I made the ultimate mistake when it came to
\nRush In Rio<\/i>, the fifth live release from Canadian hard
\nrockers Rush.<\/p>\n
No, it wasn’t that I invested my own hard-earned money in this
\nset – the first, by the way, to break the band’s streak of “four
\nstudio, one live” release pattern in their nearly 30-year history.
\nThe mistake was that I also bought the DVD of this concert\u2026
\nand watched most of it first.<\/p>\n
Why would this be a mistake? Simple: anyone who has seen Rush
\nperform knows that visuals are an important part of their show. Add
\ninto this the sheer magic of watching Neil Peart display absolute
\nmastery of the drum kit, or the tight-yet-frantic bass work of
\nGeddy Lee, and you have a concert experience you’re not soon going
\nto forget.<\/p>\n
The live CDs from this concert – if I read right, the first that
\nRush ever played in Rio – do capture the power of this show well
\nenough, yet without simple things like the occasional between-song
\nbanter or even seeing the three clothes dryers constantly tumbling
\nthroughout the show, this set feels a tad – well, rushed. (By the
\nway, what was with the clothes dryers on this tour? Any
\nsignificance to them, or was it simply Rush being charmingly goofy?
\nAny insight – especially from any member of the band, on the
\noff-chance they’re reading this – would be appreciated. And, while
\nwe’re at it, how’s about a DVD at some point of all the animations
\nthe band has featured over various tours?)<\/p>\n
The show itself – the final one of the tour, as explained by
\nPeart in the liner notes – is a very nice balance of old and new,
\ntouching on most of Rush’s vast discography. While I have yet to
\nwarm up to any of the tracks culled from
\nVapor Trails<\/i> (indeed, I still have to listen to that whole
\nalbum), I will admit that “Earthshine” is charming in its own way,
\nwhile “Ghost Rider” proves to be a hidden gem. That said, I still
\nhave not warmed up to “One Little Victory” – and I guess we’ll
\nleave it at that. The fact that this disc sounds so good even
\nthough there was no soundcheck for the band and their crew was
\nsetting up gear up to the moment of performance is a statement in
\nand of itself.<\/p>\n
But where
\nRush In Rio<\/i> shines in terms of musicianship, it slips in
\nterms of sheer power potential. By cutting out some of Lee’s
\ninteraction with the crowd, some things are lost in the translation
\nfrom actual concert to plastic disc – unless, of course, you’ve
\nread Peart’s liner notes. Without either of these, you may not
\nunderstand the importance of the inclusion of “Closer To The Heart”
\nin this particular show, or just what guitarist Alex Lifeson is
\nrambling on about during “La Villa Strangiato”. And, as mentioned
\nbefore, it’s one thing to hear Peart’s mastery of the drum kit on
\n“O Baterista”; it’s another thing to actually see him in action.
\n(After watching the DVD, I again have confirmation that Peart is an
\nabsolute genius, and quite possibly the greatest living drummer in
\nall of music.)<\/p>\n
If you invested in
\nDifferent Stages<\/i>, the last live album from Rush, a few years
\nago, you may wonder why you should even bother with
\nRush In Rio<\/i>, with the exception of getting live versions of
\na few tracks from
\nVapor Trails<\/i>. Comparatively, this package has a better vibe
\nto it – possibly due to the re-energizing of the band since 1996.
\n(It’s a shame it took the double-barrel shot of tragedies that
\nPeart faced to bring the band to this point.) If you have the
\noption of buying the DVD or the CD set, I’d honestly go with the
\nDVD, even though you’ll lose out on the two “bootleg” tracks added
\non to the third CD as a bonus. (The live version of “Vital Signs,”
\nby the way, is outstanding.) If you don’t have a DVD player, the CD
\nwill do you just fine.<\/p>\n
Then again, this is Rush we’re talking about. Splurge. Buy both.
\nHave a mini Carnival in your living room\u2026 ’cause who knows
\nif this is the last party that Rush is going to give.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5697],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-37747","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-rush","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37747"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}