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Review by
Jon Miller
This was my first time seeing YYZ, and for that matter
a tribute band, and it certainly will not be my last.
Before I get too much into the detail, I would just
like to say that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY enjoyed myself!
Its not often you can sit in a bar, have a few beers,
and listen to some of your favourite songs ever being
played live (and loud!)
The Chestnuts is a decent little venue, loads of safe!!!
car parking, good sized room, nice bar and lots of friendly
staff, which makes a change. The ceiling looked a little
low on stage, this was probably a ruse to make the drummer
look taller.
The biggest question for me beforehand was "What
will the vocals be like?" Geddy is Geddy, and probably
hard to copy. It took me a couple of songs to get used
to the vocals, and then it dawned on me that if you
wanted exact copies of the songs, stay in and put a
CD on. The tracks played last night were all live, fun,
and had the bands own influences thrown in. Good to
see.
After some 2001 space Odyssey type intro bits, they
kicked off with Dreamline. A pretty decent rendition
to start with, but I was really impressed after the
2 verses when the solo kicked in. The guitar work was
excellent, but when the keyboards and pedals (Im not
a muso, sorry) kicked in, the sound had real depth and
power!
Analog Kid and Passage to Bangkok followed, 2 of my
faves, again played really well. Bangkok took on a new
lease of life for me, when some keyboards were thrown
in during the solo. It made the song really powerful
and the sound had depth.
Highlight of the evening next-La Villa. Absolutely bang
on, great sound, great solo and keyboards, and the drums
and bass really powered along. Thanks for that fellers.
The other 2 highlights of the first half for me were
Red Barchetta, but most of all Chemistry. Never heard
this live, to me it is a real Diamond in the rough,
and live it was powerful and strong.
They finished with Natural Science-brave boys!
Set 2 kicked off with Si in some horrible pyjama trousers,
and Free Will to listen to. I was tempted to do the
Brazil "we are not worthy" wave it was that
good!
Good to hear Prime Mover chaps, you should play it live
more often. Kid gloves also rocked, followed by the
Xanadu/Superconductor medley, which only lacked the
Rabbits.
You cant go wrong with a strong finish of Closer to
the Heart, YYZ, a Medley (In the End-Top banana!!!),
Big Money and finally Spirit of Radio.
A fine finish.
Overall, I was really impressed, Im not a real smiler,
but I sang and grinned all the way through which is
a good sign.
An indication of how good the night was is the fact
that due to time constraints, the boys had to leave
out:
Subdivisions // Limelight // 2112 // Tom Sawyer
And I didnt even notice or mind! Imagine if Rush did
that later this year!!!!!!
I did tell Simon off for leaving out Between the Wheels
though.
So, all in all, great night. Im not a musician, so it
would be wrong of me to pass comment on the play, it
all sounded pretty spot on to me, even the drum solo!
The samples during most of the songs were absolutely
spot on, and really added to the occasion.
My only couple of comments would be lose Time stand
Still, as the set seemed to lose a bit of momentum,
and change a couple of the Keyboard sounds, as they
sounded a bit thin in parts.
If you have not seen them, make sure you go. If you
have seen them, go again!
Jon Miller
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