Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 | 8:27 a.m.
To the aural brain teasers about one hand clapping and the tree falling in the forest, I add a new philosophical question:
Why would an audience cheer a performance when there's no band present to hear the applause?
Confused? I was too Tuesday night, when I witnessed "Rush in Rio" at Regal Village Square, at West Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache.
The movie theater was three-quarters full, but the Canadian power trio -- vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart -- were not among the crowd.
Nor was Rush actually onstage in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the time, though that was the site of this concert.
I'm not really sure where the band was Tuesday, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that serious Rush fans turned out at 26 theaters across the country to celebrate the release of the trio's new "Rush in Rio" live DVD.
Or, as one man near the back of the room at Las Vegas' only showing put it, it was a chance to see Lee's nose stretch to more than 4 feet long.
I've always liked Rush's brand of tight, instrument-driven album rock. But I mainly showed up Tuesday to determine whether this new concert-DVD-in-a-movie-theater phenomenon might be the next big trend in music.
Village Square had already hosted similar showings by the Grateful Dead and Beyonce, and other theaters did the same for the much-anticipated Led Zeppelin DVD release.
But I'll wager a guess that these big-screen events will continue to be sporadic and limited in scope, if they continue to happen at all.
Not that it wasn't fun watching Peart -- the most precise drummer in the business -- do his thing blown up and zoomed in. Or hearing the band tear through the many changes in "Natural Science" in cinema surround sound.
I can't say I would repeat the experience, though, regardless of which act was featured.
For one thing, sitting docilely in a padded chair seems incongruous with the concept of a rock concert. A few heads bobbed, one guy played some air drums and I swore I even heard a couple of people singing along.
But mainly, the crowd seemed entirely unsure of how to react to the music. Apart from bursts of between-song applause, that is.
Early in the film, one flaw inherent in the process threatened to ruin the entire evening. Movie theaters don't employee rock 'n' roll sound engineers, and the first two songs of Rush's performance came through the speakers as a muddy, bass-heavy mess.
Fortunately, that was fixed dramatically around the third song, to the loudest cheers all night.
To me, the theater concert fits into the same category as a pay-per-view concert offering, something hardcore fans will eat up but the rest of us will generally ignore.
I've always felt recorded music works best as an audio-only experience. I mean, if you can't be at the actual show, why be tethered to a video screen as you do your listening?
And as for Lee's nose, you can always super-size it in your mind's eye.
Music notes
Radio Ga Ga: The made-for-TV "2003 Radio Music Awards" will be broadcast live on NBC from the Aladdin Theater for the Performing Arts on Monday night starting at 6 p.m.
During the two-hour event, winners will be announced in 13 categories, including Artist of the Year/Adult Alternative Radio, Artist of the Year/ Hip Hop Radio and Song of the Year/Country Radio.
Results are based on radio airplay as determined by monitoring source Mediabase.
Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson, Jewel and Nelly are expected to be among the show's performers. The event is open to the public, with tickets ranging from $68 to $368. Attendees must be seated by 5:30 p.m.
House of Juice: The House of Blues at Mandalay Bay has kicked off a new Sunday late-night dance series, "Juice," featuring sets by some of music's best-known DJs.
On Nov. 2 electronica duo Hybrid holds court beginning at midnight. Tickets are $15 and are on sale now through the House of Blues box office and TicketMaster.
On Nov. 9 Wu-Tang Clan member RZA steps behind the turntables, along with special guests Das EFX and North Star. Tickets are $20 for the midnight show and are on sale now.
Quick hits
A look at a few of the shows scheduled to hit Southern Nevada in the next week:
Rapper Missy Elliott, the only woman onstage who didn't kiss Madonna during the opening number of this year's "MTV Video Music Awards," stops by the Palms' Rain in the Desert at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Virginia native is set to release her fifth album, "This is Not a Test," on Nov. 25. Tickets are $35 and $75.
Veteran British prog-rockers King Crimson perform at the House of Blues at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Since 1969, founder Peter Fripp has steered the band through a variety of lineups, which have included Yes drummer Bill Bruford, Emerson, Lake & Palmer's vocalist/bassist Greg Lake and Peter Gabriel bassist Tony Levin.
The wildly prolific recording outfit is offering a tour-only boxed set, "The Power to Believe," at its 2003 tour dates. Pigmy Love Circus opens. Tickets are $30, $40 and $50.
Sacramento hard rockers the Deftones play the Cox Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday with opening act Poison the Well.
The Deftones spent the summer on the "Summer Sanitarium" tour with Metallica and Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. The 15-year-old band released its self-titled fourth album in May to mixed reviews. Tickets are $24.50.
On sale
Jane's Addiction hits Orleans Arena on Dec. 11 with Static X, Smile Empty Soul and Yellowcard. Tickets are $25 and $35 and go on sale Saturday at 11 a.m. at Coast Casinos box offices, at the Boulevard, Galleria and Meadows malls, by phone at 284-7777 or at www.orleansarena.com.
Broadway vocalist Sarah Brightman performs the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 13. Tickets are $50, $75 and $125 and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through the MGM box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 and at www.ticketmaster.com.
Wayne Wonder lands at the House of Blues on Nov. 29. Tickets are $20 and $22.50 and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at the House of Blues box office, by phone at 632-7600, at www.hob.com and through TicketMaster.
Oleander plays the House of Blues on Nov. 7. Tickets are $25 and are on sale now through the House of Blues box office and TicketMaster.
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