Rush (For a Change of Atmosphere)

So, 'twas with bleary eyes, damp skin and a faint but persistent ringing in my ears that I got on a LIRR train late last night/early this morning to head back home, thanks to the Canadian power trio known as Rush, who had the temerity to schedule a Jones Beach concert ('bout two hours from chez Efrex, not including waiting for the @#!@ train) without announcing that they were going to be adding a couple of dates right in the city the next week (don't worry, I've got tickets for that show too). Concert was much fun, although there's no way you can make a setlist that would make me completely happy without making the show go for about four hours (I'd want the full 2112 and Hemispheres albums, just for a start, and throw in some of the stuff they'll never do live, like "Entre Nous" and "Anagram"). Seeing Neil Peart hitting the skins live is something else, even though his solo was the same one he did on the Rio DVD ("O Baterista"). Not sure why the stage set includes a couple of drying machines with t-shirts spinning around in 'em the whole time, but it was pretty funny seeing techs walking up to a machine and grabbing a shirt in the middle of a song for no apparent reason.

The one good thing about shlepping out to Lawn Giland for the show was catching up with an old friend at Penn Station. For a decade or more now, Wendy Sayvetz has been performing in Penn Station and Grand Central Station, singing a mix of folk songs, show tunes, and original material in a gloriously angelic soprano. I hadn't seen her in years and years, but there she was, hawking two new CDs and plugging an upcoming show at Danny's. From a quick listen to the CDs, I can hear some tenderness in her notes (the result of some vocal injuries), but it's still wonderful to hear her again (hers were the first renditions of "By My Side" and "All Good Gifts" from Godspell that I ever heard, and still the best).

Finally, I can't believe that I didn't yet post about Natalie Douglas's gig at the Birdland. As predicted, she blew the doors, ceiling, and walls off the place. I might be the only person who noticed that she switched two verses in "Forbidden Fruit," but other than that (and a bit of a rough spot going low in her openning number), she simply rocked. Please tell me that this show's gonna be recorded. It's easily one of the best solo performances I have ever seen (actually, it's hardly fair to call it a solo perf. Mark Hartman was a demon at the keys, and the rest of the backing quartet [bass, drums, and sax] was superb as well).

By the way, do all religions have counting songs? One of the numbers Natalie did, "Children, Go Where I Send You" bears an awfully strong resemblance to "Echad Mi Yodea," no?