Rush – At Globen 2004 (Crystal Cat CC 863-865)

At Globen 2004 (Crystal Cat CC 863-865)

Globen, Stockholm, Sweden – September 29th, 2004

Disc 1: Intro / Jerry Stiller. R30 Overture. The Spirit Of Radio. Force Ten. Animate. Subdivisions. Earthshine. Red Barchetta. Roll The Bones. Bravado. YYZ. The Trees. The Seeker. One Little Victory.

Disc 2: That Darned Dragon / Intro. Tom Sawyer. Dream Line. The Secret Touch. Between The Wheels. Mystic Rhythms. Red Sector “A”. Drum Solo. Resist. Heart Full Of Soul. 2112. La Villa Strangiato. By-Tor And The Snow Dog.

Disc 3: Xanadu. Working Man. Summertime Blues. Crossroads. Limelight. Outro / Jerry Stiller. 2112. The Spirit Of Radio. Natural Science. Beneath, Between and Behind. By-Tor And The Snow Dog. Xanadu.

RUSH – At Globen 2004 30th Anniversary Tour on Crystal Cat Records presents an excellent audience tape of the September 29th, 2004 show at the Stockholm Globen Arena.

Amazingly, given the number of years that this band has been together they had not played a show in Sweden since 1979, so their fans had been waiting for a very long time! The wait was finally over as this massive R30 stage production and some of the best sound engineers in the business brought this concert to extreme heights!

The band’s playing was extremely energetic, tight and nearly perfect! This is a magical combination that can only come after many years of making music together as they have.

I think Jerry Stiller gets even more air time than Geddy does tonight, as the band chooses to make music rather than chatter on endlessly between songs…saying just enough to keep the crowd engaged, but not TOO much…well done!

Prior to “Earthshine”, Geddy apologizes that it took so long to come back to Sweden, “and to punish you, we have way way way too much music for you tonight!” Well he was right, there was a lot of music, but I certainly would NOT call it punishment! The massive setlist presented songs which spanned the bands entire career, right up until the most recent (at that time) Feedback covers album. Speaking of a large setlist, I believe RUSH are one of the few bands today that still give the fans their moneys worth in terms of show length. While they do take a short 15 minute intermission in the middle of the set (hey, they’re not as young as they used to be!), they’re not hustling to be on and off the stage in a hour and half or less like a lot of today’s bands. You can tell the fans really appreciate this so let us hope that they do not have to wait another 25 years before this Canadian power trio returns to Sweden!

The sound quality of this release is outstanding! Crystal Cat Records continues to impress with the quality of the tapes that they use, as well as with their mastering. Put on your headphones, crank it up and it’s like you’re right there, with the best seat in the venue!

Once again, instead of giving us a half-empty third disc, Crystal Cat have included bonus material from a February 14th, 1980 show from the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis MO. USA. Aside from the extra material, these tunes give us an interesting perspective on some of the songs played 24 years ago, and how they compare to the way they are played live today. Crystal Cat gives us our money’s worth here!

This 3CD release comes packaged in a standard fat-boy jewelcase with glossy covers and tray inserts. Also included is a glossy 10-page insert booklet that contains additional information about the show as well as some very nice photos of the event making this release not only great to listen to but great to look at as well!

 This is a release that no RUSH fan/collector should miss out on, and I highly recommend it. Well done Crystal Cat, keep up the good work!