Rush remains a progressive force

One of the tragedies of this year's Polaris short list is that Rush's Clockwork Angels didn't make it.

The latest from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees is such a fine album that it became the first release by the Canadian progressive metal trio to be in rotation on my iPod since 1976's magnum opus 2112.


That break represents elementary to ancient times for me.

The nearly sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena last night has a similar relationship to the band, or brand.

Since forming in the Toronto 'hood of Willowdale in 1968, Gary Lee Weinrib (Geddy Lee), Alex Zivojinovich (Alex Lifeson) and later addition Neil Peart have moved generations of musicians to strive to make music that pushed their abilities to ever higher levels.

It's still hard to fathom how a Led Zeppelin-redux bar band morphed into a global standard bearer for its distinct style of meticulously rendered hard rock and sales well in excess of 40 million.

But a glance across the airdrumming, -guitaring, -bassing audience made it clear that whether you joined the party at Friday's opener Subdivisions (Signals, 1982) or the commercial heyday of Tom Sawyer or The Spirit Of Radio, chances are you stayed once you arrived.

The three are killer players. They are also giving performers, with Lee and Lifeson dancing about the stage as much as a power chords permit, while Peart actually makes use of every bit of that gargantuan kit.

He is one of the few rock drummers who actually plays one of those olden-times arena solos that doesn't make you start checking your Facebook feed. The solo segued into Far Cry for the close of the first set.

This was an evening with Rush, after all. After fans did their requisite march and brew break, the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble began bowing the intro to the new album's opening cut Caravan.

Sure, the steampunk vibe of the set and visuals was wildly dated, but the tune has a killer Kashmir-esque riff. The addition of the string players gave the pit camera some new faces to focus on while the pyro blew up.

Sorry, no poster boys in this crew - just exceptional musicians and frequently catchy songwriters in spite of all the whack time signatures and careering chorus hooks.

They remain infinitely less annoying than their 1970s contemporaries such as Yes or Genesis and markedly more concerned about writing good songs than modern colleagues such as Dream Theater or Mastodon.

It's what has kept the fans around and brought in generation after generation of new ones.

Love or hate Rush, they are unique and, I will say it, humbly Canadian instead of swollen headed rockers. Really, try to imagine Keith Richards, Thom Yorke or that guy from Coldplay doing the Trailer Park Boys. source : theprovince

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