Monday, January 7, 2013

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage


The first movie of the year - Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. Based on the previous postings, I see a musical pattern here. If you're a Rush fan, put this in your NetFlix queue! I put the DVD in the player last night thinking a I'd watch a few minutes and come back later; I didn't move! Great footage of the band in the early days. I laughed out loud and at times I sang out loud (and yikes I cannot carry a tune). Some of these songs I hadn't heard in quite a while. I didn't know until recently (someone at work brought it up - Geddycorn) that they really didn't have many female fans. They make mention of this in the film, but I'm not sure why they attracted a predominately male audience.

Growing up in a teeny tiny town when this stuff came out I used to listen to these early albums over and over. Godz these guys were clever! I never had a problem with Geddy's voice either. I just loved the fact that they didn't have this fairy king lead singer; they had a regular looking guy who was a talented musician as well. I appreciate the fact that they didn't do these sweaty sex-rock-god-type songs. Their songs were about interesting little known or cleverly developed mythical themes. I drew pictures of the band on my notebooks in high school with a black pen.

Several things are explained in this film. We hear the story of how the Oriental robes become stage wear, where "I can't pretend the stranger is a long awaited friend" line originated, and we get now know why they changed musically after Hemispheres.

Honestly, for two cents, a mere two cents, I could stay home from work today, watch the film again, and listen to Rush albums the rest of the day.

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