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Awesome Canadian rocker concert Live in Rotterdam!

Wondering what to get that Rush fan for the holidays? May I emphatically suggest the new Snakes & Arrows Live. What an awesome DVD set this three disc set is, complete with a small booklet of tour personnel and images from the concert. 9 of the 13 songs from the studio album are performed on the live DVD and the double live CD. 

So what’s the difference between the 27 song CD and the triple DVD collection? The CD covers the entire show recorded at the Ahoy in Rotterdam, Holland, a venue that seats over 15,000 people, although it looks like everyone was standing and cheering enthusiastically throughout the entire show. And what a nice, lengthy show it was.

The 3rd disc in the DVD set includes 4 songs [“Ghost of a Chance,” “Red Barchetta,” “The Trees” & “2112/The Temples of Syrinx”] from the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia (outside of Atlanta and less appealingly named). The 3rd disc is entitled “Oh, Atlanta! The Authorized Bootlegs.” It includes songs from the same tour, but that either weren’t played in Holland or were omitted from the Holland discs. I’m willing to bet the songs were changed on the setlist after the Canadian trio bombarded the Ahoy with their triple screen set-up, light show and stage props and they brought it back to North America. [There is a miniature Neil Peart drumming figurine on Geddy Lee’s keyboard rig in Atlanta while in Holland there is a replica of Stonehenge about one-third the size of the replica utilized in This Is Spinal Tap. Alex Lifeson also has a score of dinosaurs on his stack of amps and a cheering group of dolls holding signs standing before him arranged around his pedal set-up. Lee’s backline of amps looks like a series of roasting hens, which eventually draws out a rooster to come baste the broiling chickens and gets the band to laughing a little. Lee also has a computer screen on the floor in front him. Not sure if he is pulling an “Ozzy” and needs help to remember his lyrics or if it’s the setlist.]

The show begins with “Limelight,” which ironically enough was the first song I ever saw Rush perform on MTV approximately a quarter-of-a-century ago. The hair has shortened, the bellies have gotten a bit larger, the vocals are sung almost an octave lower (although Lee still can hit some high notes) and Geddy is looking more and more like Granny Weatherwax from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. But damn if the band doesn’t still sound awesome as they rip through a ton of songs while playing their respective instruments (including Taurus bass pedal synths while playing bass and singing - for those of you unaware of how multifaceted and talented the trio is at what they do).

Besides hits and favorites such as “Tom Sawyer,” “The Spirit of Radio,” “Freewill,” “Subdivisions” & “Circumstances,” to name a few, the band plays new songs like “The Main Monkey Business,” “Far Cry,” “Armor and Sword” and “Spindrift,” which has a really cool light show to go along with it. Because of the intricacy of their music, the video screens play a large part in the show to give the audience something to watch. The triple set-up variates between the same image on all screens to a montage that spans the three and a trio of different of images all at once. The multimedia show is mesmerizing.

Before the concert there is a long video that is silly as can be with the band playing some odd characters. This intro opens the show and also opens the second set when the band takes a short intermission. There is also footage of Bob and Doug McKenzie and footage of the Southpark characters doing their version of “Tom Sawyer.”

The coolest song of the new studio album, and one which Lee states is a band favorite, is “The Way the Wind Blows,” a 3/4 time signature tune that is anything but a Waltz as it blows gently here and there and then whips into a frenzy, changing course continuously throughout the song. The tune should become another Rush classic.

The encore has the trio return to the stage for “One Little Victory,”  in which the dragon seen onstage and the cover for the Rush in Rio concert make an appearance on the video screens and gives a nice blast of heat to the stage, “A Passage to Bangkok” and ending with the instrumental “YYZ.”

This may be a lengthy review, and I haven’t even touched upon all of the cool stuff in the concert. Suffice it to say, this will keep any Rush fan happy for a few hours once you include all of the extras on Disc 1. Even the set-up menu and main menu are fun, including a couple of appearances by Jerry Stiller.

Out in time for the holiday season, get your copy of Snakes & Arrows Live now for an ultimate concert experience from the confines of your own living room, eh!

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