The Chicken Dinner, Rushed

Compatriots, I come to you bearing good news. I hope this news finds you all in good spirits and health. I am writing with a bit of a concert review. This past Saturday, I attended the "Snakes and Arrows Tour 2008 - An Evening with Rush" at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia.

I will first off hit you with some of the fun of going to a concert. I attended with Beth, and my hetero-musical life partner, Steve. We've been musically courting each other officially now for about 3 weeks. Steve and I are very similar in that we want to be early, we don't want to miss a thing, we never head to the parking lot early after the show either. So we got there shortly after the parking lot opened, popped out some hot dogs, chips, and some beer, and we had at the feast with a little Pink Floyd playing in the background. This is where the tee-shirt spotting began.

I like to observe the culture at each concert I go to. The easiest way to do that is simply by the tee-shirts people are wearing. I must say, at this concert, there was no trend really, except people felt there wasn't a need to wear a music oriented shirt. Most shirts were of Rush, which I don't like, for some reason it screams "Pathetic" to me, wearing the shirt of the band you're there to see (the only exception seems to be with Iron Maiden, where its more than acceptable to wear your Iron Maiden shirts). The shirts seemed to reflect though the diversity of what people hear and find in Rush's music. There was a fair share of the "Prog" music fans ( a term Steve and I both don't care for as it is used as a catch all), metal fans (Steve refuses to acknowledge Rush's link to metal) and just general "Happy Go Lucky, its Saturday night, lets party and listen to good music" fans.

So on to the music. I must immediately say, Rush tickles the musicality side of my enjoyment. They are creative, ingenious, and skillful songwriters. The use of poly-meter, syncopation, and harmony is impressive. Add to that, their virtuosity and showmanship and you have one of the best live shows you can imagine. They are the most well balanced rock trio's ever. The sound and complexity that they're capable of is simply amazing. My favorite part is that even with today's music being lyric focused, they were not afraid to do three instrumentals in their set, including YYZ as the end of their encore.

This concert, two sets of all Rush, no opening act, was probably the best rock concert I've attended musically. They played hits like "Tom Sawyer", "Limelight", and "Subdivision", along with some stunning photography and witty video intro's featuring Jerry Stiller. Random, but awesome. The funniest thing is that Geddy (bass, synth's and vocals) has replaced his amps, or "appliances" with large chicken rotisserie's that were being tended to by a roadie dressed like a chef. With smoke, lasers and some tasteful pyro, Rush brought it all and bowled over the crowd. Neil Peart did an incredible solo on his massive drum set, utilizing everything he had available to him, and even crossing genre's by ending his solo with a sweet swing tune. Just amazing. His drum solo was more than just playing fast and demonstrating technique. He put together a composition for the crowd.

Well my good friends and loyal readers. I wish you good night.

Jonell

Hello friends. I write to you tonight with great sorrow. I know I had promised not to get too personal in this blog but, I cannot help it in this situation. This Sunday, my good and dear friend Jonell Lindholm passed away from a long fight with cancer.

Jonell was an extremely talented French horn player. Jonell was one of the most active musicians in Baltimore area, playing with anyone, anywhere, for any amount of money, even gratis. I worked with her in the UMBC Symphony, Liberty Showcase and Glyndon Players, Columbia Symphony, and of course in The Usual Suspects.

Jonell taught me all the tricks of playing in a symphony; write in the tough transpositions, look over the clarinet player's shoulder when playing Beethoven in case you get lost in the long rests, play loud and confident no matter what, don't be afraid to count out loud and on your fingers, and brass players stick together. Jonell never criticized anyones playing, except for Stan. But then she was never really mean.

Jonell was great to do chamber music with. She always had positive criticisms and was willing to try and play anything, no matter how crappy the arrangement. Of all the situations, I will miss her from our quintet rehearsals. She would always bring the group back on task, and chime in with a proper timed, Michigan accented "Oh brother". Her musicianship was second to none. She was always professional. Always with a pencil and ready to learn.

I don't think I can talk much more without getting worked up again, so I say, "Here's to you Jonell. May all the parts in heaven be in F already. I loved you and loved working with you." Good night.