With Science-fiction like music and the high voice of lead singer Geddy Lee, the rock group Rush seems to be a cross between Yes and Alvin and the Chipmunks... with the volume turned up.
The searlingly loud music which filled the outdoor amphitheater at the Allentown fairgrounds for almost three hours last night during the Pat Travers and Rush concert would be incomprehensible in any enclosed space. The two groups, who finished their tour together last night, have at least one thing in common - their belief in playing rock music at its loudest.
The Pat Travers band opened the show with "Gonna Rock and Roll Tonight" a number which immediately let the predominantly teen-age audience know this was no place for the faint-hearted. Although the next song was entitled "Gettin Better," it had nothing to do with the show, which stayed at the same low level until Rush came onto the stage.
But the crowd didn't seem to mind, and when the group played their hit single, "Boom, Boom, Out Go the Lights," the audience enthusiastically joined in.
One of the last songs the group performed was called, "Hammerhead." which it is only fair to mention. The number contained a drum solo which would have been the best part of that half of the concert if it hadn't been for two concert-goers who provided a more entertaining diversion. The two tried to put up a sign welcoming Rush to the Lehigh Valley on the side of a trailer near the stage. With their unintentional Laurel and Hardy antics in attempting to get the sign hung correctly, these two definitely provided the most entertaining moments of the first act.
Rush is a rock group with a little more finesse than the Pat Travers Band. The music was not as loud or maybe my ears had just been sufficiently numbed, and the group had somewhat more coherence.