Throughout each of this week’s San Antonio exhibits, Rush proved why it is nonetheless beloved by followers

Legendary Canadian prog-rock trio Rush introduced its ongoing Fifty One thing tour to San Antonio’s Frost Financial institution Heart on Wednesday and Friday nights. An epic multimedia manufacturing and two completely different setlists left followers in a state of rapt ecstasy, cheering alongside despite the fact that every set contained almost three hours of music.

San Antonio’s had an extended love affair with Rush. The town’s infatuation with the band goes all the way in which again to the early years, when it was championed by native album rock powerhouse KISS-FM and iconic DJs Joe Anthony and Lou Roney, who helped promote the band with an early gig at Randy’s Rodeo.

To name the 2 Frost Financial institution Heart exhibits extremely anticipated would undersell them. The Rock and Roll Corridor of Famers known as it quits after 2015’s R40 tour regardless of their cultish followers clamoring for extra. Then drummer and lyricist Neil Peart — the member overtly pushing retirement — died in 2020, seemingly closing the ebook ceaselessly. 

However virtually a 12 months in the past, a shock announcement hit social media: Rush would barnstorm the U.S. with a collection of residencies to have a good time 50 years. 

And a humorous factor occurred on the way in which to the LA Discussion board, the place the tour kicked off — by some means the band grew to become much more beloved. Ticket gross sales exploded, and a few even likened the set of street dates to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, however for middle-aged males. 

These individuals just about nailed it.  

It’s laborious to think about anybody leaving these two San Antonio exhibits disenchanted. Bassist-vocalist Geddy Lee, whose voice legendarily reaches higher registers, killed it. He sounded higher than he had on the band’s latter excursions. Alex Lifeson, the group’s oft-overshadowed guitarist, sounded dexterous regardless of a public battle with arthritis. 

And new drummer Anika Nilles? Overlook about it. She performed with confidence and swagger, respecting Peart’s extremely composed drum components whereas including a contact of her personal groove. Throw in new adjunct keyboardist Loren Gold — who gave the multitasking Lee a little bit of a breather — and you’ve got a strong band. 

However whoever introduced it, the magic was again.

Longtime followers shall be glad to inform you in depth that the brilliance of Rush lies in distinction. Very severe, troublesome compositions carried out by guys — and now a gal — who don’t take themselves severely. 

Take the humorous video that opened the present each nights, depicting Lee and Lifeson decrepit in an outdated people’ house earlier than main into “Xanadu,” one of many quite a few twisty prog compositions carried out each nights. The video featured actors Paul Rudd and Jason Segel reprising their I Love You, Man roles, one thing they’ve carried out on Rush tour movies because the film was launched greater than 15 years in the past. 

The video ended with the infamously goofy robes that Rush made well-known early of their profession. Then the true Lee and Lifeson emerged onstage with their equally infamous double-necked guitar and bass. 

The necessary half is that whereas the visible might have drawn laughs, each gamers really use the 2 necks of their devices to nice impact throughout the a number of sections and textures that comprise the music. 

And the humor balances out the Samuel Taylor Coleridge-inspired lyrics. How else are you able to get away with that sort of lyrical content material and never be pretentious? 

The primary set each nights included not simply the “Xanadu” opener, but additionally “Subdivisions,” from Indicators, which kicked off the band’s divisive synth period. For some, this era may go higher stay with a pulsing groove, on condition that the manufacturing on albums drove a minimum of among the criticism.

The centerpiece of the present each nights lay firstly of the second set. On Wednesday evening, Rush tore via its full rock opera “2112.” Sure, all seven actions of the music. 

When launched in 1976, the suite took up a full LP facet, and was a deliberate declaration of independence from their file firm, which inspired the group to eschew lengthy compositions in favor of radio-friendly tunes. Clocking in at greater than 20 minutes, the music weaves a story of artistic liberty and censorship in a dystopian future. 

On Friday evening, Rush handled the viewers to a whole efficiency of its signature 1981 album Shifting Photos to start out the second set. 

Shifting Photos is beloved by followers as a result of it’s an amalgam of all the pieces that makes Rush nice. Iconic art work? Examine. Synth-driven melody with mind-blowing fills and a signpost to the long run? Women and gents, “Tom Sawyer.” A sci-fi story? “Pink Barchetta.” A knotted instrumental? “YYZ.” A radio-friendly meditation on fame with a hooky refrain? “Limelight.” A ten-minute epic with each one of many aforementioned parts, a digital microcosm of the album itself? “The Digicam Eye.” A criticism of fear-mongering with a heavy, sinister riff harking back to Rush’s early work? “Witch Hunt.” And an odd, reggae-filtered Police-inspired treatise on feelings to wrap it up? “Important Indicators.” 

The visuals exploded at full drive throughout every evening’s second set. Lasers swept via the sector, pulling the viewers into futuristic sci-fi landscapes. The proceedings had the nostalgic trappings of a traditional enviornment present however had been pushed by state-of-the-art know-how. 

Attendees of just one evening didn’t fully miss out both. On Wednesday evening, the band performed 5 of seven songs from Shifting Photos, primarily within the second set. On Friday, the band closed the present with an abbreviated tackle “2112,” together with three of the actions for the live performance’s explosive finale. 

Don’t suppose it was all sci-fi escapism, although. Peart’s premature dying hung over the proceedings, regardless of Lee’s assertion in interviews that he didn’t need the band’s concert events to really feel like funerals. Photos of Peart flashed poignantly on the large video screens that framed the stage every evening throughout the music “Bravado,” and the efficiency each nights of “Time Stand Nonetheless” featured imagery of the late drummer’s iconic equipment sitting empty.

Whereas these songs got here from post-Shifting Photos albums, the general setlists on each nights pulled closely from the band’s earlier years. 

The older-skewing music decisions made the tour one thing of an outlier in Rush historical past, since previous excursions have leaned towards a extra balanced strategy to the catalog.

Regardless of Peart’s notable absence, Nilles might very properly have stolen the present. Not solely did she show killer chops, however her beaming smiles and simple rapport with Lee and Lifeson gave the comeback present coronary heart it may not have had if the band had chosen somebody better-known to fill that important function. 

On Wednesday evening, Nilles dropped a drumstick throughout the iconic “Tom Sawyer” drum fills however recovered like a stone-cold professional. The transfer was so spectacular that nationwide music blogs known as it out. 

Encores for each exhibits closed with “Working Man,” the band’s first single, launched greater than 50 years in the past. When it first aired on Cleveland radio, listeners mistook it for a brand new Led Zeppelin music, and given the thundering riffs and Lee’s forceful falsetto, one can see why.  

However as Rush’s profession unspooled throughout two nights this week in San Antonio, listeners couldn’t miss the just about unparalleled growth within the band’s sound. And it’s that growth that really defines the band. Even fellow ‘70s prog monsters equivalent to Genesis and Sure stalled after the ‘80s, whereas Rush stored rolling.

If that is Rush’s final tour — and given the members’ ages, it’s extremely attainable — the members are going out on a excessive notice, eh? We’re fortunate to have had this cherished band in our lives all these many years.

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