UPDATE - 5/24@12:00PM: Here's Keith Spera's full review of the show in the Times-Picayune.
Date/Time: Friday, May 22nd @ 7:30PM
Show Number: 8
Venue: Smoothie King Center
Place: New Orleans, LA
Twitter: #R40NOLA | #R40Live
Instagram: #R40NOLA
YouTube: New Orleans Rush R40 Live Tour
Setlist: Version B
Photos: Times-Picayune | Cygnus-X1.net
Reviews: Times-Picayune
UPDATE - 5/24@9:30AM: Here's an Instagram photo of Neil Peart signing some programs at the NOLA show. Don't forget to follow Neil and the West Side Beemer Boyz on their official Instagram account here.
UPDATE - 5/23@8:42AM: Here's a review and photo gallery from the Times-Picayune, and a photo gallery from Cygnus-X1.net.
UPDATE - 5/22@11:57PM: The show is over! The Version B setlist was played as expected. Good night NOLA!
UPDATE - 5/22@7:39PM: The show should get underway in about an hour from now. Rush is expected to play their Version B setlist as shown here. If anything changes, I'll let everyone know. Have fun NOLA Rush fans!
Rush rolls into The Big Easy tonight where they'll play the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans for show #8 of the R40 Live tour. After tonight's show they will make their way across the Southeastern US for 4 more dates to finish off the first leg of the tour. In his recent Classic Rock interview Alex Lifeson confirmed that the band has "three sets - A, B, C - which we'll be rotating throughout the tour". The band has already gone through 2 full rotations of these three setlists and started the third rotation Wednesday night in Houston by playing the Version A set. So for tonight's show we are expecting to see the Version B setlist that was played in Lincoln and Austin. I have entered the Version B setlist into the New Orleans setlist page for now, but will update it if anything changes, and finalize it once the show is over. Despite the expectations of the B set, Rush could always still surprise us with something new. For more discussion on that, check out my pre-show SPOILER review below the fold. If there are any deviations from the expected Version B setlist, I'll be sure to let everyone know about it. The show has been getting a good deal of local press including this article from The Times-Picayune's Keith Spera titled Whither Rush beyond the band's 'R40 Live' 40th anniversary tour?, and this article from The Advocate. The doors to tonight's show will open at 6PM, with a 7:30PM show start time, which means the band will likely hit the stage 7:45-ish. For everyone going to the show, have fun, be safe and make sure to share your reports, reviews, photos and video with us. RUSH!!!
*** WARNING ***
*** SPOILERS BELOW ***
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*** pre-show SPOILER review *** As I'd mentioned above, Rush is expected to play their Version B setlist tonight - the same that was played in Lincoln and Austin. There's always that outside possibility that they will throw something new into the mix though. The most likely candidate is Losing It which the band has played in soundcheck a few times now as seen in this video from the band's Austin soundcheck:
The band will seldom play a song in soundcheck that they aren't at least considering playing live. From the rumors I've been hearing they definitely do plan on playing it at some point, but rather than inserting into the set as a regular addition with recorded/triggered violin parts, they will only be playing it at a few select shows centered around the inclusion of a guest violinist (Ben Mink? Clockwork Angels stringer?). Rumors currently floating around point to the song being played in Toronto (where the DVD will be filmed), NYC, Vancouver and Los Angeles so we will likely not see it played tonight (you never know though!). The only other question is whether it would replace Subdivisions in the set or be added in before or after it. In his recent Classic Rock interview Alex had this to say about the setlist and tour:
"... We've dug deep. We've pulled out some songs that we haven't played in a very long time. We've pulled out some real fan favourites. And we're enjoying playing them. We've revisited every era except maybe the mid-eighties era, which we covered in a good portion of the set on the last tour. We've not included anything from Power Windows or Hold Your Fire, but there's something from just about every other record. ... We're bringing the Hemispheres Prelude and Jacob's Ladder and Cygnus X-1. It's fun and exciting to play these old songs. Jacob's Ladder sounds amazing! For years we've discounted it, although it was always a fans' favourite. We've got three sets - A, B, C - which we'll be rotating throughout the tour. ... Ged and I have gone crazy on bringing out all of our old instruments and buying up vintage gear all over the place. His goal is to play a different bass for every song in the show. ..."
He specifically confirms the A-B-C rotations and also says that nothing from Power Windows will be played - which counts out The Big Money. So despite it being listed in the tourbook credits it looks like The Big Money probably was dropped from the setlist at some point during rehearsals, and we likely won't see it.
Photos from Instagram using hashtag #R40NOLA:
