Exit Stage Right  - Tribute to Rush

The Star Bar Report

Rob here, checking in. It's my turn to write a blog for the week and it's a couple of days before the Star Bar gig, so I figured I'd cover a bit of how I practice and prepare pre-gig. I will follow up with a little post-gig report as well.

Gig Prep
Sometimes I feel like I've got it kind of easy in this band -- I don't have to do multiple things at once like sing and remember lyrics while playing crazy bass lines and doing math equations, or play drums in odd time signatures like the best rock drummer ever (also while doing math equations). The Geddy and Neil spots are some big shoes to fill and Jonathan and Peter really do a fine job at it. It takes a lot of work to do it. It's incredible how Geddy does what he does just with his bass playing and singing, even more so when you factor in the keyboards and foot pedals along with that. In our case it took two guys to do it, and Marc handles the keyboard part of that equation and any background vocal duties. So that means I can just focus on playing the guitar parts (and doing a few math equations here and there). I even have the luxury of getting to improvise from time-to-time...

But, as I am the Lead Guitar player and fill the Alex Lifeson position in the band, that also means that I play lots of solos (in front of people, even) and there's a good amount of time that I am the only one playing in an intro or section. Sometimes that's kinda scary...

So when practicing up for this gig, I figured I'd take the scariest bits and prioritize them. After our last gig at Tuttle's, which was our first full two-set show, I learned a couple/few things about what I really need to practice and brush up on in the couple/few days prior to the gig, and perhaps more importantly, what not to practice...

For a short gig - like a one-hour set - I would normally just cue up all of the songs on our setlist and play guitar along from beginning to end, stopping and reviewing at the spots and solos that I need work on. This is a fun way to practice, and doesn't take a lot of time. I can get this done in about 90 minutes or less and usually end up jamming along for longer than that anyway just because it's Rush and it's fun.

Doing this for about 3 hours worth of material is a different story. So rather than go through the whole list, this time I picked some specific songs, sections, and fragments that I felt it necessary to focus on, and tried to keep it to a roughly 90-minute session. It actually covers the material rather well since we have started doing a similar thing as a group at practice; There are songs and sections that individually we don't necessarily need to practice, but really need to practice as a group to get it down tight in a "live" setting, so one way or another it all gets practiced at some point.

Tom Sawyer -- I focus only on the solo section on this one; The odd 7/8 meter is moving by quickly, so if you get a little lost it's kind of tough to get back on track. I never count it, so it's all feel to me. The phrasing is kind of unusual and is really key to the whole thing.

La Villa Strangiato -- This is simply my favorite Rush tune and guitar solo of all time, so it's just automatic that I include this one. In the solos I mostly stick to the signature phrases, but I do get a little room to improv a bit here and there. Lately I've been combining solo bits from different versions of La Villa, including The original 'Hemispheres' version, the live 'Exit...Stage Left' version, The 'Rush In Rio' version, and the "Pinkpop Festival 1979" version....

Cygnus X-1 -- I love this song. We practice this one pretty regularly as a group but since it's one of the long epics we often just practice the second half of the song to save time, from when the lyrics start ("Invisible to telescopic eye...") I always practice this one individually just because it's a blast to play along with and the solo section rocks. The tricky part is the transition from the solo to the spacey quiet section, where Alex is doing the quick octaves in C....

Broon's Bane/The Trees Intro -- The Tuttle's gig was the first time we included the solo piece 'Broon's Bane' before the intro to 'The Trees', so of course I practiced the crap out of those. I first learned 'Broon's Bane' way back when I was about 15-16 and never had a chance to actually perform it until now, so that's kind of neat. It's definitely one of those scary moments though (I'd say even the scariest..), when you are hanging out there on stage playing alone and hoping to not screw it up (haha) So time to practice the crap out of them again...

Xanadu -- Since we are doing 'Broon's Bane' and 'The Trees' like on 'Exit...Stage Left', we are also doing the transition from 'The Trees' into the trippy intro of 'Xanadu'. This of course is chuck-full of Lifeson's volume pedal harmonic swells and whatnot and is kind of like a long guitar solo, so not only is it a section with a lot to play musically, but there's some technique involved too with the volume pedal action. This is a really cool section, so of course it's fun to play as well... This is really a song to practice from beginning to end, but I am concentrating primarily on the intro and the part from the guitar solo to the end. It can get pretty hairy during that part...

2112 - Overture/Temples Of Syrinx/Grand Finale -- I'm really only focusing on the intro, but end up playing along with the full 20-minute version anyway...

Natural Science -- One of my top favorite Rush tunes from my favorite Rush album. Definitely an epic song. I always practice this full song because it's not only one of their more challenging songs, but also one of the funnest to play. The part that always gives me a bit of trouble and that I need to keep sharp on is the bit that you hear in the "Tide Pools" section after the line, "they soon forget about the sea.." and before the "Wheel within wheels in a spiral array..." line. (and again later after the first guitar solo) It's a tricky little guitar bit that not only is one of those scary all-alone moments, but is integral to establishing the tempo of the song.

Subdivisions -- A really easy song from a guitar standpoint, but I always forget what those damn harmonics are right before the end of the guitar solo, so I practice that little fragment and only that.

Between The Wheels -- I only practice the solo on this song, too. It's a great, melodic solo, and as usual with Lifeson, the phrasing is key.

Secret Touch -- this is one of our 'new' songs on the list, so I'm keeping it on the priority list.

Other than that, listening is ultimately the best practice for me. With Alex Lifeson it's really in the details; the chord voicings, the solo phrasings, the tones and combinations of effects, the dynamics and usage of volume control, etc. Sometimes he just does things a different way than you would think...

I once saw an article in Premier Guitar that summed it up quite well:

Where Steve Vai may make us say “I wish I could do that,” Alex Lifeson makes us say, “I wish I’d thought of that.”

Post-Gig

Well, the gig at the Star Bar was fun and we played pretty good. There were some mistakes (as always - this stuff ain't easy...) but no train wrecks, so that's always good. The turn out was pretty light, but those that were there seemed to dig it. The sound in the first set wasn't going that well, but after some tweaking at halftime the sound report from out front was excellent.

For some reason I had a tough time with 'Broon's Bane' and the intro to 'The Trees', despite the practice. It came out pretty choppy and I just couldn't really get it on track...nerves, probably....I certainly had a few other mistakes elsewhere, but those are the ones that stood out.

It would be cool to have a classical guitar and one of those fancy stands that Alex has so that he can just walk up to a classical/acoustic guitar and play it, then back off to play electric. Did you know Alex invented that stand? Yeah. I think it's called The Omega Guitar Stand. Or something...

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks to those who came out to the show. Hope to see you at the next one!