Rush - Rush in Rio

Rating:
Summary: Ahh...the long awaited Rushs DVD...I'm in heaven
Review: *Entertaining
*Great sound compared with other music DVDs on the market
*Nice DVD formatting and layout of menus
*Great documentary and special features
*Of course, Rush is the ultimate band so that helps

The long awaited DVD is here, and it is worth purchasing. For those disappointed in the Vapor Trails album clipping, you'll be happy hearing the Vapor Trails songs the way they should sound. And you'll want to pick up the companion CD to this as well. For a band that has been around for nearly 30 years, they still know how to entertain and completely satisfy both concert attendees and DVD viewers alike. The 2-disc "Rush in Rio" allows devoted fans access to the band in a way that has never been offered before. The documentary is not just a "special feature" thrown on because we live in the age of DVDs. It is a nicely directed glimpse into the lives of Geddy, Alex, and Neil on the road. If the concert doesn't satisfy your appetite, you'll also enjoy the hidden Easter Eggs and the opportunity to view 3 songs changing camera angles yourself. "Rush in Rio" is a must-have DVD for all Rush fans, but also is a worthy candidate for students of rock music, and those who've discovered Rush only recently.

Rating:
Summary: Always something to gripe about.....
Review: For those of us who choose to moan and groan about the sound, GET A LIFE!!!
The DVD is EXCELLENT. I felt like I was THERE! For the first time, RUSH is presented to us in a way that even the most casual of fans can enjoy. Sure the quick cut editing may be a little harsh, and the sound quality isn't up to par with a "gearhead's" standards, but who cares, the performance is the thing. I don't happen to have a "state of the art" sound system to run my player. My stereo and TV seem to run the thing quite well, thank you.
I've seen these boys a more than a dozen times, starting in 1978, and up to now, the only videos that I'd seen were the "Exit Stage Left", and "Show of Hands" debacles. Thank God that they had the wherewithal to record this show in the first place. The excitement level is INCREDIBLY high (must be tough to be a "crossed arm, cool guy", emotions kept in check all the time..bummer), the playing is crisp, the band is in high spirits, and the song selection couldn't be better. I saw this tour at the start, in Hartford, and near the end, at the Casino in Connecticut, and was just hoping for ANY sort of recording.
My prayers were answered with this one.
If you've never seen the band live, or had only seen the ASOH or ESL videos, do yourself a favor, buy this one ASAP, crank up the TV/Stereo/little computer speakers, or whatever, and play air drums to Neil, air guitar to Alex, and scream the high notes with Geddy.......and then have some soup.

Rating:
Summary: I'm completely satisfied
Review: The sound isn't as bad as a lot of people are saying. I think it could have been a lot worse. Sure it has sort of a raw overall sound, but I think that makes it even better. Some of Neil's drums aren't loud enough and Geddy's vocals could have been slightly louder, but I'm very pleased by how this dvd turned out.

I was worried about a lot of fast jumping aound with the camera angles when I first read that this show was filmed with 22 cameras. But I was pleased that throughout most of the show, that's not the case. Sure, there are some moments here or there where it jumps around very fast and you can't focus on what's going on, but it's not like that through the whole show. Not like Iron Maiden's Rock In Rio. That one is almost unwatchable, while Rush In Rio is very watchable.

The energy from the band is incredible. I also really can't believe the crowd. What's up with those Brazilians chanting and everything? They even sing along to YYZ! That may annoy some people, but that's just the way they are down there. A lot of energy.

The song selection should please all the part-time fans as well as the die-hard fans. There's all the radio hits for the part time fans like Tom Sawyer, New World Man, Freewill, Closer To The Heart, Limelight, The Spirit Of Radio, and Working Man.
There's a lot of Die-hard fan favorites like The Pass, The Trees, Natural Science, La Villa Strangiato, By Tor & The Snow Dog, and about 3 minutes of Cygnus X-1.
Of Course, there's the more recent songs like One Little Victory, Driven, and Leave That Thing Alone. Plus a lot more!
That's a big plus about this dvd is that it contains the entire concert, unlike all their previous live videos.

The bonus disc has a documentary about all 3 Brazilian shows that's very interesting. It's not just some 10 minute piece of crap. It goes at least 45 minutes and has interviews from the band and everything that went on while they were in Brazil. Including all the weather problems that almost prevented them from doing a couple of those shows.

There's really nothing not to like about this dvd. especially if you're a die-hard fan who's been waiting for this since that dreadful Show Of Hands video. The part time fans should also be pleased with this dvd. Along with all the radio hits that they know, it also introduced them to a lot of the good Rush songs that these people aren't that familiar with.

Rating:
Summary: great performance, so-so presentation
Review: Yes, the mix has issues. There's no mid-range, it sounds thin, it's hard to hear Ged's voice and Neil's drum fills. But, Neil acknowledges this in the liner notes stating that due to the weather the recording setup was "primitive" and the recording had to be "rescued". Ok, I'll buy that. Better luck next time (I hope).

Now for the video, my beef is that it's not in anamorphic format as advertised on amazon (sent an email to amazon and coming home studios about it). I just don't get why they would hard code the letterbox format and throw away the resolution! It could have looked so good on my widescreen TV.

Yes, the editing is all over the place but overall it works for the energy of the show. I was then looking forward to the 3 songs that had multiple angles but the problem with this is that each angle is not fixed, they each jump around! I thought the point of this was being able to lock in on one angle and stay there to really see what's going on. arrrg.

Overall it does capture the energy of a Rush concert and it's recommended for any Rush fan. It's good, but it could have been great.

Rating:
Summary: Great Concert and Great Band!
Review: Ignore the reviews claiming the mixing is bad. I only noticed the vocals getting drowned out on a few songs and for the most part the sound is excellent. If you don't believe me, read the ign.com dvd review(they gave the sound a 10 out of 10). Peart, Lifeson, and Lee are musical Gods!!! Three hours spent with the gods of rock is a great thing. Don't miss your chance.

Rating:
Summary: Great To Listen To, Frustrating To Watch
Review: I was anticipating this DVD for about six months so I was very excited to have it in my hands. I actually felt like I did when I bought my first "new release" by Rush (GUP).
I watched the documentary first and was pleased. I popped in the concert and was shaking my head in disappointment within minutes.
I do not have sound issues because I don't have the equipment to make a fair assesment. I take a very BIG issue with the editing. It's all over the place, to put it simply.
There's no rhyme or reason to the pacing of the cutting other than cutting to the music. They had fifty cameras there and they make sure you get a shot from each angle every thirty seconds. Just when you start appreciating a shot of Peart going Bonzo, they cut away. Instead of spotlighting Alex for more than three seconds from one angle, they cut to another angle and you know, there's just no reason for it. And it's like that for the whole show. Even the songs with a more moderate tempo like "Bravado" or "The Pass" were getting the same cutting treatment. Even in between songs for pete's sake.
I'm sorry but if I were watching a four minute music video of "Rush In Rio", then yes, cut away. During high energy moments like "The Spirit Of Radio", cut to your MTV heart's content. But the entire show is like this and it is exremely frustrating to watch.
The video looks great. Nice and crisp like you're watching the show through a window. I was very impressed with the band. Whoo boy! They rocked the house. So why did they go amateur with the editing? Maybe Geddy owed someone a favor so he let thier kid edit the show on their iMac.
A "must have" for fans, that's for sure. But be warned. Just when you're digging the animation going on behind the band, guess what happens. They cut away. I almost felt like the editor of the show was intentionally teasing me with three lousy seconds of Alex literally blazing over the guitar, then cutting to a shot of the stage from three hundred feet in the air.

Rating:
Summary: Alex Was The Mixer!
Review: I am a Rush fan from Toronto. To all of you who complained about the bad sound of the DVD: it was Alex! he was the mixer, or at least he was the sound engineers' boss. I know this because during the Rolling Stone SARS concert in Toronto in July, Rush said they were pretty hectic at that time preparing for both the DVD and CD release, and that Alex was busy mixing the DVD in the studio. But for the fans/charity they arrived and performed at least 5 songs. We were watching the live footage of their performance broadcasted by our local TV station and the sound was great by the way, bass, guitar, drums, keyboard were clear and crisp, but the star of the live performance was Geddy's voice, with the appropriate volume and echo that sent chills through my spine, especially during the high part on Free Will. And you could hear every note on the tom toms when Neil performed a roll (this is always my standard of judging a concert recording). So the poor sound quality of the DVD was probably the result of not having the best recording equipments, if not, blame Alex!

Rating:
Summary: I just don't understand...
Review: ... why so many of you are having sound quality issues. I too went to the theater presentation, and walked out after 10 minutes due to the lousy audio. At that point, I was worried about the DVD, but when I got home and gave it a listen I was very much releived.

The audio is simply great on the DVD. Good mix, great bass, just enough crowd noise to get a feel for the excitement and energy in the air that day.

Just a bit of advice, my HT system didn't automatically detect the 5.1 DD soundtrack and defaulted to 2.0. I had to manually select 5.1. After that, it sounded just great.

I dunno what to say about this disparity.

Rating:
Summary: product not as advertised
Review: This DVD is not formatted in anamorphic widescreen as advertised. I'm returning my copy as soon as possible. It's just shocking that a band like Rush, who has such a reputation for fine music, would let this get past them. They won't even allow you to discuss the issue on Rush's official message board -- why is that? This message board is run by the "gang" at PerfektWerks. So they don't want the truth about the product getting out? PerfektWerks has done more to give Rush a black eye than any other entity. So I guess we see how the honest man really IS the most endangered species.

Finally, the editing on the show is way too quick. If you appreciated the fine work of Derivative Inc on the concert animations, you'll find little of it represented here.

Unfortunate that Rush fans have waited so long for a DVD and now get this inferior product.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Own for Rush Fans
Review: I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the theatrical screening of this DVD Tuesday 10/21/03. This release is a great live presentation. As far as I can tell, it is the entire concert from The Vapor Trails tour finale in Rio, opposed to highlights from several shows. And Rush have the musical ability and discipline to pull off a nearly perfect performance, and make it seem easy as well.

The sound is great, and the camera work is stimulating without being annoying. It is a worthy addition to the excellent catalog this band has amassed since 1974.

I saw this tour twice in Phila, and I am very glad to have this DVD to commemorate the rise of my heroes from the murky waters that occluded them for the time between Vapor Trails and Test For Echo.