Rock Around the World

Rush Tests For Echo

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Live At The Great Western Forum, Inglewood, CA. 27 November, 1996

So when Rush comes to town, where else are they going to Test For Echo? The Forum, baby!

There are at least four Superlative Power Trios in the history of Rock: Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Police, ...and Rush. Rush excels all the others in terms of endurance and cohesion for 20 albums and 22 years of commercially accessible product, a dream for any record company president investing in a longevity artist.

Rush has come back with fervor and all the faculties of their sonics intact and Improved after an 18 month break from 20 years of near constant touring and recording as a Power Trio.

Uncle Joe Benson, the legendary DJ from KLOS� Salad days came out onto the massive stage and introduced the band ten minutes before Rush came out, quoting liberally from his �Record Guide� regarding Rush�s standing in Rock History.

The stage setup had Alex Lifeson�s rig to stage left: four Marshall stacks 25 feet behind his mic and pedals. Throughout the night, Lifeson would switch between his trusty Paul Reed Smiths, a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Fender Custom Shop Strat. A rotating drum riser at center stage contained a circular tandem of Neil Peart�s contraptions: One rig consisted of snare, toms, percussives, cymbals and one single 24" kick, while the other rig consisted of snare, toms, percussives, glockenspiel, cymbals and two 18" kicks. This batterie was to be put in full effect twenty-two songs later. Stage right was Geddy Lee�s area: Utilizing two mics; one for when he was fingering his Black, 1972 Fender Jazz Bass alone and another crowning a pulpit full of keyboards for songs requiring synth work. Twenty five feet behind him was a lone refrigerator, which never got opened, and three Trace Elliot Amps. Maybe it was used for stage coolant, to keep all the equipment from overheating. Who knows...

Radio Tower props filled the far rear corners of the stage, enhancing the �Test For Echo� equipment theme. A huge screen behind the stage synchronized footage with the themes and words of each song.

The Nut and Bolt from the "Counterparts" album was the first vision hitting the screen to music popularized in Stanley Kubrick�s Space Odyssey, as the nut and bolt met, the music played and the nut continued to screw the bolt, when the nut came to the head of the bolt, bright light exploded on the screen and Rush was off and running to "Dream Line".

Early on, I noticed that all three members of Rush forsook the use of traditional monitors in favour of the intra-ear type popularized by Rod Stewart and proven advantageous to better live performance.

Speaking of Sonics, the sound was excellent! What a gorgeous pillowcase for the eardrums! These Sonic Bombardiers hurled song after song toward the crowd at the speed of sound with 120 decibels of clean, pure power. Kudos to the soundwranglers.

Sonic highlights to the 17 song, first set include, "Big Money", "Driven", showcasing Geddy�s funky bass riffs, "1/2 The World", and "Red Barchetta" from my all time favorite Rush album, "Moving Pictures" and "Virtuality' which demonstrated the peerless interplay between Lee, Peart, and Lifeson.

After "Limbo", The Forum got treated to the first set drum solo from one of the All Time Masters of Percussive Arts: Neil Peart. The lights went dim, the riser spun and Peart was at the rig with the twin 18" kicks, pounding out one of his inimitable drum works as the lights came back up. Oh, the cack! For his solos, the camera crew got excellent shots of Peart with his Tibetan monk�s cap in full concentration. The dude hammers the traps and chimes the cymbals with the regard of a Koto priest. Peart takes the Percussive Art of Drumming toward the spiritual.

This show was not without a light show: Shards of emerald green laser shot outward from the stage like mini alien search lights.

"Closer To The Heart" gave my cute little date a chance to flick her Bic arena-style... The Forum twinkled in concerted appreciation of that treasured song as a constellation of lighters spontaneously registered the crowd response.

Toward the end of the 17 song set, Alex Lifeson got to display some of his highly regarded guitar fret work with some accomplished solos.

I�ve commented previously (See Alex Lifeson/Victor review 12/95) how Alex, for one in such an Elite Power Trio tends to play inside the context of most of the songs he solos on, in essence, passive leads. Lifeson has mastered the art of welding a lead seamlessly to the Structure of the song. This is, to me, the most remarkable attribute to Alex Lifeson�s playing: His stark refusal to go outside a song during a lead at the expense of the song. Lately Lifeson�s opened up a bit, but still has a master�s understanding of the entire work and not just the fragments. Listen closely to Rush�s entire catalogue, which bears this out.

At the end of the 17 song first set Geddy Lee makes the comment that the guys will be back in 20 minutes after a Geritol break...I don�t think so. Most bands would be winded after an hour and a half, and dig, there was no wasted air that night.

So I take my cute little date outside so she can burn a couple Marlboro Lights, since The Forum is a no smoking facility. The crisp, cold, night air fills my lungs and I flash to the thought that Thanksgiving in America is tomorrow. Wow, I�m here at The Forum listening to Rush with a Smokin� babe. I�m pretty Thankful...

We go back inside as Rush starts into the title track of their latest album, Test For Echo, Lifeson back to Paul Reed Smiths on this one.

Highlights to the 11 song second set include: "Free Will", "Roll The Bones", and a Funky Instrumental that showcased Geddy Lee�s Profound skill on the Fender Jazz Bass. During the first 1/2 of that instrumental it was pretty much all Geddy Lee: the reason why there is a Primus and a Les Claypool.

The second 1/2 of the instrumental was all Neil Peart as he got an extended Drum Solo that featured fully triggered rigs on this tune. The spinning riser did its thing and Peart, riding atop did his. The triggering was the main treat here as Peart continues at the avant garde of the Instrument, taking the sonics elsewhere with a range of sounds keyed to both rigs. This was truly Peart�s orchestral moment as he transmuted the twin kits into something beyond percussive.

"Spirit Of Radio" was another Bic flicker...the constellation of lighters reappeared...and everybody chanted along to the 120 decibel words. My date did her little go-go dance to "Tom Sawyer", this was the song she came for. She had a smile on her face. With that, Rush ended the 2nd set only to be brought back for one encore by the incessant thump of Forum Feet pounding the arena for just one more.

So Lifeson, Peart and Lee; the Power Trio known as Rush, come out and give The Forum a dose of "YYZ" to close out the event. How I wish they had gone right into "Limelight" but then that may have given too much weight to Moving Pictures, the album which most closely echoes their latest sonic tour de force: Test For Echo.

Rush remains one of the preeminent bands in Rock on the strength of their disciplined approach to sonics and well crafted songs. If you love music, you surely must have one Rush album somewhere in your collection. If not, start with Test For Echo and work your way back through the catalogue.

In the press information sent to me, Neil Peart expressed the wry apprehension of an Artist who�s spent some time away from the �Limelight� stating, "...I sure hope we�ll look out from that stage and find an audience waiting." Hey man, you basically sold-out two nights at the Forum, before Thanksgiving...I think Rush has got an audience...an audience with an ear for good music. Rush, the audience is listening.

Emery Columna
La Crescenta, CA

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