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 wrap your ears around.
~ Shawn Perry
