I left out a few things about the second concert July 2nd. It seems like every once and a while during listening to CDs and stuff, my memory gets jogged by a song that was on the set list. This happened with Force Ten the other day going to work. During this song, it was a trip! People on the list have been saying that there was a lightning show going on behind the amphitheater. I didn't see it cause I was up close. Anyway, during Force Ten, right at the beginning of the song, it got really windy! I was laughing...cause it was Force Ten (also one of my favorite videos of all time because of all the storm stuff), and boom! Geddy's hair was kinda flying all over the place and stuff. I know a few others have mentioned this phenom, but I thought it was really neat too. Enough for a mention.

Also, the third installment (the first night description) was heavy on emotion. I was a little more subdued the second night, but when I heard The Trees this morning in the truck it kicked in another memory. I had seen many shows, and it gave me the opportunity to learn all the lighting effects, all the band's mannerisms, the setlist by heart, the videos and stuff...but as I mentioned before, the thing that was different about the Toronto shows was the volume and quality of sound.

My euphoria of the last concert manifested itself during The Trees the second show. Have you ever really listened to that song up LOUD? I mean, like really loud. It's the extened sound of the chords that I really like on it. It sounded so damn good live that night.

I found myself just standing there, my eyes closed for most of the song, standing still, feeling the heat of the light show on my face and "seeing" the lights change even with my eyes closed...and the sound coming out of Alex' cabinets was pure joy. I think the best part of this song begins when the singing stops for the first time, and they just jam, and the video comes on...

The show ended. The lights came on. The crew started to pack for Ottawa. It was hard to leave, or believe. Stragglers of fans came up to the front where my seat was..we were all there, Charles, me, Puanani, Brooke, Richard, the tour was over. We were...bummed. It was reeeeeeally hard to leave the venue that night. It was like the crew was packing up my apartment and taking it away. Evicted! Repossessed! You're otta here! We're taking it all and you can't have it back!

I hope Puanani doesn't get mad at me for writing this. There was more emotion in me at the end of the show...the last expression of the tour, so to speak. Everyone was kinda shell shocked it was all over and we were going home. Puanani and I had a really good.....Rush hug. I think I said before I wanted to be at a show with her, and finally we hooked up for the second set on the last night. This hug...It was a BIG hug. Not just a hug, but...A HUG! YEAH! It was like, well, we're all leaving this 9 month vacation and getting in planes and automobiles for a long journey that won't let our paths meet again until maybe the band dictates that with another tour...

It began with the first notes to Dreamline in San Diego in November, and echoed all the way to the Cygnus teaser in Toronto. There's a lot of miles between those two shows, and quite frankly, I almost feel like I was on tour as well, and that's what it must feel like for a roadie, crew or band member. I hope their travels were as pleasurable as mine...and I'm sure some of it was work and some of it was play. As a touring band, Rush has it down to a Natural Science, and for their fans, they give some of the same touring opportunity to us, I think, by making themselves available to see. I couldn't imagine what life would be musically for me if say my favorite band was, mmmm, Metallica, Garth Brooks, Spice Girls, even Led Zeppelin (Page/Plant) or Pink Floyd. So few opportunites for A Show of Hands.

After all my ramblings over the last six posts, it's time to say thank you to a whole bunch of people:

Thank you ***Charles***, first and foremost. In the short time we've hooked up together, from San Diego to Toronto, the pleasure was all mine. We have a great "working" relationship. Mutually beneficial socially and musically. We made a great team during the tour, and I'm sure it'll happen again. It's not so often that two people of such different ages can come together and accomplish what we've done and do the things we've done over the length of this tour. I'm very grateful for the help with the tickets (Phoenix and Toronto RULE), the extra tapes/CD's. The miles have been long, but the pleasure factor has been great. YEAH! OOOOOOYEA!

***Laurie***, you've been a great friend and our relationship of support and Rush stuff has grown tremendously. I met Laurie via a post to the tour hookup/lookup during the first leg. Although we haven't spent nearly as much time together as we wanted, what we have had has been great. Being around you was like standing on that glass floor at CN Tower all the time! Way up there!

***Sara*** great that I got to take you to your first show. Hospitality Point was definitely a blast. You need to get more CD's though!

***Puanani***, it was great seeing us meet and get closer and closer to seeing a show together. Toronto was a blast, and I'm sure we'll be involved in this Rush stuff for a LONG time to come, eh?

***Jimmy and Meg*** for being probably the best and biggest fan that **I** know. Your undying contribution to the band, the music and the general public via the NMS are astounding. Thanks again for the pre-party stuff on the first leg. Man, you should open your house up as a Rush museum and charge admission. P.S., Phoenix RULED!

***Tracy*** who helped me in uncounted ways on my trip to San Diego.

And the masses, without whom so much additional stoke or thought provoking ramblings would have not been possible:

***Mark W*** for making the trips he made in CA and TO
***Joe and Lori Hall*** for going to his first show with me and putting me up.
***Shaun, for being in TO, and for getting something way cool!***
***Rob Micelli*** for helping everyone in TO. Way to go.
***My parents*** for listening to all my Rush ramblings
***The Dave Murphy Band*** of TO for the awesome tunes at the Orbit Room
***Everyone with the NMS shirts***I met randomly at the shows!
***Charlene,*** you know who you are! RTB.
***All the souls out there in the cybersea*** that wrote/commented on my posts and that I met at the shows. Man, it sure was fun seeing those guys from Brazil in TO!

Hope I didn't forget anyone important. If I did, flame me. Would this be Alex, Geddy and Neil? Flame me! Flame me!

And our corporate sponsors, of course:
**The US mint***, for printing the cash!
***Avalon Attractions***, for the block of tickets I got for the fans at SD
***Kodak company***, for all the film!!!
***Ticketbastard***, for taking as much of my time and money as possible.
***The Ford Motor Company***, for giving me a reliable Rushmobile!
***American Express (Hospitality Point)....nuff said.
***See Factor***
***The Omega Concern***
***The letter.....R***
***Mercury and Anthem Records***
***Compaq computers***

...............................
TRAVELOGUE
...............................

A lot of times, things seem to end where they began. Take YYZ for example, not the song, but the airport. I ended up there early Thursday morning dropping off Mark for his journey home before I began mine. Charles had friends coming into Toronto for the journey to Ottawa (bastard!), and Shaun and Laurie were staying through the weekend on a whim. So it was the end for Mark and I.

After dropping him off, I made it back to the hotel, hung around a rested for a couple hours, and then loaded the truck and was off back to Pennsylvania. By this time, I had all the routes down, knew the city well and started off to the QEW. What a bummer. I passed all the streets that we had all passed so many times, lost and searching, and now it was almost like home. Speeding alongside Lake Ontario, I passed Moslon Amphitheatre to the left, and looked up to see the CN Tower getting smaller and smaller in my rear view mirror. That's when I had problems seeing the road ahead. I'm sure the sound from Test for Echo coming from my tape deck in the truck could be heard....for miles, blasting into the Toronto morning and propelling me, unwilling, toward home.

But as I neared Niagara Falls and the border, I had a great thought. About how lucky I was to see all that I had seen; about the fact that Canada was really beautiful, the people were so multi-cultural, and how a large, metropolitan area such as Toronto had such a small home town feel to it. And that Toronto is still in reach, and there is no reason why, during some lazy three day weekend, that I couldn't hop in the truck and drive seven hours and visit again.

Finally, I reached the Canadian side of the falls...got in the border line, and the dream was fully gone, even though it was still in my head.

Somewhere around a place in New York called Ellicottville or some such thing, population approximately 10, I got pulled over by a cop. The driving back east here is quite different than on the west coast, or anywhere else for that matter. The two lane "highways" run through small towns. The speed limit goes from 55 to 45 to 35 to 25 to 55 to 35, to 20 to 30 to 40...you get the idea. Seems like the officer didn't take too kindly to my speed of 45 in a 30 zone. I was looking up ahead at a sign that said 55 about 100 yards ahead, when the guy got me. Oh well. Considering the amount of driving done and rules broken (ouch!) the first few days in Toronto, I was half expecting something at some time or another. It was the only black mark on an otherwise exceptionally perfect sojourn. I had been listening to TFE forever...and had just switched to Robert Plant's A Fate of Nations. It's like the third time I've been pulled over listening to that tape, and maybe it would be wise to remove this particular work from the vehicle, now that I think about it.

..............................................
A "FEW"....EXPENSES (in $US)
..............................................

Sometimes this can be interesting to see what someone spent. Yikes. Prepare yourselves! Someone wanted to start this thread...I've wanted to actually sit down and do it. So here goes.

*9 shows, 9 tickets (I had possession of 42 tickets for various reasons), $45 average per ticket, $405. I also bought 8 tickets for our group going to Toronto (not included above), sold four, so add $200 more on to the total, for $605. Some may thing, far out! That's too much! But consider the person who spends $250 to $500 per ticket through a broker US for those front row seats. So I feel lucky.

*Tour merchandise: tour shirt ($25), another one ($25), five bootleg shirts ($50), dog tags ($8), pin ($3), pin($6?), program ($15),poster ($8) total is $140.


*Gas for car, SD ($20), SD2 ($20), LA1-2 ($20), Devore ($20), Star Lake ($30), Toronto ($60), total is $170.

BIG ONES
*Airfare (Pittsburgh/SD), $300.
*Parking in Pitt, $30/5 days
*Spending money//SD, $300
*Spending money/TO/$600

*Camera stuff...30 rolls of film and double print developing at about an average cost of $3 per roll and $7.50 developing, that's $90 plus $225, totalling $315. Bought a frame and a new photo albums and some refill pages, about $30 more, so that's $345. I also got a great deal on a 210MM lens in Toronto with the good exchange rate, about $75, totalling $420.

*Postage and supplies for mailing photos to various people: $20

*Food/drinks...most of the time it was a snack/dinner plus two large sodas and the occasional beer at the shows, probably about $15/show, and a couple of trips to convenience stores and Denny's after three shows, totaling $165.

*Cost of long distance phone calls arranging travel, accomodations, ticketmaster, friends, all Rush related: $200

*Misc. Rush stuff purchased to enhance listening pleasure during tour, including two gold CDs, and four vinyl imports: $130

*I'm sure along the way there have been other little costs, like oil for the car, batteries for the camera, parking fees at venues, a missed tank of gas here or there, stimulants such as cigarettes, candy for energy or something that I forgot about...so add maybe $100 for miscellaneous expenses.

TOTAL: Finally, $3,180, or an average of $353 per show.
When I think about Puanani flying in from HI and the Brazillians and people from Europe and other travelers, I think my total is very reasonable. But compared to the average fan who may only see a show or two...man, that's a lot of money! That's a good down payment on a car! That's six month's worth of rent! Think of all the groceries one could buy...a year's worth at $250/month! Omigod. That's how much my tuition is per semester!

......................................
TEST FOR ECHO TOUR
By the numbers
(mo' betta than David Letterman's Top 10)
.....................................

Number of shows: 9
Number of months on tour: 9
Number of days of "my tour": 270
Number of shows average per month: 9
Number of times in the first three rows: 6 times for the full show
Number of times in 8th row: 1 time
Worst seat: 20th row (Hospitality Point, SD).
Other seat: 16th row.
Number of times in first five rows at least part of the time: 1(Hospitality Point).
Number of miles traveled by plane: 6,000
Number of miles traveled in car: (hmmm), 1,800
Number of issues of NMS read in 9 months: hmmm, rush:mgr help: 135
Number of email messages sent Rush related over the period: probably 2,000
Number of major trips to see Rush: 2
Number of countries visited during tour: 2
Number of states visited: CA, AZ, PA: 3
Number of dollars spent per month/9 months/Rush related: $339
Number of times Charles helped pay for a ticket: 2
Number of hotels stayed in during tour: 1 (an amazing stat)
Number of different cars used for tour: 3 (RX-7, two Ford Rangers)
Number of taxi rides: 0
Number of trips to the airport (self and picking up/dropping off fans): 12
Number of airports visited: SD/Pitt/Harrisburg/YYZ: 4
Number of shows I wanted to go do, but didn't: TX/NJ/WV/NY: 4
Number of times listening to TFE during travel: completely unknown
Number of rolls of film exposed: 30
Number of images/prints/negatives: 600
Number of people traveling to Toronto with me: 4
Number of times it rained at a show: 0
Number of tickets bought from a scalper/broker: 1
Number of times I thought I should just see "just one more show": Never
Previous high number of seeing multiple shows on a single tour: 3
Number of drum sticks aquired: 3
Number of NMS subscribers I met via Internet then in person: probably about 30
Number of times I wore my NMS shirt to a show: 7
Number of times I wore my vest at a show: 9
Number of days spent away from home at shows: 8 (SD 1st show was home)
Number of shows seen away from home town: 8
Number of shows seen about 100 miles away: 8
Number of fans who I took to a show where it was their first:2 (Sara/Joe)
Number of speeding tickets traveling en route: 1
Number of people who I wanted to take to a show but couldn't: 1
Number of times interviewd live on radio before a show: 2
Number of shows with Charles: 6
Highest altitude reached at any show in any city: 1,150 (CN tower)
Number of times a female stayed the night after a show: 1
Number of summer school classes dropped because of tour: 1
Number of hours of lost sleep due to tour: ?
Number of times I was in tears of joy at a show: 2
Number of special issues of email newsletters for SD show: 6
Number of Toronto Diaries on NMS: 6
Number of times calling Ticketquacker for tickets: 3
Number of times standing in line for tickets day of sale/show: 5
Number of tickets distributed/purchased to/for other fans: about 30
The number 2112

SHOW RANKINGS, from awesome....to awesome.
1. Toronto, June 30th.
2. Toronto, July 2nd.
3. Hospitality Point, San Diego
4. Star Lake, Pittsburgh
5. Phoenix, Arizona
6. San Diego Sports Arena, CA
7. LA Forum 1, CA
8. LA Forum, CA
9. Devore, CA

Okay! Enough bandwidth usurped!

And finally, giving a little something back to the NMS subscribership for all the support and wonderful email commenting on my posts, diary and stuff. If you've read this far, keep reading for another paragraph.

The first 10 people to email me with "PIN" as the subject header that include their physical mailing address to me will recieve a commemerative RUSH pin that I picked up at the TO shows. It has the Hemispheres RUSH logo on it, the TO dates and Molson Amphitheatre written on a red and black backgroud. If you were at the shows and got one, PA-LEEEZE don't mail me. Give someone else a chance. If you read this 24 hours or more after you receive it, I doubt you'll get a pin, so don't mail. I'm trying to avoid getting dropped from my provider.. All I have is 10 to give.

See you all again next tour.

YEAH!

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