New Rush Day!!!

Well, technically the real New Rush Day is in June, but they released the first new single (since Caravan/BU2B last year) for their new album, "Clockwork Angels". 

If the three songs released so far are any indication, this album is going to be one of the all time Rush classics. Yes, I'm biased, but even taking that into consideration, this thing is sounding epic. Listen for yourself. 

A long drive to Colorado, Rush, and back

We returned home Friday after driving 16 hours both ways to see Rush in Colorado. We spread the drives out over two days each time, staying over at the posh Amarillo La Quinta, home of musty air conditioning and pet droppings in the grassy patches. The long drives and seedy motel stays were worth it since we got to see Rush in what's probably one of the best venues in North America, Red Rocks in Colorado.  Built out of a natural amphitheatre in the mountains outside of Denver, Red Rocks is a mixture of natural beauty with a man made venue overlaying it in seamless fashion. The staggered stadium style seating means that everyone in the place has an unobstructed view of the stage, a rarity for most concert venues. 

The weather was mild and beautiful, and the crowd were fully energized for a night of classic progressive rock from its pre-eminent power trio. The set list didn't disappoint with their typical mixture of old and new (including two songs from their forthcoming album) with the classic "Moving Pictures" being the feature of their second set. "The Camera Eye" is a song I never expected to see Rush perform, and it was a truly moving experience to hear it live for the first time.  The show featured all the requisite Rush lights, video, sound, pyrotechnics, with a set list to satisfy everyone who came to the show.  They played all the expected hits but threw in enough deep cuts to satisify their stalwart loyal.  In addition to TCE, they played La Villa Strangiato, Leave That Thing Alone, Stick It Out, Presto, Faithless, and several other deep cuts. Their two new songs "Caravan" and "BU2B" were ideally suited to live performance since both are pretty hard rocking tunes.  A fantastic show as always and we're looking forward to seeing them again in Houston next month.

Recent developments

Time is slowly chugging along here at FOB Blessing. Nothing of great import has transpired since last update with the exception of my removal from ADVON which means I will be coming home in late June or early July as opposed to late May. That change has its pros and cons with the main negative being more time away from home but almost everything else is positive. The ADVON providers have to setup the medical footprint and get everyone at home ready for the return of the brigade so it’s a lot of coordination that can be somewhat of a pain. The other positive is that it will be one or two more months of the extra combat pays so that will come in handy.

Of most significant import on the musical front is that yesterday we got tickets to see Yes with Asia (Steve Howe will be pulling double duty) July 15th at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. Of all the concerts and musicians I have been able to see over the years, there are still a couple of my all time favorites that I have never seen live and Steve Howe is at the top of the list.  I was able to catch Yes on the 90125 tour with Trevor Rabin (a fantastic show and I was very happy to see that lineup) but I have always felt I missed a great opportunity to see Steve Howe with the classic lineup, playing the more classic era song list. Unfortunately (depending on your viewpoint) Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman have both had some medical issues that have kept them from performing so Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White have enlisted the duties of Oliver Wakeman (Rick’s son) on keyboards and Benoit David (a Yes tribute band member) on vocals. According to reviews from a short tour last winter, David sounds like the Jon Anderson of the 70’s and does an incredible job on the old tunes. Another benefit of this lineup is that they can perform tunes from Drama which Jon Anderson always refused to do. So it’s possible this set list will be about the most varied and interesting they have performed in a long time. I’m fairly sure they will perform Close to the Edge in entirety and that’s worth the price of admission alone. I’m really looking forward to Machine Messiah or pretty much anything from Drama.

But if that wasn’t enough, they are being joined by Asia with the original lineup and they should be able to draw tunes from the first two albums as well as the most recent studio album “Phoenix” which was released a couple of years ago. Asia comes from a unique genre in that it’s the closest thing to Progressive Pop, definitely the most successful next to the 90125 Yes of that era. The nice thing is that the “Phoenix” is actually a great album in their catalog and it seems like the album they should have released after the first two. Asia had many forgettable lineups and albums in the intervening years between “Alpha” and “Phoenix” but this tour is shaping up to very promising.

Robert holds the bone…

but declines to throw it.  Reports were widespread that an ultimatum from Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones had resulted in Robert Plant relenting and agreeing to tour with Led Zeppelin next year. I bought it enough to tell my wife to plan for a trip or two and a new bank loan to pay for the tickets next year.  Today I wake up to see a report that Robert Plant posted an announcement on his web page that he will not be touring, but wishes the other members well in their future endeavors. The rumors were that the band was auditioning another, younger singer to take Plant's place and that this is what motivated him to relent.  Apparently, it isn't to be.  If Zeppelin does tour with a different singer, I'll probably still go see them. After all, it will still be Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones with John Bonham's son and they will play a pretty solid setlist if they repeat what they performed at the O2 show. 

I have to wonder if Plant or other parties will sue the band if they try to tour under the Zeppelin name. Whatever they call it, I'll still be motivated to see them. I last saw Jimmy Page when he was with the Firm in 84-85. I saw them before they had a name at the British Invasion tour show in Dallas, and then again a year later as the Firm. It was a decent show, but not Zeppelin. Jimmy did play a very drunken instrumental version of Stairway at the first show and I was close enough to jump up and touch his doubleneck (his guitar, you pervs) although I also declined. Paul Rodgers is good with Bad Company, and I really like what he has done with Queen but he didn't really gel with Jimmy Page back then.  I'll be very happy if they can get someone with Robert's old vocal range and play the songs like they were played back in Zeppelin's heyday.

R.I.P, Richard Wright

I just saw on the news that Richard Wright, keyboardist of Pink Floyd has passed away from cancer at the age of 65. Richard Wright was often overlooked but a critical member of the band whose input was important on all the landmark Pink Floyd albums. Lately he had been a prominent member of David Gilmour's band and touring group and was featured prominently on the video for the "On an Island" tour. The chance for a real Pink Floyd reunion is now permanently gone, although it was very unlikely with Gilmour's motivation to reunite.  Richard Wright will be missed.

Belated Rush Reviews…

It's been nearly a month since I saw Rush in Houston and Austin on a Saturday and the following Wednesday (Apr 19/23rd).  The delay is more work/life related on my part than a lack of desire to post a review.  Both shows were great, and I won't post as detailed a review as from last August as the show was mostly the same with the exception of a few set list changes and a new video before the second set.  I am probably in the minority of people who aren't as happy with the set list changes because I really was happy to hear Entre Nous and Circumstances as I had never heard them live before (and they are both great tunes).  They decided to go back to a few classic staples since this second leg was hitting several cities that hadn't been on the tour itinerary in several years.  The other deletions are Secret Touch and Distant Early Warning. I'm a big fan of Vapor Trails (and Snakes & Ladders) so I was also disappointed for them to remove Secret Touch. 

 I recently read Neil Peart's book "Ghost Rider" which took place in the interval between the death of his daughter & wife (both occurring within a year's span) and details how he rode his motorcycle for thousands of miles over the next few years as part of his recovery process. In the text of the book are many literary references, but the main focus of the book is sort of an autobiographical travelogue with intermittent flashes of his grieving process in the form of narrative as well as reprints of many letters he wrote during that time. Dispersed throughout the tome are several slices of what would eventually turn into the lyrics of the next album (VT). After reading it I gained a new appreciation for many of these songs (as well as his lyrics in general).  Gives me a new level of disgust at the blogger who ranked him (Neil) as the second worst Rock lyricist of all time. 

Here's the new setlist:

Setlist:

Video Intro (features all 3 band members)
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro)
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

Intermission

Video Intro (What's That Smell? features all 3 members, Jerry Stiller)
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor And Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer (with South Park intro)

Encore:

One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ
Video Outro (Alex, Neil, Jerry Stiller)

It was great to see them, especially in Austin. They played the Frank Erwin Center in the theatre setup which seats about 8000 total. The acoustics and the intimacy of the indoor environment allowed for a perfect live setting.  I think it will be better to space the shows apart because the novelty did wear a little bit since it had only been 5 days between shows. I think the perfect schedule would be to see them about three times per tour with at least a month between shows. I would also try and see them in as different an environment as possible. I think for the next tour (I feel like they have at least another album/tour in them) I will try to see them somewhere like Red Rocks or The Gorge in Washington, Vegas, and somewhere in Texas. 

New Music Appreciation Post

So I've been on somewhat of a new music surge (at least compared to the normal for me) as of late.  I think it started when I downloaded several songs on Neil Peart's house music set list (the one they play before the shows) from Itunes.  Among the groups I was newly exposed or gained a new appreciation for were:  Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta,  The Tragically Hip, Jeff Buckley, King Crimson and early Genesis.  Porcupine Tree especially hit a nerve with me and I subsequently have bought four albums by them. I especially like "Fear of a Blank Planet", "In Absentia" and "Deadwing".  For reasons I'm not quite sure of, I also finally bought "Hunky Dory" by Bowie. I always liked the tunes from that album (Mick Ronson was a key player/producer) and I'm not sure why it took this long.  I had been listening to "Life on Mars" repeatedly after hearing it a recent movie ("Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou?"), and decided to get the album.  

I also recently bought albums by Amy Winehouse (Back to Black), Sheryl Crow (Detours) and Robert Plant/Alison Krauss (Raising Sand) but have only really got into the RP/AK effort.  In my explorations I also got to checking out Itunes mixes by other users. These are basically just mix tape made by other Itunes users, but the nice thing is you can search them by keyword.  So, in my typical music preference vein I searched for sad or melancholy mixes and actually found a really good one that has several tunes that I have grown quite fond of. Some of the artists on the mix were: "The Weepies", "State Radio", "City and Colour", "Jason Reeves", "Gregory and the Hawk", and "Cocunut Records".  It's a really great mix tape and I'll be checking out the other stuff from these guys in the near future.