Canada's Loudest Band

Well, I'm back from the Rush concert on Saturday night and my ears are still ringing! They definitely took it up to 11 tonight as it was easily the loudest concert I've ever attended! As far as concerts go, I'd have to put it down the ladder a bit behind the likes of Waters, the Who and Yes, but that doesn't mean they didn't rock my ass off! I still can't get past the fact that these guys are in their mid-fifties and can still put on a show like this one! The individual talent on their specific instruments is just amazing. The show started around 8:10pm and ended around 11:20pm, with a 10-15 minute break.

As I mentioned in my other post, I'm definitely not a Rush officionado and haven't really actively listened to many of their songs with the exception of those played (and overplayed) on classic rock radio stations. In fact, I think I was referring to "Gene Geddy" all night for some reason when talking with Danielle when the his actual name, of course, is Geddy Lee! However, I did go in with the knowledge that Neil Peart may be the best rock drummer in the history of the world and his drum solo tonight was a thing of beauty (though I could have used just a little more cowbell). I doubt if I'll ever hear a better drum solo, live or otherwise, for the rest of my life! It was that good!! His equipment was awesome, rotating a full 180 degrees numerous time throughout the performance to give him access to every little toy he had on that thing.

The big screens were also very cool. Some of the video sequences shown included cameo appearances from the McKenzie Brothers, Jerry Stiller and the South Park cartoon kids, with Cartman making up his own lyrics for Tom Sawyer mistaking him for Huckleberry Finn.

Our seats were supposed to be up near the nosebleeders stage left, but since Danielle had worked as an usher in years past and knew someone there, we got an upgrade to a great section stage right (as you can see in the pics). That once again proves that when in Vegas, its all about who you know!

Here's a few random pictures of the night. As I've mentioned before, I don't own a digital camera. Even though my camera phone takes pretty decent pics, the sound quality of the videos severely lacks. I'll put a few videos on following the pics for what they're worth, but you might want to turn your volume way down before watching them. It was SO LOUD that any decent quality out of my phone was next to impossible. However, some of the videos show the very nice lasers and light effects, and I think I have a couple vids of Neil in the middle of his solo.

Edited to add: It seems the first four vids of Neil in his solo aren't too bad, as well as the last vid which is simply the crown reaction right before the encore, but the vids in the middle should only be watched for the visuals as the sound is just terrible. Sorry.

Yet another edit: I forgot to mention that Danielle and I, in search of good food at 11:45pm, stopped by the Bootlegger Bistro on S. Las Vegas Blvd. Five minutes after we walked in, Carrot Top came in and walked right past our table. The veal Saltimbocca was AWESOME!!! Try it if you're ever out that way.