# Rush Concert on 101



## jeffshoaf (Jun 17, 2006)

As a casual Rush fan, I really enjoyed their "Snakes and Arrows" concert that's being shown on the 101 now, but I'm puzzled. Does anyone know the significance of the "Hen Houses" on the stage? 

They look like giant rotisseries full of cooking chickens...


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

jeffshoaf said:


> As a casual Rush fan, I really enjoyed their "Snakes and Arrows" concert that's being shown on the 101 now, but I'm puzzled. Does anyone know the significance of the "Hen Houses" on the stage?
> 
> They look like giant rotisseries full of cooking chickens...


RUSH, lately, has always had something like that on stage and I'm not sure why. For the Vapor Trails tour they had washing machines and dryers going on stage. And everything like that is always on Geddy's side so it must have something to do with him, like Alex and his troll dolls and such. Maybe he got used to having so many keyboards on stage over the years that now he's "slimmed down" his keyboard setup he has to have something else on stage.

EDIT: Looks like my guess was close. Just wasn't the slimming down of keyboards on stage, it's the absence of bass amps on stage.

Per Wikipedia:

"As of 1996, Lee no longer uses traditional bass amplifiers on stage, as he prefers to go direct into the venue's FOH console which helps the sound reinforcement during their concerts. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the empty space left behind by the lack of large amplifier cabinets, Lee chose to fill the space in a unique way. Lee decided to decorate his side of the stage with unusual items. For the 1996-1997 Test for Echo Tour, Lee's side sported a fully-stocked old-fashioned household refrigerator. For the 2002 Vapor Trails tour, Lee lined his side of the stage with three coin-operated Maytag dryers. Other large appliances would appear later in the same space.

For every concert that featured the dryers, Rush's crew would load them with specially-designed Rush-themed T-shirts, different from the shirts on sale to the general public. At the close of each show, Lee and Lifeson would then toss these special T-shirts into the audience. When asked about the purpose of the dryers in interviews, Lee was purposefully vague. The irony and non sequitur of placing such unusual items on a concert stage was a way of expressing his sense of humor. The dryers can be seen on the Rush in Rio DVD and the R30 DVD. To add to the humorous effect, Lee's dryers were, purely for visual effect "miked" by the sound crew, just as a real amplifier would be. For the band's R30 tour, one dryer was replaced with a rotating shelf-style vending machine. It too was fully stocked and operational during shows. The vending machine can be seen on the R30 DVD.

In interviews dated May 2007, Lee has stated that he is considering entirely new non-musical equipment to further his established comic effect for Rush's Snakes & Arrows tour. The tour commenced June 13, 2007, with a show at the Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater in Atlanta, Georgia. The show prominently featured 3 Henhouse brand rotisserie chicken ovens on stage complete with an attendant in a chef's hat and apron to "tend" the chickens during the show.[22] Such unorthodox stage equipment has been continuously seen thereafter."


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## texasmoose (May 25, 2007)

jeffshoaf said:


> Does anyone know the significance of the "Hen Houses" on the stage?


Maybe, Geddy is the uncle of *BUCKETHEAD*, the avant-garde guitarist. Buckethead's persona represents a character who was "raised by chickens" and has made it his "mission in life to alert the world to the ongoing chicken holocaust in fast-food joints around the globe."


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

texasmoose said:


> Maybe, Geddy is the uncle of *BUCKETHEAD*, the avant-garde guitarist. Buckethead's persona represents a character who was "raised by chickens" and has made it his "mission in life to alert the world to the ongoing chicken holocaust in fast-food joints around the globe."


If you're going to tell the world about Buckethead you must include pics.


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