Well, the Rush show was last night, and my wife and I had a grand time.

It was frustrating at first because it took far longer to get into the venue than we anticipated; we had left 2 hours early for a trip that should only have taken an hour, hour and a half tops. We got there fifteen minutes late, just in time to have missed the opening number entirely. Oh, well. It was “Limelight,” which is one of my favorites but which isn’t really done justice live these days, due to the massive overdrive Alex employs onstage, so I’m not bitter about missing it.

There were a few other minor disappointments: Alex played Gibson Les Pauls all night long, and only whipped out the ES-355 for the encore. The lighting also didn’t sync with the music as well as they’re usually known for… it was a little distracting. And the tedious video sketch at the beginning of the second act just fell flat.

But the high points more than made up for it: some of the video bits were great, such as the South Park cast doing the intro to Tom Sawyer. And the pyrotechnics were better than ever this year — there was an awesome moment where an explosion was used to punctuate a drum fill on “Far Cry.” I think it pretty much blew everyone away.

And of course, the music was great. There was a lot of forgotten material being brought back, like “Between The Wheels” and “Circumstances.” One major difference between this tour and previous ones is that they played nearly all of the new album. Nine out of thirteen songs made it onto the playlist, which is a huge increase from the three or four we saw on the Test For Echo and Vapor Trails tours. The result is that this show felt a lot more like they were touring the album, and not just playing through the hits. Despite this, they played most of my favorites, with the sole exception of “Animate” (but they did play “Dreamline,” which astute readers will know is where The Gypsy Caravan gets its name from).

For the first time I can remember, the stadium was packed. At most shows I’ve seen, there are huge swaths of empty seats thanks to scalpers and badly organized ticket sales, but this time it was full. It was cool to have a whole crowd there rocking out with us.

Though it was a little weird to see how many people had brought their kids. Man, I am getting old.

Are there any benefits to being a girl at a Rush concert?
Yes — no lines for the bathroom! (laughs) Seriously, the women’s room is EMPTY. I’ve never seen that before.

Hilarious!

There’s a lot of talk today about this Ars Technica article about the way singles are counted in sales numbers, and nearly everybody is missing the point by making the assumption that the record industry needs to drop the album and only deal with singles.

The real point, of course, is that the record industry needs to start using the data on what singles are selling far above their respective albums in order to figure out what makes an album sell. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if the record industry wants to sell albums, they need to stop marketing singles and start marketing albums. Until they do, all they’re going to sell is singles, and they’re going to lose more and more money doing it.

“I guess Yoko is pissed about fox hunting, and somehow the queen and/or her husband are involved in this, and so a few days ago Yoko and some other dude had a Corgi diced up and cooked, and they ate some… And this is the woman I’ve got to deal with if I want to get the Beatles on iTunes.”

— Fake Steve Jobs, whose blog has been giving me endless amusement recently.

The professor channels the legendary big band/swing drummer at a tribute concert:

I have no idea what’s going on in this video. What I do know is that it is the best opening single Rush has put out in at least 20 years. It combines their modern stylings with classic-era structures, and is a little reminiscent of “2112.”

The second track on Snakes and Arrows, “Armor and Sword,” blew me away as well, with its poetic lyrical work and majestic sound. It reminds me a little of “Xanadu” and “Jacob’s Ladder.” Unfortunately, the rest of the album gradually goes downhill. “Workin’ Them Angels” is good, but not quite as good as the previous two tracks. Though several other songs are pretty good, the rest of the album is largely forgettable.

Stylistically, it’s an improvement over the last two albums, and producer Nick Raskulinecz is to be commended. Those pining for a return to “classic Rush” aren’t going to be happy, but for those people, nostalgia always trumps the here and now. Those who have been wanting to see Rush incorporate more of their classic prog-era style into their current, modern sound will be very, very happy.

Lyrically, I hate to say, it’s not Neil Peart’s best work. It’s better than Test For Echo (which contained the outrageously dated “Virtuality”), but not by all that much. Much of the material on Snakes and Arrows deals with faith and its abuse in zealotry, but only “Armor and Sword” has the deft touch I’ve come to expect. “Faithless” expresses sentiments too common to be insightful, and “The Way The Wind Blows” is downright embarassing.

However, much like Test For Echo, the gems on the album more than make up for it. And like that album, I may find some of the new songs growing on me. Again, “Far Cry” is possibly the best single they’ve released since “Tom Sawyer.” And “Armor and Sword” literally stunned me the first time I heard it. Those two songs alone are worth it. “Workin’ Them Angels,” “Spindrift,” “Hope,” “Malignant Narcissism,” and “We Hold On” are pretty good extras. I bought the CD the day it was released, and I’ve already got tickets to the show in Selma this summer. I’m looking forward to it.

“Who I am as a guitarist is defined by my failure to become Jimi Hendrix.” — John Mayer

I’d never heard of him before his name became part of the buzz surrounding the latest Rush album; apparently he’s done a lot of work with the Foo Fighters… which pretty much explains that. The story of how he got the job co-producing and engineering Snakes and Arrows is Cinderella-type stuff: in interviews for music production magazines like “Mix” and “EQ,” he’d be asked who he most wanted to work with, and, being a long-time Rush fan, his answer was always… well, you can guess. When he heard they were going back to the studio, he sent some demos of his previous work. Apparently they liked it, gave him an interview, and decided to hire him. It kind of reminds me of that story of how Elijah Wood sent Peter Jackson a video tape of his audition for Frodo… in full costume.

Anyway, the band — particularly Neil Peart — has gone on record as saying it was the most enjoyable recording experience they’ve ever had, and have mentioned that they regard him as their “current producer,” despite the production being finished. I’ll be surprised if Raskulinecz isn’t called in for future albums; sounds like he’s shaping up to be the next Terry Brown. I can’t wait to hear the album.

All of this is tangential to the fact that he’ll be producing the next Coheed and Cambria project. Interesting stuff.

There are a number of acclaimed guitar virtuosos out there, from Joe Satriani to Steve Vai to Al Di Meola. But few of them have the elegance and stylistic range of Eric Johnson. He has a grace and sense of melody that most guitarists lack — so many guitar players act like it’s a percussion instrument, just pounding on the strings, but Johnson plays the instrument like a violin.

My wife and I caught his show last night at Threadgill’s. We arrived early for dinner and stayed for the show, a benefit for the employees of Mother’s Café & Garden, a local vegetarian eatery that was burned down in an accidental fire. They intend to reopen in the next few months (insurance companies move slow) but have been trying to take care of their employees in the interim.

I’ve seen Eric Johnson a dozen times since I moved to Austin, but this may have been the most enjoyable show I’ve seen him put on, due in no small part to his backing band, consisting of drummer Tommy Taylor and bassist Roscoe Beck — two of the best musicians in Austin, in their own right. Roscoe Beck very nearly stole the show, in fact, filling in the background with the most proficient use of bass chords I’ve ever heard, when Eric was soloing.

Unfortunately, finding video of that lineup is nigh impossible… but the truth is that a video won’t ever be as good as the real thing. Live shows in Austin really remind me that some things just can’t be preserved — you have to be there, and you have to live in that moment. But maybe this video of Eric playing “Trademark” at the House of Blues will give you a taste:

This is huge. I don’t know what it might have taken to get EMI to try this, but it’s brilliant. I’ve never bought anything from iTunes before, but this development almost guarantees that I will, now.

Now if they can just be convinced to sell us a lossless format…