So join me tonight by turning on a hockey game and pouring yourself a tall glass of Labatt's Blue in honor of those rock gods of the north, Rush.
In my opinion rock music pinnacled in 1981 with the release of Rush's 'Moving Pictures' album. Tonight we don't have a track from that amazing piece of work, but we have a clip from the bands strong follow up album 'Signals'.
Back in 1982 a wet behind the ears fourteen year old (me) bought tickets to his first rock concert. As you probably guessed, it was to see Rush, who was touring in support of the Signals album.
Before I proceed I should point out that back in the early 80s tickets were "general admission' which meant that there was no assigned seating. That's right, it was first come first served. No assigned seats. If you wanted to be up front, you needed to out sprint and out fight everyone else.
In a sense it was pure Darwinism ... only the strongest would survive.
I was lucky to be in prime physical shape, because I did indeed survive to see the show. Honestly I don't remember much. I do recall running like I was being chased by a T Rex, being crushed against the girl in front of me, which probably counted as my first sexual experience because we were pressed together so tightly I feel I know her intimately, more running and finally locating a seat on the second level of Albuquerque's Tingley Colosseum with a perfect view of the stage.
It was an awesome concert to say the least. Anyone who has ever seen Rush live know that they put on an amazing show.
This clip doesn't quite capture the feel of an old school Rush concert but it does capture the feeling of being an awkward comic book loving geek in the early 1980s. Let's relive my early struggles with feeling comfortable about myself ... pass me another Blue ... and enjoy Subdivisions:
Here is some history:
"Subdivisions" was one of the first songs Rush had arranged for Signals. After Peart devised a set of lyrics, Lifeson and Lee wrote a collection of musical ideas to fit Peart's words. Peart recalled that his bandmates interrupted him as he was cleaning his car and set up a portable cassette player on the driveway outside the studio, and played him what they had come up with. Peart added: "I listened closely, picking up the variations on 7/8 and 3/4, the way the guitar adopts the role of rhythm section while the keyboards take the melody, returning to bass with guitar leading in the chorus, then the Mini-moog taking over again for the instrumental bridge", and told Lifeson and Lee that he liked it.
Now let's blow your mind with 'Tom Sawyer' from the game changing Rush release 'Moving Pictures':
Check out these great videos eh:
Rush rules.
ReplyDeleteSaw them a little over 20 times and it was not enough.