Rush - Clockwork Angels Tour

It's been far too long since I updated this blog but I cannot let the Rush concert in Glasgow last Thursday go by without comment.

Rush, SECC Glasgow, 30 May 2013,
a photo by DavidDMuir on Flickr.

Let's get the obvious out the way first. it was awesome!

I first saw them in concert in 1978 at the Glasgow Apollo for the Farewell To Kings tour and I often cite that as my favourite gig ever but I think Thursday's concert may well knock the '78 concert off the top spot. Why do I say that? Was it the light show? Was it the back projection? Was it the fireworks? Certainly, the shows have become more spectacular as the years have gone by, and the current show is possibly their most pyrotechnic yet, but explosions alone do not a great show make...

With Rush concerts, it's always been about the musicianship... at least, that's what it's been for me. Every time I see them live, I am astonished at how faithfully the three of them reproduce the sounds from their studio albums in a concert setting. Can I say that again? Three of them. On stage. Live! No studio trickery for support. Just three outstanding musicians working together to produce something that many bands twice their size (and nowadays half their age) would struggle to match! But what made this tour special was, not only did we have at least ninety minutes of the three of them working wonders by triggering samples and playing synthesisers with what ever spare limb wasn't already involved in playing their "main" instrument, we also had about an hour of Rush playing along with a string section. And the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble did what I would have said was impossible; they made Rush sound even better than usual!

The set list is embedded below:

Edit this setlist | More Rush setlists

As you can see, The Clockwork Angels String Ensemble played for most of the second set, which is where Rush played almost the whole of the Clockwork Angels album, but they also played along with Dreamline, Red Sector A and YYZ. Now, YYZ in particular, I have heard them play live umpteen times but I don't think it has ever sounded better than it did last week with the string ensemble rocking it up behind Rush.



Final Thoughts
As I sat in the SECC waiting for the concert to begin feeling stupidly excited, I thought back to my first Rush gig where I felt just as stupidly excited. What is it about Rush that can make a fat fifty year old man feel like a teenager again? What ever it is, long may it continue!

Concert Memories #01: Hawkwind

My first ever concert was going to be to see Rush. I think I may even have bought the tickets. Then my friend said we should go and see Hawkwind. I was 14 years old, I had only just been introduced to rock music and I had never heard of Hawkwind... but I agreed to go anyway.

I suspect it was the first concert any of us had ever been to. You can see how little we knew about concerts because we bought tickets for the Circle. (We thought that was the posh seats and that we'd have a better view!) The tickets cost £1.50, which seems unbelievably cheap by today's standards. However, I earned £0.80 a week from my paper round, so it cost me two weeks' wages!

As I found out more about Hawkwind, I did get slightly concerned. I was worried that we'd be surrounded by drug using hippies. And when I heard about Stacia, I started to panic that my parents would hear about her too and that I wouldn't be allowed to go. (Actually, since I was only 14, I am amazed I was allowed to go at all. We went in on the train and came back late at night on our own. Different times!)

Needless to say, Stacia had left the band some time before and when we got to the concert, as far as I could tell, there were no drug using hippies anywhere in sight (or scent).

To be honest, I remember very little about this, my first concert, and my first experience of the legendary Glasgow Apollo. I remember thinking it was one of the best events that I'd ever attended. I remember that it was loud. I remember enjoying the music and afterwards, I bought the album they were promoting: Quark, Strangeness and Charm - an album I still really enjoy listening to. And I remember that I couldn't wait to go to more concerts... lots more.

I loved it! I loved the spectacle. I loved the noise. And most of all, I loved the excitement generated by the live event. I was hooked.

How much do you remember about your first concert? What is it about live music that makes it so exciting?