RŒSH
TIME MACHINE TOŒR PICTURES
The O2 - Dublin, IrelandTIME MACHINE TOŒR PICTURES
May 12th, 2011
The "Time Machine 2010-11" Tour spanned from June 29th through October 17th, 2010 and March 30th through July 2nd, 2011
| Tour Dates | --- | Set List | --- | Tour Book |
Sometimes words are difficult to find. Finally making their first visit to Ireland, Rush treated their patient fans to a spectacle of giant screens, retractable rigs, resplendent lighting, revolving drum kits and indoor fireworks. Oh, and then there was the music which wasn't bad either. Behind only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for most consecutive gold or platinum albums sold by a rock band, Rush's self-proclaimed position of being the biggest cult band in the world looks intact. A video introduction setting the 'time travel' theme of the night worked a treat before the stage set was unleashed and the band bounced to deliver 'The Spirit of Radio' with menace, followed promptly by an emotive rendition of 'Time Stand Still'.
A lot of the so called traditional 'Prog' bands can be accused of being a bit static or formulaic in their live personalities, allowing their intricate musicianship to do the talking instead. Not so with Rush, as every bizarre time signature change or spaced out lyric was matched with a Geddy Lee fly kick or an Alex Lifeson rock god hand in the air, lapped up time and again by the appreciative audience. Not that there weren't moments of indulgence- a ten minute Peart drum solo on a revolving stand may have lost some of us towards the end and perhaps there were some errors in judgement too; especially leaving new song 'Caravan' to towards the end. While well received it was a slight come down following the run through of the excellent Moving Pictures album played through front to back.
Favourites like 'Closer to the Heart' and 'Tom Sawyer' were delivered with fervour but the highlight for many was the largely instrumental '2112' which had the floor shaking as the band engaged the crowd in a serious of 'chants' and arms raised aloft. After all, Rush had a lot of friends to make having consecutively missed out Ireland on tours across the decades. The great thing was that nobody held it against them and as the curtains came down and the band exited stage left, a mutual respect was founded and Irish Rush fans could finally put a live show to the music.
- By Colin Cosgrove
The following photos from the Dublin concert are courtesy of Pete Key and Alan Moore.
