Monica Z's Review of the Tampa, FL, Show                                

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Overview and set length

All the new songs sounded great and I didn’t mind the 5 in a row in the second set. I had no complaints but would swap a couple standards if I had the choice but otherwise will be happy to see several more shows with this set list. I timed the 1^st set at 65 minutes and the total show (minus intermission) at 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Guitar issues

A lot of the guitar issues with Between the Wheels (hopefully not a problem at the Charlotte show) and the One Little Victory issue in Tampa have been documented. He does have a new guitar tech this tour so maybe between that and a maybe wiring problem with his transmitter or guitar jack on the PRS he uses exclusively for BTW are causing the problem.

Tour book spoiler!

One thing that surprised us when we purchased the tour book before the Atlanta show started was that portions of the set list are listed in there. Steve was thumbing through it and saw 1 song title and then we decided to wait until after the show to finish looking through it. This is the first time I think they have done this and it lists certain songs and the videos associated with it and then credits the people involved in creating the video.

Celebs in the crowd

(After the show), I was happily rewarded with a short conversation with John Wesley (Porcupine Tree’s touring backup singer/guitar) who was in attendance in Tampa (his hometown show). He had front row on the aisle of Alex’s side and was attending with his wife, brother, and a few others. I went up to him after the show and told him I saw the recent PT show in Seattle in early May and he thought it was cool that I flew in for the Rush show. He said he lives 5 minutes away from the (Tampa) venue and loved the show. It was hard not to watch him as I was watching Alex (as he was right in my line of sight) and he was clapping and cheering Alex on during certain songs and solos. I asked him if this was his first Rush show and he said his first tour was Hemispheres!! If you haven’t seen PT live yet you should check them out as they will come back around supporting their new CD starting in August. He said they would hit most the major markets (skipping Seattle – darn!) and he was genuinely a pleasure to talk to.

(A friend of mine) mentioned that he saw ex-Braves player Javy Lopez at the Atlanta show.