An evening with rush: R40 live

Tonight was a night I’ve been looking forward to all year. I went to see Rush on their R40 tour at Madison Square Garden.  And I enjoyed myself for the almost three hours that Alex, Geddy & Neil were on stage. This wasn’t the first time I’d gone to one of their concerts.  The first show occurred  during the Clockwork Angels tour on June 23rd 2013 at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater.  Despite the heat, the downpour during the back end of the show and the long trip home, I enjoyed the evening.  I didn’t think I’d get another chance but I did and jumped at the chance during the presale at the end of January.  It would also serve to fill the hole in between Jack White @ MSG and the Foo Fighters  @ Citi Field in July.  This was an unusual move as I don’t see bands more than once unless they were the opening act the first time. The only exception to the rule is Erin & Her Cello.  That being said, I was plenty excited to have the ticket in hand. I couldn’t stop beaming at the thought of tonight as i went about my work day.  Mondays are usually rough coming off the weekend but between this and my sister’s college roommate’s birthday party on Saturday,  I was in a better mood than usual.  I just wanted to make sure to take care of as much work as possible so I wouldn’t have it pile up on Wednesday. I took a PTO day after what happened the night of the Tame Impala concert at the Beacon Theater last November.  It was a Sunday night and I was a sleep deprived zombie that Monday.  I sought to avoid that. The day came to an end and as I got off the subway at Herald Square, I stumbled onto a series of food vendors an decided to eat and drink in the park, it was a nice enough day to do so. A short time later, I would arrive at MSG and wait for the show to start. At 8:15PM,  the lights dimmed and the intro video played as the curtain rose. The  show was split into two sets, in reverse chronological order. Over the course of the night, the stage behind the band shifted to reflect the song played and the album where it came from until there was only one amp one each side of the stage. The first set started at the most recent album, Clockwotk Angels and ended with “Subdivisions” from 1982’s Signals. After a brief intermission,  “Tom Sawyer” and “Red Barchetta ” from the 1981 masterpiece Moving Pictures began the second set and naturally,  everyone sang along to the former. The second set would end with with one of my favorite songs of theirs,  2112 and specifically parts 1, 2, 4 & 7.  The encore would consist of Lakeside Park, Anthem, What You’re Doing and finish at the end of their debut album with a blistering version of Working Man. I can safely say that this concert was better than Jones Beach. I was more prepared in regards to their back catalog this time around & At around 11:05PM, everyone made their way to the exits running the gamut of Rush apparel exhilarated. I’d always been curious as to why people go to see the same bands over and over again. I guess the answer to that is getting a new thrill each and every time out. Just by listening to stories in the crowd prove that you can get that feeling of exhilaration no matter if the music you care about has become part of your experience. I felt that sense of much needed joy that some of the fans got by listening, air guitaring, air drumming and singing along. Tonight’s ode to joy capped off a turbulent first part of the year. Any sadness will be short lived as the Foo Fighters concert will start the second half of the year on a high followed by The Who in October . All roads will lead to two big events at year’s end: the trip to Spain in November and the 30th birthday in December.