On November 22, 2005, "Rush" released the DVD and double disc "R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour".
The disc and DVD document the special tour that the band went on for the occasion of its 30 years of activity. They were recorded during the band's performance held on September 24, 2004 in Frankfurt, Germany.
The album features songs from all of the band's albums, including the "Feedback" EP released in light of the 30th-anniversary celebrations and included cover versions of songs on which the band grew up, but with the exception of "Presto" that we reviewed just yesterday. When we say performance from all the band's albums, we also mean the amazing Medley "R30 Overture" that opens the show and includes riffs of songs from the band's first six albums, as follows: ("Finding My Way", "Anthem", "Bastille Day", "A Passage to Bangkok", "Cygnus X-1", "Hemispheres").
In fact "R30" is the only official live album of "Rush" where you can hear the band performing cover versions of other bands, with 4 of the 8 songs on Feedback included in the Setlist.
Since the show and DVD were released only two years after "Rush In Rio", the band made an effort not to repeat themselves in terms of choosing the songs for the Setlist.
Although the stylist includes 22 tracks, the full show included 30 songs and these can only be found in the Blu-Ray version. The eight songs that have been dropped out from the list of songs on the CD and DVD version, are those that have already appeared on the live album "Rush In Rio" which was released two years earlier, and these are: "Bravado", "One Little Victory", "By-Tor and the Snow Dog", "La Villa Strangiato", "YYZ", "Red Sector A", "The Trees", and "Secret Touch".
The show features two songs in an unplugged version performance. "Resist" and the cover version "Heart Full of Soul" performed by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on guitars, at the end of Neil Peart's drum solo, after he leaves the stage.
If we already mentioned "Rush In Rio", then "R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour" is different from it in many ways. As you may recall, the band arrived late for the show "Rush In Rio" due to a severe tropical storm that took place in the area. They took the stage late, at 10 pm, without a sound check and without the recording crew checking and examining the recording equipment. Conversely here, everything has been prepared with meticulous precision in advance and without any misses and this is definitely reflected in the sound. The sound in Rio was also heavier than any other performance of the band we know and here an attempt was made to stick to the original sound of the albums. Another difference is the audience. While the audience in "Rush In Rio" was the fourth member of the band, sweeping the band members after them in their endless energies which is reflected in the final mix, in this case, a reverse attempt seems to be made to give the listener as clean production as possible, while filtering background noise and in our opinion even some of the crowd channel with it. There is no doubt that the performance in the case of the "R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour" is tighter and more precise. From Geddy Lee's voice to Alex Lifeson's guitar that was missing something in "Rush In Rio" making many of his solos sound a little awkward.
And of course, it is impossible without mentioning Neil Peart's "Der Trommler" drum solo. The solo was built by Peat very carefully and with a lot of thought. It lasts more than 8 minutes and includes a variety of styles and a lot of sounds and effects that go beyond the usual drums and percussion sound. So for those who are wondering. Peart's electronic drums allow him to program certain sounds for a drum, pad or cymbal so that any tapping on them will play sounds and pieces of music that accompany Peart during the solo.
So even if you do not have two hours plus free time, to listen to the shortened version of the disc, do yourself a favor and at least listen to the first tracks of the album and at least to the "R30 Overture" medley. Enjoyment is guaranteed: Spotify, Apple Music