Rush: Rush In Rio/R30

Late-period live DVDs, nutty Brazilians a highlight.

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The reissue of these concert films is perfectly timed, with Rush currently on a North American tour that they admit may be the last in a career that was built on the road. Fans are already feeling nostalgic for what will be lost when this legendary band exits, stage left, for the final time.

Those fans being collectors to a man – and most Rush enthusiasts are indeed men – they will have bought these DVDs when they were originally released in 2003 and 2005. Nor is there any new material here. But in both, the performances are quite brilliant./o:p

Rush In Rio (7) has them playing to a stadium audience so joyous that they pogo and sing along to the riff of the complex instrumental YYZ. On R30 (8), the opening medley of five classic Rush songs from the 70s is almost too good to be true. It will be a sad day when Rush is over./o:p

Paul Elliott
Paul Elliott

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including Sounds, Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for Total Guitar. He lives in Bath - of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!”