"The Spirit of Radio" opening the show

On Monday (August 9, 2010) I saw Rush perform at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. While the show was by no means perfect, the good – the great – far outweighed the bad. Rush fans of any generation should make every effort to catch the band this time out.

They seem to be calling the tour variously “The Time Machine Tour” or “An Evening with Rush.” These shows include performances of the entire Moving Pictures album from 1981. Previously Rush have never performed the entire album live in sequence – and I don’t think they’ve ever played “The Camera Eye” on stage.

I didn’t take detailed notes on the setlist, but I believe the Mountain View show’s was identical to others so far on the tour.

"Subdivisions": the anthem of every disaffected suburban boy in the early '80s

Let’s get the bad out of the way: each set was preceded by excruciatingly long and unfunny sketch comedy-style videos parodying what the band might have been like had things gone differently (oom-pah style dinner show performances, shots of babies playing Rush’s instruments, others with Neil playing guitar and Geddy on drums). The main character, I believe played by Alex, was a gigantic manager apparently modeled on Mr. Creosote from Monthy Python’s The Meaning of Life. The worst aspect of these videos was that they included album versions of the songs that started each set, so there was a sort of pre-climactic kickoff that minimized the excitement when the band actually came on stage.

The stage show itself was also pretty minimal, even half-assed. Equipment cases were left strewn about the actual set, and the load-in door backstage left open – like the guys had just set up and didn’t care to make the stage presentable. The screen was small with only intermittently amusing animations.

And the first set was very rocky. The mix was muddy – hard to discern instrumental lines, especially the triggered synthesizers from the ’80s tracks. Several synth lines seem to have been missed altogether – or at least not included in mix – mistakes that were especially obvious in “Time Stand Still” and “Marathon.” And the already-boring “Workin’ Them Angels” was an outright disaster – it sounded like Alex and Geddy were in different keys, perhaps having something to do with the Alex’ alternating between acoustic and electric sounds on his Les Paul (why not just play the acoustic portions on an acoustic?).

Nothing really caught fire until the instrumental breakdown of “Freewill,” which alone couldn’t make up for such lackadaisical presentation over the previous hour.

Fortunately all was forgiven and forgotten with the opening synth chord of “Tom Sawyer,” which kicked off a downright jaw-dropping second set.  The mix was clear, the synthesizers integrated nicely (especially on the interesting and unusual “The Camera Eye”), and Geddy and Alex beautifully in sync. After “Red Barchetta” all three band members even took a moment out to smile at each other, as if to acknowledge that the concert had kicked into gear. There was hardly a misstep for the rest of the evening – even the new song “Caravan” and recent “Far Cry” rocked hard, standing up nicely next to the classics they shared the stage with.

Guitar-wise, Alex played Gibson Les Pauls throughout the evening, usually Axcess-style versions with with whammy bars. He brought out a Fender Telecaster for “Closer to the Heart” and the famous white Gibson ES-335 for “La Villa Strangiato” (my friend and I think there was also a PRS for one tune, but we might be misremembering).

Geddy played his usual well-worn black Fender Jazz with the pearl pickguard, though for this tour he has replaced his trademark ’70s-style black-inlay neck with a neck with split pearloid inlays. He occasionally brought out an all-black Jazz bass, and once or twice played the bright red Jazz bass (no pickguard) with his the black inlays. Wonderful Geddy tone – tons of growl, lots of low and high-end both. I do really wish he would break out the old Rickenbacker 4001 again, even just for “2112,” but it’s hard to argue with the sound he gets from the Fender basses. And even though Rush is hardly known for improvisation, I was delighted to hear Geddy let loose with several extended bass licks.

It’s hard to overstate what Moving Pictures means to a certain generation of a certain type of music lover – I missed it at the time, but have grabbed on entirely since. Hearing it played live, in sequence, is a special treat. When Rush clicks with a good mix and good material, they still create a wonderful magic, as they did during the second part of their Mountain View earlier this week.

"Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control"

]]> http://ethanprater.com/rush-at-shoreline-amphitheatre-mountain-view-ca-august-9-2010/feed/ 1 http://ethanprater.com/favorite-fretless-bass-guitar-tracks/ http://ethanprater.com/favorite-fretless-bass-guitar-tracks/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 01:59:25 +0000 Ethan Prater http://ethanprater.com/?p=992

One of my own fretless electric bass guitars, made by Rob Allen

I love the sound of the fretless bass guitar. Apparently the modern version of this instrument was invented in 1961 by Bill Wyman, bass player of the Rolling Stones, though it was popularized starting in the early ’70s  by Jaco Pastorius, best known for his work with Weather Report.

Jaco kicks of my selection of favorite fretless bass tracks. There are dozens, even hundreds, of mind-blowing Jaco recordings to choose from (I tend to prefer his recordings accompanying others to those he led under his own name). A great introduction to his style and to fretless bass in general is the title track from Pat Metheny’s first solo album, Bright Size Life. Recorded in 1975, this recording is also one of Jaco’s first.

(Click here to play if you don’t see the Flash player below.)

Next up is Mark Egan, a prolific modern bassist probably best known for electric jazz (and also for his work with Pat Metheny). One of his many rock credits is So Red the Rose, a 1985 “art project” album by most of the members of Duran Duran. His playing on “The Promise” inspired me to get a fretless bass guitar. The song is essentially a duet between his up-front bass and Simon Lebon (with some great “Money for Nothing”-style background vocals from Sting, not to mention guitar by David Gilmour and keyboards by Herbie Hancock). Just listen to the huuuuge slides up and down the fingerboard.

(Click here to play if you don’t see the Flash player below.)

And third for this post is a bassist not known for fretless: the late Allen Woody, who played with Gov’t Mule and The Allman Brothers Band. The superb Shades of Two Worlds solidified the Allman Brothers’ early ’90s comeback, and it ends with an acoustic version of Robert Johnson’s classic blues “Come On In My Kitchen.”

Woody must be playing a five string acoustic bass guitar here, because he goes down low. And it sounds great, immaculately produced by the great Tom Dowd. Turn this one up loud (and like all of these, play on on a setup that can reproduce the very low frequencies – not your laptop computer).

(Click here to play if you don’t see the Flash player below.)

And I can’t resist one Jaco Pastorius bonus track: “Coyote” from Joni Mitchell’s Hejira. Jaco just in a great place, easing all around and through the song – he’s a character. (Click here to play if you don’t see the Flash player below.)

• Jaco Pastorius on Wikipedia here
  • Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life on Amazon here
  • Joni Mitchell’s Hejira on Amazon here
• Mark Egan on Wikipedia here
  • Arcadia’s So Red the Rose on Amazon here
• Allen Woody on Wikipedia here
  • The Allman Brothers Band’s Shades of Two Worlds on Amazon here

Related posts:

• My favorite upright bass tracks
• My most popular Flickr photo: Jaco Pastorius Artist Series Fender Jazz Fretless Electric Bass

"hands in music" by Giuliagas on Flickr

Time to highlight a few of my favorite recorded tracks by some of the greatest upright bass players of all time.

The first is by Milt Hinton, nicknamed “The Judge.” If any single person can be said to have created modern acoustic jazz bass, it’s Hinton. He’s the most-recorded jazz musician of all time.

The Judge was seventy-eight years old when he played on Branford Marsalis’ superb Trio Jeepy in 1989. Hinton’s playing is wonderful throughout (not to mention Branford’s and Jeff “Tain” Watts’), but probably at its most exciting on the ’30s standard “Three Little Words.” Who else ever played like this? Maybe Slam Stewart? The false start is great – Branford and Judge excitedly talking through the changes, followed by Branford’s crazy jump into the actual tune.

Next up is Arvell Shaw, another influential early jazz bassist. Shaw was born in St. Louis, and after WWII became known for his long-time work with Louis Armstrong. I really like his playing on Fats Waller’s “Viper’s Drag / The Reefer Song” from the 1978 Broadway musical review Ain’t Misbehavin’. This track is essentially a bass duet with the singer – I suspect the composer or arranger wrote most of the bass part, but Shaw really draws out the languid spirit by hanging way behind the beat.

And no bass roundup is complete without including Ray Brown, the pure embodiment of the jazz double bassist. I could include dozens of tracks here, but I just love how he takes over Harry Connick Jr.’s “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe,” a guest spot on Connick Jr.’s album 25. You’ve got to love Connick Jr.’s joyous shoutout to Brown toward the end, too. Beginning to end, this track is a double bass showcase.

• Milt Hinton on Wikipedia here
  • Branford Marsalis’ Trio Jeepy on Amazon here
• Arvell Shaw on Wikipedia here
  • Ain’t Misbehavin’ Original Broadway Cast recording on Amazon here
• Ray Brown on Wikipedia here
  • Harry Connick Jr.’s 25 on Amazon here

Related post:

• Some favorite fretless electric bass tracks (4 July 2010)