Rush at The Frank Erwin Center - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
Rush
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario.
http://www.rush.com
Rush Concert Photos
Wednesday April 23rd, 2008
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
When I was in 8th grade I bought 7 albums, my first major music purchase. It set me back about $50 which back then was about 5 tanks of gas in the family station wagon. For a long time they were my only records. I remember most of them, Kiss
Rock And Roll Over, Pink Floyd's
Animals, The Eagle's
Hotel California, Led Zeppelin's
The Song Remains The Same were a few of them, but my favorite of the bunch was Rush's
2112. Of all the albums it took me on a wild journey. Neal Peart's drums on "Passage to Bangkok" blew me away, and the whole masterful 2112 opus combined hard rock and progressive rock in a way never done before.
Shortly after I saw Rush play down in San Antonio on their
Farewell to Kings tour and it was almost a religious experience. I had all 5 of Rush's first albums before I even heard them on the radio here in Austin. I even owned them all on 8-Track tape. Clint, our Toronto based writer always gives me crap over my Rush fixation but back in the day, in the 70's before even AOR stations were playing Rush, they had a huge fan base in Texas, emanating out from San Antonio. KISS-FM, San Antonio's hard rock FM station, and more specifically Joe Anthony, had a pipeline to great metal and rock talent and was responsible for introducing bands like Rush, Moxy, Legs Diamond, April Wine, Judas Priest, Budgie, and AC/DC, to Texas. Without Joe's influence on the scene down in San Antonio, I doubt that metal would have thrived as a genre like it did, and I don't think that Rush would have grown as big as they did without the audience they established here in the 70's.
Geddy Lee of Rush- more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
That said, Austin didn't get all the good metal bands or shows, back then or now. We always seemed to get San Antonio's leftovers. For every 10 times Rush played San Antonio, they would play Austin once. The last time Rush played Austin was 14 years ago. I was at that show, also at the Erwin Center. Rush was huge by then, and best I could manage were nosebleed seats in the rafters. I loved every minute.
Last year Rush released their
Snakes & Arrows album and try as hard as I could I wasn't able to work out a photo pass when they came to San Antonio. I tried every connection and angle, and when the day of show came they all petered out. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
I got lucky this year.
This year they finally brought their tour back to Austin. I got very very lucky and was approved to shoot their show at the Frank Erwin Center. To say I was stoked would again be an understatement.
I arrived at the Erwin Center early, hanging around outside the loading docks smoking cigarettes with the crew as I waited for my escort to meet me. I was kind of hoping to see Neal, Geddy, or Alex moving from the tour buses, but no such luck. I did notice that the tour took 5 buses and 7 semi-trailers to bring them to Austin. Eventually Jay, Carlos, and Gary all showed up and we were taken up to the security office to await our call to the stage. While waiting we were issued our badges, but no tickets. It would be a 3 and out type of show. I had hoped to catch all or most of the show, but with 3 songs front row for Rush I wasn't going to complain. I did ask if they had any extra reviewer tickets available, and they said they would check, but weren't very hopeful.
Alex Lifeson of Rush - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
When the time came, we were escorted down early, again missing an opportunity to "bump" into the band in the hall. Taken to the stage the pit was divided into two, the left side in front of Alex reserved for the video crews doing the big monitors. We got the right side, right in front of Geddy. With all the photographers and the security, the pit was packed. As we waited one of the staffers came up and pushed a ticket into my hand, wishing me a good show. My heart was beating at twice the normal speed when the lights dimmed, and the big video screens flickered on.
While the crowd was transfixed on the opening video the photographers began to jockey for position, then suddenly the video was over, the lights kicked on and... Rush!
There was Geddy Lee 5 feet from me, bass in hand, as the band kicked into "Limelight". I snapped for all I was worth, shooting some of Geddy, some of Alex, and then trying to snap a few of Neil, but no one could find the angle to get good pics of Neil. Somewhere in the second song, "Digital Man", I found myself in front of Geddy again, he saw me and then came over to play for my camera which blew me away. All too soon we were through the third song, the cold tap on the shoulder came, and our escort came and showed us out, out, out of the building. Stowing my gear in the truck I pulled the crumpled ticket out of my pocket. Floor seat, 8th row, nice...
I made it back in time to catch "Freewill" and enjoyed the rest of the show, clocking in at right around 3 hours. It was worth the 14 year wait.
I really want to thank the folks at the Frank Erwin Center and Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart of Rush, as well as the whole crew involved in putting this monster show together. It was one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life.
Set 1:
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
Set 2:
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)
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Gary Miller shoots Rush at The Frank Erwin Center - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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