100 Concerts / Concert #6

Headline Act: Rush

Touring Album:Grace Under Pressure

Opening Act: none

Date: March 15, 1985

Venue: The Hollywood Sportatorium. Hollywood, FL

Ticket price: $14.00

  "Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive. Plays that song that's so elusive and the magic music

makes your morning mood.

Off on your way, hit the open road, there is magic at your fingers. For the Spirit ever lingers, undemanding contact

in your happy solitude."

"The Spirit Of Radio" from "Permanent Waves" (1980)

Long-haired freaky people, 1974 publicity photo.

In my middle and high school years, Rush fans were easy to spot. They were teenage boys (never girls) who typically had long hair and smoked (both cigarettes and pot). They were the older kids hanging out at the video game arcade or the bowling alley. They were the dudes leaning on the chain-linked fence before school, planning where to cut class. We called them "burnouts", but their musical tastes were smarter than I realized.

Great Rock Doc, a must-see for any fan.

I first caught the Rush bug when "Tom Sawyer" hit the radio and I soon connected the dots to their earlier work ("Fly By Night", "Closer To The Heart", "Working Man") that was played on FM radio, WSHE (She's Only Rock And Roll!). Rush had dipped their brush into the palette of progressive rock (lengthy musical exploration without pop music's conventional structure), painted with strokes of early '70s metal (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple) and fine-tuned their art with articulate, thoughtful lyrics that rival any rock group. On the outside, they were long-haired, heavy sounding and mystical in message. On the inside they were educated, humorous, and two-thirds "Nice Jewish Boy" (lead singer & bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson are Jewish, drummer Neil Peart is not). 

Already a major rock act before MTV, their videos exposed them to a mainstream audience with "New World Man" and "Subdivisions" from "Signals" (1982). Their 1984 release, "Grace Under Pressure" was another step in their songwriting development, a quality album but a departure for Rush, produced with '80s influences of more prominent synthesizers and electronic drums.

My buddy Brian (not a burnout) had been a Rush fan long before me. He turned me on to their concept album, "2112" (1976), which we managed to weave into a creative "film concept" project for school. Yeah, we felt cool about this. By the time Rush came to The Sporto in 1985, we were plenty jacked up to see them perform.

Neil Peart, Drum Major.

It's rare when a rock band's most legendary member is its drummer, but Neil Peart is a unique talent. As documented in the recent excellent Rush documentary "Beyond The Lighted Stage", Peart has a shy, quiet personality away from the stage. In concert, Peart is simply a force of nature.  The rock concert drum solo is often considered a self-indulgent cliché, but Peart elevates the act to an exquisite display of rhythm and showmanship.  As he began his solo, Peart's riser elevated above the stage, the entire drum kit rotated 360 degrees as he played.  I remember the incredible visual of Peart playing with his kit nearly perpindicular to the stage as we got a great view of his lightning-quick hands and gifted percussive skills.  Peart's lengthy drum solo brought the crowd to its feet. We knew we were in the presence of a legend in the making.

True Bromance: "I Love You, Man"

In the movie "I Love You, Man", Paul Rudd tries to explain his passion for Rush to his fiancee, Rashida Jones. He plays a song and is met by her complete disinterest and puzzlement. This scene perfectly captures Rush's general appeal to women, which is none.  Whether it's their lack of "rock star" sex appeal or their lack of songs about love and romance or something else, ladies don't seem to get Rush, and that's fine. Just the way Rudd and his bromance buddy (Jason Segel) enjoyed some male bonding in the movie, Rush concerts are a boys' club. They're a place where the burnouts and the geeks and the college kids and the aging hipsters can play some air guitar and jam with one of the greatest rock groups in history.  "Happy solitude", indeed.

Unofficial setlist: The Spirit Of Radio, Subdivisions, The Body Electric, The Enemy Within, The Weapon, Witch Hunt, New World Man, Between The Wheels, Red Barchetta, Distant Early Warning, Red Sector A, Closer To The Heart, Afterimage, YYZ, 2112 Part II: The Temples Of Syrinx, Tom Sawyer, (Encore) Red Lenses (with drum solo), Vital Signs, Finding My Way, In The Mood