FREE BUMPER STICKER!

Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Wed, Apr 24, 2024

Rush R40 Live tour opening night in Tulsa open thread and LIVE setlist SPOILERS

Fri, May 8, 2015@9:29AM | comments

Date/Time: Friday, May 8th @ 7:30PM
Show Number: 1
Venue: BOK Center
Place: Tulsa, OK
Twitter: #R40TUL | #R40Live
Instagram: #R40TUL
YouTube: Tulsa Rush R40 Live Tour
Setlist: Version A
Photos: Cygnus-X1.net | Tulsa World
Reviews: Tulsa World | JamBase | Carter Cuff | Progarchy.com

UPDATE - 5/12@11:37AM: Here's a review from Progarchy.com's Brad Birzer.

UPDATE - 5/12@9:24AM: Rush posted this 40-second recap video of opening night in Tulsa. It just shows some brief footage from the show along with some shots of fans. You can watch the video below or on YouTube here (*SPOILERS*):

UPDATE - 5/10@9:37AM: Here's a song-by-song review of the show from Andrew Carter at his Carter Cuff blog.

UPDATE - 5/9@3:09PM: Here's a gallery of over 50 photos from Tom Gilbert of the Tulsa World.

UPDATE - 5/9@2:24PM: Here's a review and recap of the show from JamBase including some photos/videos.

UPDATE - 5/9@8:24AM: Here's a review from Tulsa World. There are a bunch of great photos posted on Instagram, along with this gallery that was posted over at Cygnus-X1.net, and several videos are starting to pop up on YouTube. Complete setlist can be seen here.

UPDATE - 5/8@11:54PM: That's a wrap! A big thanks to Bob Kalka for sending me live updates from the show. There's also a lot of great info from folks who attended the show in the comments. We'll let this all digest and recap things in the AM. I'm out!

UPDATE - 5/8@11:34PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 13 Show's over! The 4 songs of the encore along with video info below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@11:19PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 12 The last song to close out the second set before the encore below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@11:05PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 11 The next 2 songs of the 2nd set ... below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@10:49PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 10 The next 2 songs of the second set are ... below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@10:32PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 9 The next 2 songs of the second set below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@10:18PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 8 They are back at it and the 2nd set has begun. Info on the intermission video and the opening 2 songs below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@9:52PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 7 It's intermission time. The last song of the first set below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@9:41PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 6 Next 2 songs below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@9:29PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 5 Next 2 songs below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@9:20PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 4 Get the 4th and 5th songs along with some show details below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@9:04PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 3 Get the 2nd and 3rd songs below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@8:53PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 2 The show has started! Info on the opening vid and opening track below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@8:45PM: *** SPOILER UPDATE 1 The show should start any minute now. Some pre-show spoilers below the fold.

UPDATE - 5/8@8:23PM: Here's a front view shot of the stage courtesy Anthony.

UPDATE - 5/8@7:51PM: The doors have opened and there's less than an hour until showtime! Here's a spoiler-free photo of the pre-show stage courtesy Kelly D, who also says that the pre-show house music is the same as it was last tour.

UPDATE - 5/8@4:44PM: R40 Live merchandise including the tourbook is now available for sale at the Rush Backstage Club (thank John at Cygnus-X1.net).

UPDATE - 5/8@2:04PM: *** pre-show SPOILER review *** The show will start in just about 6-7 hours from now, so I thought I'd take a moment to review all the show/setlist spoilers that we know thus far. This will also give you a chance to see how my SPOILER POSTS will operate throughout the evening. I'll basically post a regular update to the post (without spoilers) and highlight it as a SPOILER UPDATE, with you having to click through to the main article and scroll down to see the actual spoilers. So without further adieu, click below the fold for all the SPOILER details ...

The time is now again!! Rush will be kicking off their long-anticipated R40 Live tour tonight at 7:30PM at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. Rush has been billing this as the band's last major tour of this magnitude, so it stands to be something extra special. The band has been camped out at the venue in Tulsa for the past week rehearsing for the show, so they should be primed and ready to go by now. Rush and their management managed to keep a tight lid on the setlist up until earlier this week when merchandise from the VIP ticket packages started shipping out to many fans. The packages included the R40 Live tourbook, which contains several spoilers about the show and the setlist as seen in this post (*** SPOILERS ***). The video credits in the back of the tourbook contain a list of all the songs played that have video associated with them. So its NOT a comprehensive list by any means, although all the songs listed will be included in the setlist at some point (if not tonight, then in one of the upcoming shows). For comparison, there were around 10 songs played at some point on the Clockwork Angels tour that did not have any video credits. So whether you saw the spoilers or not, there should still be many surprises in tonight's set. To that end, I will be posting the setlist LIVE as it happens to this thread (below the fold and with appropriate spoiler warnings) as well as any other interesting details regarding the show. The show has been getting tons of promotion all over Tulsa, and signs advertising the show can be seen all over town, including this one at the Tulsa airport. There's also been a good bit of local press including a few articles in the Tulsa World like this one and this one (thanks Rob T). Also, local Tulsa cover band Empire will be playing on the OneOK Outdoor Concert Series stage at the BOK Center from 5:30-7:30 PM before the show (thanks John at Cygnus-X1.net). It's a good thing the concert is indoors because it looks like Tulsa might be getting some severe weather tonight (thanks Dan B)! For everyone going tonight, have fun, be safe and be sure to share your reports, reviews, photos and video with us. Rush!!!

*** WARNING ***

*** SPOILERS BELOW ***

...

Here's some good quality, fan-filmed video of the entire show (thanks Lee B):

Photos from Instagram using hashtag #R40TUL:

*** SPOILER UPDATE 13 *** The encore opened with a video titled Mel's Rockpile starring Eugene Levy. They then played songs from each of the first 3 albums: Lakeside Park, Anthem, What You're Doing and Working Man. The stage setup looked like a highschool gig! They also threw in the riff from Garden Road right at the end. Final setlist for Tulsa:

Set 1

Intro video - The World is ... The World is

Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Headlong Flight (with mini drum solo)
Far Cry
Main Monkey Business
One Little Victory
Animate
Roll the Bones
Distant Early Warning
Subdivisions

Intermission

Set 2

Intro video - No Country for Old Hens

Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
The Spirit of Radio
Jacob's Ladder
Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres - Prelude
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 1
drum solo
Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage: Part 3
Closer to the Heart
Xanadu
2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx/Presentation/Grand Finale

Encore

Intro Video: Mel's Rockpile starring Eugene Levy

Lakeside Park
Anthem
What You're Doing
Working Man (Garden Road riff at the end)

Outro Video: Exit Stage Left

*** SPOILER UPDATE 12 *** The last song to close out the 2nd set was 2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx/Presentation/Grand Finale. They are down to a very basic stage setup now. Encore up next...

*** SPOILER UPDATE 11 *** The next 2 songs of the second set were Closer to the Heart and Xanadu ... with double necks!!!

*** SPOILER UPDATE 10 *** The next 2 songs are Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres - Prelude right into Cygnus X-1 Book One - The Voyage (with mini drum solo).

*** SPOILER UPDATE 9 *** The next 2 songs are The Spirit of Radio and ... Jacob's Ladder!!

*** SPOILER UPDATE 8 *** The intermission video included outtakes from tour videos from the past several tours (No Country for Old Hens?), the opening tracks are Tom Sawyer and Red Barchetta, and Neil is now on the replica kit! Here's a Twitter photo.

*** SPOILER UPDATE 7 *** It's intermission time! The last song of the 1st set was Subdivisions. Kelly D reporst that during Roll the Bones Peter Dinklage, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Tom Morello and The Trailer Park Boys sang the rap on the big screen!

*** SPOILER UPDATE 6 *** The next 2 songs traveling back in time are Roll the Bones and Distant Early Warning. There are a lot of great photos, short vids and show details posted on Twitter using hashtags #R40TUL, #R40Live.

*** SPOILER UPDATE 5 *** Next 2 songs are One Little Victory and Animate. They continue to travel back in time.

*** SPOILER UPDATE 4 *** Looks like a rewind theme of sorts where guys in red jumpsuits swapped out Geddy's GeFilter with the dryers after the Clockwork Angels tracks (seen in this twitter photo), and the next tracks are Far Cry and The Main Monkey Business. Neil also did a short drum sold in the middle of Headlong Flight. So they are going backwards in time.

*** SPOILER UPDATE 3 *** The next 2 tracks are The Anarchist and Headlong Flight, so going by the tourbook video credits, it looks like they might be swapping out one of the Clockwork Angels tracks with The Wreckers at some point.

*** SPOILER UPDATE 2 *** Opening video (The World is ... The World is?) is a cartoon career retrospective as shown in this photo via Jerry Wofford on Twitter. Opening track is Clockwork Angels!

*** SPOILER UPDATE 1 *** Reader Anthony got a quick glimpse of the setlist (couldn't make out specific songs) but says there looks to be 10 songs in set one, about 12 or 13 in set 2 with two songs in the encore. Ryan Wassell shared a photo from behind the stage to the Power Windows site that appears to show the reproduction retro drum kit, with the full kit behind the main stage out of view. So maybe they'll open with Neil on the retro kit? Show should start any minute.

*** pre-show SPOILER review *** As I'd mentioned above, the video credits in the back of the tourbook contain a list of all the songs played that have video associated with them. So its NOT a comprehensive list by any means, although all the songs listed will be included in the setlist at some point (if not tonight, then in one of the upcoming shows). For comparison, there were around 10 songs played at some point on the Clockwork Angels tour that did not have any video credits. So there should still be many surprises in tonight's set. You can check out a photo scan here and below is a transcript of the song list from the credits.

Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight
Big Money
Far Cry
One Little Victory
Animate
Roll the Bones
Distant Early Warning
Subdivisions
Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta/YYZ
The Camera Eye
The Spirit of Radio/Natural Science/Closer to the Heart
Jacob's Ladder
Prelude to Hemispheres/Cygnus X-1
2112

The tourbook video credits also give us some clues as to what the other videos (intro, intermission, etc.) will contain, so I thought I'd indulge in a little speculation. The first 2 credits are for videos titled The World is ... The World is and R40 Screen Animations so these likely pertain to the intro video and maybe the rear-screen vids for the opening track? Note that the opening song on the Clockwork Angels tour was NOT listed in the video credits. There's also a Fan Film & Montage listed which is likely relating to the intermission video. The No Country for Old Hens could be Neil's drum solo, and the Ask Al might be some kind of Alex Lifeson solo. The Mel's Rockpile vid features actor/comedian Eugene Levy in some way, since it thanks him in the credits, and the closing vid looks to be something titled Exit Stage Left. What do you think? Another solid rumor that's been floating around is that Neil Peart will at some point in the set switch from his R40 kit to an old Slingerland throwback replica kit, and that seems to be backed up by this photo from the tourbook. Back in March Anthrax bassist Frank Bello was interviewed, and at one point towards the end of the interview he's asked whether he's excited about Rush's upcoming R40 Live tour. He mentions how Geddy Lee is a huge influence and then says the following:

... I'm going to be doing something [related to Rush's R40 Tour] that I just agreed to within the next month that's pretty cool ... I can't tell you right now ... I'm very excited about it ...

He doesn't elaborate any further so it could be just about anything. Maybe he was included in one of the tour videos, but there's no credit given to him anywhere in the tourbook. Any guesses?