Rush from Manchester, NH on July 11th

OK, so, here's my quick review of the Rush show from last Friday night.

This was the first concert I'd been to in years. In fact, I'd say it was at least 3 years since my last concert. It was the first time I'd see Rush since the Test For Echo tour in 1996. All in all, the show was very good. Unlike the guys from the Who, Rush is still clearly on top of their game and for a bunch of 55-year olds, they rocked the house. To which, let me say that the show was also pretty loud, but that could just due to me getting old too.

The set list, as best I can recall it, went like this:

Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
Spirit of Radio
Witch Hunt
Tom Sawyer
One Little Victory
2112
Passage to Bangkok
YYZ

I'll admit that I was a little disappointed in the song selection from Snakes & Arrows. Quite frankly, I could have done without Spindrift and The Way the Wind Blows and would have much rather heard Bravest Face and We Hold On in their places. But that's just me, I guess.

The other thing that surprised me was the almost complete lack of recognition of whole chunks of the band's history. They didn't play a song from their Rush, FBN, CoS, FtK, PoW, Presto, Counterparts, and TFE albums and played a grand total of 1 song (One Little Victory) from Vapor Trails. For those who don't follow Rush that closely, it means that they didn't play Working Man, Closer to the Heart, Big Money, or Ghost Rider. For me, it meant no Finding My Way, Animate, Earthshine, or Vapor Trails.

All in all, though, it was still a great show.

Some background on this blog

A little background about this blog and myself in the process.

The title of the blog comes from the opening line of the song New World Man by Rush.

    "He's a rebel and a runner"

Of special note here is the fact that this is the also same song that provided my college yearbook quote, which was:

    "he's old enough to know what's right,
    and young enough not to choose it"

The significance being that I have a nasty habit of being a contrarian and the rebellious/anti-authority streak within me is well documented.

Well, enough about me. The other item of note (well, somewhat about me) is that I will be attending the Rush concert tonight at the Verizon Wireless Area in Manchester, NH. It's been a long time since I've seen Rush and I'm quite looking forward to it.