Backstage

What'd you say?...

Note to self, bring ear protection to concerts... My ears are still ringing...

As a side note to life, I've been a huge fan of Rush for many years now. They're on tour again this summer for their 30th anniversary. Last night I headed down to scenic Camden, NJ to catch their show at the Tweeter Center, which is right by the aquarium and in front of the battleship New Jersey. At any rate, I've seen them 3 times in the past, and quite honestly, this was the best show I've seen. A couple tech notes before I talk about the show a little... The Tweeter Center is set up as a shed for the summer. Its a big proscenium stage with a roof, and then the obligatory lawn seating further out. On the whole the place is set up very nicely, and it handles crowds pretty well it would seem. Everything cost an arm and a leg, but that's standard at any venue these days... Parking was no problem, and the lots emptied out reasonably easily at the end of the night. Sadly, because it is a shed rather than an arena, some of the lighting gear doesn't play as well, notably they have 5 truss units that descend on chain hoists at certain songs. Those things look great in an arena where they hang them out over the audience. In the shed, they hang them over the stage, and while they look interesting, I feel they just become a bit much since they already have a great lighting package on stage. Rush has always used a large video screen at the back of the stage, and this time was no different. However, they have converted from projection on a 3:4 screen, to the main screen looking like a 9:16 jumbo-tron type monitor. (9:16 - think wide screen rather than normal TV) They also have jumbo-tron strips hanging off stage in a staggered ascending wedge shape. Pyro is still in from the Vapor Trails tour during One Little Victory. There are still a couple laundry dryers out there. (they had a couple scantily clad women come out during YYZ to check the laundry, and start the dryers again. doesn't really seem like their style, but hey, they are always changing their style...) There was a rotary vending machine on stage too. Don't know what that was about, as they never took anything out, and I was too far away to see what was in it...

Now, they played 31 songs last night. 31 songs = 3 1/2 hours with one break. They did a some they hadn't played in the past, as well as most of the huge hits. They still have great chemistry on stage, and it sure looks like they still enjoy playing. Hopefully, they'll be at it another 30 years.... All in all, one hell of a show!