Rush hadn't played Austin in 14 years prior to its concert at the Frank Erwin Center on Wednesday. The Canadian trio got a warm welcome from the crowd, long tired of having to drive to San Antonio to see Geddy Lee's beautiful face. A cruel dichotomy was at hand. Even though Rush put out an album, Snakes and Arrows, in order to tour, the majority of the fans were much more excited to hear the songs that made Rush successful. Perhaps due to the mixed reaction from the crowd, anything Rush played post-1984 seemed tired and uninspired. "Limelight" and "Freewill" had a lot of momentum, but such force was lost when Rush played "Far Cry" or "Mission."
The turning point came during the opening notes of "Subdivisions." From there on, the band performed mostly songs from its classic repertoire. The cheering was louder, the clapping was more plentiful and even some of the people on the upper level actually moved! The band members raged through "2112" and "Spirit of the Radio" as if they hand't lost their vigor from the 1970s. "Tom Sawyer" opened with a skit from the South Park boys, where Cartman tried to sing about the Mark Twain novel rather than the actual song. For the encore, Rush belted out "A Passage to Bangkok," complemented with footage from "Reefer Madness" and "YYZ," an instrumental powerhouse from Moving Pictures. (Oh, and Neal "God of Drums" Peart did a MINDBLOWING drum solo, maaaaaan!) Despite the trappings of big rock shows these days, Rush proved it is just as relevant as ever.
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