Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Before I “discovered” Rush, before DVDs like Beyond the Lighted Stage were even a thing, my brother, sister and I were in high school in San Antonio. Growing up in San Antonio in the 1980s, my brother and I fell firmly into the Rock and Roll camp, versus those country and western afficiandos whose pickup trucks frequently ended up in ditches (or worse, at the kicker bars!).
But our tastes diverged. My buddies Bob, Tom, Dan and I were at every heavy metal concert, in line for Judas Priest, April Wine, AC/DC, UFO…pretty much any band that had two or more guitars and could be played loud. My brother was listening to RnR, but venturing more into the Pink Floyd sound…which I considered “the dark side”; it wasn’t country, but it wasn’t heavy metal.
Then he brought home an album with the back of a naked dude on the cover staring at a red star. I knew my bro had lost it.
He then cranked up “Working Man” from All the World’s A Stage, and I was hooked. I even used some of the themes from their songs for my first fiction attempts in high school and college; the obsession had begun.
Thirty years later, the DVD release of Beyond the Lighted Stage not only goes through the band’s history and provides some excellent concert footage guaranteed to cause flashbacks, but it begs the question: why aren’t these guys in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
- Is it simply because they are Canadian?
- Their lyrics too complex?
- Their playing just too good?
- Waiting on their new album, Clockwork Angels, before you let them in?
The first DVD of the Beyond the Lighted Stage two DVD set walks through the history of the band, starting with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s school boy friendship as the kids who got beaten up through their latest endeavors. The documentary walks through their first contract, what drove them to replace their first drummer, John Rutsey, with Neil Peart and how Peart’s lyrics started them into the longer “saga” songs; how they went out on a limb with the concept albumĀ 2112 (the album my brother started with) against their label’s wishes but to the raves of fans; and an excellent segment on Hemispheres, my favorite Rush album, how complex and virtuoso each of their playing was on that album and all of their albums. It also taunts their fashion sense (or lack there of) and Geddy’s voice.
The list of things that Geddy’s voice sounds like:
- a rat caught in a wringer;
- a hamster in overdrive;
- the dead howling in Hades;
- Mickey Mouse on helium (from Alex);
- strangling a hamster;
- a cat being chased out the door with a blow torch up its ass;
The story finishes with the band taking a break as Peart, working through the death of his child and wife, takes off on his motorcycle, and ultimately rejoins the group (Note: Peart has written several books about his ride, good reading). There are great concert scenes all the way through (I did not glimpse me or my brother), including excellent Farewell to Kings tour footage and one of Peart pounding out “Tom Sawyer”.
The second DVD starts off with some longer segments from the first side (not outtakes, perhaps director’s cuts of scenes, like Geddy and Alex searching the school for the room where they played their first gig). But the jewels of the second DVD are the concert footage, especially the “Canadian Bandstand” footage of a very young Geddy, Alex and initial drummer John Rutsey cranking out “Best I Can” and “Working Man” while teen school kids from Laura Secord SS sit on their hands in the auditorium (from 1974)…priceless. A full jam of my favorite Rush song, “La Villa Strangiato” is included, along with “Between the Sun and Moon”, “Far Cry”, “Entre Nous”, “Bravado” and “YYZ” (with Geddy Lee ripping the bass while some dude takes clothes out of a dryer on stage?).
Put them in the RnR Hall Of Fame! After all, as the Beyond the Lighted Stage DVD cover proclaims, “….Ranked third in consecutive gold or platinum albums after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones…”, they are with pretty heady company.
Ahh, yes. The Quest for Good Seats. It was always a scramble to see who could get away long enough to snag tickets for an upcoming show when the window opened. Of course, seats then were averaging around $10-15, depending on the venue and the seating location. A gen-u-ine bargain compared to today’s prices. I do miss the old days and wax nostalgic when I hear that one of the classic bands is playing San Antonio. I also miss the hearing I lost due to repeated close proximity to a 20′ wall of speakers and amps cranked up to ’11’. Of course, almost 30 years of exposure to jet engines hasn’t helped, either. Well, if you have to lose some hearing and be annoyed by the constant “wheeeeeeee….” of tinnitus, I guess jets and RnR are a good way to go about it! And hell, yeah. Rush rocked then, rock now and damned well deserve a spot in the RnR HOF. “Working Man” live? That easily beats the s**t out of most of the crap that passes for RnR today. Thanks for the flashback…
If you haven’t seen this DVD, I will loan you my copy next visit. Flashbacks galore!
My first concert was Rush (1976 or 77) at the Municipal Auditorium (before the fire). UFO was the warm-up. I mentioned the fire because the auditorium floor was wooden & when everyone was jumping up & down to the music you would actually bounce. At the time Rush was only a big draw here in S.Texas & Canada (thanks to Joe Antony & Lou Roney who are thanked by Rush on their All The World’s A Stage album). Yep, great times.
I think I will claim that was my first concert as well…beats having Rod Stewart and Faces be my first experience with Arena Rock…but I got betta’