UPDATE - 7/13@11:08AM: Here's a review of the Philly, Newark and New York shows from Baeble Music's Mark Brown.
UPDATE - 6/30@4:17PM: Here's a review from The Mercury.
UPDATE - 6/26@3:01PM: Here's a review from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
UPDATE - 6/25@10:48PM: The show's over! They played setlist C as anticipated. Good night Philly!
UPDATE - 6/25@10:21PM: Cygnus-X1.net already has a growing gallery of photos posted.
UPDATE - 6/25@8:58PM: It's time for the band to resuscitate! Setlist C up through intermission.
UPDATE - 6/25@6:39PM: The show should be getting underway in about an hour from now. Setlist C is expected, but I'll let everybody know if anything changes.
Date/Time: Thursday, June 25th @ 7:30PM
Show Number: 21
Venue: Wells Fargo Center
Place: Philadelphia, PA
Twitter: #R40PHILLY | #R40Live
Instagram: #R40PHILLY
YouTube: Philadelphia Rush R40 Live Tour
Setlist: Version C
Photos: Cygnus-X1.net
Reviews: Philadelphia Inquirer | The Mercury | Baeble Music
Rush brings the R40 Live tour to the City of Brotherly Love tonight to play the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for show number 21 of the tour. After tonight only 2 more shows remain until the band takes another well-deserved break before picking things back up on July 9th in Kansas City. After mixing things up for the DVD filming setlist in Toronto last week, the band returned to their A set for Montreal on Sunday night, and the B set for Boston on Tuesday. So the Philly crowd will likely be seeing the C setlist tonight, and I went ahead and entered that set into the Philadelphia setlist page for now. I'll update it if anything changes and finalize it once the show is over. For more discussion on the setlist along with a preview of the show, check out the pre-show SPOILER review below the fold. The doors for tonight's show open at 6:30PM with a 7:30PM start time listed, so the band will likely hit the stage at 7:45-ish. For everyone going to the show tonight, have fun, stay safe and be sure to share your reports, reviews, photos and video with us. Ruussshhhh!!!!
*** WARNING ***
*** SPOILERS BELOW ***
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*** pre-show SPOILER review *** It looks like Rush has settled back into their 3-setlist rotation for the time being, and since Montreal got the A set, and Boston the B, tonight they should be pulling out the C set. I still think we'll be seeing that special D setlist with Losing It that Rush played for the DVD filming in Toronto last week though. Ben Mink resides in Vancouver so it's very likely we'll see it then. I also keep hearing that the band will do something special for the shows in New York City and Los Angeles as well, so that could mean we'll see Losing It there too. Assuming that Philly will get the C set tonight, and Newark gets A on Saturday, that would then set things up for them to finish off in New York City with a repeat of the D setlist with Losing It and Ben Mink (or someone else? Clockwork Angels stringer perhaps??) once again. Or maybe they'll surprise us with something else. Here are some other quick notes about the anticipated setlist and the show:
* The opening video (The World Is ... The World Is ...) depicts cartoon versions of the band that evolve as time moves forward in a time lapse sort of progression - with outfits, hair styles, backdrops and music to match. It also includes a custom road sign for each city, and ends with silhouettes of the band being dumped onto the stage as the screen rises up to introduce the band playing the opening track.
* The entire setlist is played in reverse chronological order, beginning with Clockwork Angels, and ending in the encore with a short snippet of the unreleased, early '70s track Garden Road.
* As the show progresses back in time, the stage props and instruments also devolve to coincide with the songs being played. Props are swapped out by roadies in red, R40 mover outfits.
* Photos of fans (submitted by fans via Rush.com prior to the tour) are shown on the big screen at multiple points throughout the show.
* During the rap section of Roll The Bones a video is played with the following celebrities lip-syncing the rap: the Trailer Park Boys, Paul Rudd & Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Les Claypool, Tom Morello, and Peter Dinklage.
* The intermission video (No Country for Old Hens) shows outtakes from the intermission videos from all of the band's recent tours, ending with the South Park Tom Sawyer video that segues into the band playing Tom Sawyer to open the 2nd set.
* For the 2nd set, Neil Peart's R40 drum kit is replaced with a retro, late '70s-era replica kit dubbed El Darko featuring double bass drums.
* Every show/setlist so far has been identical from Jacob's Ladder on through the encore.
* Jacob's Ladder makes its first live appearance since 1980.
* Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres - Prelude had not been played since 1994.
* Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 3 was last played live in 1980, although Prologue was played in 2002.
* Xanadu includes both Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee using doubleneck guitars.
* The Mel's Rock Pile skit before the encore reprises Eugene Levy's character from an old SCTV skit as seen here.
* Lakeside Park was last played live in 1978, and this performance is truncated, leaving out the bridge/last verse.
* What You're Doing was last played live in 1977.
* The closing video (Exit Stage Left) shows video of the band exiting the stage taken from various live footage. It then shows the 3 band members trying to get into their dressing room and being thwarted by the puppet from A Farewell to Kings, who is having a party with all the other characters from Rush's album covers. He says Rush isn't on the list and sends them away. Alex Lifeson says the memorable line, "Fuck you puppet!". The band then walks off into the sunset down the hall, wondering what they should do now. ...
Photos from Instagram using hashtag #R40PHILLY:
