 Set
for production as a live DVD from the Vapour Trails tour, the audio from
Rush in Rio clearly stands as a startling historical and musical
document. The live mix is simply superb and reveals the show as it
happened, without overdubs or DAT splices. The band played in front of
their second-largest crowd ever, 40,000 people on the final night of the
tour. (The largest was 60,000-plus the night before in São Paulo in the
rain.) Covering three CDs, this is one of those documents that can make
a punter wonder why he ever doubted the glory, majesty, and heavy,
overblown, pretentious rock power of Rush. Opening with thunderous crowd
noise, "Tom Sawyer" — with complete audience participation
from the git — it is somehow awe-inspiring to hear 40,000 people
singing the song with Geddy Lee.
These people are so crazy; they aren't left out of the mix because they
couldn't be! But it works. There was no soundcheck that night due to
production delays in the arena. This is the sound of a band going for it
in spite of everything and on the wing — and the sound, very live,
very real, extremely dynamic — and not only do they pull it off; they
issue their best live outing ever. Seeing Rush live can be an experience,
but only those people in Rio saw them like this: far from complacent
veteran rock stars, they musically push their own envelopes to the
breaking point and goad each other onto ever greater intensity. Lee's
bass playing has never been this ferocious, so aggressive and driving
— on a live album anyway. Neil
Peart pushes the entire band with his polyrhythmic assault and
overdriven flourishes and fills; knowing this is the last date, he gives
it all up in every single track. And Alex
Lifeson, ever the band player, is, on this night anyway, simply the
greatest arena rock guitarist in the world. The program ranges over the
band's entire recorded output. The majority of the material comes from Farewell
to Kings and after, though "Working Man,"
"2112," and a medley of "By-Tor and the Snow Dog"
and "Cygnus X-1" are present here. Versions of "Roll the
Bones," "The Big Money," "One Little Victory,"
"Ghost Rider," "Red Sector A," and "La Villa
Strangiato" are given something like their definitive reads. Again,
on well-known tracks like "Closer to the Heart," "Free
Will," and "Spirit of Radio," the crowd participation
would normally be off-putting. In this context, however, it is an asset.
One can hear how this adulation and frenzy literally feeds the band,
forcing the issue and making these breathtaking performances. To round
out the encores on disc three Rush has included "board bootlegs"
of "Between Sun & Moon" and "Vital Signs" that
are more than worthy performances. They were taken from shows in Phoenix
and Quebec. For those for whom Rush is a secret and guilty pleasure,
it's time to indulge it openly by playing this for friends who
erroneously insist that Sonic
Youth or Strokes concert
bootlegs are the epitome of "big-label live rock." For the
faithful, you'll know. This one is bloody great. — Thom Jurek |
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