Week 77: Of Snakes and Arrows, Guest Post by Brer Platypus

When I found out my friend was attending a Rush concert in Puerto Rico, I had to ask him to write about it, since I know everyone here just loves Rush. So here's my friend, Brer Platypus now.

OF SNAKES AND ARROWS
by Brer Platypus.

Carlos' follow-up request to blog about a tropical evening with Rush found me in a cloud of camphor, with a shroud on my head and my feet immersed in a bucket of icewater.

Charmer that Carlos is (which is ironic for someone whose nom-de-plume is that of a slithering charmee), he graciously added he would let me off the hook and post some unflattering picture of myself. Hence and therefore, I deprive him of his jollies thus:


Gentle reader, you may ask how one ends up in such a sorry state; but I'll leave out the sordid broad strokes of my 'lost weekend' and concentrate on leaching the details of Friday evening from my frazzled wetware.

Rush kicked off the second leg of their Snakes and Arrows tour in San Juan, Puerto Rico this past weekend after a hiatus of indeterminate duration (I'm on a reduced-fact diet right about now). This varies from the norm here on the island where many acts shoehorn San Juan into their schedules almost as an afterthought, often at the tail end of their tours, resulting in hurried setups without the full stage paraphernalia and careless soundchecks.

In this case, Rush were here since the previous week (I read somewhere that Lifeson was the exception) and they had at least one full dress rehearsal, so on Friday night, everything ran like clockwork and for once, the sound in the 'Choli' (San Juan's most expensive venue, both in terms of taxpayer dollars as well as ticket prices) was admirably spot-on.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend who won a drawing for a pre-show 'booze and schmooze' and unfortunate enough to live on an island where security agents don't know shit from shinola and we had to walk to several distant entrances until we found the one that had the 'VIP lists' and as a consequence, never made it to any 'meet and greet'...

...so, by the time we figured out how to spirit my friend's camera past the 'guardias de palito' (rent-a-cops) and were directed beyond the velvet ropes, the pre-party crowd was righteously raucous, so I turned my attention to pressing matters... and this I suppose is a universal curse: 'drinks' at a concert are invariably whoever's horsepiss that sponsored the gig, sold in plastic cups at 5 bucks a pop.

Having started drinking the evening before and hellbent on spending the weekend in a more-or-less constant state of inebriation, I sidled up to one of the four strategically placed open bars and set about swilling as many free light beers as I could before some beancounter deemed the party over.

The revelry was interrupted by a shrill cry of "Empezó" (It has begun!); and a stampede ensued as people tried to reach their assigned levels/areas/seats... having ascertained that the pre-party bars would remain staffed as long at there was still cerveza to hand out, I ducked into the nearest entrance...

Rush's reputation precedes them and we were not disappointed; we were regaled with a three-hour tour-de-force.

Here is the set list that I had seen posted online by someone at the rehearsal, which to my recollection was correct:

Limelight
Digital Man

Ghost Of A Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (video intro)

Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

INTERMISSION AKA "a short break to rest the old bones" --Geddy Lee.

Sorry the pictures suck, but then I only had my phone with me. I'll see if my friends are amenable to letting me purloin their shots which are much better.

A fair deal of criticism is always leveled, here at least, when bands on tour don't play every last hit or anthem they are known for... a few of my friends need to be reminded that Rush are not in 'nostalgia band mode' and that concerts are arguably for pushing new material out under the public's nose....

Aside from the asswhooping sound... the stage for Snakes and Arrows seemed deceptively skimpy, but after a while it became apparent that it had a lot of clever stuff built in... my favorite were the UFOs, best described as a bevy of hexagonal pods packed with all sorts of lighting goodies, which descended from time to time and could tilt and direct a barrage of different lights at any given point, all carefully choreographed under computer control. Pretty slick shit, reminiscent of the Mothership in 'Close Encounters.'

Just as unexpected, a clever array of prisms and mirrors, some at the foot of the stage, allowed a phalanx of green lasers to ricochet wildly and paint abstract designs on the ceiling and periphery...

Now on to the band... Carlos prompted me with a few sundry questions to observe answer during the concert... the most memorable being how the band looked at this juncture and if Geddy nose was still growing (I take this to mean that Carlos has proboscis-envy). I can report that all three members seem hale and hearty, perhaps noting only that Alex seemed to hold back from any antics but I cant draw on anything for a comparison.

I don't know if this is par for the course for Lifeson or what, but any midsong changeover where he had to play acoustic guitar or in one case, a mandolin, this would be propped up on a tripod for him and carried off when no longer necessary.

Geddy was quite lively (then again, I checked and the wiki says he's 54; thats not so bad, is it?) and apparently we can rest easy, his schnozz doesn't seem larger than life, although thanks to a close-up on the big screen behind him, it's quite obvious that he managed to burn his nose in the PR sun!

Far Cry (video intro)
Workin' Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt

Here, Neil Peart launched into his solo, which was impressive though IMHO seemed gimmicky in some parts. His kit seemed reasonably compact from what one may have been led to believe, confined to a 12x12 foot spinning octagon. Some of this compactness may have been due to the digital pads he now employs, which brings me to the gimmicky part: while I didn't have the best view from the bar, it seemed to me that when the kit spun and he started playing on the back side it was akin to a child's drum set, which was pretty cool... but at some point he started into the pads and played all kinds of instruments, like strings and whatnot... i mean, play drums, just because you can strike a pad and make it oink like a pig is pretty ho-hum to me. Programmability and sampling is fine, but be a percussionist! Let the flames begin :)

Malignant Narcissism (drum solo)
Hope
The Spirit Of Radio
2112 (overture/the temples of syrinx)
Tom Sawyer (south park intro)

Geddy's stage demeanor is the best, great rapport, greeting in Spanish and getting the crowd stoked. They poked fun at themselves, the big screens in the back playing excerpts from Great White North and intro-ing Tom Sawyer with a South Park parody of the band.

ENCORE
One Little Victory
A Passage To Bangkok
YYZ

I have to add that, living up to the word-of-mouth, Rush goes through pains to sound every bit as good in a live performance as they do in the studio, they are uncompromising! All told, easily one of the bests stage performances I've ever seen.

I now return you to the studio where Carlos will give us the latest weather forcast from Chapel Hill... What's it look like? Carlos?