By DANIEL DURCHHOLZ
06/14/2004
Being a genre that thrives on constant renewal, rock 'n' roll often equates longevity with irrelevance. Extreme longevity, on the other hand, can become a cause for celebration.
Canadian trio Rush is a prime example: Their brand of hard-hitting progressive rock went out of fashion years ago, but they've stuck around long enough - an astonishing three decades with the same lineup - to become elder statesmen revered by many (yet somehow not by those who hold they keys to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame).
Rush's 30th anniversary tour stopped at the UMB Bank Pavilion on Saturday, an occasion that also marked the 37th birthday of radio station (and longtime Rush supporter) KSHE. The three-hours-plus extravaganza hit most but not all of the group's career highlights. Video clips and stage props that had been seen on previous tours offered fans a trip down memory lane, but their relatively spare use kept the focus squarely on the musicianship of vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart.
Lee proved early on that his high-pitched voice - a Rush trademark - is still intact. The group's tight ensemble playing and adventurous solos served them well through first-set favorites such as "The Spirit of Radio," "Subdivisions," "Red Barchetta" and especially "YYZ," a heavy prog-rock number that found Lee and Peart trading intricate, rapid-fire fills.
The group also played the Who's "The Seeker," a song from their upcoming album of classic rock covers.
The first half of the second set really caught fire, as the group offered "Tom Sawyer," "Dreamline" and the rarely played "Between the Wheels." "Red Sector A," a meditative prototechno number that featured video screen images of humanoid figures in motion, was the evening's high-concept highlight.
It wouldn't be a Rush concert without a 10-minute drum solo, and Peart obliged, soundly thumping two kits on a spinning platform. Lifeson and Lee played "Resist" and the Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul" on acoustic guitars, then brought back their electric instruments for an epic take on a suite of songs from the album "2112."
The show wrapped up with two more covers, "Summertime Blues" and "Crossroads" and Rush's own "Limelight."
Special to the Post-Dispatch