The Perfect Musical Experience
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=49869
Printed Date: April 26 2024 at 18:16
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Topic: The Perfect Musical Experience
Posted By: MovingPictures07
Subject: The Perfect Musical Experience
Date Posted: July 02 2008 at 11:08
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Well, being I've been a huge music fan for over 4 years now and considering the fact that I'm definitely way too young to have seen any of my favorite prog giants back in the 1970s (or even the 80s or 90s), I was the happiest man alive to see that Rush were extending their Snakes and Arrows tour into 2008. My first concert ever was last year on September 1st, 2007, seeing Rush on the first half of their S&A Tour, and it completely blew me away. Rush was the ticket for me really getting into my musical passion (collecting, drumming, and composing), so it was like a dream come true to actually see them play their material. However, despite how good that concert was and I never thought it could be surpassed, I managed to get tickets for this year as well... except, this time, I actually had pretty good "seated" tickets (as opposed to lawn the previous year). To say the least, the night of Monday, June 30th was the greatest night of my life. It was what I would call my personal "perfect musical experience". Nothing better than seeing my musical heroes in top form, playing possibly one of the best possible setlists imaginable, with the music absolutely LOUD but incredibly clear, and with loads of humor, and the most awesome lazer, light, and video show I've ever seen. I'm just about the world's biggest Rush fan... well, maybe not that far, but I absolutely love every song they've put out, I have all of their studio and live albums to date, have one DVD (need more), and 4 Rush t-shirts. Let's just say everyone I run into at college knows that I'm a huge Rush (or music) fan before anything else about me.  But back onto my point of this entry, the experience I had was absolutely forgettable, and even better than what I could have dreamed it to be. I imitated my best Geddy Lee, singing all the songs absolutely verbatim, and I would honestly say I was one of the most active (yet maybe obnoxious  ) fans in my entire visible radius. Spending the night with three of my other friends and watching all of this was entirely climactic; Neil Peart was absolutely on fire, as well as Lee and Lifeson. The music was simply so perfect, so clear, so dynamic, it was such a spectacular presentation of the music that opened the gates for me to truly find my passion in life. The entire experience was beyond words. I look forward to seeing many other concerts in the future, hoping that I really enjoy them (and knowing that I probably will), but wondering if ANY experience in my entire life will ever be able to match this one. Have you had a similar experience where the entire concert (or whatever musical experience) was ABSOLUTELY perfect? Where you found yourself being touched by the music so much that you felt your spirit completely transcendent and one of your favorites or nostalgic bands played to their absolute best? If not, then what would be your "dream" musical experience? (Even if you answered the previous question, feel free to reply with this answer as well). Who would you love to see most? What would be the setlist and the circumstances? ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: peskypesky
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 01:13
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This is just so weird. My first concert was Rush too. 31 years ago in San Antonio, Tx. I was 11 years old. It was almost a religious experience. http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/tours/77oct22_collage.htm UFO opened for them. Tickets were $7.75 ------------- Prog fan since 1974. |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 01:14
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My perfect musical experience was MAGMA last June.
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Posted By: Kestrel
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 01:38
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Seeing the Musical Box last December doing the Selling England show is one of the most magical moments of my life. My eyes were teary the entire show and I cried with my friends after it was all done... |
Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 14:16
Haha, that's really awesome. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to see them back then!  They actually played the first 7 minutes of 2112 this year, which was pretty neat. But I bet that might have been the only similarity song-wise between the concerts. That price sounds like such a steal nowadays!  -------------
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peskypesky wrote:Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 14:18
I'm completely envious.  As much as I've always wanted to see Rush live, Magma would easily be next highest on my list. Unfortunately, I don't really know much information about seeing them other than travelling all the way to Paris in the midst of my Spring 2009 semester. I don't see that happening, despite how big of a Magma fan I am. What was it like? Where did you catch them? -------------
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Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 14:23
Awesome! I would have always loved to have seen Genesis back in their heyday, and I've heard The Musical Box is a really good substitution for those of unfortunate enough to not have been alive back then (or not been able to see them the first time). The only thing that would keep me from seeing it is my mind saying, "That's not Gabriel's exact voice!!" or something like that. I don't know, it's a hang-up of mine. I don't like Seconds Out as much as the studio versions for that reason; Gabriel's voice is part of the Genesis magic, IMO. Plus, as much as I've liked Genesis over the years, I have other bands I'd like to see first. That does sound pretty freaking sweet though, especially since it's Selling England. -------------
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Posted By: Kestrel
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 16:02
I thought the same thing too but the guy's voice is extremely close to Gabriel's. During the course of the concert, I essentially forgot that it wasn't Gabriel on the stage! It was so well done that my friends and I pretty much say we've seen Genesis live, haha. Apparently, Phil Collins thinks the Musical Box does what they do better than Genesis did, haha. Unfortunately, we may have seen the show for the last time. The tour they are doing now is the A Trick of the Tail tour and I don't know if they'll ever do the Gabriel-era shows again. I certainly hope so. A Trick of the Tail is good, but the stage show is definitely not as interesting. |
Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 03 2008 at 16:11
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Posted By: peskypesky
Date Posted: July 04 2008 at 12:17
It blows my mind to think that 31 years can go by and Rush is still playing to new, excited fans. I mean, that first Rush concert I saw seems like two lifetimes ago. But I can still remember my excitement when my older brother Mike presented me with my ticket and told me I could go with him and his band-mates. He played in a cover band called Wynd (they played Rush, Nugent, Doobie Brothers, Montrose, etc). And I still remember walking into the auditorium and being freaked out by the clouds of strange-smelling smoke! :) I had never smelled pot before, never been to a rock concert, and this was the 70s, when everybody in the audience, the band, the crew and probably the security was toking. So the place was completely filled with a cloud of smoke, and when I asked my brother what it was, he and his friends looked at each other, laughed and said it was some "weird cigarettes" or something. Looking back, I must've had a contact high by the time Rush took the stage. I just remember being completely blown away when they came out and started blasting "Bastille Day". Can there be a more awesome beginning to a concert than that? I don't think so. That song just comes out punching like Mike Tyson. It was also so cool to see Geddy and Alex with the twin double-necks. :) Man, that was beautiful. "By-tor", "Anthem", "2112", "Working Man", etc etc etc To think those 3 dudes are still out there on the road is amazing. I'm kicking myself for not getting tickets when they came through NYC. :( But I did see Steely Dan two weeks ago, and I'm seeing King Crimson in a month, so I'm stoked. ------------- Prog fan since 1974. |
Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 04 2008 at 17:23
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: July 05 2008 at 14:41
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I just went to see Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke and Al Di Meola last year, and hell it was fascinating, but it was more like a "concert for old". It was all acoustic, though it was quite Amazing to see Stanley Clarke live, playing his amazing bass, also he played an amazing solo. Another concert which I'm quite forgeting, was Aussie Floyd, spectacular. I loved SOYCD. Ahh, that was 3 years ago, I think. Both live shows were excellent on their own way, Aussie Floyd being much more Emotional to me, since I was a Die-Hard fan of Floyd there, and for the TRIO it was a Great expierence. |
Posted By: Roland113
Date Posted: July 07 2008 at 20:43
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Huh, My first concerts were Genesis (invisible Touch) and Rush (Hold Your Fire), both of which were fantastic. In my life I had a couple 'Perfect Musical Experiences'. 3) The 'We Cant Dance' tour was amazing, I had fantastic seats, and almost had an accident when they launched into 'Dance on a Volcano'. 'The Last Domino' when Phil was lifted above the stage was great as well. He was bathed in yellow light and at first I thought it was just a hologram, when I realized it was him, I was rather impressed. 2) Juno Reactor, yes I know they're not prog, but I saw a show of theirs at a rave. They came on at like three in the morning and the communal feeling put goosebumps on me. 1) The most perfect musical experience was at a King's X concert in 91. I wasn't really familiar with the band, my bass player drug me along. When they played 'Over My Head' I was absolutely blown away. On a related note, 'The Musical Box' was great, I saw them do both 'The Lamb' and 'Selling England', both shows were amazing. I'm hoping that Spock's Beard, Neal Morse and The Flower Kings at the Three River's Prog Fest in August works it's way up into the top echelon of my musical moments. ------------- -------someone please tell him to delete this line, he looks like a noob------- I don't have an unnatural obsession with Disney Princesses, I have a fourteen year old daughter and coping mechanisms. |
Posted By: kenmartree
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 09:39
Not to make you envious I saw Rush Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures tours. I was working for a ticket scalper because that was the only way to get good seats. I sat front row center once right in front of Alex That show was pretty much perfect. Unfortunately Rush lost me with Signals, I guess it was that 80's thing. As for transcedent musical experience, that would be Peter Gabriel Plays Live Tour, I don't have words for that show. The cliched " tears streaming down my face" is true but I hate cliches.
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Posted By: spookytooth
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 09:58
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I saw Rush last year in Atlanta. It was their first show for their
Snakes and Arrows tour, I believe, so that was pretty cool. They played
a mix of their old and new stuff, and the show was very entertaining.
The best part was watching Neil Peart play drum solos and the solos
sounding as if he has three arms. It was also cool to see Trey Parker
and Matt Stone from South Park make a hillarious intro to Tom Sawyer.
Overall it was fun and exciting. I can't wait to see Rush again in late
July!
-------------  Would you like some Bailey's? |
Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 10:47
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Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 10:50
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Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 10:53
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Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 10:54
Yeah, I loved their first show for S&A, but this year's was even better for sure. The drum solo was just as good this year, if not better, and I loved that intro to Tom Sawyer as well. The videos are as humorous and awesome as they were last year, and the music is even better (believe it or not, I couldn't), so you should love it. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 11:59
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My Perfect Musical Experience was Progressive Nation 2008 this May. I've seen Dream Theater only once before the show, that august 2007, and this blew it away. Opeth played a great set, BTBAM played my favorites off Colors and One of my favorite Alaska songs. 3 was a pleasant suprse, very, very good live band In 2005 I saw Alice Cooper, that at the time was my perfect musical experience..he puts on such a great stage show.
Another great show I saw was Porcupine Tree in 2007..amazing stuff, it really was.
I'm seeing Rush in 5 days, it will probably be right up there with my favorites..but I doubt anything could top Progressive Nation 2008 for me...except maybe an evening with Dream Theater show ------------- 
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.Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 09 2008 at 12:40
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: July 10 2008 at 13:30
Ha, thx! I'm pretty convinced I want to see Deep Purple this year, they came already 2 years before, but I was too young for the type of Audience in there. Let's hope they let me this time! Also I wanted to see Jethro Tull that came last year, but neither I could go, since it was too late when I went for tickets. I'll tell ya if I have another concert, etc. |
Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: July 10 2008 at 15:20
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Posted By: Prejjer
Date Posted: July 17 2008 at 13:27
| I haven't been to many concerts, and none of them felt like perfect... But I hope to get more opportunities in the future |