No. 910 – Workin’ Them Angels

Performer: Rush

Songwriters: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neal Peart

Original Release: Snakes & Arrows

Year: 2007

Definitive Version: Snakes & Arrows Live, 2008

(We return to our story, already in progress)

After the July 2010 Rush show was rained out, I think I must have checked Rush’s website, oh, every 30 seconds or so for the makeup date. Nothing. Instead I was treated to the comedy of human existence. To wit, the story about the “Rush fan” who was suing the band—and gaining his 15 minutes—due to the rainout.

His argument: The Ticket said rain or shine. True. It also didn’t say “thunderstorm and threat of death due to lightning and high winds.” Oh well. You know the difference between a legitimate and a frivolous lawsuit, right? A legitimate lawsuit is the one that YOU file.

Anyway, after a four-day vigil that seemed like a month—a watched Rush site never boils—the makeup date was announced for August. However, in between the rainout and the makeup date, Laurie went from being a freelancer, to a full-time employee. Her new gig was out in Skokie, so we were going to have to travel separately to the show and meet up there. I fought off the sweet siren song of suing Rush for forcing me to have to go to McDonald’s for dinner instead of a sit-down meal somewhere—as a legit a lawsuit if ever there were one—and made my way from the train over to Northerly Island. Forgive me if I mentioned this, but it’s past Adler Planetarium, so it was about a 2-mile hike from the train station. (Oh, the hardship!)

Because Laurie had to fight the traffic from Skokie, she got there just about the time the show was about to start—much to my consternation. I’m pretty sure that my calling her every minute to inquire as to her progress wasn’t helpful.

When we got in, it was clear the difference the rainout made: I’d say close to half the seats, including almost all of those around us on the floor stage right, were empty. Fine with me. That’s more room to rock out.

And rock out I did. It was an excellent show, and the weather couldn’t have been better. Moving Pictures all the way through was amazing. They played this song and bunch of others I wasn’t expecting—most notably Presto, which they had never played live before—and the final video, which was a mini-sequel to the movie “I Love You, Man,” was hilarious.

The best part was that as we left, everyone in attendance got a free Rush cap. The hat has the sweet Rush 1974-2112 logo on the front and “The rain date, Chicago 2010” stitched on the back. It has a spot of honor on my desk at home, and I didn’t even have to call a lawyer to get it.

Rush rules!