Rush in Rio (2003); Daniel E. Catullo III, Andrew MacNaughtan ("The Boys in Brazil"); Not rated Starring: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart Plot Summary: This is the first concert film ever from legendary rock trio Rush. The full set contains 28 Rush songs. Bonus features include a tour documentary, multi-angle viewing options for certain songs, and behind-the-scenes footage. Recorded and filmed at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the final night of the band's 2002 tour, in front of 40,000 fans.
Rush has always kicked major ass. Through the years, they have included several tunes without lyrics, featuring the band's musicianship. I think the appeal to Brazilians (or any non-English speaking country) is that a song, without a sung language, enables the listener to simply cut loose and get down. During YYZ, the rabid South American fans become a pulsing mob, a single entity of gushy Rush love cascading toward the stage, becoming ONE with the three masters of prog-rock. It truly is an unforgettable moment. Click HERE to experience it. Something subtle you might have missed: sound check? The three shows in Brazil were not easy on crew and band. Porto Alegre went fairly well, then came the soccer stadium at São Paulo. The venue sold out to over 60,000 live fans, and a rain storm soaked everything an hour before the show. Somehow, they pulled it off. The band then traveled quickly back to Rio de Janeiro. However, the crew had a hard time slogging through the terrain with the equipment. The Rio set-up was so rushed (no pun intended) that there was no time for pre-show sound or video checks. Geddy praised the crew for doing the impossible, and the result is the video footage for this review. This is a true testament to the miracles that roadies and crew perform because the show must go on. Memorable Quotes (From The Boys in Brazil documentary): "I think the last thing we expected to find was fans at the airport. It's not like we're Justin Timberlake." - Geddy upon arriving in Brazil "My limit is suppose to be 24 grams carbohydrates a day. I hit about 1,200 last night. I woke up and I'm like the fattest person I've ever met in my life." - Alex Lifeson "It took so long for us to come here because we're not very smart. We didn't realize that we had so many fans here, quite frankly." - Geddy at the Rio press conference "I can never play "The Pass" without being moved emotionally for what that song says, not only explicitly lyrically, but also conveys musically to me. It's one of our better crafted ones in terms of the expression of emotion and the expression of restraint. And there's a certain worldly compassion." - Neal Peart "The nature of Rush has always been musicianship first. We've always tried to be the best musicians that we could. We try to challenge each other, and I don't think that has really changed. I mean, a lot has changed. Obviously, we've become better song writers, and song arrangers, producers. All those things have taken a more important role through the years. So, that shows your growth and you're expanding. But, at the core of it, we're players, we love to play and we love to play well. I expect myself to play well and I expect myself to play better, and to do something better than I did last time. And that is a natural part of Rush. It's a natural thing Neil, Alex and I share. We want to do things better. That's what drives us. That's always what's driven us." - Geddy Lee Dad's Review: If you are only familiar with one Rush song (I'm betting it is Tom Sawyer), and you want a crash course on the band, this is the definitive best use of your time. By 2002, they band had 30 years of experience playing together. They had achieved worldly success, and weathered horrific tragedy. This is a band who has been given a second chance, and they are taking advantage of it. Here, they treasure every moment together. This wonderful video collection centers on the conclusion of the 2002 Vapor Trails tour. It includes 29 live songs from the last night's performance in Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The second disc features an excellent documentary named: The Documentary: The Boys in Brazil. Dad... why Rush? As you can imagine, growing up in the Lone Star State, I was exposed to lots of conservatism and country music. I worked on a farm/ranch where most men wore cowboy hats and drove pickup trucks. My hometown had barely 20 people living there. My high school town was populated under 2,000, and alcohol was sold there. Church was king, and, "You better cut that damn long hair!"
"All The World's A Stage" was a massive double-live album featuring songs from the band's first four albums, and it rides on the heels of their commercial breakthrough album "2112". The live aspect of the album demonstrated a group growing in confidence. All that rock and roll noise was the genesis of three guys. The band's singer, Geddy Lee, wailed, slaying high notes on every song. The guitarist, Alex Lifeson, blasted rhythm riffs, then scorching high-flying solos. Then, there was the drummer. Wow. Neil Peart, sporting a nice handle-bar mustache, was something truly different. It was power and precision. Chaos and control. Then I read the lyrics, all written by Mr. Peart. Wait a minute, he writes the freakin' lyrics, too? I had found my band (and it had found me). Then, chronologically, came the greats... "A Farewell to Kings". "Hemispheres" (still today my favorite Rush album). "Permanent Waves". "Moving Pictures". "Signals". Every album was a collection of great lyrics, expert musicianship, and heavy bravado. The band refused to create Top 40 hits. Instead, they crafted masterworks that jammed our butts off, yet taught us about ourselves using coded literature featuring gods, nature and an occasional heroic space dog. They didn't really focus on partying, drinking or chasing women. Their powerful progressive rock songs were think-pieces. This was quality music that would endure... even if young girls didn't like the nerdy band or their heady tunes. I boarded the Rush train (... to Bangkok) and have grown with the band. I rode the success wave of the early 80's, and weathered the over-synthesized low points of the late 80's. I did break up with them once (the album "Hold Your Fire", 1987), but patched things up when the wonderful Roll the Bones (1991) hit record stores. Unless you are an avid fan, you probably have no idea that they released albums as late as 2012. Their musical and life journeys are an inspiration - one that features hard work, sticking to your guns when others want to influence you, and weathering the storm of personal tragedies that life can throw at you.
In 1997, Neil's daughter died in a car wreck on a highway in Ontario on her way back to college. Barely a year later, his wife succumbed to cancer. Neil maintained that his spouse died of a "broken heart" because she simply didn't want to live after her daughter's death. This immediately halted Rush as a band, and prompted Neil to take a sabbatical. The mourning drummer hopped on his BMW R1100GS and ventured, alone, 55,000 miles across Canada, the western United States and deep into South America, ending in Belize. His travel memoir, Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road documents the journey, and Neil's eventual return to the band. Wonderfully, Neil eventually remarried and was blessed with another daughter. Rush would tour again and record three new albums. Neil retired for good in December of 2015. The reasons appear to be the toll drumming takes on the human body and his desire to be with his new wife and daughter. In what may be the most ironic of occurrences, the greatest brain in the rock world would be diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He died, too soon, on January 7, 2020. So, was that the end of Rush? Slow down, guys. Yes, the band took a long hiatus. But, luckily for fans, they finally found a new drummer in the amazing Anika Nilles. They even added a keyboardist! The new tour, called The Fifty-Something Tour, started in 2026 and the old fellows sound great! Most shows are nearly sold out. It's good to have them back on the road. It just feels right. Dad, please rank Rush's studio albums? Well, since you asked...
o fim On to No. 91... A Long Ago on the Sunset Coast
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Defining Moment:
yyz
Amid
this setting, I sent a shiny new penny to Columbia House for my free 10
8-tracks. All but two selections were country or Elvis. I took a gamble
on two popular rock albums - KISS: Destroyer and Aerosmith: Rocks. Before long I threw out the
country, and craved more Rock and Roll. A friend of mine at school
uttered these historic words, "Man, KISS is OK, but Rush is better. Get
the album "All The World's A Stage". You'll love it. Eddie had
no idea what he had set in motion.
What
tragedy did Neil's endure?
