Prog-rock kings Rush and their faithful converged on Auburn’s White River Amphitheatre on Saturday to celebrate one of the band’s most critically acclaimed albums and to party like it’s 1981.

“It’s hard to believe that was 30 years ago. I was six years old when we wrote that,” joked singer-bassist Geddy Lee after the trio delivered “Moving Pictures” in its entirety, the centerpiece of a three-hour Time Machine Tour set packed with classic material, stock pyrotechnics and goofy video segments; the latter reflecting the band’s quirky sense of humor with “The Spirit of Radio” performed polka-style, the trio as chimps, babies and wizards and guitarist Alex Lifeson in a goofy fat suit.

The performance’s high water mark was 11-minute epic “The Camera Eye” with Alex Lifeson’s soaring guitar heroics enhanced by artfully rendered time lapse video from the streets of New York and London. That was followed by the foreboding, cosmic “Witch Hunt,” a potent one-two punch that would not be topped (though the trio would come close with “2112: Overture/The Temples of Syrax” towards the end of the set.)

The set also notably included two new cuts “BU2B” – short for “Brought Up to Believe” – and “Caravan,” which will be included on the forthcoming follow-up to 2007’s “Snakes & Arrows” album. The former was the better of the two, with its massive, head-banging power chords and existential lyrics about how “our loving Watchmaker loves us all to death.”

Oh, and there was this typically jaw-dropping drum solo from Neil Peart, that included elements of jazz standard “Love for Sale.”

Rush set list
White River Amphitheatre, Auburn
Aug. 7, 2010

The Spirit of Radio
Time Stand Still
Presto
Stick It Out
Working Them Angels
Leave That Thing Alone
Faithless
BU2B (Brought Up to Believe) (New, listen here)
Free Will
Marathon
Subdivisions

[Intermission]

Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight
The Camera Eye
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs
Caravan (new, click here)
Drum solo/Love For Sale
Closer to the Heart
2112:Overture/The Temples of Syrinx
Far Cry

Encore:
La Villa Strangiato
Working Man (first part delivered reggae-style)