Concert Story # 563: RUSH in Hershey, Pa (4/9/2011)

Ever since I was twelve I have lived my life for the next rock concert. That may sound unhealthy or less than productive, but it's who I am. I have fond memories of the building anticipation and excitement as I counted down days until I saw: (fill in the blank). I still feel that way when there's a concert on the calander. For me, it makes going to a place you don't want to be, for 8+ hours a day, only to be paid less than what you think you are worth, bearable. I think I'm a smart guy. I probably COULD get a better job if I applied myself and was willing to work harder. Sadly, I've always been the type of person (lazy) who dreamed big...and then didn't do much about it. Follow through and perserverence have never been my strong points. You could also add patience, tact, and responsibility to that list. But hey, life is a string of decisions,and if you don't learn from your mistakes you are doomed to repeat them. In other words, it's all on us. Self awareness is precious, illusive, and more valuable than money or love. Enough psychobabble, let's talk rock.

I went to see RUSH in Hershey, PA last night with a group of my best friends. We all had a fantastic time. I've known Tim Hooper, also known as Hoop, since the 5th grade. We saw some of our first concerts together and it was great to do it again. I couldn't believe that with all the bands he's seen, RUSH was not on that list. Kristin, or Melty, had never seen them either. We first met in 9th or 10th grade and she's married to another one of my life-long buddies. So, when I visit, it's like getting a bonus coupon on friend time. Tommy, I met when I lived in Shippensburg many years ago. We've seen all kinds of concerts together in our decade of mutual musical appreciation. Hell, we once drove 12 hours to see RUSH in Toronto, Canada when they played with AC/DC and The Rolling Stones in 2003. Now, THAT was a concert! I had never been in a crowd of half a million people before and it was a day I will remember forever. However, tonight's RUSH show was turning out to be pretty special as well. More on this later. Here's a bit of personal history with the band.

RUSH is one of my all-time favorite groups and I've seen them almost every tour for the last 25 years. Dad took me to my first show when I was 17; Power Windows(4/16/86)at the Spectrum in Philly. That was a good birthday gift. Blue Oyster Cult opened and our seats were so high up that Dad stopped walking up the endless stairs half way to the top and claimed two empty seats on the aisle. When the rightful owners showed up after B.O.C.'s set, Dad (who is as honest as Abe Lincoln) asked THEM to see their tickets! I gently reminded him that we WERE in their seats, but he looked at me and winked. It was worth a shot. Begrudgingly, we finished our climb to the top of the Spectrum only to find our actual seats were two rows from the ceiling! I saw them again in Dayton's Hara Arena, two years later on the Hold Your Fire tour with my buddy, Kevin. It was a general admission show and we both had floor seats. It was a free-for all, but we managed to squeeze through the mass of sweaty geeks, all striving to be against the rail, stopping twenty feet from the stage. So, I've seen both perspectives. Personally, there's nothing better than being in the front row, or as close as you can get. An empty seat is fair game!

None of us had tickets last night. It was raining and cold with very few people scalping. Like none. Hey, no offense to the band, but $100 for a concert is pricey if you ask me. Sure, I'll pay $100 for RUSH; but I'd rather pay $50. After nearly 40 years in the music industry, they deserve it and there are plenty of folks willing to pay. It's just that when beers cost ten bucks a piece, I need to save every penny. With our options limited and the show about to start, my friends decided to bite the bullet and pay full price. As they all walked into the box office to fork over $91 a piece, some guy out front said to me, "You need a ticket?" I asked how much, he said $50. Done! It was a comp, so he didn't pay anything for it. I told my friends that I was taking the ticket and they proceeded to get four for themselves. When they walked out they told me they all got a miricle! I guess there was an extra row of seats in front of the sound board that never got sold. Anyway, I kinda felt like a chump for missing out on the ticket karma ...until I got to my seat.

While the freebies they got were great, my seat was WELL worth the $50 I spent. I was row 14, center section, on the aisle. There were people standing in the aisle in front of me, so I blended in and watched the first set from the 7th row! So close, I could tell Geddy heard me screaming. I don't think I've been so far in front since Dayton. It was incredible. Only once did a geriatric Giant Center employee ask me to go back to my seat. Which wasn't much of a punishment. I obediently returned to row 14, then proceeded to walk up to the fifth row on Alex's side. Any time a yellow jacket questioned me, I showed him my ticket and walked back to my seat. It was great! A ticket in the front section is second only to an all-access pass. Now, if you think I'm a terrible friend for leaving the gang in row 35 just because I wanted to be in the seventh, hold on. I joined them for the second set, bringing a few people up front with me throughout the night. We had a blast!

Now, there are two type's of people in the world. People who are RUSH fans, and those that aren't. Please indulge me while I talk setlist. If you are not familiar with their song catalog, you can skip ahead. I cheated and looked online before I went to the show. Hey, I need to know when I can go for a beer/piss/smoke break! As with any artist I enjoy, certain songs are my favorites and some less so. In any case, a RUSH performance is just that, a performance. It's like going to the symphony, but louder. Like the well-oiled rock machine they are, at 8:00 pm on the dot the lights went down and the crowd began to roar. After an entertaining mini-movie starring the boys in a "Time Machine" themed saga, the arena exploded with the opening notes of "Spirit of Radio". In the movie, the guys were practicing that same song, but they were dressed in hilarious 18th century costumes and played it with a German tuba-band style. After a few tries, it became more like itself and Geddy, in a white wig and handlebar mustache declares the band might, "be on to something. "But, whatever you do", he told the Rush of past, "Don't hit this red button." On it said Time Machine. Naturally, the button is pushed and a vast array of video clips, album covers (remember those?), and personal pics of the band, spanning their long and successful career, flashed on giant video screens. Bringing us to the present.

I told myself earlier that night, I would pay whatever it took to be in the arena for that first song. It's always been one of my favorites. The words touched me from the moment I heard it. "All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted. Not so coldly charted, it's really just a question of your honesty. One likes to believe in the freedom of music,but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity." Neil Peart wrote that. Being an avid reader, he was entrusted with the words early in the band's career. He's also one hell of a drummer. Some would argue the best. I would. You haven't lived life unless you've seen one of his drum solo's. Once again, he did not disappoint. Then there's Alex Lifeson on guitar and Geddy Lee on bass. Both are phenominol players on their respective instruments and they can both play more than one. Every member is entertaining and endearing in their own rights. I've never met any of them personally, but from what I've heard they are all salt of the Earth people. Alex and Geddy are very fan accessible. Neil, likes to be left alone, but that's his right. "Living in a fisheye lens,caught in the camera eye. I have no heart to lie. I can't pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend." I can dig that. Speaking of which, I was really enjoying seeing my friends have fun. That was the cherry on the cake.

Continuing with "Time Stands Still" and "Presto", they proceeded to play five relatively new songs. This was my first smoke break. Hey, I'm addicted. I want to quit, but not bad enough to stop. I timed it perfectly. The other song I really wanted to hear in the first set was "Free Will". Again, the lyrics hooked me. "You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill.I will choose a path that's clear. I will choose freewill." I find RUSH to be a very life-affirming band. They inspire me personally. Mostly because these are just three average guys who loved music as kids and somehow willed themselves into being rock stars; pretty modest and humble ones at that as their self-deprecating bonus videos clearly showed. Now, they have certainly worked hard to get where they are in the eschelon of Rock's history. No matter what that glass pyramid in Cleveland says, these guys deserve an award for their dedicated work ethic over four decades. Not to mention the fact that they haven't embarrassed themselves with bad behavior. No car crashes, dead hookers, sunken cars, or heroin overdoses for RUSH. Sure, they've smoked some pot. They're Canadian. That stuff is practically legal up there.

Rounding out the first set was "Marathon" and "Subdivisions", another favorite. When the lights came up for intermission, I joined everyone at their seats and we all compared notes. We unanimously agreed that the band sounded top notch and everyone enjoyed the selections so far. However, I was very excited about hearing "Moving Pictures" in it's entirety. Plus, the aforementioned drum solo, "Closer To The Heart", and "2112" to end out the second set were all predestined highlights. For the encore, we were treated to "La Villa Strangiato" and "Working Man". The first being possibly one the most uniquely operatic and technically challenging pieces of instrumental music that I've ever heard. The second being THE song. The one that broke the band wide open all those years ago. Strangely, it was Cleveland that did it: WMMS. You would think because of their influence in the band's career they would wand to take advantage of that fact and advertise it. That town could use some good press, especially since LeBron left town. But noooooo...for some reason, RUSH is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I blame Jann Wenner at Rolling Stone for cherry picking. He's always seemed like a egocentric, music snob to me.

But, I digress...from the start of the second set to the moment Geddy Lee said, "Thank you, Good night." I would rank that night as one of my favorites. Comparing the setlist to previous shows I've seen, there are perhaps a handful of songs I could have subbed in for the new stuff to make a perfect set. But, come on. Let's not be greedy. Between the great seats, free tickets, being with my very dear friends and a couple of $10 beers, it was a wonderfully memorable belated birthday gift to myself. Be nice to yourself every now and then, folks. It feels good and you deserve it. Unfortunately, I have been a little TOO good to myself in the past 42 years. Some might say that living my life for the next rock concert MAY have contributed to my current position in life. As Dean Wormer in "Animal House" said, "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." In my defense, I am improving on my decision making process and thanks to some frank discussions with my close friends and family members, I feel as though I might finally be maturing.

Let's hope so anyhow. It's about damn time I got a real job and took care of myself instead of letting others do it of me. I cannot stay 17 forever. I've tried for the last 25 years. So, since I have to grow up sometime, I want to be an adult who loves his job and the home he has. If I could live anywhere in the world it would probably be in either New Orleans or Los Angeles. However, considering rent in LA is close to $2,000 a month and New Orleans is about half that, I'm seeing Mardi Gras in my future. As far as career's go, I'd like to get paid for making people laugh. That's not a bad gig. All I need to do is find a few good bars around America that would let me book the room for free and charge admission to put on an hour long routine. I've already got a spot picked out in Athens, Columbus and Harrisburg. Three cities down, 22 to go. If I can book 2-4 gigs a week around cities where I have friends, I can stay with them for free and make enough cash to get to the next destination. It will be like being on permenant vacation. All I need is a one person camper or mini-van and I can hit the road. First, I have to pay off all the debt I racked up from the previous three year's bad decisions / concert going lifestyle. After that, I see nothing but blue skies and an endless horizon. Time Machine, onward. Only twelve days until I see CLUTCH in Reading!

"We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones"

all lyrics by Neil Peart