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Hall of Merit — A Look at Baseball's All-Time Best Thursday, August 23, 2007Front Row for Rush, Columbus, OH, Sunday 9/2, 1 free ticket availableHey guys, I won a contest on the Rush website, and I’ve got two front row seats to see Rush, Sunday 9/2 in Columbus, Ohio at the Germain Ampitheater. Who’dve realized they are already naming things in Columbus after Joe Germaine? I want the ticket to go to a big fan, and I don’t know anyone up for making the drive on short notice from where most of my friends live in PA. So let me know if you want the ticket, it’s free. For now I’d like to keep it to huge fans of the band, but if there aren’t any takers from that group, I’d open it up for anyone wanting to go. If more than one person responds today, I’ll have some kind of lottery or something, maybe those involved agree to split the cost of another ticket and we ‘raffle off’ who gets to sit in the front row. We’ll figure that out if necessary . . . JoeD has the Imperial March Stuck in His Head
Posted: August 23, 2007 at 04:12 PM | 114 comment(s)
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Insane longevity (they've been touring since 1974!). Unreal peak. And consistency, although they are in the decline phase a bit.
I'm saying they are the musical equivlanet of a guy like Robin Yount!
THis sounds interesting, butg I'm too far away from Columbus.
BTW, I saw "Diggstown". I liked the story, but the film had a made-for-TV quality.
My first concert was the Presto tour at Blossom Music Center when I was 14. Rush was awesome. Mr. Big...uh...not so much.
Thanks for this, Craig, even if I don't get the ticket.
I'd be up for a regular stint of drinkin' after concert, though.
We went because of Mr. Big Dan. I was a huge hair band fan, and Mr. Big was awesome. The only Rush song I knew going in was Tom Sawyer (which I liked) and I bought the Presto and Exit Stage Left cassettes a few days before just to get a little familiar with them.
People at the concert were making fun of us for buying Mr. Big T-shirts. Then Rush came on and I was blown away. They've been my favorite band ever since.
Dan, clear it with Mrs. Elbow however you have to. I've seen them front row once before, a buddy of mine worked in the Giant Center (Hershey, PA) box office during the Vapor Trails tour. It was the day before my 30th birthday. We were out for a bachelor party the night before, and he said he could get me in a luxury box for $65, he'd check the next day and let me know.
He calls me and says the luxury box didn't work out, but I'd still have to pay $65 for the ticket. I said no problem, where are they? And that's when he dropped front row on me. I was blown away.
All the other local friends were in the wedding party for said bachelor party. So Crissy ended up going with me. She doesn't like them much, and I remember her 'feeling bad' (literally that's how nice she is) that Geddy Lee could probably tell she wasn't that into it, since we were so close.
I told her not to worry the other 8000 people in the audience cheering for everything he did probably eased any bad feelings he would have had . . .
My plans aren't set in stone yet. If Crissy will come along, and I'll just leave her in the hotel for the show, and we'll probably show up Saturday and hang out for two nights. If Crissy doesn't come long, I'll probably show up sometime Sunday afternoon. Once I know what we're doing, I'll let you know.
2112 to Moving Pictures makes for an amazing peak/prime. Add in the longevity and it's a no-brainer
That's one wild thing about Rush, their sound has changed so many times, different fans have much different opinions on their best work.
I've had this conversation with co-workers a couple times, about the relative greatness of rock and roll bands. To me, as unbelievable as the Rolling Stones were between ~1965 and ~1980, they've kind of sucked for a quarter-century now. That has to count for something. Same deal with Aerosmith. A spectacular peak, but everything post-Pump has been mediocre IMHO. U2 is on a similar career path, post-Achtung Baby.
Does an extended decline period detract from the overall greatness of a band? I tend to think it does, but I also give extra credit to bands like the Clash*, Nirvana, the Sex Pistols (and even lesser-known bands like Brainiac and Miracle Chosuke) for going out on top. Not that Nirvana or Brainiac had any choice.
* - I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Cut The Crap.
However I think the Stones are overrated anyway, even during their peak. :-)
Enjoy the concert, though!
But we're not talking about the crappy albums making the great albums less listenable. We're talking about an overall assessment of a band's greatness. And to me (and him), those poor albums impact a band's legacy in a negative way.
Metal Machine Music:Lou Reed::2000:Roy Halladay
Symb can't go until he gets the fantasy football stuff started.
To each his own, of course, especially with music. But I still don't see why that is worse than not doing anything at all.
The band that didn't make the extra bad albums was probably through anyway, or else they would have made more. I don't see how it is better if they recognize that and stop or don't and keep going.
***********
I agree, actually, I'm not really a big fan of Counterparts, except for the song Everyday Glory (which they've never played live, bummer).
But I do think Vapor Trails was a nice bounce back season. They just mixed it wrong or something, you could barely hear Geddy's voice on some tracks.
Or perhaps that's just because he was about 50 when the album was recorded.
He's supposed to get a spreadsheet out tonite.
That time you spend listening to the bad crap and the money... thats a fricking negative.
He's supposed to get a spreadsheet out tonite.
Yeah, as a mention on the site, I went out of town without my files for fantasy.
Oh, and the concert was hands-down one of the three best I've ever seen.
Don't forget Talking Heads and The Police.
Who's opening for them these days? Are they any better than Marillion (Power Windows), Mr. Big or Tommy Shaw (Counterparts)?
They now call it an evening with Rush, and they play for 3 hours, with a 20 minute intermission.
And quit dissing Mr. Big, best opening band ever! I saw the Black Crowes open for ZZ Top back in 1991, and I'll take Mr. Big any day!
It lets them play about 25-30 songs a show instead of 15-20. Huge improvement. They are ironmen.
Well, there was Endless Boogie, complete with dancing harlot...who couldn't dance, garbed in a combination of Foghat and Cap't Beefheart, and playing mediocre boogie numbers most of which were 7-10 minutes in duration (when they said Endless, they meant it).
Best part, though; they were opening for Steve Malkmus.
Well, OK, and I just saw a show where the opener's singer/guitarist lost a string, and while he changed it, the bassist ad libbed about his idea to someday bring to market Fried Ranch Dressing Balls. The band itself was Candlebox goes indie, which is about all you need to know.
But absolutely hands down, the worst opener I ever saw was Vic Chestnut. He opened for Wilco about ten years ago in a NYC venue, and he was awful. Drunker than a skunk, slurring, angry, and shouting lyrics. A Jeff Tweedy/Jay Farrar staring contest would have been more fun.
Primus was the best opening act I saw with Rush. I really, really like Eric Johnson's studio stuff, but he bored me to tears live.
Best opening bands I've ever seen, in no particular order and off the top of my head: Ash, Primus, Pop Will Eat Itself, Troubled Hubble, Soul Asylum (pre-"Runaway Train"), the Jayhawks, Malcolm Middleton, Ozma.
Oh, man. He opened for Soul Asylum on the Grave Dancer's Union tour and it was mind-bogglingly awful. I'm happy to hear I'm not the only person who felt that way.
Worst headliner I ever saw was the Spin Doctors. I went to the show to see the Screaming Trees and Soul Asylum open, and left about three songs into the Spin Doctors' set. Oh, and Joe Satriani was kind of a crappy headliner too. Not sure how I managed it, but I literally fell asleep.
OK, but most fun at a show has to Southern Culture on the Skids. I don't know if they still tour, but they're a hoot.
I saw Six Finger Satellite in a little bar in Bowling Green, Ohio and a couple times, the singer went into the crowd threatening (in a completely serious manner) to attack people. In between songs, he was ranting about how much he loved cocaine. Add those two things to ridiculously overmodulated audio and a very intoxicated band, and it was a night to...uh...remember, I guess.
Absolutely. I love the period from Permanant Waves to Hold Your Fire, but the stuff before and after doesn't do it for me. Not even 2112.
The most amazing reception for an opening act I ever saw was Rubicon, opening for Elvis Costello, in Seattle in 1978. I seem to remember the original opening act cancelled, and they were brought in at the last minute. Rubicon was a San Franciso pop-dance band, with horns, choreographed moves, and fancy clothes. They weren't incompetant, but they were absolutely the worst possible choice to open for someone like Elvis in 1978 (when he was still considered punk...).
They played their songs, and were greeted with 90% boos, and various missiles from the audience. The soldiered on very professionally, until before the last song the drummer, who did the song intros, said, "For those of you who clapped, thank you. For everyone else, f*ck you."
That got them their only cheer of the night...
Vortex, if you like Permanent Waves on, I'm surprised you don't like A Farewell to Kings and especially Hemispheres. I see the 'change' starting a little further back.
Like I said, they're so varied, everyone has different ranges of what they like.
Heck really old Rush (pre-2112) sounds more like Zeppelin than Rush!
"Closer to the Heart" is a good song, but the songwriting on both of those albums doesn't really do it for me - I know "The Trees" is one of their most popular songs, but I've never liked it. I think the songwriting got much more concise and focused on Permanent Waves forward, and the timbre of Geddy's voice really improved on the synth period tracks.
I think their debut album sounds more like Sabbath than anything.
Best opening act - Mojo Nixon (for Dread Zeppelin).
I'm going to go sulk now...
Thanks again for the offer, Joe.
At the first concert I ever attended - Van Halen on their 1984 tour - opening was a rockabilly(!) band named Velcro. Boos from the opening notes. Someone in the crowd threw an M-80 on stage and blew up a monitor.
Ah, the good ol' days, when you weren't searched with a proctoscope when entering concert venues.
You're all dead to me. Dead.
You're all dead to me. Dead.
Take it to the Vick thread.
It's ticket, no 's'. I'll be using the other one :-)
I saw the Blind Boys of Alabama open for Peter Gabriel. That was pretty frickin' awesome. (There was another opening act that I don't remember - an African group of some kind.)
I saw Kelly Willis open for Willie Nelson at a club show in New York, and while there may be no bigger Kelly fan out there than me, it really wasn't a good match with the crowd, and just didn't go well. Willie was outstanding though. (And I'll never get over the number of beer bottles on the floor at the end of the show.)
I saw Cheryl Wheeler open for Jimmie Dale Gilmore at the Bottom Line, and given that I'd spent most of my day at work on a site where I went by "spudsfan", it surprised the hell out of me when she sang "Potato".
And I have no idea who it was, but at my first concert ever, Huey Lewis & the News at MSG in 1987*, the opening act was some guy with a guitar who we had no interest in. All that I remember is that he had one song about Oreo Cookies & Cream.
(*Adolesence was wasted on me. So was college.)
1. Red Barchetta
2. Red Sector A
3. The Trees
4. Losing It
5. YYZ
With bass god Billy Sheehan, fresh off his stint with David Lee Roth's band.
Maybe they just picked them because their single at that time was "Addicted To That Rush" :P
Alice In Chains (circa fall 1990) --> opening for Extreme
Smashing Pumpkins (circa fall 1990) --> opening for... the Lemonheads
I also saw the Neville Brothers open for the Dave Matthews Band and blow them away, but that was different.
LOVE & HOPE & SEX & DREAMS-era BoDeans only 'pretty good'?
BLASPHEMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers for The J. Geils Band, 1977
Richard Thompson for Joan Armatrading, 1996
I saw Huey the next year at the Igloo in Pittsburgh. I was 14, and it was a good show. When the crowd chanted for "Back in Time," I thought I'd heard "Bad Is Bad," a favorite of mine. So I was sorely disappointed when the song didn't materialize, and disappointed more that they didn't play it at all.
But it reminds me that HL&tH;'s "Heart of Rock & Roll" is probably the greatest song idea ever: with the shouted city names in the midst of it, it's adaptable to whatever town they're playing in, and I'd bet that in each town, a big cheer goes up when the town name is inserted into the tune. A can't miss song idea in the same way that that terrible "Closing Time" song was a can't-miss idea for last-calls everywhere.
This thread may represent a new outlet for your reserach: FAT...Freely Available Tickets. ;)
But since this is a family site, you might want to avoid the ackronym for Freely Available Rush Tickets.
He also doesn't like it if anyone in the crowd dares to voice any opinion that disagrees with his politics. I saw it get pretty ugly once, he did his best to turn the entire crowd against some guy who shouted out something when Earle was on one of his death penalty diatribes.
I saw a Devo show in the early 80s where they did the same kind of thing - not C&W;, but this odd (even by Devo standards) electronic noodling. The crowd booed until they revealed themselves.
I'm a little surprised by that, I thought they always played "Bad is Bad". Of course the all-you-can-eat meal is up to about $7.99 these days. Then again, in 1988 they would have been touring for the "Small World" album, which was not their finest musical hour.
Also, I'm just annoyed that Steve Earle got to marry Alison Moorer. That, and that her last album, which he produced, was so utterly forgettable.
Jeff M.?
The DJ gave away a T-Shirt for whoever could guess the band. He said, "the bouncer used to be in a band, and their hits were Somebody's Out There, and . . . " he never finished because I screamed, "Triumph!"
I always loved that song, and they are a pretty good band (poor man's Rush, Candian trio at least).
The dude was cool, I was hammered, so I went out there and shook his hand and told him awesome I thought they were and that I loved that song. He thanked me and said he sees it on some K-Tel albums every once in awhile. Pretty cool night.
Many years ago, a cousin of mine ran into him on the street. He was/is a Rush fan. He ran up to Geddy and said to him: "I know you....isn't your uncle Haim Leibovitch in the shmata (yiddish for rag) business?"
That would be a pretty big group, women who have married Steve Earle. I'm a fan of his music but his rants can get a little tiresome.
Craig, is that a raincoat?
I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Seattle back in 1981. They had played Vancouver, BC the night before, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the opening act, were held up at the border getting back into the USA because one of the members had a previous drug conviction. Left without an opening band, TP became their own opening act. They came on stage, and played 45 minutes of b-sides, album tracks, and covers that weren't in their regular set. We got to hear "Casa Dega", a b-side that's one of my favorite Petty songs. They then took a break, and came back and played their regular two sets. Nice show...
Stabbing Westward did sort of the opposite thing when I saw them in '96 or so. At the end of their set, they stood there making as much feedback and noise as humanly possible for like ten minutes, just to see if people would sit through it. Pretty much everybody did, and eventually the singer said the concert was over, that everyone should go home. And then the band left.
It was kind of funny, really, even if it was a bit ear-splitting.
Yes it is! In '87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
[raises axe above head]
And, there was Huey's acting career with a good turn in Shortcuts. A friend's cousin was a member of the filming/production team, thought Huey was a nice guy.
1. Behind the Music quality continuum: Huey Lewis_______________________________________________________________Nikki Six goes back for more smack
2. Best opening band I ever saw: Van Halen opening for Black Sabbath, just after the first VH album came out. Like a week after.
They put on a great show too, they sounded incredible and were very energized, etc.. Certainly didn't look like a band in their early 50s, and Geddy can still hit the high note.
Being about 10 feet from Neal Peart doing a drum solo was pretty amazing as well. Just an awesome time.
By the way, the 'free' tickets, while priceless of course, cost me a small fortune.
$160 - 2 nights in hotel
$30 - 2 nights parking at hotel
$34 - 2 tickets for comedian (who was funny)
$50 - dinner and drinks at/comedy club
$15 - drinks after comedy club
$60 - gas round trip from Champaign to Columbus
$50 - lunch and drinks on Sunday
$150 - speeding ticket Sunday, damn Ohio speed trap right where speed limit drops from 65 to 55.
$15 - cheesecake factory sunday
$40 - drinks at concert (5 beers and a hurricane)
$56 - Bodies exhibition Monday in Columbus (super cool, actual cadavers on display, like an anatomy class)
$35 - lunch Monday before we left (my girlfriend and I don't understand the concept of fast food! but hey, we were on vacation).
So my 'free' tickets cost $694 because I decided to take my girlfriend along for 3 days and two nights.
I could have driven out Sunday afternoon and rode the concert with Dan and only paid $100 for gas and beer at the show. Should have done an accounting projection beforehand!
I thought you said the Rush concert was on Sunday.
I keed! I keed!
Was the bodies exhibit actual cadavers, or is it the one where they take cadavers and fill them with see-through plastic so you can see all the inner-workings?
Some things never change; Ohio has always been notorious for speed traps.
Best opening acts I ever saw?
Nirvana opening for Jesus Lizard
Sonic Youth opening for The Swans
Bruce Springsteen opening for Anne Murray
Anyway, I and the tax base of Columbus, Ohio thank you, Joe, for your contribution to the local economy. BTW: doesn't Easton freak you out? It's like a fake little town in the middle of our suburbs. Not that I don't shop there a lot. It's just that after a decade or so, I'm still not used to it.
I've seen Rush maybe 7-8 times, going back to the Signals tour, but I've missed the last few. Never got to see them from anywhere close to the front row.
As for favorite albums, I like all of them from the first one until Power Windows (Caress of Steel excepted, of course). I especially like Signals and Permanent Waves. After Power Windows, though, they start a gradual decline IMO, interrupted only by Counterparts (which I really like).
I like the new one, but can't say that I really like it more than anything else they've done in the last 20 years.
Dadumdadum, dadumdadum, dadumdadum, dadumdadum...
:-)
I saw them years ago when Geddy still utilized his mighty banshee singing style.
I've seen Rush three times, once each on the Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows and Presto tours. That last one was mostly a trip down nostalgia lane since I was past being thrilled by being crammed into a stadium with 12000 of my closest friends. What was with those giant inflatable rabbits, anyway? The front-row seats (well, there were no seats, so we stood in front of the stage) at the GUP show were a highlight of my youth, though.
I'd mostly ignored Rush for years until the early oughts when I met a friend's younger brother who told me how into Rush he'd recently gotten. He went on at length: Had I heard them, weren't they great, so many spectacular records, especially their old stuff, etc. As he talked I realized he'd never heard anything before Power Windows. Really had no clue that he was talking about a band whose initial heyday was two decades before his time. He also thought that "penultimate" meant "really cool," but he was a nice kid.
The joke was on him, but it's a measure of the band's quality that their career has gone on so long without them just recycling themselves. Who says there are no second acts in Canadian life?
Did this reputation start when John Mellencamp (nee Cougar) got clocked by a thrown beer bottle while opening for the Stones and swore never to return?
Start? No. That incident just added to the reputation.
Sonic Youth opening for The Swans
Bruce Springsteen opening for Anne Murray
I'm surprised and disappointed that all of these opening acts are very well-known. Surely the Repoz saw some brilliant performance by Johnny's Lizard Funkateers in the hazy days of '75 or something, right?
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