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by Richard Houghton November 13th, 2020 |
There has never been another band like Rush. From their earliest shows in Canada through to their last ever concert in Los Angeles in 2015, they had a career spanning more than 40 years and 2,400 plus gigs, generating 15 million ticket sales. The death of drummer Neil Peart in January 2020 brought to an end any lingering hopes the band might perform again. Containing over 400 previously unpublished eyewitness accounts of gig memories, memorabilia and photos, Rush - The Day I Was There is the Rush story in the words of fans, taking the reader back to a better, vanished time.
When Rush concluded their R40 tour in 2015, fans of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart knew extensive touring was off the agenda. But they hoped for a one off reunion gig or a festival appearance. With the untimely death of drummer Neil Peart in January 2020, those dreams were shattered. Across more than 40 years, the band that had sold over 40 million albums and played in excess of 2,400 shows around the world were no more.
With previously unseen photos and fan memorabilia, Rush – The Day I Was There brings together over 400 previously unpublished eye witness accounts to allow the reader to take a journey back in time and recapture the experience of seeing live the greatest ever power trio in rock.
INTRODUCTION
Geddy Lee once described Rush as the world's most popular cult band and it's hard to argue with that description. The statistics — over 2,400 shows played, more than 15 million tickets sold, in excess of 40 million albums sold — belie the fact that the average man or woman in the street probably hasn't heard of Rush. Maybe they'll know 'The Spirit of Radio'. It got to number 13 in the UK charts, the only Top 20 single they achieved. But they scored seven Top 10 albums in Britain. And around the world they did a whole lot better.
When I started compiling this book back in 2019, Rush had retired from playing and the band had made it clear they would not be touring. But Neil was still with us and there was some hope amongst fans that they might do the odd one off show or a residency or a festival, with endless speculation as to what and where that might be. Then news emerged of Neil's passing. There is no speculation about a Rush reunion now. As one contributor to this book put it, without Neil there is no Rush.
I have tried through the many fan memories I have collected to capture the essence of what it was that made Rush one of the biggest bands over four decades, from memories of their earliest shows through to R40. This is not a complete history of Rush. It does not chronicle every show. But hopefully it gives the reader a glimpse of a better, vanished time.
Confirming the actual date that shows were played from the 1960s and 1970s is notoriously difficult. Bands cancelled at the last minute or whole shows were cancelled and yet the press advertisements or foggy memories of those who were adamant they were there sometimes confirm memories of a line up that didn't actually happen. There are a couple of examples of this in this book. Using the internet and the fabulously detailed Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth as reference material, I have done my best to insert the story in the right place in Rush history. Where I have not succeeded in triangulating dates, venues and support acts (or headliners), I have largely gone with the contributor's memories. After all, they were there.
Richard Houghton
Manchester
October 2020
THE GREAT FROG
1971, CARNABY STREET LONDON, UK
I WAS THERE: PETER BROCKBANK
In 1971 I went to London with a guy called Robin Coulthard from Carlisle. The idea was that the streets were paved with gold and Robin was a musician and we'd go down there and have a bit of fun. Robin got a job. He was a typical long-haired good looking rock star, but he wasn't good enough to be one. He got a job in Carnaby Street. Neil was working in the same shop. That's where I met him. Robin got a job playing rhythm guitar and singing with a band and they didn't have a drummer. Neil was obviously already a drummer and he joined and then they didn't have a van. I was working for a water softening company and had just bought a brand new double-rear-axle Ford Transit van, which was the top group van at the time. I nicked that, had it resprayed, and drove them about. The joke was that in winter you didn't need heating in the van because it was so 'hot'.
Neil was quite amused. He wasn't making much money with the band because we weren't playing very much. He was perfectly aware of the situation. He seemed to have more good friends who were jailbirds than straight people. I used to do a little bit of thieving. He asked me if I would take him on some little job now and again. My actual words to him were, 'Listen Neil, if you ever want to come back with a band, and you get a police record, they might not let you in.' In those days you needed a permit to get in the country, America wouldn't let certain English groups into the country — so groups coming in had to get what amounted to a work permit.
English Rose only lasted a short time but I got them some leads up in Cumbria. All the time that we drove between gigs, always at night, Neil never slept. He would do a three hour show and then stay awake for a five hour drive sat up front, 'riding shotgun' as he called it. And when we got to the other end he'd get the map out and tell me where I should go. He wasn't a rock star at all.
I've been banged up (in prison) a couple of times over the years and every six or eight weeks I would get a letter — handwritten in those days - and a cheque for 200 quid from him. Neil never forgot his friends. He was a lovely, warm, caring and very funny guy.
In '88, he asked me if I would do the job of driver on their European tour. Until then Neil had always toured with the band but he hated all the hoopla. It brought him closer to the tour and he never, ever enjoyed that. He would record and play and rehearse but he never enjoyed touring. I immediately said 'yes'. I did the '88 and '92 European tours. The first time I was driving a 750 BMW, which at the time cost 55 grand. There were only eight of them in England and none available to rent so I had to be flown to Frankfurt to pick one up and bring it back. The senior members of the management team at Anthem were just horrified. Because Neil was honest: 'He's a bit of a villain arid blah-blah-blah...' They had visions of me disappearing with a 55 grand car. You can imagine.
I turned up to pick him up at the airport, went to a desk to ask where to go and got sent to the wrong terminal. Neil had stopped smoking around that time. When I eventually found him about 30 minutes after he'd come through — this was before mobile phones — he'd got all his bags and everything and had started smoking again. He said, 'I'm so glad to see you. I thought I was going to have to ring up and say `he's disappeared with the car!'.' He just took it totally on trust that I wouldn't let him down. I was so conscious when I was driving that I've only got to make a mistake, and he breaks a finger and he can't drum. It took me about three days to enjoy driving a wonderful car like that.
He wasn't a miserable bastard. He laughed and joked. But he was a very serious guy and very, very, very shy. He was panicky if fans were about. On the tour of Germany in '88, we were just going into the underground entrance to a car park underneath the stadium and there was a barrier. There was a little Hitler-type parking attendant who wouldn't let us in. We hadn't been in so we didn't have the passes and as I was explaining to the guy, 'Look, this is the drummer out of Rush, etc.', about 100 yards away three buses from Italy pulled up. Neil saw these Italian fans starting to walk towards us and one of them pointed towards the car from about 50 yards away. The barrier was slightly elevated and Neil said to me, 'Can you get through there without hitting him? Don't worry about any damage. Just fucking get me out of here now.' He was absolutely panicking he was going to be trapped in the car. I went forward and nudged the barrier with the bonnet of the car and it went up and we went straight through.
Neil used to say, when he went to see The Who, he rated the drummer. 'I want to see him on stage, but why would I want to go backstage and get his autograph or sit outside a hotel and watch Moon come in or go out?' He just did not understand that sort of adulation. It was only during the '92 tour that I found out that there was such a thing as `meet and greets'. Alex and Geddy did them. Neil never did a meet and greet in his life.
On that second tour, I did all his interview arranging. If anybody wanted to speak to him, they were put through to me and I would take all the details and I would ring Neil or go up and see him in the room and ask - did he want to do it? I would take him in, introduce him, make sure there was coffee and biscuits delivered by room service and say, 'See you later, Neil.' And 30 minutes later I had to ring him. It was the 'get out' phone call. He'd either say, 'Oh no, you deal with that' or, 'Oh, okay, I'll come up right away.' That was his get out if he needed it. When he was working, he'd have his work head on and I'd be working for him. So I might not see him for two days.
We were in Berlin in '92, on the second tour I did with him, arid were watching the Freddie Mercury tribute concert at Wembley on MTV in Berlin. He called me up and we were just smoking joints and drinking. At one point Roger Taylor was playing full-sized bongos stood up and this noise was coming out and Neil was going, 'What the fuck is he doing?' That isn't the noise you make from those!' And he got a drumstick and hit the blunt end on the side of a snare drum to get that sound. 'Why does he have to stand like that, posing?' He was hyper-critical of people, but only because they weren't doing what they were supposed to do. He didn't like any kind of trying to cheat the public. He just wanted people to go on and do what they were supposed to do, not stand there looking flash. He did not suffer fools at all.
Because Neil was my mate I didn't need to or want to get friendly with the other two. I did meet Alex and Geddy. Geddy was very suspicious early on because that's Geddy. Alex was an absolute darling, an absolute sweetheart. I had two or three decent nights with Alex and a few others in the hotel with a few drinks and a bit of weed. Alex is such a lovely, happy lad. He's a party animal. We were in a hotel in Sheffield, England at the beginning of the '92 tour. I was in the bar just having a quiet vodka and tonic. A lot of the road crew were in the other side of the bar. All of a sudden Alex came into the bar, saw me and said 'Peter!' and gave me a big hug. He said, 'Have a drink, mate, have a drink. Come on, come on, come and have a drink with the fellahs.' Geddy would have waved and said 'hello', but he wouldn't have done that.
Neil was very much a lonely figure on tour. On the '88 tour he used to have a bow and arrow and a mobile target. He'd go and practise for an hour, an hour and a half, firing arrows at this target on his own. He wasn't really close to any of the crew except his own technician. There was work Neil and there was social Neil. But when we were on tour together the two combined. Not only was Neil a warm, kind-hearted generous person, he was totally genuine.
I knew he was having his third round of chemo. I wrote to him in 2019 when I heard about the cancer. I don't know whether he got it or not. I couldn't tell anybody because I was asked not to. It was still a horrible, horrible shock. He wasn't an old man. I have incredibly fond memories of Neil. Even though I knew he was dying, I cried like baby when I heard. I still well up when I see him on television, especially when he's talking.
The eponymous studio album, Rush, was released on 1 March 1974. It was recorded the previous year. John Rutsey played on the album, having been Rush's drummer in the preceding years. Neil Peart was to join Rush on 29 July 1974, two weeks before the band's first US tour.
DON MILLS COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
21 APRIL 1974, TORONTO, CANADA
I WAS THERE: CHUCK DILL
The first time I saw them was at Don Mills Collegiate. They were great so we travelled again early to see them in Port Credit at the high school with Max Webster. I was too young for any of their bar shows. I did manage to see them one more time that year, when they played Massey Hall with Nazareth. For the longest time, Massey Hall was the place to see them and Max Webster seemed to be the partner of choice, Nazareth too. Over the next few years I saw them numerous times there plus at Iroqouis Park in Whitby.
We kept waiting for them to play Maple Leaf Gardens and it seemed to take forever before they debuted there on New Year's Eve 1976. Being only 15 it took some major convincing to get my mom to allow me to go. But it's my best memory of them in concert.
I started collecting music at the age of 11, each Saturday going to Sam the Record Man on Young Street. These records and skateboarding, hockey and baseball were my existence. My room was where I could turn the lights off, place that needle on the vinyl and listen to how the trees were all kept equal by hatchet, axe and saw, or learn about driving my uncle's red Barchetta. It was a place to escape from life, from school, from sports and other pressures. To this day I still utilise this pleasure in a room dedicated to Rush, Floyd, Zep and the Stones.
Today people wait on line for tickets to go on sale. We had to camp overnight outside Maple Leaf Gardens to buy the tickets, another experience that lent itself to the music. The friendships made in line and the joy of going to school the next day with that ticket in hand, making other jealous because their dad would never let them line up!
THE ROCKPILE AT DUFFY'S TAVERN
17 — 22 JUNE 1974, HAMILTON, CANADA
I WAS THERE: MARK GEMMELL, AGE 12
My older brother took me. John Rutsey was their drummer at the time. This was in support of their self-titled first album. Fast forward to the Memorial Gardens in Guelph, Ontario where I saw them again in support of A Farewell to Kings. They played '2112' in its entirety for the first time ever, I think. I then saw a slew of shows in the 80s. The first one was Grace Under Pressure. They changed from hard rock to new wave rock. I didn't like it at first but when I saw them do it live, I got to liking it right away. You could tell that they really cared about their music because they were so tight live. They no doubt practised really hard and long, because it really showed. The biggest impression on me as a guitar player was watching Alex Lifeson during `The Weapon' from their album Signals. His lead playing was very unconventional but very creative at the same time. I couldn't take my eyes off all three of them as they melded their awesome sound together while playing live. A few times during the show, Alex would go over to Neil or Geddy making faces at them. Eventually they would crack up laughing.
MINKLER AUDITORIUM, SENECA COLLEGE
1 JULY 1974, TORONTO, CANADA
I WAS THERE: BRIAN POTTS
In the early 70s in Toronto, there were a myriad of local bars where you could go, slug back a few beers, look for women and listen to fine live rock bands. Hotspots included The Gasworks, The Meet Market, The Abbey Road Pub, The Piccadilly Tube and many others. Rush was the band that my friends and I used to search out each week.
They attracted lots of young women our age, and their music was the tightest and best.
Our favourite local was The Abbey Road Pub. It was on the second floor above a jazz bar called Bourbon Street and it had a stainless steel dance floor which made all the `moves' that much easier for us. The seating was tiered with the main floor and then a riser to more seating. Between sets, Geddy would take his usual spot at a table on the upper floor, with an entourage of young ladies clamouring for a spot close. Alex and John would mix with the crowd occasionally. John would often dance in between sets.
The band played many of their own tunes, 'In the Mood' and 'Working Man' always being highlights. Another was a cover of Bowie's 'Suffragette City'. The dance floor was always full and good times were had by all. The band at that time wore clothes that bordered on Glam. Alex would sit with the friends and me to talk about how things were going. I remember the first time I mentioned that I thought that they would end up very famous. He looked at me and said, 'Do you think so?' I said, 'Of course.' I'm not sure I expected what was to come but I always wonder if Alex remembers that conversation.
Another time, my buddies and I were at the Piccadilly Tube. It was 1973. Alex bopped in and sat next to me. He asked us if we'd heard their single, 'Not Fade Away'. I was the one to tell Alex that I thought it wasn't well produced, way too trebly without enough bass. I hated to tell him but I figured if they were ever to be famous, he needed to know.
The last time I saw them live with John Rutsey on drums was when they opened for Nazareth at the Minkler Auditorium. They were amazing in the concert environment. They were very well received and 'Working Man' again was the highlight. Not long after this gig, Neil Peart would join Rush as their new drummer and their trajectory would change.
The last time I saw them live was at the Air Canada Center in Toronto in September 2007. They played for over two hours with a short intermission in the middle. There was no opening band, just them. Just how we wanted it.
B'GINNINGS
7 NOVEMBER 1974, SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS
I WAS THERE: SCOTT WALLENBERG
Like so many others, I became a Rush fan hearing 'Working Man' on the radio. I bought the 8-track and blasted it out of my Dodge Van while heading to race motocross throughout the Midwest. B'ginnings was a supper club west of Chicago in the suburb of Schaumburg named after the famous Chicago tune and owned partially by the band's drummer, Danny Seraphine. I went with a couple of motocross buddies. Mark had lost 90 per cent of his hearing as a child due to a misdiagnosed ear infection. My other buddy, Alex, saw a ton of shows with me.
In order to see better, Alex and I stood on huge glass beer steins that were super tall and thick to support our weight. The sound was incredibly loud and it pushed our chests in with every beat. When it was over we asked our buddy Mark with the poor hearing how he liked it. He said, 'They sounded pretty good.' My ears are still recovering - but he was right!
PARAMOUNT THEATER
19 NOVEMBER 1974, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
I WAS THERE: CHRIS EUGENE SETTERGREN
My school buddy Steve's older brother turned both of us on to them prior to Fly by Night. I was just a 15 year old kid in 1974 but I got concert educated kinda fast after that show in Seattle. That night I fell in love with the drum kit. My folks hated it because I beat on anything at home. I also noticed most of us fans were all guys.
VENTURA THEATER
26 NOVEMBER 1974, VENTURA, CALIFORNIA
I WAS THERE: KEVIN CHINERY
There was no radio play for Rush in southern California. The very first time I heard Rush on the radio was on a station called KROQand a female DJ, who was on one night a week, played 'The Trees' one night. When I was a senior at high school I got a petition up to get Rush played on the radio. I got 2,500 signatures and I mailed it to the local rock station. It didn't happen. 2112 got zero radio play but went platinum in the US. I didn't hear Rush on the radio again until 1979, when 'The Spirit of Radio' came out.
In '74 I was 14 and discovered them via a friend's older brother. He had the first album. They played a very small theatre out here called the Ventura Theater. I hitchhiked there and snuck in because I was under age. I didn't see them again until they toured with Ted Nugent a couple of years later. And then the next tour was A Farewell to Kings. I saw them at Santa Monica Civic with UFO, another small arena. And that's up there as one of my all time favourite concerts, along with seeing Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd's Animals. It was just an amazing show and the first time they had used video. I wore out three vinyl copies of A Farewell to Kings.
I've probably seen about 100 shows. They'd play two shows in California and I'd try to go to both of them. I'd try and do Vegas. I've got a couple of friends who I turned onto Rush, one in Nashville and one in Jersey. For Snakes & Arrows they both flew out to California and we saw them at the Hollywood Bowl. I've seen them in Nashville, Madison Square Garden, Jones Beach in New York, Glendale Arena in New Jersey.... in six states and 10 or 12 different arenas.
Living in California I got to see them get their Hollywood Walk of Fame star. And I was there when they got inducted into the Hall of Fame. The ceremony just happened to be in LA that year. You can actually hear my garbled voice screaming 'Neil is God!' when he's giving his speech. You can't make it out but I know it's me!
I was there for the very last show too, when Neil came out from behind the drum kit. Little did I know that that would be the last time that we would get to see them live. I used to say to my friends, 'If I ever win the lottery I'll hire Rush for a private show.' It was devastating news when Neil passed away. It was hard to take.
SHRINE AUDITORIUM
27 NOVEMBER 1974, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
I WAS THERE: BILL HAROLD SNOWMAN
It was right after the release of their first album. Back then everyone said they sounded like munchkins on speed, but I recognised their uniqueness and followed them through the years to see some of the most finely crafted metal music ever made. I saw them five times, once in a small venue in Medford, Oregon. My last concert was on the Clockwork Angels tour.
The Fly by Night tour started in February 1975 and ran through to June of that year.
XAVIER UNIVERSITY
22 MARCH 1975, CINCINATTI, OHIO
I WAS THERE: DALE WALTON
I saw Rush, Styx and Aerosmith in a tiny gymnasium at Xavier University in Cincinnati. We were there to see Aerosmith. No one had heard of Styx and we barely knew Rush. Fly by Night was on the radio. They were like a garage band. They played on the floor in front of the tiny stage. They came in, set up and left - like a last minute add on. But they rocked it.
KSHE KITE FLY FESTIVAL, AVIATION FIELD
13 APRIL 1975, ST LOUIS, MISSOURI
I WAS THERE: DENNIS NAIL, AGE 17
It was a fantastic concert. 10,000 people were expected, 34,000 showed up. It was a great day. We had never heard anything like Rush. We had their first album, simply called Rush. It's still my favourite today. Don't get me wrong. I loved the transition to Neil. It was like having two bands in one. It was a sad day when he passed.
FREEDOM HALL CIVIC CENTER
24 APRIL 1975, JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE
I WAS THERE: LARRY WHITE
I was going to school in maybe the tenth or eleventh grade. We'd bring different tapes on the bus to listen to all the way to school on a little cassette player with one big speaker on it. A friend dubbed the first album. It was the first time I heard 'Working Man' and 'In the Mood'.
When they came to Johnson City a year later, close to where we lived, Rush were opening for Kiss, and opening for Rush were the Heavy Metal Kids, although on the ticket it just said The Kidds. It was $5.50 to get in. We'd hang out and party in the parking lot before the show, and inside of course. They played pretty much everything from the first album. They played Ty-Tor and the Snow Dog' and 'Fly by Night'. My friends and I were just blown away.
The last time I saw them was 2011 in Greensboro, when I went with my first cousin. We hadn't been to a show since right before I joined the air force, and I did 27 years in the air force! They played the entire Moving Pictures album, sequenced pretty much like the album. They closed with 'Working Man'. It was strange because they did a reggae version of it. They played stuff from Snakes & Arrows. To me that's the most impressive album they've done since Moving Pictures.
I missed the R40 tour. I didn't find out about it until the last minute.
CAPITOL THEATRE
16 MAY 1975, PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK
I WAS THERE: PETER PECK
I saw these guys a couple of times. My first concert was them and Blue Oyster Cult in Port Chester, New York around the mid 70s. We sat on benches in the first couple of rows. We hung out next to their small moving van truck outside the door before the show, but didn't see them. They had Rush lettered on the doors with some town in Canada written under their name. Sadly I had no camera in my pocket in those days.
SAHARA HOTEL SPACE CENTER
29 MAY 1975, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
I WAS THERE: ECA NOR
The first time I saw Rush was completely by surprise. They used to play clips from songs on the radio when they would announce a concert. They were playing Jefferson Airplane clips but announced it as Jefferson Starship. They said the name was changed because 'now they're more spaced'. 'And with them, the hottest Kiss you'll ever get.' The two bands battled over who would be the headliner with Jefferson Starship eventually bowing out. They announced the new band, which was Rush. I had never heard of them and expected very little but was hugely surprised as they were awesome! They were the warmup band but much better than Kiss. And the concert started at 2am.
I saw them three more times, in '81, '84 and 2008. Tickets for the first one were $8.50 and for the last one $127. I still liked them, but Geddy couldn't hit the high notes anymore on 2112 and tickets were getting pricey, so that was my last time.
The Caress of Steel tour began in August 1975, ending in early January 1976.
INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
21 NOVEMBER 1975, TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA
I WAS THERE: BILL SMITH, AGE 17<
I saw them open for Kiss. I was very impressed by the way those guys had command of their respective instruments. Now you can find Neil and Geddy on almost any list for drums and bass. Alex is talented too. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction video shows the respect he gets from those in the craft. I have seenthem 12 to 15 times and spent thousands of dollars on LPs, cassettes, 8-tracks, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes, plus merch. I took my adult son to see them for the first time on the Snakes & Arrows tour in Kansas City, Missouri. It was an outdoors venue on a nice cool evening. We had a great time. I cried.
CIVIC ARENA
20 DECEMBER 1975, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
I WAS THERE: PHILIP GITZEN, AGE 15
I remember reading a short article about a trio from Toronto that 'sounded like Led Zeppelin' around Thanksgiving 1974 and saw the LP in my cousin's record collection. He played 'Working Man' for me. This was the first concert I ever attended. My best friend swiped a bottle of wine from his dad's liquor cabinet and we got high in a field before walking downtown to the arena. It was a cold night but we walked everywhere then and it didn't bother us. Rush was the opening act on a bill that featured Kiss and Mott. Our seats were behind the stage and a group of teenage girls in front of us were screaming for Kiss. Rush came out and played four songs. They were only on stage for about 25 minutes. I think they played 'Bastille Day', 'Anthem', 'Fly by Night' and `Working Man'. 15,000 people were there to see Kiss but we were there to see Rush. Since then I've probably seen them around 14 times and they've never disappointed me.
In 2008 the Snakes & Arrows tour came to Pittsburgh at the Star Lake Amphitheater. I knew someone who was friends with a DJ at a local radio station and he got us backstage passes and a meet and greet. We had our picture taken with Geddy and Alex. Geddy was wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates t-shirt and I thanked them for coming to Pittsburgh every tour. The picture they took of us was on the tour website but my computer crashed. By the time I got it fixed the pictures were gone so I never downloaded them.
ARAGON BALLROOM
26 DECEMBER 1975, CHICAGO, ILLNOIS
I WAS THERE: DONNA LEVATINO
Also on the bill were Rory Gallagher and Blue Oyster Cult. I remember thinking how tight Rush sounded and the unique high voice that Geddy Lee has.
(Other sources suggest Artful Dodger opened the show, with Rush on second and Blue Oyster Cult headlining).
COBO HALL
29 DECEMBER 1975, DETROIT, MICHIGAN
I WAS THERE: KEN KAZERSKI, AGE 15
One day I went to school — I was in ninth grade — and a friend asked me if I would like to go and see them. I said yes, not knowing who they were. He said, 'We need to skip school to get tickets.' We left school and took a bus from Grosse Pointe to Cobo Hall, standing in line for hours. On the night of the show, a guy in the bathroom sold us each a hit of acid. It was my first time. When we got to our seats up in tier A, a guy came up with a broken leg and asked to trade seats due to his leg. So we ended up on the floor, sixth row centre. In the seats all around us, people were passing joints around. I have worked with the MC5, worked for a rock 'n' roll magazine and have been to thousands of concerts. But the first time I saw Rush still sticks in my head as one of the best shows I have ever seen.
The 2112 tour began in February 1976 and ran through to August of that year.
MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM
27 FEBRUARY 1976, BUFFALO, NEWYORK
I WAS THERE: PAUL A CICHON
They were in the mist [SIC] of the Chinese-type clothing and heavy make up they would wear. A lot of the fans in attendance were dressed the same way and, being my first show, I thought they were a bunch of gay people. They were just emulating the band's wardrobe!
RANDHURST MALL ICE ARENA
5 MARCH 1976, PROSPECT ILLINOIS
I WAS THERE: SCOTT BRENNER
The girl I was dating was two years older and turned me onto them. Rush were very popular in the Chicago area, where I grew up. A bunch of Canadian bands were trying to make it in America — Triumph, Three Dog Night, The Guess Who.
I was a burn out. I smoked dope since I was 12, doing drugs and stuff. Rush was pretty much a burn out group. It was also unusual to have a three guy band. I was trying to learn to play drums back then and the drummer was the pulse of the band. That was an attraction for me. They were the second band I ever saw in concert. It was Rush, Foghat and someone else I don't remember. It was a cheap ticket, like $3 or $3.25. It was general seating. It wasn't a big venue. I think it held about 5,000 people. Fly by Night was one of my all time favourite albums, but I stopped listening to them after 2112. I started getting into electronic dance music.
ST PAUL CIVIC CENTER
29 MAY 1976, ST PAUL, MINNESOTA
I WAS THERE: RANDY FULLERTON
It was four bands for $4 and the running order was Steve Marriott's All Star Band, Rush 2112, REO Speedwagon and Blue Oyster Cult. It was a general admission concert which we called 'run for your life' seats. We were the first people in line so our hands were on the stage and there were no ropes. Steve Marriott got snowed in somewhere and didn't make it so the boys tried to play but they got booed off the stage after the first or second song. The rest of the concert was one of the best I have ever seen.
(Other sources suggest Steve Marriott's band had split two weeks prior).
MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM
7 JUNE 1976, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
I WAS THERE: GD RANKIN
It was more than a band, more than the music, even more than the experience at one of the 30 plus live shows I enjoyed. In 1974, at least in my area, their music was new and of course they were unknown and not well received by everyone. Being a Rush freak was a vehicle to ride down a road less travelled by the average Joes, which was more than fine by me.
When I first heard Joe Anthony, a DJ from 99.5 KISS FM, talking about this new band from Canada and playing a track from the newly released Caress of Steel, I was in awe. 'Bastille Day' was full of intrigue and energy and yet completely different from the current popular hits. I had recently started seriously dissecting music and picking out all the different instruments and parts of songs. Lyrics had become secondary when listening to normal bands of the era. With Rush, the vocals were often times difficult to understand. Geddy's voice was almost like a fourth instrument in the mix.
Because not all the words were easy to comprehend, having the lyrics available in the album opened the door to a deeper and more immediate understanding of their music. Being able to read along as the songs blasted at the highest volume my headphones could produce helped it all make sense. There may have even been some consumption of a few mind-expanding enhancers of the time along the way, which of course made the music feel more personal. It was like the songs were telling their stories directly to me.
I sat in the 13th row on Geddy's side of the stage at my first live show. It was the 2112 tour. The album had not been out long enough to really sink in. Thin Lizzy opened with their Jailbreak set and got the crowd in the mood to rock. What came next was the birth of a serious addiction for me and many others in the San Antonio area.
I was blessed to get to see Rush perform live every year for the next 15 years. Many times they'd have back-to-back performances, selling out two nights in a row. I was small enough to wiggle my way through the crowds and ended up on the front row on many occasions, often times sharing a seat or standing the entire show, and always on Geddy's side of the stage.
That first show could be the blame for my infatuation with the bass and that distinctive Rickenbacker sound. Pretty much all the neighbourhood kids played air guitar and imitated Hendrix and Page. Those guys were great as was Alex. But there was something about those high energy, punchy, mind-blowing bass lines that Geddy ever so effortlessly blasted us with. By 1978 I had my first 4001 Ric and was on my way. A couple of years later, having moved out of my parents' house, I had to have a Sunn amp to let the neighbourhood in on the fun. My roommate played lead guitar and we moved a friend's drum kit into our living room and formed a band.
Rush had a major influence on our style, and Geddy Lee was and always will be my hero. In my mind he's the best bassist of all time. Neil was, and still is, one of my all-time favourite human beings to ever grace this planet. And Alex should also be considered one of the all-time best guitarists — a guru with style. What a trio.
What a band!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In compiling this book I've really come to understand the sense of community that exists in the wider Rush family and it's been a real pleasure talking to and hearing from fans, so I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone I reached out to, or who reached out to me, whether or not they provided me with a story for the book. Many people were generous with their time and their memories and I had more offers of stories and photographs than I could possibly have included. Maybe in Book 2....
In identifying the venues for shows, I have largely followed the naming convention adopted by Rush.com. Rush - Wandering The Face of the Earth, by Skip Daly and Eric Hansen, was a useful reference both for dates and support acts. I also referenced www.cygnus-x1.net (Hey, I know that site!) for information and various Facebook groups too numerous to list here.
I'd like to thank in particular: James Gibbon, for permission to quote from his blog jamesgibbon.com/35-years-ago-tonight/; David Egan; Abdul Wahid Khan, for introducing me to Rush; Stan Nelson; Neil Cossar and Liz Sanchez at This Day in Music Books; Gary Bishop for his design wizardry; Bill Houghton, who heard me playing Moving Pictures while I was working on the book and said, 'Is that Rush?' Good parenting on my part, or just a really smart lad? Who knows....; Sidney Sullivan Houghton for dragging me away from the keyboard; and Kate Sullivan, for her continual good patience, culinary skills, love and support.
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RUSH: The Day I Was There