The transition into a new decade brought notable structural shifts to Rush's live shows, bridging the gap between 1979's brief Summer Tour (Semi Tour of Some of the Hemispheres) and the official Permanent Waves Tour. During the '79 pre-tour, the band continued their tradition of road-testing material, giving audiences early previews of tight, energetic future hits like "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill." By the time the main tour launched, these tracks were finalized and joined by complex new additions like "Natural Science" and "Jacob's Ladder." To accommodate this influx of new music within a standard set time, the band had to heavily truncate their older 70s epics, systematically abridging "By-Tor & the Snow Dog," "2112," and both books of "Cygnus X-1." This era also highlighted the band's growing penchant for playfully altering their live arrangements, most famously injecting a reggae intro into "Working Man" and adding a new electric guitar prelude to their "La Villa Strangiato" encore.