Features

Rush @ Newcastle Arena, Friday 5 October 2007

Kate Moss wasn't here tonight. Heat magazine weren't covering the backstage action and the chances of a band member appearing on Celebrity Big Brother anytime soon are slim. 

Rush are not, and have never been, remotely fashionable, a fact that has troubled them little in their 33-year career. 

What they are is probably one of the planet's premier cult bands, which means that despite playing to around 70,000 people on this British tour, it's unlikely you'll read or hear too much about it.

Rush are three middle aged Canadians - guitar, bass, drums - who between them make a ferocious racket.

Often described as a progressive rock outfit, the band are known for virtuoso musicianship and intricate arrangements, their early days often seeing whole sides of albums devoted to single songs.

In 2007 the songs are shorter, the arrangements more economical, the playing muscular - more rock than prog; almost heavy metal in places. And it's surprisingly loud.  

Tonight's show starts with Limelight, a song written about the band's unease with celebrity and the demands of fandom, followed by the rarely-performed Digital Man.

Singer Geddy Lee tells the crowd they have "gazillions" of songs to play – the set is three hours long – but unlike so many veteran bands on the seniors circuit, this is no exercise in nostalgia. 

Too polished?

The band's casual virtuosity is also shot through with unexpected humour – huge rear projection screens preface songs with funny skits (an animated cameo featuring characters from South Park before Tom Sawyer is a treat) and Geddy Lee's backline forsakes a huge wall of amps for a rotisserie complete with rotating roast chickens.

Maybe it's all a little self-conscious, but here we have a band successfully straddling the fine line between rock-and-roll sensibility and middle age with their dignity intact. No histrionics and no easy crowd pleasing.

The only criticism is that perhaps they are a little bit too polished, but that's entertainment.  

It's possible the Internet might be slowly making notions of fashion in music irrelevant, in which case maybe Rush could yet impinge on mainstream consciousness. But don't bet on it just yet.