Concert Review: Rush at Starlight

Rush

Date: June 7, 2008

Venue: Starlight Theater

Better Than: Watching Strange Brew.

By S.T. VOCKRODT

Here was the bad bit of news about Rush’s three-hour concert last Saturday night: Lead crooner Geddy Lee’s voice was way off on several songs, missing pitches and carrying off-key notes at several junctures. One casualty of Lee’s lackluster vocal performance was the band’s otherwise spot on run through “2112,” arguably its most exciting tune.

But the good news was that Lee’s peculiar voice — some call it womanly — has never been the allure of the venerable prog-rock band. It’s what has made the band perhaps rock ‘n’ roll’s worst victim of the love-’em-or-hate-’em dichotomy. Rather, it’s the immense instrumental talent the three Canadian warriors of mean, mean pride possess that has catapulted the band through seemingly countless original records and subsequent live shows.