Snakes & Arrows Live

Rush

Live Rush doesn’t get more lean and refined than Snakes & Arrows Live, a 2-CD set recorded during the group’s 2007 world tour. It easily stacks up against the half-dozen (or so) live releases from the Canadian trio. Pleased by the reception to their superb Snakes & Arrows CD and its ensuing tour, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart return for another round of shows while the live CD serves up a couple of hot nights in Rotterdam sustained by a mutual understanding of making excellent music and firing up a few chicken roasters for the crew.

Capturing Rush at the height of their powers isn’t that much of a crap shoot simply because they are the consummate professional band who rarely has an off-night. Hardcore disciples may crush dreams and split hairs, but for the common man, Rush is a band that can do no wrong. The 2007 tour covered a full spread of the past while dishing out unusually huge portions of the new album. And though we’re deprived of the visuals for now (no word on a forthcoming DVD at press time), the aural chemistry that propels the music will make your CD player sit up and smile.

A few licks of “Limelight,” and the band blasts off, and by the sound of it, the crowd is right there with them. A run-through of classic tunes from the 80s — “Digital Man” from 1982’s Signals; “Entre Nous” and “Freewill” from 1980’s Permanent Waves; and “Mission” from 1987’s Hold Your Fire — lifts all the trappings of a roaming dinosaur. Back then, you may remember Rush easily adjusted to the MTV age, cranked out a boatload of albums, and maintained their relevancy in a storm of new wave and hair bands.

A bundle of new songs from Snakes & Arrows reaffirms the group’s ability to write new, engaging songs. Lifeson assumes control with a colorful cache of six-string attacks and counterattacks for the first of many instrumentals, “The Main Monkey Business.” Without the McKenzie Brothers introduction, “The Larger Bowl” simply becomes a harsher study in paradox. The fist-pumping “Far Cry,” followed by the equally explosive “Workin’ Them Angels” and “Armor And Sword” finish off the first disc in grand style.

“Spindrift” and “The Way The Wind Blows,” two more from Snakes & Arrows, open the second disc, before the set changes course and steps back in time, once again revisiting the 80s with “Subdivisions,” “Natural Science” and “Witch Hunt.” Then it’s time for one last bit of Snakes & Arrows with the Grammy-nominated instrumental “Malignant Narcissism,” featuring a truly mind-bending drum solo from Peart, whose exact, rapid-fire style hasn’t diminished one iota.

After loading up on two big hits from the Rush arsenal — “The Spirit Of Radio” and “Tom Sawyer” — the encore comprises a trio of odd shapes and sizes — “One Little Victory” from 2002’s Vapor Trails; a sturdy little gem from 2112 called “A Passage To Bangkok,” the oldest track on the CD; and “YYZ,” arguably Rush’s best known instrumental.

If you caught the Snakes & Arrows tour, you’ll remember that Rush was incessantly on top of their game. Yeah, the live albums are frequent and predictable, but the band’s jaw-dropping chemistry makes each show a unique and captivating experience. After 35 years together, to be performing and recording new albums at this caliber is a practically an out-of-body phenomenon. So why not savor all the live Rush you can get your wrap your ears around.

~ Shawn Perry

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