Alex Lifeson's gear tour

Wow, thanks for that link bit!  I think along very similar lines in terms of setups, guitars, etc. as Alex does so I really enjoyed that (I just get by with far fewer amps, only one G-Force and two custom guitars - hehe...).

Dang - now I feel really inspired but don't have time to play right now!  

The drums match the steampunk theme:

Of course, as usual Geddy Lee's "amps" are just props, as he always goes direct to the board. They've been refrigerators, clothes dryers and rotisseries in the past.

I didn’t realize until just recently and after I saw the second leg of the Time Machine tour that the aesthetic had a name … “steampunk” … I guess I’m just not with it.  I came across it while reading an article on laptop mods that ultimately took me to this page (and finally the wiki page on the topic):

http://www.datamancer.net...op/steampunklaptop.htm

I actually liked the washer and dryers and the chicken rotisseries.
take off eh hoser

bitflipper


The drums match the steampunk theme:

No Roland V-Drums or MalletKat this tour? I see what looks like a Roland Octapad though.

Was watching the Rio concert part of the Vapor Trails tour on Palladia yesterday and Neil's kit was huge! 360 degree setup with acoustic drums (DW IIRC), Roland V-Drums, the MalletKat controller, and all his drum hardware was gold-looking. They also showed an overhead shot where they rotated the kit 180 degrees between 2 tunes.

Good day, eh!

PS: Adding electronic drums & percussion to my instrument repertoire so I'm paying attention to drum kit setups more and more.

Thanks for posting this! Very interesting. I watched 3 times.

I feel your pain..I FEEL YOUR PAIN!

In their live performances, he's still working.  He may leave the majority of adjustments to the talented FOH rocket scientists (Geddy does too), but he's working hard up there doing what he has to do.  I appreciate the way he and the band seem to try their best each and every gig to give their audience a good show.  They appear to be having a great time, and the audience does as well.

Sure, they've played this material so many times they could probably do it all from sheer muscle memory, but they seem like they're totally in the moment with you.  I respect that.

bitflipper

So the gear is on tour. What about Alex?

After 40 years, I'm sure he's on autopilot for most gigs. They must have an incredible crew, everything perfectly synchronized and programmed. He hints at this when he talks about how most of his adjustments are made at FOH.

I've never attended a Rush performance, and in fact have only become a fan in the past year. I'd like to see them live, though. Heck, I'd pay to see Neil Peart play solo. I consider him the greatest prog rock drummer since Bonzo.

Interesting.  Thanks for the insight, Bit. 

Great band and a total injustice that they aren't in the hall of fame yet. If you haven't seen "lighted stage" I strongly suggest you do. I never realized just what an impact Rush has had on my life until I saw that video.

I saw them 20 odd years ago and they were painfully loud in hockey rink. They had SPL meters sitting on the board in the house and were peaking at ~130db! In Ontario you have to provide hearing protection to workers if the sound level is above 90db.

That steampunk motif is very Jules Verne. Unfortunately I have a customer who wants his next amp to utilize a steampunk motif. Analog gauges for biasing, power output, line voltage. It will look like a BORG hi-fi.

And yeah, these guys always seem to be enjoying their work. Eh?