Album Reviews
Movies
Concert Reviews

Top 10
Resources
Contact Us

From the first phased note of “Tom Sawyer,” you knew you were in the presence of greatness.  A mile up into the wide, cloudless sky on a tranquil, temperate evening at Fiddler’s Green in Denver, Rush closed off the first leg of their Vapor Trails tour with a performance that would garner a perfect 6 for both style and technical difficulty.  They didn’t miss a note all night, and for progressive rock, that’s saying something.

The setlist was chronologically ordered.  The band’s 80s and 90s offerings dominated the first hour-and-a-half.  Their earlier work was saved for the second set, with selections from their new album interspersed throughout.

The first set was comparatively weak, attributable to the song selection.  But the second set was so solid that just about any of its 14 selections (or the three in the encore) would have left the crowd satisfied as a closer.

Half of their songs were accompanied by excellent, big screen camera work, the other half by videos or virtual reality animation.  The second set led off with “One Little Victory” and some impressive pyrotechnics and virtual-reality dragon animations.

If I had to pick a highlight, it was drummer Neil Peart’s solo, “The Rhythm Method,” in which he created a masterpiece with at least 20 percussion implements of various types all the while spinning sticks in his hands with his platform wheeling around like an amusement park ride.  But Peart is undoubtedly THE most influential drummer in the world today, so what more can you say?

Bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson were also at the top of their game, rock solid for the entire three-and-a-half hour show.  They gave Peart a break after his solo with an acoustic version of “Resist,” which gave me an opportunity to wave my lighter.  Then Peart came back out on the stage, and the trio gave us the instrumental buildup that we all knew was leading up to…

And the meek shall inherit the earth.

The band pulled three tunes out of the vault for their encore.  “By-Tor and the Snow Dog,” the beginning of “Cygnus X-1,” and their first big hit, “Working Man.”

This is a tour not to be missed.  If you're a musician and you miss this tour, you ought to be strangled with an Ernie Ball.  The second North American leg kicks off October 5 in Mexico City before Rush returns to the U.S.A. on October 10 in Tampa.  Video footage from the tour can be viewed at www.rush.com.