-ha, but I really wasn't expecting 2112. It was my first introduction to a full Rush album and the book it is inspired by is one of my favourites. A little old man at work even calls me Anthem after I read to him. It was an odyssey that took us to the end of the second half. 

The people would not leave, the show had to go on. On the big screen, a peculiar man came on and introduced  shy young trio called... Rush. Rush opens for Rush and Rush closes for Rush. It had been three hours since since I walked into the Pepsi Center. The next day and the Hard Rock Cafe I would bemuse with a Rush clad woman over how I could have stayed for another 3 hours, but all goo things must come to an end.

I don't know if it was for effect or what, but at the start of the final song, 4 men in hard hats filed down the floor aisle. Working Man it was. Alex made sweet love to his 6-string as we sat screaming like wild apes. It was a moment dreaded since we left home the day before. The end of the show. at that point, the curtain dropped and more hard hatted men came out of the woodwork to take down the stage. On the big screen began a video

The boys walked toward a dressing room that was being guarded by a bouncer puppet. Inside was a lovely party of album art characters, including a beautiful Dalmatian sniffing a butt. Classy. The puppet informed the band that they were in fact not welcome. You would think that Alex Lifeson would be a sweet guy, you know, but I will never forget his angle face yelling "FUCK YOU, PUPPET!" as long as I live.