Went to see Rush last night in Newark. Overall thoughts:
1) Really great show, but not stellar. When the band came together, they were outstanding. But that only made the moments that felt a little weaker kind of disappointing. For as great as "Tom Sawyer" is, I'm not sure a recent live version has ever matched the velocity and intricacy of the recording. But then "Camera Eye" sounded as good as the original. The encore in particular was only great when Peart went for it on "Working Man". "Anthem" was abbreviated and felt too truncated. "What You're Doing" never really came together either, which was disappointing. That being said, the highlight of the evening for me was "Xanadu" which was flawless. It's just a stunning piece of music. "Losing It" was gorgeous, and "Jacob's Ladder" is also a gem. "Subdivisions" sounded incredible too. The sound in the Prudential Center was fairly decent. I had never seen a show there before.
2) The band definitely had a few moments where they seemed/felt tired and over it. I realize it's hard to muster constant enthusiasm during a 3-hour show, and there are a ton of moving parts to a Rush show. Lifeson in particular seemed to be going through the motions the most, but his playing was technically great. I think it must be a ton of pressure to make sure you nail every single note, solo, drum fill, etc. for the legion of air drummers/guitarists. Geddy Lee did a fine job, Peart was still pretty much the anchor though. He would throw up sticks and catch them and do twirls. On occasion he'd crack a half smile.
3) My few minor disappointments aside, I actually loved the overall theme and the idea of doing a setlist in reverse chronological. I don't think I've ever seen a band do that before, and it pretty much worked. I think the fans enjoyed it, but there was sort of a sad and depressing vibe when it was over. 40 years of history, hard work, incredible output and by the end it's like "well...bye". I am sure that in a perfect world they'd keep going, but I get a feeling this was it for them. After all those years of performing and touring, they're ready to pack it up and that was definitely the theme. They had guys in red jump suits that would come on stage to keep packing things up and moving items around throughout the show.
4) I saw one of my better "wow, did I really just see that?" moments. The guy right in front of me was absolutely hammered. Well into his 50's and clearly trying to re-live his youth with his 2 buds. About 4 songs in his wobbly dancing became increasingly erratic and then he just plopped down. He didn't move for the remaining 2+ hours. During the intermission he muttered something about not feeling well and the reactions of his friends was pretty much "ah, that's a drag". Then they went back to partying. They made sure he was breathing but that was about it. He was absolutely wrecked. Good times.
