RUSH - Beyond the LIghted Stage

Watched this newest Sam Dunn doc the other night. I knew, or knew of, most of the stories. I knew every album's details and meaning in the band's history, and the songs themselves of course. Conceptually, it was well done, in that the focus was on - ok I'll just say it bluntly; not their new stuff. In retrospect, it seemed to spend the most time on the earliest stuff, and less time as we moved forward though the years, with pauses at 2112 and Moving Pictures eras. There were some things that I didn't know though, like their strong early friendship with KISS, or how UFO helped get them out of the "robes" period, how shy Neil is and how really strong the bond between Geddy and Alex was and is.

Favorite scenes include: Geddy now, with his long hair and distinct tinted glasses, small-cafe waitress ignoring and even repeatedly bumping Alex to get Geddy's autograph, to A's comic chagrin, Geddy says "You should get his autograph too, he's the leader of the band", she glances at Alex, then turns back and says who to make them out to, then walks away while Alex looks into the camera in mock sadness and bites his sandwich. Super funny.

It made me feel sad that I had never been in a band that played a few songs that they wrote, on a stage in front of a few people. It really did.

The next morning at work as I typed-away I listened to Hemispheres, then Hold Your Fire, then Power Windows. Hemispheres is still unbelievable. Power Windows blows doors on HYF which was the last Rush album I've ever heard all of actually. The first through Grace are essential. Some would say Signals. Some would say Pictures. But they would be wrong.