There was footage doing the rounds this week from the opening night of Rush’s tour, and there was Anika Nilles, behind the kit, looking quite superb.
Like Rush were ever going to pick a bad drummer.
As they have been doing with these things, there is another one of their Super Deluxe Editions, this time revisiting their 1984 record, “Grace Under Pressure”. They are not doing anything from it so far on this tour, and often it seems to be the 80s material that gets lost in the giant washing machine of Rush history, but still, this is three hours of your time that is worth it.
“Distant Early Warning” is that Rush sound writ large. It has that mix of precision, melody and something stranger underneath it all, while “Afterimage” has that slightly quirky feel where you are never quite sure why it works, only that it absolutely does.
“Red Sector A” is stranger still. “All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive,” they offer, and there is a strangely apocalyptic feel to it. “The Enemy Within”, meanwhile, is one of those tracks where you can hear the reggae tinge that crept into some of this period.
They also, like “The Body Electric”, have a habit of feeling epic without actually being so. That is one of the tricks Rush always had. They could make four or five minutes feel like a statement.
Watching Beat do the 80s music of King Crimson the other day, I remarked that there was a definite 80s sound, and it is there on “Kid Gloves” and “Red Lenses” for sure. That is not a criticism either. The keys, the shapes, the slightly glassy edges: they are all part of the fabric.
The album ends with “Between The Wheels”, and after some stunning guitar work from Alex Lifeson, it finds a rhythm of its own. Those 80s keys are just as much a part of it, though, and that is probably the point. “Grace Under Pressure” is not Rush pretending it is still 1977. It is Rush moving on, whether everyone followed them or not.
Album done, you can hear it again thanks to a new remix from Terry Brown. It sounds more modern, slightly crisper, perhaps a little better than it did 42 years ago. That, surely, is to be expected? Whether the odd change here and there would be enough to tempt all but the truly invested, we will leave to you.
What you will probably have way more interest in is the live performance from the period, and when “The Spirit Of Radio” bursts forth, my goodness, there is such ebullience, such joy in Geddy Lee’s voice when he says “concert hall”, that you cannot help but grin.
After “Subdivisions” – a personal favourite – we are into the then-new material with “The Body Electric”, which on this listen seems a little more ominous than on the record. Likewise, “The Enemy Within” crackles and fizzes.
Given that I was a week or so away from my tenth birthday when the gig was happening, I cannot claim any intimate knowledge of the period, but I know it is a treat to hear songs like “The Weapon” and “Witch Hunt” that might have slipped away over the years.
“New World Man” sounds oddly portentous, while “Between The Wheels” has some of that inbuilt grandiosity. There are plenty of classics in with the new stuff too, and “Red Barchetta” sounds incredible alongside “Distant Early Warning” as the eras sit together.
“Red Sector A” really sounds like it belongs out of this world here. “Closer To The Heart” is a big old ballad, while “Kid Gloves” is leaner and meaner.
If you wanted to underline the skill of Rush, then you could just play “YYZ”, which segues into “Tom Sawyer” so beautifully. And what of “Tom Sawyer”? There are few better.
The third red song, “Red Lenses”, mixes with a drum solo, which is somewhat ironic given the viral videos of this week, but it does remind you how good Neil Peart was.
They bewilder and they dazzle, and they do it all on “Vital Signs”. That line, “everybody got to elevate from the norm”, resonates again and again.
“Finding My Way” is fast and furious, even raucous, and so is the boogie of “In The Mood”, which almost sounds like Status Quo.
That is the joy of this set, really. It is a snapshot of a band in transition, but it is also Rush, and Rush never did transition like anyone else.
RATING 8.5/10
