Wembley Arena, London

8th September 2004

Wembley Arena, London (review 1)

9th September 2004

Wembley Arena, London (review 2)

9th September 2004

Venue: Wembley Arena, London       Date: 08th September 2004

Well I have to admit that I'm an unashamedly 'Old-school' Rush Fan, and when I say 'old-school' I mean I really enjoy their material up to Permanent Waves when they lost me. That said, having received a copy of the Rush in Rio DVD last Christmas, it rather ignited my passion for listening to the band's material again. Sure I love the old classics like 'By-Tor and the Snow Dog', 'Bastille Day' etc and of course Xanadu, but some of their output from the 1980s which I'd never heard before, sounded pretty decent too.

I was therefore quite pleased when they announced an Arena tour of the UK, but having dawdled over buying tickets the moment they went on sale, it was not until last weekend that I picked up some tickets for the Wembley gig, from a friend who could no longer make it.

Walking up to the venue last night you could hear the bass booming for quite some distance away. The band was well into its set and playing 'Earthshine' when I finally got inside. To be honest the sound wasn't too bad at all, certainly it was better than it was at my previous concert experiences at the same venue. It was definitely very loud, but overall quite well balanced, although one or two of Alex's solos did struggle to be heard above the sound that the other musicians were making.

The visual aspect of the show was fantastic with both the lighting and use of the video screen stuff being very impressive, as was that of the careful use of lasers later in the show. Even the figures on stage at the far end of the venue didn't seem to be that tiny, but the light show was so impressive that one had a tendency to admire the changes of colour and back projections and rather forget the musicians responsible for making all the noise.

Even tunes like 'Red Barchetta' and 'Roll The Bones' sounded pretty good, but the crowd really got excited as they moved into 'YYZ' and the giant video screen showed Alex, Geddy and Neil one by one in close up. Then it was big favourite 'The Trees' - which was far more my kind of thing.

After a 20 minute or so break, the second half of the show began with the 'That Darned Dragon' cartoon which has the intrepid trio saving some big city from some Godzilla-like Dragon. The closing music links neatly with the intro to 'Tom Sawyer' and the return of our heroes on stage. From there, the band moved into playing a string of tunes from the albums that they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, which were fairly unexceptional with the exception of the very engaging 'Red Sector A' and accompanying video.

No Rush concert is complete without a Neal Peart drum solo, but even though one could see that it was technically excellent, I'd be quite happy if I never saw another drum solo in my life. Then while Neal took a break, Alex and Geddy entertained us on acoustic for a couple of tunes, before a rousing run of 'old classics' to end the set. A shortened but still excellent '2112' (Oh how I love to hear that 'we have assumed control' ending), 'La Villa Strangiato' with Alex's always orgasmic solo, 'By-Tor' and 'Xanadu' which all take me back to a time when I was leaping about my bedroom with a tennis racket as guitar. Then 'Working Man' closed out the set, neatly reminding us that these guys have been at it for 30 years.

Of course there were a couple of encores, but halfway through the closer of 'Limelight' I decided that it was time to beat the rush and head home. Apparently I missed a further Jerry Stiller film as a result, but it was worth it to get home instead 25 minutes.

Overall I great visual and sonic experience. It was great to see the band for the first time in almost 25 years and I think that every Rush fan will find that it's well worth the 30 quid that the tickets cost. 3 hours of great music, fantastic visuals and light show, great sound and a run through some of the finest music ever produced.

Anyone curious about the full setlist, can find it here!!

Charlie - 12th September 2004

Venue: Wembley Arena, London       Date: 09th September 2004

Setlist (not in order): 30th Anniversary Overture: (Finding My Way, Anthem, Bastille Day, A Passage To Bankok, Cygnus X-1, Apollo) The Spirit of Radio, Force Ten, Animate, Bravado, Subdivisions, Red Barchetta, Secret Touch, The Seeker, YYZ, Heart Full Of Soul, Dreamline, Earthshine, The Trees, Mystic Rhythms, Drum solo, Resist, Roll The Bones, Between The Wheels, Red Sector A, Tom Sawyer, By Tor and the Snow Dog,  2112 (Overture,Temples, Finale), Working Man, Xanadu, La Villa Strangiato, Limelight.(plus others from 'Vapour Trails' and 'Feedback').

I'd nearly forgotten what a real rock show should look like. Rush's light and laser drenched stage along with a projection screen complete with animations, cartoons, movies of the band in days gone by plus a live camera feed was a spectacular feast for the eyes. It's been a long time, 12 years in fact since Rush played in the UK last. In that time many bands have come and gone, children have grown up and the world is a different place in many ways. Yet Rush are still here, celebrating their 30th anniversary in style.

Rush must be the greatest 'underground' band of all time. If you tell people you're going to see Rush, most people say 'who?' or 'what?', yet here they are playing two nights at Wembley, two in Birmingham plus Manchester and Glasgow amounting to a sale of something like 75,000 tickets and can afford to put on an expensive and spectacular show in the process. I guess that over the years the band have built a very wide rock audience. There are the prog fans like me who love the intricate arrangements of the older material plus there are the many metal fans who love the heavy 'wall of sound' that Rush produce live.

On stage for about three and quarter hours Rush played something from almost every album (all except 'Presto') with energy and enthusiasm. It was a treat to hear much loved songs like 'Red Barchetta' and 'Subdivisions' not to mention the awesome power of pieces such as 'Xanadu' and '2112'. The crowd were captivated from the word go with the instrumental '30th Anniversary Overture', a medley cunningly combining lots of old classics from the 70s and then leapt into 'The Spirit Of Radio' without stopping for breath and had everyone singing along.

I do have a number of criticisms though, for example the sound was not good, being rather distorted and poorly mixed at least from where I was sitting. Also Geddy's voice isn't that consistent these days either and the band's performance is not as tight as it once was. But never mind, the point is that this was a hugely enjoyable show from one of the most loved bands in rock. I can't wait for the DVD.

Steve 12th September 2004

Venue: Wembley Arena, London       Date: 09th September 2004
(Another view of the same show)

Rush first grabbed my attention when they released their "All the World's a Stage", and well remember going to see them at Hammersmith Odeon (for the princely sum of £2.50) and being blown away by the quality of the band's performance.

For a long time I happily bought all the albums and went to all the shows, but then the relationship went sour when I saw the band play at Wembley (back in the early 80's possibly around the time of Signals) and things were never the same again.  The sound I remember as being really poor and to misquote one of the band's own songs I found that illusions were painfully shattered and for a long time I confess I simply lost interest.

When I was given the opportunity to catch up with the band again on this their 30th anniversary tour, I figured it was time to set the record straight and see what I had been missing all these years, and sitting down to write about the experience now a few days after the show I find I still have mixed feelings about the experience.

The show opened with a superb film sequence which featured animations relating to the album covers over the years. When the band took to the stage they launched right into a medley of some of the band's finest works, but for my money this was a poor move. This was an instrumental only medley, and already it was clear to me that I was not going to get to hear some of my favourite songs performed in full! By the end of this (over) extended piece some of the audience seemed a little subdued, dare I say bored!

"Spirit of Radio" quickly brought things back to fever pitch however, and I felt my own spirits lifted by the enthusiasm and sheer energy of the performance. Equally memorable was the superb rendition of "Subdivisions" accompanied by another excellent film sequence, and a little later in the set the ever popular "Trees" showed what the band were capable of.

After playing for around 2 hours the band left the stage for a short break before returning for the final part of the show. Initially things got off to a good start with a great version of  "Tom Sawyer" which was well received, but after this I found things started to flag a little. 

The inevitable Neil Peart drum solo did little to improve things in my mind. I have never been a fan of these overblown ego trips and why bands persist with them is beyond me. Even more hard to understand is why the audience laps them up (answers by e-mail please), but it takes all sorts.

A short acoustic break next went a long way to make amends, and for the briefest of moments we were treated to a perfect example of the intricacy and subtlety with which the band are capable of performing before the power was cranked up with a full on performance of 2112.

This contrast of acoustic and amplified served to highlight what was for me the real problem with the whole show.  Put simply the sound quality was once again a huge disappointment. If I was not a fan, this show would not have won me over. The mix simply was not what I expect from a world class act of 30 years standing.  Time and time again it seemed that the drums and bass were just too loud, the guitars were distorted (probably the amps were turned up to 11) and the vocals for the most part were unintelligible.  20 years on from my last experience of the band and it seemed that things had not changed.

Things were no better for "La Villa Strangiato", and what Alex Lifeson was doing vocally I don't pretend to begin to get the point of.  Maybe he had taken too many head ache tablets before the show, who knows.

"By Tor and the Snow Dog" I found scarecely recognisable, and when the band performed "Xanadu", a Rush classic if ever there was one (anyone remember the Old Grey Whistle Test playing this split over two nights because it was so long?), the delicate playing, the spark, the exuberance that is so abundant on the album was drowned out in a wall of sound that left me wondering at times what the band thought they were doing. 

"Working Man" was also delivered with the force of an atomic bomb and then it was time for the encores. Sadly by this point in the show I had pretty much lost interest and decided to use the opportunity to make use of the facilities before the final stampede for the exits.

So in summary what can be said?  The lightshow and use of film and graphics was excellent - no problems there! The band had chosen a great set, and while I question the wisdom of opening with a medley, they played a good mix of songs that pretty much cover the whole hostory of the band, again no argument to be made on that score. The sound quality though I find hard to forgive under any cicrumstances. Stadiums can be hard to get set up for clean sound, but others manage where Rush clearly failed, so there is no excuse!

20 years ago I had been sorely disappointed - This time around I wanted things to be right.  Maybe, just maybe, I wanted things to be too right and I simply expected too much.  After all, the majority of the audience seemed to have a great time, and my wife adored the whole show, but all things considered I still expect better from a professional band trying to reach an audience in the UK for the first time in 12 years and charging £30 a ticket in the process.

I think I'll just go and see Spirit of Rush next time around and try to remember the good times when Rush used to play quality music with quality sound to small venues!

Simon  12th September 2004