One of the most durable hard rock acts to emerge from the '70s, Canadian power trio Rush has racked up an astonishing number of gold records (every release in the band's 20+ album discography has sold over 500,000 copies) despite critical indifference and minimal radio airplay. Formed in the late '60s by bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and original drummer John Rutsey, Rush initially worked in a bluesy, hard-rock mode similar to British giants Cream and Led Zeppelin.

It wasn't until the addition of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in 1975 that the band started moving in a unique direction that set them apart from the boogie-rock pack. With epic length songs and Peart's sci-fi and fantasy influenced concepts, Rush mixed progressive-rock dynamics and muscular riffs to great success with such classic albums as '2112' and 'A Farewell To Kings.'

At the turn of the decade, the band streamlined its approach and made sythesizers more prominent in the band's sound, scoring rock radio hits with "The Spirit of Radio" and "Tom Sawyer" while continuing to build their growing fan base with a phenomenal live show. Even if the trio rarely matched their classic output with new material from the '80s and '90s, Rush loyalists continue to buy their new releases and sell-out the band's concerts worldwide.

The band's storied career was the subject of a celebrated documentary entitled Beyond the Lighted Stage that had a limited theatrical run in June of this year prior to coming out on DVD. Though the group's previewed its latest studio album Clockwork Angels last year during the band's extensive Time Machine Tour -- which featured Rush playing it's classic album Moving Pictures in its entirety -- this tour mixes Clockwork Angels with classics that lean heavily on the band's '80s material. Rush also augments the sound of the trio onstage with additional musicians for the first time, using a string section for most of the second set.

Rush
Thursday, Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m. $43-$123
HP Pavilion