The late Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart as soon as described taking part in dwell as being akin to “living in a fisheye lens, caught in the camera eye,” however whereas it’s true the pioneering Canadian trio hardly ever courted publicity, they nonetheless got here alive after they stepped onstage – and so they carried out some really monumental exhibits throughout their time collectively.
After all, with so many dwell exhibits to select from, choosing a definitive record of Rush’s finest dwell performances is a tricky ask. Certainly, you might simply make a case for the inclusion of different landmark concert events such because the band’s sold-out five-night run at New York’s Radio Metropolis Music Corridor in 1983; Madison Sq. Backyard in Could 1981 (a private spotlight of Geddy Lee’s) or a singular July 2003 occasion when Rush carried out for practically half 1,000,000 folks on the SARS profit live performance in Toronto. Nonetheless, a lot of the exhibits we’ve highlighted for this bespoke record signify vital milestones in Rush’s illustrious profession and – with the brand new R50 boxset nearly to land – that is absolutely the right time to re-join Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart residing on a lighted stage.
Order the career-spanning Rush 50 anthology now.
WORKING MEN: LEGEND-BUILDING EARLY SHOWS
Laura Secord Secondary Faculty, St. Catharine’s, Ontario, Canada, Could 15, 1974
Rush’s first-ever dwell present in St. Catherine’s, Ontario on Could 15, 1974 is critical for a wide range of causes. It’s extensively believed to signify the earliest dwell recording of the band (each audio and video) and it’s additionally the one identified dwell recording of the group’s first lineup (previous to Neil Peart’s arrival) with John Rutsey on drums. As well as, it options the one identified dwell recording of “Before And After,” (from Rush) and two early non-album songs “I’ve Been Runnin’” and “The Loser.”
Looking back, the thought of the longer term prog-rock pioneers performing to an viewers of scholars might sound weird, however in its unique incarnation, Rush usually carried out in related conditions, with different dates round this time together with Don Mills Collegiate Institute in Toronto and Gravenhurst Excessive Faculty in Ontario.
With the band’s self-titled debut launched in March 1974, the Laura Secord present was a part of a yearlong assist tour and it was filmed for the native Canadian TV present Canadian Bandstand. Lengthy thought misplaced, the audio and video recording truly sat within the basement of Rush’s Toronto administration firm for years, but it surely was mislabelled as ‘Pinkpop’ (from the Dutch pageant of the identical identify) and its existence was solely found when the videotape was despatched to Los Angeles to be transferred to digital video. As Geddy Lee says in his memoir My Effin’ Life, “it’s a curiosity I urge you to look up on YouTube if you haven’t already seen it.”
Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio, August 26, 1974
Rush’s unique drummer John Rutsey suffered from diabetes and his sickness compelled him to step down from the band a number of months after the discharge of Rush in March 1974. He was changed by Neil Peart simply two weeks earlier than the band’s first U.S. tour in the summertime of 1974, with this Stateside jaunt together with their first present on the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio – a venue which might change into an everyday stopover on Rush excursions over the following few years.
Native radio station WMMS FM was readily available to tape Rush’s first U.S. present, and the recording reveals the band had already gained in confidence since Peart’s arrival. Certainly, Lee, Alex Lifeson and Peart carry out tracks from Rush with gusto, along with debuting a few tracks from 1975’s Fly By Evening and launching right into a supercharged cowl of Larry Williams’ 50s rocker “Bad Boy” and two super-rare tracks (“Fancy Dancer,” and “Garden Road”) which have by no means been included on any official Rush launch.
Massey Corridor, Toronto, Canada, June 25, 1975
Relationship again to 1894, Toronto’s Massey Corridor is Canada’s oldest (and arguably grandest) live performance corridor, so headlining a present there stays an vital milestone for any Canadian act within the ascendant. Actually, headlining at this 3,000 capability venue was a giant deal for Rush. Geddy Lee had needed to take action ever since he attended Cream’s live performance on the venue in 1968 and the bassist/vocalist obtained his likelihood when Rush set out on the Canadian jaunt to assist its second album, 1975’s Fly By Evening.
The Massey Corridor live performance showcased the heavier and extra advanced sound the band labored up following Peart’s arrival. As Geddy Lee mentioned in a single modern interview: “When Neil joined, we became a very different band than we were on our first album. We felt like we could do anything.” Certainly, Rush’s first Massey Corridor headliner proved that the sky was now the restrict for the band – and Lee, Lifeson and Peart would return to the venue for a triumphant three-night stand in June 1976 on the “2112” tour which might be recorded for Rush’s first dwell album, the acclaimed All The World’s A Stage.
CLOSER TO THE HEART: PEAK RUSH
Pinkpop Competition, The Netherlands, June 4, 1979
Although Rush’s fourth album 2112 went High 5 within the U.S. their late 70s masterpieces A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres attracted much more worldwide recognition. Each data featured prolonged prog-rock epics (“Xanadu,” “La Villa Strangiato”) but additionally shorter pop/rock tracks (“Closer To The Heart,” “Circumstances,” “The Trees”) which have been accessible sufficient to enchantment to rock followers of all persuasions.
As a dwell act, Rush have been additionally firing on all cylinders and performing a few of their most memorable concert events throughout this era. Having established themselves as a significant draw on the European pageant circuit, Lee, Lifeson and Peart placed on a really gorgeous present at Holland’s long-running Pinkpop Competition in June 1979. The ultimate present on the band’s yearlong “Hemispheres” world tour, it was destined to be spectacular and it didn’t disappoint, with Rush performing superior renditions of traditional songs starting from “A Passage To Bangkok” and “By-Tor And The Snow Dog” by means of to “Xanadu,” “Closer To The Heart” and “La Villa Strangiato,” with most of it later having fun with official launch because the bonus disc with the 2018 version of Hemispheres.
The Discussion board, Montreal, Canada, March 27, 1981
Whether or not on document or onstage, Rush was nigh on invincible through the late Nineteen Seventies and early 80s. The success of A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres led to additional multi-million-selling classics Everlasting Waves and Transferring Footage at the beginning of the 80s, with the Canadian trio seemingly capable of knock out each radio-friendly rock/pop songs (“The Spirit Of Radio”, “Tom Sawyer”) and sophisticated epics (“Natural Science,” “The Camera Eye”) with an ease bordering on nonchalance.
Extremely, Rush have been additionally touring nearly continuous, with their dwell exhibits once more hitting a recent peak. Certainly, the band’s fall tour of 1980 gave them barely 4 months break earlier than the “Moving Pictures” tour kicked off in February 1981. The staggering, 95-date itinerary noticed Rush performing to virtually 1 million followers and resulted within the very good memento dwell album, Exit…Stage Left, a lot of which was culled from a spectacular present at Montreal’s 20,000 capability Discussion board that includes back-projected movies, pyrotechnics and dry ice – to not point out a killer, career-spanning set taking in every little thing from early staples (“In The Mood,” “Working Man”) by means of to freshly-minted classics “Freewill,” “Limelight,” and “Red Barchetta.”
Seto-Shi Bunka Middle, Seto, Aicho, Japan, November 16, 1984
Remarkably, whereas Rush cultivated a large following in Japan through the mid-to-late Nineteen Seventies, they solely ever performed one tour of the nation – and that solely consisted of 4 exhibits tacked on on the finish of the “Grace Under Pressure” tour in November 1984.
Nonetheless, the wait was price it for the band’s loyal Japanese supporters, with Lee, Lifeson and Peart performing highly effective, career-spanning units with precision to spare at every of this quartet of exhibits. In addition they concluded every soiree with a number of encores together with Transferring Footage traditional “Vital Signs” and early favorites “Finding My Way” and “In The Mood.”
GRACE UNDER PRESSURE: THE ARENA YEARS
NEC Enviornment, Birmingham, U.Ok. April 23, 1988
Whereas it’s typically accepted that Rush’s peak interval was across the flip of the Eighties, the band’s enchantment remained regular thereafter and so they ended the last decade just about as they started it – by packing out arenas world wide.
The long-lasting Canadians set out on one other enormous tour of North America, the UK, and Europe in assist of 1988’s Maintain Your Hearth: a gruelling, 78-date affair working from the autumn of 1987 by means of the summer season of 1988. It spawned the spin-off dwell album A Present Of Arms (1989) but it surely differed within the sense that – “Closer To The Heart” apart – the setlist consisted fully of tracks from the Eighties. Nonetheless, that also supplied Rush sufficient scope to play classics equivalent to “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight” and “The Spirit Of Radio” along with introducing newer tracks like “Prime Mover” and “Turn The Page” into the dwell set. Culled primarily from two glorious U.Ok. exhibits at Birmingham’s cavernous NEC Enviornment in April 1988, Present Of Arms once more revealed that Rush was among the many finest dwell bands on the planet.
World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Illinois, June 14, 1997
On a private degree, the late Nineteen Nineties have been turbulent for Rush – and particularly for Neil Peart, whose daughter, Selena, died in a automobile accident in 1997, just for his spouse Jacqueline to move away from most cancers simply 10 months later.
Previous to the primary of those tragedies, Rush had carried out some very good dwell exhibits on the tour in assist of 1997’s Check For Echo, with a formidable present on the 28,000-capacity World Music Theater in Tinley, Illinois offering the majority of the fabric for the next dwell album, Completely different Levels. As that document’s tracklist reveals, a lot of the tour’s setlist showcases tracks from Rush’s most up-to-date albums, Roll The Bones, Counterpoints and Check For Echo, although the ultimate monitor, “2112” (captured at a separate present in Mansfield, Massachussetts) supplied a boon for long-term followers because it marked the primary (and to this point, solely) time the 20-minute “2112” suite was recorded in its entirety for inclusion on an official Rush dwell album.
SWEET MIRACLES: TURNING TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH
Maracanã Stadium, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, November 23, 2002
The deaths of Neil Peart’s spouse and daughter may doubtlessly have completed Rush, with the drummer and lyricist telling his two bandmates they need to “consider him retired” in 1998. Nonetheless, whereas the band went on prolonged hiatus, they finally returned with a brand new album, Vapor Trails, and a supporting tour: a five-month affair working from June to November 2002, taking in North America and Canada earlier than concluding with three enormous exhibits in Brazil. These Brazil concert events have been among the many largest Rush ever carried out, with the band taking part in to 60,000 ecstatic followers in Sao Paolo and 40,000 on the last date in Rio De Janeiro – an occasion that was enshrined in legend by 2003’s self-explanatory Rush In Rio dwell album and DVD. Lee, Lifeson and Peart performed marathon, career-spanning units throughout this tour, normally performing round 30 songs (together with encores). The next Rush In Rio differed from Rush’s earlier dwell albums by presenting a single night time’s present in its entirety, excluding the 2 last tracks, “Between Sun & Moon” and “Vital Signs” which have been recorded at exhibits in Arizona and Quebec Metropolis respectively.
Radio Metropolis Music Corridor, New York, August 18 & 19, 2004
Rush all the time loved stalwart assist in New York, so at the very least certainly one of their Large Apple exhibits actually should function in any self-respecting overview of their dwell historical past. In actual fact, the one problem right here is which NYC present to incorporate. In any case, in his memoir Geddy Lee personally identifies Rush’s first Madison Sq. Backyard gig (in Could 1981) as a profession spotlight, whereas the band’s five-night stand on the legendary Radio Metropolis Music Corridor in 1983 absolutely deserves a point out.
In the end, although, the band’s triumphant return to Radio Metropolis Music Corridor will get the nod right here, for in August 2004, Rush carried out on the venue for the primary time since 1983, taking part in two rapturously-received nights as a part of the “R30” tour celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of its traditional lineup. Taking in virtually 60 exhibits in whole, the tour launched on the Starwood Amphitheatre in Nashville, Tennessee on Could 26, 2004, and ended on the Sportpaleis Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on October 1 of that very same 12 months. It was barely extra intimate than some earlier excursions of responsibility in that Rush performed strictly theatres and amphitheatres in North America and indoor arenas in Europe.
As well as, the band delighted followers by presenting a beneficiant, career-spanning set together with songs which had lengthy been absent from the setlist – one thing Alex Lifeson famous when he mentioned, “We felt it was important to touch on all periods of our songwriting…the crowd was smiling the whole time, especially when we did ‘A Passage To Bangkok’ and ‘Bastille Day.’ They haven’t heard those songs in a zillion years.”
IN THE END: A DIGNIFIED EXIT…STAGE LEFT AND RIGHT
Quicken Loans Enviornment, Cleveland, Ohio, April 15, 2011
Rush’s “Time Machine” tour of 2010-11 tapped into the rising development for bands performing certainly one of their traditional albums dwell, with Lee, Lifeson and Peart selecting to carry out Transferring Footage in its entirety to have a good time the album’s thirtieth anniversary. Inevitably, demand for tickets was excessive and Rush rewarded followers by taking part in not simply Transferring Footage, but additionally a number of classics together with “The Spirit Of Radio,” “Freewill,” “Subdivisions” and “Closer To The Heart” and a number of other tracks from their forthcoming album Clockwork Angels. As that they had beforehand performed with Rush In Rio, the band selected to movie and document one particular night time from the tour for the next dwell album and DVD, however Rush selected a terrific dwell present, with the live performance on the Quicken Loans Enviornment in Cleveland, Ohio, capturing them on glowing kind and later incomes the band a nomination for a Juno award.
The Discussion board, Los Angeles, California, August 1, 2015
Rush toured its final studio album, Clockwork Angels, from December 2012 by means of August 2013, however determined to return for a last bow with a last “R40” tour – this time celebrating the band’s traditional lineup’s fortieth anniversary with a tour of the U.S. and Canada.
Taking in 33 dates, “R40” was shorter than a lot of Rush’s mammoth international treks, but it surely was an unlimited success, with the band promoting out a lot of the dates and taking part in to audiences of at the very least 12,000 every night time. The setlist too, delighted the die-hards because it touched on 16 of Rush’s 20 studio albums in reverse chronological order throughout two full units, with the band taking part in round three hours of music every night time. As you would possibly count on, the ultimate present was among the many most emotional of the trek. Their storming last present at Los Angeles’ Discussion board culminated in a efficiency of their very first hit “Working Man.”
Order the career-spanning Rush 50 anthology now.
