Average Jane Goes to a Concert

Last night we went to see Rush in concert. We’d gotten the invitation from another couple the night before and my husband wasn’t all that enthusiastic about going.

Hubby: "I’ve seen them in concert before. Eh."
Me: "What tour was that?"
Hubby: "I think it was 2112."
Me: "That was in 1974! I think they might have, I don’t know, changed since then."

I’d seen them in concert numerous times when I was in my hardcore Rush phase as a teenager. To be honest, I’d pretty much outgrown them by the time I was in my early 20s, too. Still: free ticket to a band I tend to like. Win, win.

We got to the outdoor amphitheater a little early and stood in the long line at the gate while we waited for our friends to arrive. Most of the fans didn’t get the "Don’t be that guy," memo and were wearing Rush shirts from various tours. The nerd quotient was high, as usual for Rush concerts. I readily include myself in that category so it’s not an insult, merely an observation.

I paid the price for not keeping up with Rush since the ’90s when it turned out that I was unfamiliar with a good 70% of the songs they played. They did do some of their hits from the ’80s and early ’90s, and some more obscure songs from that era, too. They didn’t play anything at all from the ’70s.

During the intermission, while the husbands were off looking at the ridiculously overpriced merchandise, a guy came up to us as we sat on our blankets on the lawn and wanted to know if we were actually Rush fans or if we’d been dragged to the show by our husbands or boyfriends. I told him I was a long-time Rush fan, which seemed to assure him that all was right with his universe.

My husband and I decided to leave during the encore so we could get home at a halfway decent hour. It was a good choice, particularly since we didn’t recognize the first encore song anyway.

All in all, I had a good time despite our great distance from the stage and lack of recognition of many of the songs. It was fun to revisit a band I used to really love, even if my enthusiasm had dimmed over time.