Rush on Tour With Legions of Air Drummers

Anybody can play air guitar. Really. What's there to it? Hold an imaginary guitar, dance around, rock out, and you're more than halfway there. But air drums? That takes some practice, or at least obsessive listening and a lot of coordination. When it comes to quality air drumming, I submit that Rush fans are the world's finest. Like this guy playing YYZ.

Legions of air-drummer talents are on display right now in a city near you as Rush tours the U.S. Oh, and Rush are quite good as well.

I've seen Rush three times this past week, and I'm off to two more shows later in the tour. In a lot of ways it's like going to church for me, but that's for another post. Early in the 70's, Rush set out to combine heavy metal with progressive rock, and so forged a unique and captivating sound that has drawn a consistent, loyal, and nearly foaming-at-the-mouth mob of fans. On this latest tour, they don't disappoint this finicky crowd. They play a fair amount of the new album, but also draw heavily on their deep catalog and play a number of great songs from older albums. I won't put any spoilers in here, but I will say that, to my delight, they played a good selection from each of the early 80's albums (Permanent Waves through Grace Under Pressure).

Starting with the Vapor Trails tour a few years ago, bassist Geddy Lee started running his bass direct to the house through a Tech 21 SansAmp, which meant there was no reason to have stacks and stacks of speakers behind him on stage anymore. This left an awkward visual void on the stage behind him, so he began to fill it with something else. At first, it was three coin-operated dryers. They were mic'ed up like amps, and sound techs would come on stage from time to time and pump them full of quarters to keep them spinning during the show. For the next tour he replaced one of the dryers with a large vending machine, no doubt still in the quest for the perfect sound.This tour, his stage rig has undergone another revision, but I won't spoil it for you here except to say that it's even more ridiculous, and I have been craving KFC ever since the show. Geddy seems even more animated and alive and happy this tour than in years past. It's a joy to watch someone so on top of their game, with so much talent and creativity. Along with the rest of the band, Geddy Lee has so much integrity to his vision of the art Rush has created, and the show is a celebration of that art and that integrity.

Neil Peart's drumming, already among the finest in the world, has grown substantially since the last tour. He is still developing and learning as a musician and still breaking new ground looking for new and more interesting ways to speak through his art. How are we as air drummers ever going to catch up? He also has access now to the finest drum equipment available, and you can really tell on this tour. The drum sound is amazing, and his signature Paragon cymbals cut through the mix perfectly.

Guitarist Alex Lifeson may be one of the least imitated guitarists around. He's not a flashy speed metal player trying to cram thousands of notes into a concert - but he can blaze with the best of them. His solos are lyrical flights and his sound is uniquely gigantic. He favors a lot of sound - not just volume, but he fills your ears harmonically. This tour features a Lifeson song from the new album entitled Hope, which he plays solo on a gorgeous sounding Garrison 12-string guitar in open tuning.

The new album, Snakes & Arrows, also was released in an MVI version that includes a great video on the making of the album. It's worth a look for any Rush fans or any musician that has tried to record or compose music. But you don't have to buy the MVI album, you can also get it separately from iTunes.

Here's the opening to "Far Cry" (get the video here at iTunes). OK, so for all you air drummers out there, it's so much more satisfying when we get it right.
Please synchronize those punches in the air like so:

|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+|xxx  x  |xxx  x x|xxx x x 

|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+|1+2+3+4+|1----| x  xxx | x  xxx |x x xxx |x----

And we'll see you at the next show.