Rush: Darien Lake Review (cuz I can) *Spoilers&#

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 7:49 pm

Me and my roommate Chris went and as soon as we got there we had some Canadians offering us beer. Good times.

We had lawn "seats" but from where we were we were directly in front of Geddy.. just a few yards too far.

Set One:
They opened with Limelight. I have a bootleg of the first show from this tour and Geddy mellowed the song and changed some of the high notes. That woulda been ok with me, but he went for it and nailed it. They then did the songs they haven't done in forever or if ever (Digital man, with a little rearranging, Entre Nous, and Mission) and they were amazing. When it got to Freewill the mid section was just like that last few tours but the end part with the high note? He nailed it. Just like the album. He did better tonight that he did on the past few live albums. The new songs were some. During The Main Monkey Business people in the real seats were throwing around inflatable monkeys. I think I was one of the few in my section singing The Larger Bowl (With the Bob and Doug McKenzie intro!) Secret touch was great live. Circumstances was great, he didn't slack on the high notes again and wow that red jazz is beautiful! Between the Wheels is one of my favorites and they did it great justice tonight. Dreamline had people yelling and hooting.

Set Two:
Opened with five new songs in a row. Far Cry had people bouncing and Working Them Angels had people cheering at the marines with angel wings. Armor And Sword went over well with the crowd although I did see people takin pee breaks during the new songs. Spindrift was awesome. The Way The Wind Blows was a great song live, although I don't understand why he sings falsetto on one part and then goes higher in his full range right after. Subdivisions... more cheers and singing. Right before Geddy introduced Natural Science he pulled out a video camera and filmed everyone in the crowd for the people back home. Natural Science.. nuff said. Witch Hunt had fireballs during the song and it works great live with the mix of the band from guitar, bass, drums to guitar, keyboards, drums. MalNar was next. Great playing over all but I think Geddy was playing a little out of tune on the fretless. This song was when the fireworks behind us started. The drum solo.. godlike as always Chris was in awe (It was his first Rush show) the entire time and was smiling. Hope was next. Alex played his beautiful song spot on and it was a nice little break. Now here is the main spot that made me excited. The first setlist change of the tour. They dropped Summertime Blues for Distant Early Warning. My hands hurt from clapping so much. The Spirit of Radio was up next.. need I say more? Fireworks stopped at about this song. It's an excellent crowd song. The Lil Rush Tom Sawyer intro had people laughing.

Encore:
One Little Victory started up and they still used the dragon film from Vapor Trails. More fireballs. Bangkok. The bass sound changed dramatically. The Rick was back (as most know) and it showed it's power during this song. It still had less low end then the jazz but it had more crunch to it. Geddy re arranged the singing on it to make it do able and it worked quite well. This was also a song where I could smell a lot of pot.. but that was expected for that song. Ended with YYZ and it was great. There were a few mistakes in it.. such as the intro and Geddy with the first bass solo but it was still sick.

Overall it was an amazing show. It's my number 2 for concert experiences (after Queensrÿche on the Operation: Mindcrime II tour). They were all on. The guitars didn't mess up, Alex looked like he was having a blast, Neil was being the machine as always and Geddy's bass sound and voice were incredible.

bob_the_bass · Post by **bob_the_bass** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 11:55 pm

Cheers Nate!

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 8:56 am

I hear they added Distant Early Warning and thankfully took off their wretched version of Summertime Blues.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:15 pm

I would LOVE to hear Entre Nous played live!!

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:12 am

I heard it in Va. Beach from the third row and it was perfect. The rick sounded awesome on Bangkok.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:36 am

I heard Distant Early Warning during the sound check, but Summertime Blues was used in the show at the Nissan Pavillion.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 6:08 am

Nope, ours was the first replacement of the tour. I was ready to sing along with Summertime Blues too, but the better song came on.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:50 pm

I don't suppose anyone might have some slightly illegitmate recordings from the show? (Hint, Hint) An MP3 would be most appreciated.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:56 pm

Not yet Steve. When I get it I'll tell you. My friend Brian has every show from this tour so far, so it shouldn't be too long until he gets this one.

He also just gave me Rush Darien Lake 2004 (my first Rush show!) and it sounds as good as a live album.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:46 am

Thanks Nate!! I'd love to hear it!

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:01 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE_TetlfgTk#dn13UHx6juU

Found this Steve, hope you enjoy it for what little it is. Not Darien Lake, but still.

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:11 pm

Nice to see some real acoustic being used rather than a piezo pickup on the solid body.

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:04 pm

Hey Nate, thanks for the review!

A couple of nights ago I commented about it to my husband, with a wistful, "Someday I would sure LOVE to see Rush in concert..." (He saw them seven different times in Milwaukee when he was young....)

Anyway, to make a long story short, he booked a pair of tickets for their St. Paul concert on September 9! Row thirteen, center stage! I am already looking forward to it!

He's making our hotel reservations right now....

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:38 pm

You know, Melissa, that great guy of yours sure is trying to make us look bad...