On Tuesday – May 20th, 2008 we drove down to Moline IL, and enjoyed an evening with Rush. It is not often that a big name rock group like Rush comes close to Iowa, and so I could not pass up a chance to see the power trio of Rush live. With no opening act, I believe Velvet Revolver was suppose to open up for them, they played at 7:45 to 11pm with one 20 minute intermission an hour into the show. I took my ten year old son, so he could enjoy his first concert. I am sure some day he will remember this day and think he actually got to see them play live instead of just downloading them on iTunes. They opened up with Limelight and then played most of the songs from the Snakes And Arrows album. The big moments of the show were of course Subdivisions, 2112, and Tom Sawyer.
Disappointing for me was that they did not play any songs from the Counterparts album which is one my favorite Rush albums. The i-Wireless Center is a very clean arena and while they did not allow cameras, I was able to take these somewhat fuzzy pictures with my iPhone, (click on the top picture to see a higher resolution). The concert used smoke machines, so it was not possible to get a clean photo at times. Our seats were in the balcony, however there were three large projection screens behind the band that allowed you to see close ups of the band during most of their solos. Without a doubt the drumming solo was the best and went on for what seemed an hour. By comparison the Rush crowd was pretty relaxed, compared to a heavy metal concert like The Heaven And Hell tour with Dio and Black Sabbath. Rush played very solid and loud. I could not make out any of the vocals, but considering where we sat that was to be expected. Overall I enjoyed the Rush concert and I hope my kid thanks me later for taking him.
Up next for me is the Iron Maiden – Somewhere Back On Tour concert. This is one I am really looking forward to since I’ve been an Iron Maiden fan for multiple decades now and Bruce Dickinson is back doing vocals.