Review: Rock concert fans get their Rush

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By David Burke | Wednesday, May 21, 2008 2:05 AM CDT | () comments

After weeks of hearing rock radio morning-show hosts and their listeners debate the merits of Rush, the Canadian threesome strengthened their fandom and likely added some new followers Tuesday night at the i wireless Center in Moline.

At times indulging in ’80s arena rock excess — the lights that look like an alien spaceship landing, laser lights and an occasional blast of pyro here and there — the concert had a nearly constant chorus of

5,700 head-bogging, fist-pumping fans, particularly those who were stationed in the floor seats.

Rush, formed four decades ago this fall (founding drummer John Rutsey, who was with the band until 1974, died last week), has produced 18 studio albums and five live discs. While much of the band’s

history was explored, there was also a good chunk of its most recent album, “Snakes and Arrows,” released last year.

Fans — half of whom seemingly were wearing current and past Rush T-shirts — went wild over songs such as “Freewill,” “Dreamline,” “Subdivisions,” “The Spirit of Radio,” “2112” and “Tom Sawyer.”

Nearing age 55, Geddy Lee, the band’s lead singer and bass player (sometimes switching to keyboards in a split second), still can attack the stage with reckless abandon, while unapologetically sticking close to video monitors on the left center stage with the lyrics of the songs. Teasing both the band and its fans (“Mullets,” he sputtered, “I think I had one”), Lee is full of charisma and energy.

Guitarist Alex Lifeson was a bit more reserved, but still came on with a dramatic acoustic guitar solo towards the end of the three-hour show. Drummer Neil Peart performed a jaw-dropping solo, alternating on several different sets of percussion that brought the crowd to its feet.

The video production on the concert was particularly stellar, with three screens showing a camera trained on each of the three performers for much of the night. A humorous video with the three and some Monty Python-esque animation opened the show, while stars of other video cut-ins included Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas’ “SCTV” Canuck alter-egos, Bob and Doug MacKenzie; the cast of “South Park” attempting “Tom Sawyer”; and actor Jerry Stiller, in an offbeat chicken massacre. (Chicken was an underlying theme of the night — anyone care to explain the three large rotisserie ovens at the back of the stage?)

Although Lee claimed that Rush had recorded “about 4,000” songs, the band’s set of more than two dozen of those songs — no matter how new or old — got a macho seal of approval from the predominately male crowd.

David Burke can be contacted at

(563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.

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