Time Machine Tour Set List

Rush strolled into Wichita’s shiny new Intrust Bank Arena on August 20 and put on a three-hour show that had fans on their feet throughout. The songs, the lights, the movie segments, the huge video screen and the giant flaming pryo made this a show of epic proportions.

Rush, a three-piece band, makes a hell of a lot of sound from the stage. They enjoy a good laugh and like to entertain but it is their musical prowess that is the focal point of the show. Dubbed The Time Machine Tour, Rush performed songs from their debut album in 1974 to songs scheduled for release on the band’s next album in 2011. In between, every era of Rush was represented, including deep album cuts, commercially successful songs, 70’s hard rock era tunes and a couple of FM radio classics. Oh yeah, they also performed their most commercially and critically successful album, 1980’s Moving Pictures, in its entirety.

The lights went down and a movie started on the huge jumbo screen behind the stage. Geddy Lee was playing the owner of a sausage company, Alex Lifeson was in a fat suit and Neil Peart was sitting at the counter. In the corner of the restaurant was the band Rash, playing orchestral instruments. The three-piece band Rash looked a lot like Rush circa 1975. It turns out that Fat Alex had stored a device in Geddy’s basement that was a magical musical machine. Rash started playing “The Spirit of the Radio” with a nice oom-pah tuba line when Fat Alex said, “Whatever you do, don’t touch this button.” The button got pushed and Rush appeared onstage and went right into “The Spirit of the Radio.”

The next three songs were all Rush classics. “Time Stand Still” was performed flawlessly, with Alex Lifeson manning guitar and keyboards during the tune. Next was “Presto,” a song that never went high on the charts but has always been beloved by Rush fans. Two songs from the classic album Counterparts were performed. “Stick It Out” was a barnburner as was the instrumental “Leave That Thing Alone.”

“BU2B” is a new tune that the band will feature on their next album. The song features heavy guitar and a killer guitar solo so maybe, just maybe, Rush is going to really rock things up next year. The first set also featured “Free Will,” which had the crowd worked into a frenzy, and the huge hit tune “Subdivisions.”

After “Subdivisions,” front man, Geddy Lee, stated, “We are going to take a little break because we are getting old.” And with that, Rush left the stage and the lights came up for fifteen minutes. The giant screen behind the stage had the year shining on it, beginning with 1974. Slowly, the numbers kept changing… to 1975, 1976 and finally to 1980. With 1980 glowing on the screen, the lights went down and another movie started up.

Geddy Lee was a high society photographer directing a photo shoot with a band that, once again, looked like Rush in the gatefold sleeve to their album All The Worlds A Stage. Neil Peart was stationed behind the camera taking direction from Lee. Three scantily clad Swedish girls kept walking through the shot with pictures of beer on trays. Finally, Alex Lifeson came running into the set, still in his fat suit and said his name was Ray Daniels and that he was the band’s manager. At the end of the day, Lee quit the shoot and walked off but not before yelling at the cute girls. He told them to quit walking around “moving pitchers.” The crowd moaned as Rush took the stage for the second set.

The band went into the iconic tune “Tom Sawyer” and proceeded to play the entire seven-song classic album, start to finish. During “Tom Sawyer” the video screen actually saw the band making fun of themselves as Geddy was the drummer, Alex the bass player and Neil the guitarist. Then they were replaced by chimpanzees and finally by babies.

The rest of Moving Pictures was performed with 100% seriousness. The crowd stood in awe as Rush played “Red Barchetta,” “YYZ” and “Limelight” all in a row. The ubber fans flipped out as Rush continued on to play side two of the classic album. “Camera Eye” was simply astonishing. The band handled the complex time changes and challenging instrumental passages with ease. “Witch Hunt” was delivered loud and upfront and the forgotten “Vital Signs” also went over very well in a live setting. When the album was finished the crowd gave a standing ovation (every ovation was standing as no one sat down during the three hour concert). This was a very special performance and brought back many memories throughout the Intrust Bank Arena. The evening was far from over, however. The band played their latest single, “Caravan” and those in attendance were impressed. Rush appear to be hitting a creative stride that one can only hopes continues as the group reenter the studio later this year.

A Rush concert would not be a Rush concert if Neil “The Professor” Peart did not have a thrilling drum solo. This time around, his drums rotated so Neil could feature different styles of drums and electric sounds. Peart ended up bashing out a swing style classic complete with horns and video of the swing era going on behind him on the giant video screen. As always, the drum solo was played with perfection and the crowd went nuts.

Next, it was guitarist Alex Lifeson’s turn as he appeared on stage with an acoustic 12-string guitar. He played a beautiful piece of music that segued into one of Rush’s most beloved songs “Closer to the Heart.” Lee’s voice had a few issues at this juncture and the band actually changed the section of the song where Lee is expected to go into high pitch.

Lifeson led the band through the “2112 Overture” and Geddy did his best to squeeze out “Temples of the Syrinx.” The musicianship on these songs is downright killer. Tons of guitar, Peart’s bashing away on the skins and Geddy playing the four-string like a man possessed. To end the evening, Rush played the song “Far Cry” and then left the stage.

They came back for a two-song encore, the first of which was “La Villa Strangiatio.” Alex tore the six-string to shreds as he proved that he is one of the best musicians on the planet. Not to be outdone, Geddy got into the act and put on one hell of a bass clinic during the instrumental classic. The final song of the night was “Working Man” from the self-titled debut. Rush delivered a reggae beat and Lee did his best Bob Marley for a good portion of the tune. During the chorus, however, the band kicked in and delivered a true 1970’s rock out that featured pyro, amazing guitar licks, crazy drums and pulsating bass. In other words, the show ended on a high note.

The band left the stage and yet another movie lit up. This time it featured two well-known actors (I won’t ruin the surprise) posing as mega-Rush fans. The band catches them in their dressing room and there are many, many laughs to end the evening.

Nearly everything was perfect for this show. This writer would have preferred more from the first four albums in the way of “Bastille Day,” “The Trees,” “Fly By Night,” “By-tor and the Snow Dog” and “Finding My Way.” But at the end of the day, it was hard to complain about what we had witnessed. The venue was perfect, the sound was professional and even the food was good. The band looked great and played magnificently.

It had been twenty years since Rush had last been to Wichita. This was one of those cases where the everything turned out to be worth the wait. Let’s just hope they make it back before another twenty go by.