So, that’s it then. Five Rush gigs all done and dusted. I arrived back from Manchester yesterday after Sunday night’s epic experience, tired and emotional. And needing not to drink ANY alcohol for a while. Its not big and its not clever, kids. That’s not to say I’ve overdid it, but just there was basically relentless rounds being bought over long periods of time.
Anyway, so how do I feel now? A large part of me is wondering whether I will ever see them live again. We thought the R30 tour would be the last hurrah, but they came back again in support of their best album – Snakes and Arrows - since at least Presto in 1989. One of the matters for debate last night over double G&Ts in the hotel bar, post-kebab, was whether they would actually do a tour that was very markedly the last hurrah. My suspicion is that they are far more likely to quietly drift away. Back to the actual shows…..
[Advanced warning for any Rush fans reading this, who have yet to see the tour and don't want it spoiled. Look away now]
Glasgow, Wednesday 3rd October
Welcome back guys. We had a blast. Seeing the first show is always going to be about surprises. I hadn’t managed to resist the urge to look at the setlist when the tour started but more or less avoided it in the following 3 months. So I knew a lot of what they were playing but not really the order, so there were lots of ooohhhs, aaahhhhs, and ya f’in beauties.
Highlights: Witchhunt, Natural Science, Far Cry, the comedy videos. The best crowd of the tour.
Lowlights: Secret Touch (why is this in the set?), Neil fluffing the triangle intro to YYZ.
Newcastle, Friday 5th October
After a mad race down the A1, we (me, Graham, James) eventually found the Stalker hotel and settled in for a nice pint before heading for the Metro Arena. We’d managed to miss the Stalkers due to the time we got there, but found our seats were right in the middle of that particularly mad load of fans. We were 11th again, dead centre. Very nice seats (thanks Ash).
Highlights: Natural Science (again), Digital Man, Entre Nous, Mission, Armour & Sword
Lowlights: Really, why is Secret Touch in the setlist? The crowd not being as good as Glasgow.
Sheffield, Saturday 6th October
After managing to confuse Ash by not getting on the Stalker bus, we eventually headed out of Newcastle in the car. Well, eventually is the word, cos its blooming tricky to find the way out. Some stupid Geordie conspiracy or something. The hotel in Sheffield turned out to be, erm, a bit rubbish really. Student dive is probably the closest description I can come up with. Still, we managed to successfully empty the bar of Leffe and I celebrated Hibs going top of the league before we got on the bus and headed for the arena.
This was a real nostalgia trip for Graham and I, as the Sheffield Arena was where we had first seen the band on the Roll The Bones tour in 1992. It hasn’t changed much and they did lack quite a lot in the whole organising-a-merchandising-operation thing. Our seats were up on the side, Alex’s side. Great to appreciate the light show from that spot.
Highlights: The light show. Going for a pee during Secret Touch.
Lowlights: The crowd. Very very boring.
Birmingham, Friday 12th October
It was the 8.12am train from Edinburgh for me. Despite the aftermath of the previous afternoon’s departmental away day at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine (all you need to know is there was cocktails), I was feeling very excited as I stood on the platform awaiting my first class carriage. After all, I hadn’t seen Rush live in 6 days! The train got to Brum on time and I grabbed a taxi to the Stalker hotel, misleading called the Menzies but with Thistle emblazoned all over it. I was assured I was in the right place when I found various Stalkees lounging around the foyer.
Onto the bar, to find more Stalkers enjoying the hospitality and finally getting around to chatting with a few of them – Capt Ron, Bez, TerrBerr, Tom Garrett and various others. A few quick pints later, we got onto the “new” Stalker bus and headed to the Little Owl pub. A quick phonecall to the arriving Graham and James, on the train from London, to meet us there, and the beer began to flow. Departure time came around very quickly and we headed for the NEC.
As arenas go, its a bit legendary. This was, allegedly, the only sold out show of the tour so I was expecting a lot. However, I can confirm it is in fact a great big ugly shed. With a lousy crowd. For some reason, they just didn’t get going, apart from the TNMS mob in sections 15/16. A great show by the guys, totally nailing the usual suspects.
Highlights: the big arse up of Secret Touch, Dreamline, Tom Sawyer, Armour & Sword.
Lowlights: the crowd – more boring than Sheffield. The sound – very loud and too muddy.
Straight back to the hotel after the gig, where James proceeded to get very drunk very quickly (its not big nor funny kids), but still managed to beat both Graham and I at pool.
Manchester, Saturday 14th October
A non-show day. Went to Manchester. Met Ewan. Watched football. Drank bad pint of Stella. Felt lousy. England won rugby. Felt even worse.
Manchester, Sunday 15th October
Here we were. The last night of the tour. This could have been the very last time I saw Rush play live.
The day started with a very relaxed lunch with Graham, James, Graham’s friend Howard and his fiance Natalie. We found a lovely pub in Didsbury, about 10 minutes from our hotel, with great food and very fine beer. Around 2pm, we headed up to Eucon, which was taking placce at Manchester University Student Union, to discover we had missed a visit from Herns, Rush’s erstwhile and legendary lighting man. Still, there was Terry Brown, co-producer of their first 9 studio albums to entertain us.
That was all over too quickly and we were soon back on the Stalker bus heading to the MEN. The only other gig I’d seen there was U2 on the Elevation Tour in 2001, one of my top 5 gig experiences of all time, so this had quite a lot to live up to. I wasn’t disappointed.
From the very first moment we spotted Alex getting ready to enter the stage from our unbelievably good seats, to the very last echo of Geddy’s hope that they “would see us sometime down the road”, this was an astounding show. The crowd around, composed mainly of TNMSers, bounced and sang along to everything. And the band spotted it, with Alex spending a lot of the time grinning in our direction.
And then Geddy gave a shout out to everyone at Eucon. Rush. Acknowledging the fans. Who’d have thought it.
Highlights: All of it. Every last note played and word sung. Every bounce and cheer. Every scream and shout. Nothing disappointed.
Lowlights: As if there could be on this gig. Even Secret Touch was bearable.
The lights came up, Harry Satchel played his bagpipes and we left. Back to the hotel, a few drinks. A kebab and a great nights sleep.
The show is over.
