Rush – SECC Glasgow – 30/05/13

A sunny Thursday afternoon finds me heading off to Glasgow to catch the mighty Canadian trio Rush in concert on their Clockwork Angels tour.

We enter into a very busy SECC to take our seats for the first set of the night. As with previous Rush shows, a short clip showing the band in a variety of strange situations reveals the comical side of all three members. Before long the band walk on stage, launching straight into Subdivisions accompanied by a mighty roar from the crowd with their arrival on stage. Subdivisions is quickly followed with The Big Money as pictures of money flashing on the various screens above the band’s heads intercut with close up views of the three band members, showing just how accomplished Messrs Lee, Lifeson and Peart are on their chosen instruments.

By the third song, Force Ten, it’s clear that Rush have their audience very much in the palm of their collective hands as each song is met with roars of approval and plenty of singing from the smiling and cheering Glaswegian audience.  Songs flash by from Rush’s extensive back catalogue and soon we are treated to the first of three drum solos from Mr Peart. While the thought (or even mention) of the words “drum solo” would send many people running to the toilets or the bar today, Mr Peart’s rhythmic abilities mean that most of audience are listening and watching. Thanks to the various cameras around his kit, the audience was able to see how accomplished a percussionist he is behind his Steam punk inspired kit, which has been cut down since the 2011 Time Machine tour. In fact, the whole stage has a steam punk inspired feel to it, reinforced by the various windows that the band are displayed in on the video screens.

The first set ends with Far Cry from 2007’s ‘Snakes & Arrows’, with Geddy apologising that the band are getting old and that they need a rest before they can continue with the rest of tonight’s set which is met with much good humoured laughter from the Glasgow audience.

The second set opens with more video on screen as the band are joined by the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble to supplement their sound behind Neil Peart’s drum kit. Opening with the first song from said album, Caravan, a son we first heard live on the Time Machine tour the last time the band was over here; the band proceeds to play most of Clockwork Angels.

Drum solo number 2 was performed during Headlong Flight and Alex Lifeson got his turn in the spotlight with a very nice solo at the start of Halo Effect. The final song from the Clockwork Angels section, The Garden, was accompanied by some very beautiful flower animations on the various screens above the bands heads. As a fan of animation, I thought it was simply breathtaking in its execution.

With the end of the ‘Clockwork Angels’ section, Geddy announces that they are going to play some older material and promptly launch into Dreamline from ‘Roll the Bones’ to much cheering from the audience. This final section leading up to the final song of the second set really got the crowd singing along, even though one of the tracks was YYZ, which is actually an instrumental track. If you’ve ever seen Rush in Rio you’ll know exactly what it sounds like and the Glaswegian audience were not going to be out performed by their Brazilian counterparts!  The Clockwork Angels String Ensemble departed the stage while Alex launched into the last song of set 2, The Spirit of Radio, to an ecstatic audience. All too soon though, Rush were walking off stage but not before Geddy Lee had thanked the audience for “being wonderful as always”.

It’s no surprise that following much shouting and stomping of feet, the band reappeared on stage and the distinctive deep bass synth note that opens Tom Sawyer fills the air while an ecstatic Glasgow audience sing their hearts out. This is followed by the classic 2112 medley, which made the band popular in the first place.

Tonight has been a triumphant return to Glasgow for the band with an audience full of smiling and happy Rush fans. The band prove yet again that their brand of intelligent rock music and lyrics still very much has a place in our media obsessed TV and reality show country. Come back soon please Rush!

Set 1:

1. Subdivisions
2. The Big Money
3. Force Ten
4. Grand Designs
5. Limelight
6. Territories
7. The Analog Kid
8. The Pass
9. Where’s My Thing? (Including drum solo)
10. Far Cry

Set 2: (with Clockwork Angels String Ensemble)

1. Caravan
2. Clockwork Angels
3. The Anarchist
4. Carnies
5. The Wreckers
6. Headlong Flight (Including drum solo)
7. Halo Effect (Guitar solo intro)
8. Wish Them Well
9. The Garden
10. Dreamline
11. Drum Solo (The Percussor)
12. Red Sector A
13. YYZ
14. The Spirit of Radio (Without String Ensemble)

Encore:

1. Tom Sawyer
2. 2112 Part I: Overture
3. 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx
4. 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale