Rush in St. Louis 9/22/12

[DocRock]

My 10th time seeing my absolute favorite band ever. Great stage show, great setlist. I'm pretty sure it was one of the best concerts I've never heard.

You read correctly. The best show I never heard.

Not that I heard nothing, but it was basically the "voice n' drums" show. Lifeson's guitar was buried in the mix most of the night. Geddy's bass was all but inaudible. The kick drum was so boomy and overpowering ... it was basically the worst I've ever heard them sound.

Not because THEY did a bad job last night ... no, no ... they played their asses off. Again, great set, great stage show, great props. I don't know if it was the room (Scottrade Center in STL) ... or if the soundguys were asleep at the wheel.

And I know it wasn't my seat ... I was 24th row center, maybe 25 feet directly in front of the soundboard, right there on the main floor.

My ticket, after fees, cost $140 (which is a lot of money for me). I feel like I was ripped off. What an awful concert.

I still love Rush and always will. I just don't know if I'll see another show at that venue in the future.

Were any of you guys there last night?

 

[dsmc80]

Yikes man, that stinks. Saw them last Thursday in Columbus and they killed. The mix was great too.

 

[Spider-Man]

Man, that stinks. I had about the same seat as you in Columbus (19th row, center) and the mix in Columbus was really good other than Alex being a little lost in the density of the keyboards on some of the songs early in the first set.

 

[n8cjohn]

My friend from CO was in attendence in St. Louis on Saturday. He has seen Rush probably 20 times or so. He always prefers outdoor venues - like Red Rocks, etc and was pretty apprehensive about seeing them in a hockey arena this time around.

Surprisingly - he was not too critical of the sound in his report back to me. He said YYZ was nearly unintelligable mush - but everything else was not bad where he was sitting (geddy's side - first tier).

The last time I saw them in a hockey arena (nashville - '11) - the sound was god aweful - as the OP describes.

I am catching the show in ATL on 11/1 - in an ampitheatre. Taking my chances on the cold - but I think outdoors is the way to catch this act.

 

[speedemon]

Sorry, I am with you, why the eff do promoters and bands persist in playing in basketball/hockey arenas?

 

[Jujo]

I was there. It sucked. The mix was totally washed out. It was a rock concert- with no "impact" from the instruments. Which basically takes all the fun out of it.

 

[Lou Filerman]

I was there too. On Geddy's side of the stage, about halfway up the balcony. From my vantage point the sound was OK, but not great. Bass guitar seemed weak in the mix during the 1st set, but was noticeably better during the CA material. It seemed to me that Geddy's vocals were weaker when he was standing at his mic out front, than when he was singing or talking at his keyboard rig. The kick was not overpowering at all from my seat. Guitars seemed somewhat buried in the mix except during solos. I really had to listen to hear the string section most of the time.

Great show, but yeah - sound issues. Fwiw, someone on the RIAB website said they saw Roger Waters/The Wall in that same building in 2010 and the sound was fantastic.

 

[DocRock]

Yeah ... I actually saw Rush in the same venue in October 1996 for the Test for Echo tour (called the Kiel Center back then). I was off to the side, on Alex's side of the stage, facing perpendicular to the band. Even then, I don't remember the sound being bad. Weird.

 

[Tony]

Wifey and I were @ the STL show. We sat about 20 rows up off the floor on Alex's side of the stage.

I wear earplugs at rock shows these days... IMO it just usually sounds better with plugs in, and this show was no exception. When I took the plugs out for a song or two all I got was crazy loud white noise; mostly kick, snare and vocals. Plugs back in - sounded great.

Did anyone else catch when Geddy's in-ears crapped out right before Dreamline?

 

[n8cjohn]

Wifey and I were @ the STL show. We sat about 20 rows up off the floor on Alex's side of the stage.

I wear earplugs at rock shows these days... IMO it just usually sounds better with plugs in, and this show was no exception. When I took the plugs out for a song or two all I got was crazy loud white noise; mostly kick, snare and vocals. Plugs back in - sounded great.

Did anyone else catch when Geddy's in-ears crapped out right before Dreamline?

My friend did report that to me - and he said whatever Alex and Neil did to cover for the minute or so that Geddy was absent was pretty cool.

 

[Tony]

My friend did report that to me - and he said whatever Alex and Neil did to cover for the minute or so that Geddy was absent was pretty cool.

Yeah, Geddy was clearly having issues during the previous tune. Once it finished he angrily motioned for a roadie and ripped the ears out. There was a few seconds of dead air followed by Neil breaking into a country shuffle and Alex firing off a I-IV chickin pickin groove. Not their first rodeo...