Who here saw Rush on the AFTK and/or Signals tour(s)?

[Lorraine]

Andrew, thanks for that. You must have so many memories of them.

 

By the way, have you run into Alex on the subway lately?

[troutman]

I honestly don't understand the hatred for them back then. Geddy's voice never struck me as strange. And they sounded as talented as anyone else on the radio back then. So, I don't understand where the animosity towards them came from. Or why.

 

Yeah me either, especially when you consider there were so many other male singers that sang in a high range at the time. The 80's were full of them, and even then they were talking about his voice being screechy.

 

Just,

Jealous :geddy:

[andreww]

No, I kinda get the feeling the boys have been out of town for a while. I was seeing Ged a lot at the Blue Jay games at the beginning of the summer, then nada. But who knows, I've always got my eyes peeled

[Lorraine]

No, I kinda get the feeling the boys have been out of town for a while. I was seeing Ged a lot at the Blue Jay games at the beginning of the summer, then nada. But who knows, I've always got my eyes peeled

Good for you! Keep them peeled so you don't miss anything.

[EagleMoon]

No, I kinda get the feeling the boys have been out of town for a while. I was seeing Ged a lot at the Blue Jay games at the beginning of the summer, then nada. But who knows, I've always got my eyes peeled

Good for you! Keep them peeled so you don't miss anything.

 

I think if I lived in Toronto I would always be on the lookout for them. I would've said keeping an eye out, but that's just painful. :)

[WorkingAllTheTime]

Most rock criticism is pretty bogus. People like what they like, and our reactions to songs are mysterious but very real things and certainly not bound to be influenced by someone else's view. I wonder how often the clever know-it-alls who write most reviews give a record the close listen that it really deserves. These are guys who are networked into a "purveyors-of-cool" set with a sadly narrow perspective of what is really meaningful. The weeping Brazilian woman on the Rio documentary who is struggling to articulate what Rush means to her is a galaxy of genuine reaction, and quickly makes me forget about critics chuckling over their clever but abusive phrases. Any critic who writes a negative review is basically saying to thousands of people: you're an idiot because you like this garbage. That person can go back to his little computer and type away while the weeping Brazilian woman and I continue to take pleasure in what we love.

 

Also, how many platinum albums are we talking about here - and those figures haven't even really been updated.

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't know the Brazilian woman from the documentary and did not mean to imply that she and I would do anything "together," as in at the same time or in the same room even...

 

Amen, brother. Preach it.

 

For a really good chuckle, look up Rolling Stone's initial reviews of Led Zeppelin/Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath/Black Sabbath. Hilarious.

[WorkingAllTheTime]

Most rock criticism is pretty bogus. People like what they like, and our reactions to songs are mysterious but very real things and certainly not bound to be influenced by someone else's view. I wonder how often the clever know-it-alls who write most reviews give a record the close listen that it really deserves. These are guys who are networked into a "purveyors-of-cool" set with a sadly narrow perspective of what is really meaningful. The weeping Brazilian woman on the Rio documentary who is struggling to articulate what Rush means to her is a galaxy of genuine reaction, and quickly makes me forget about critics chuckling over their clever but abusive phrases. Any critic who writes a negative review is basically saying to thousands of people: you're an idiot because you like this garbage. That person can go back to his little computer and type away while the weeping Brazilian woman and I continue to take pleasure in what we love.

 

Also, how many platinum albums are we talking about here - and those figures haven't even really been updated.

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't know the Brazilian woman from the documentary and did not mean to imply that she and I would do anything "together," as in at the same time or in the same room even...

 

Amen, brother. Preach it.

 

For a really good chuckle, look up Rolling Stone's initial reviews of Led Zeppelin/Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath/Black Sabbath. Hilarious.

[Syrinx]

Great memories AndrewW as always! I think there was also a little Canadian inferiority complex. We were not used to having world class / famous bands for the most part. And I think some critics etc just assumed that Rush could not possibly be that good.

[andreww]

Great memories AndrewW as always! I think there was also a little Canadian inferiority complex. We were not used to having world class / famous bands for the most part. And I think some critics etc just assumed that Rush could not possibly be that good.

 

Maybe, but I think the guys that were writing reviews at the time just had an elitist attitude. Rush was a prog rock group, and to the critics they would never measure up to Genesis, Zeppelin or Yes. Remember, the critics had been bashing Rush for a long time by that point. It would have seemed hypocritical to backtrack and admit they were wrong in their previous assessments. That was just the way it went back then. I recently read a review of Zeppelins show at the Okeefe Centre in 1969 and they got trashed as well. I don't think there are many people that wouldn't have given their left nut to be at that show. So in reality reviews mean very little. By contrast, todays reviews are a polar opposite, with very little negativity to them. I'd like to see a happy medium, with both the positive and negative aspects of the show.

[foghorn-leghorn]

Hello all, this is my debut post.

 

I saw the band in 78 at the Glasgow Apollo. I remember how well the band had been received on their first visit the year previously.

 

This time, on the back of the album, they played a 3 night stand. Even then, they were incredible musicians and delivered another incredible concert. Wonderful Memories.

 

On the Signals tour, I was living in Germany and saw the band in Hamburg with Nazareth supporting. As usual, it was a knockout

show.

 

Here's a link to the setlists for the early shows at the Apollo. http://www.glasgowapollo.com/index.asp?s_id=1&m_id=9&action=show&band_ID=42&searchtext=

[Lorraine]

Hello all, this is my debut post.

 

I saw the band in 78 at the Glasgow Apollo. I remember how well the band had been received on their first visit the year previously.

 

This time, on the back of the album, they played a 3 night stand. Even then, they were incredible musicians and delivered another incredible concert. Wonderful Memories.

 

On the Signals tour, I was living in Germany and saw the band in Hamburg with Nazareth supporting. As usual, it was a knockout

show.

 

Here's a link to the setlists for the early shows at the Apollo. http://www.glasgowap...=42&searchtext=

Welcome to TRF, Foghorn!

[foghorn-leghorn]

Why thankyou :)

[Lorraine]

Why thankyou :)

Foghorn, I'm not trying to be a wiseacre, but it says on your profile page that the last concert you attended was the R40 tour. How did you manage that?

[losingit2k]

Signals was my first Rush Tour...and the rest is history!

[MMCXII]

My first Rush concert was AFTK with UFO opening 10/1/77. I spent $10 and was 8th row center at the Santa Monica Civic. It was my 4th concert after Jethro Tull, Yes and Led Zeppelin. It's vague but I still have memories of being blown away by Bastille Day, Xanadu and 2112. Needless to say it was pretty life changing for this then 15 year old.

 

Little did I know, these same 3 guys would still be my favorite band 37 years and 58 Rush shows later.

 

So..your first concerts were Jethro Tull, Yes.. And Led Zeppelin?? And then RUSH...WITH UFO??? ..K I'm still digesting this.. Wow!

 

Really gives meaning to the old bumper sticker 'I might be old but I've seen all the good bands!'

 

I thought it was something when I saw Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones and Meatloaf/Cheap Trick all in the same year but that was like '92.. I'm jealous!!

[MMCXII]

Here is one I had transposed at one point in time. I did forget to bring the scrap book with the reviews, but this will do in the meantime:

 

 

Rush at the CNE Grandstand – August 23, 1977

 

Review #1 by Peter Goddard – The Toronto Star

 

The exercise of power is never more menacing than when it’s done without humour. It seems so monstrously banal, so lacking in human qualities.

 

There’s nothing menacing about Rush’s three members, bassist-singer Geddy Lee, drummer Neil Peart or guitarist Alex Lifeson. Nothing personally menacing, that is, and certainly nothing particularly banal.

 

BIG NIGHT

 

But the moment they become a unit on stage, as was the case at the Canadian National Exhibition’s Grandstand last night, they seem thoroughly depersonalized.

 

It was the Toronto band’s most important concert yet. With 20,800 people jammed into the stadium, it was the biggest crowd the group had played to as a headline act.

 

It also gave Rush a chance to premier material from its sixth album, A Farewell to Kings, the most adventurous album in its career.

 

Yet it all left this reviewer numb.

 

RESTLESS CROWD

 

The crowd cheered everything and then fought or threw sparklers when the blunt, almost brutal excitement waned ever so slightly.

 

And the vast sound system – which seemed better tuned for the opening act, Max Webster, than for Rush – made every piece flutter like a flag to be saluted, even good songs like A Farewell to Kings.

 

There was no style, no grace, no touch of humor to leven this colossal display.

 

Like Peart’s mystical lyrics, there was little to respond to.

 

That's kinda awesome. Exactly what I'd expect lol

[MMCXII]

Most rock criticism is pretty bogus. People like what they like, and our reactions to songs are mysterious but very real things and certainly not bound to be influenced by someone else's view. I wonder how often the clever know-it-alls who write most reviews give a record the close listen that it really deserves. These are guys who are networked into a "purveyors-of-cool" set with a sadly narrow perspective of what is really meaningful. The weeping Brazilian woman on the Rio documentary who is struggling to articulate what Rush means to her is a galaxy of genuine reaction, and quickly makes me forget about critics chuckling over their clever but abusive phrases. Any critic who writes a negative review is basically saying to thousands of people: you're an idiot because you like this garbage. That person can go back to his little computer and type away while the weeping Brazilian woman and I continue to take pleasure in what we love.

 

Also, how many platinum albums are we talking about here - and those figures haven't even really been updated.

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't know the Brazilian woman from the documentary and did not mean to imply that she and I would do anything "together," as in at the same time or in the same room even...

 

Well said! Most of us know this but still nice to read!

[YYZ Working Man]

I was 12 in 1982. My Mom & Dad would not let me go with my older sister who had an extra ticket

She knew I was pissed for months so Later that year she let me see Queen with Freddie Mercury

[ThinkingBig]

Signals was my first tour.

 

 

The Count from SCTV introduced the Weapon.

 

Xanadu —I think they played the whole song.

 

XXY was last with drum solo.

 

 

 

 

Power Windows was first tour for multiple shows.

Edited December 8, 2014 by ThinkingBig

[Lorraine]

Signals was my first tour.

 

 

The Count from SCTV introduced the Weapon.

 

Xanadu —I think they played the whole song.

 

XXY was last with drum solo.

 

 

 

 

Power Windows was first tour for multiple shows.

You very fortunate man to have seen them on the Signals tour. :)

[Phantom]

Signals was my first time seeing them, and unfortunately, the show wasn't particularly memorable for me. Having listened non stop to Permanent Waves and Moving pictures for the previous few years, I felt that Signals was a bit of a letdown. What I remember most about that show was during Spirit of Radio, Ged sang, " One likes to believe in the freedom of.... baseball " ....

 

I was pretty young at the time, and creative licence was kind of lost on me.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Phantom

[Lorraine]

Signals was my first time seeing them, and unfortunately, the show wasn't particularly memorable for me. Having listened non stop to Permanent Waves and Moving pictures for the previous few years, I felt that Signals was a bit of a letdown. What I remember most about that show was during Spirit of Radio, Ged sang, " One likes to believe in the freedom of.... baseball " ....

 

I was pretty young at the time, and creative licence was kind of lost on me.

Too bad for you that you were too young to appreciate it fully, but at least you can say you were there!

 

Is that a picture of you and the one and only Al?

[Phantom]

Yeah, that's Big Al and I at a restaurant in Toronto. I was dining there with my wife and Lerxt was across the table from us.

 

By far, he was the most gracious, kind and humble "celebrity" I'd ever spoken to... before or since.

[Lorraine]

Yeah, that's Big Al and I at a restaurant in Toronto. I was dining there with my wife and Lerxt was across the table from us.

 

By far, he was the most gracious, kind and humble "celebrity" I'd ever spoken to... before or since.

You must tell us more!! Had it been me, I would have hesitated to "bother" him. It must get tiresome for him.

 

I believe what you say about him - that he is that way. I don't know how he has managed to keep his feet on the ground and his head out of a cotton candy cloud, but he has.

[Phantom]

It's actually a quirky story...

 

However, is anyone else finding the same problem here as I am? Keyboard works VERY slowly... when typing in the message box

 

I'm in the chat room atm... (btw this took 3 mins to type