Thunder Bay Rush

Geddy on the RICKENBACKER 4001 bass... Thomas Lang on drums... Steve Hackett on guitar... Jordan Ruddess on keyboards and Peter Gabriel on lead voice.

GODDAMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even though Hemispheres will always be my favourite Rush album, Permanent Waves was quite a step up in terms of production and complex song writing. Natural Science and Jacob's Ladder were miles above anything they had done, technically. My second fave Rush album... It's on right now, youtube on the Google.

Oooops, shit... yes, December 21... April 2, was the AFTK Tour. Damn you knowledgeable Rush fans!!

My coolest sound check memory... Ottawa Civic Centre, April 21, 1978... Hemispheres tour... me and buddy got their early, walked around to the back (side actually) of the building, (no security at all) and stood right by the back door and listened to them play through about 5 songs. The only two I recall are Anthem and Closer to the Heart. I think they did parts of Hemispheres too, but don't remember which parts. Way too cool.

Awkward packaging... life is tough sometimes...

Dude, make sure you remind her that she is the coolest kid in the entire school... (Don't tell her, remind her!)

I know nothing about art, but I think that is exceptional for someone so young... keep at 'er, kid!

Back to the original post... I'm a 1,000,000% atheist (and then some) but still, Rush is my religion... has been since I saw them in 1976. I asked a buddy of mine who was with me at that show what he thought of it afterward... "I saw God, man." Insert 70s Cheech and Chong, maybe?

Best performance??? I say a tie between Losing It and Xanadu... or wait, also add in Jacob's Ladder and Cygnus. Uh oh, I forgot... and... and also... Pick one.

Cool sound check... Hey, what the hell is going on? Can't lose the effing lines!!

When I first saw the interviewer (the stereotypical "hot blond chick" type) I thought... Oh, shit, here we go... she'll be asking about Ayn Rand the whole time. But, she was well informed and did a great interview. Geddy seemed to feel that way too. And, DAMMIT, I hope the ALL retire. Go out on top, boys! They have nothing left to prove... and leave Neil to hell alone. The dude is 63... has a wife and young daughter. He has GIVEN his whole life for us.

It was must have been a weird (transition) time for Rush... if this show was as mentioned above (opening for two other bands in a small theater), this show was played 6 months AFTER they sold out three nights in Massey Hall, Toronto, (and recorded a live album) with about 3,000 each night. Weird, going from that, to kickin' out of the 3 hole with a 30 minute set... But, after this tour, I don't think they ever opened up for anyone again. I think they did a double-bill with Foghat on a small section of the AFTK Tour, but not sure... Anyone know???

Lorraine, my first Rush show was in that same building, The Ottawa Civic Centre, in 1976... the ATWAS Tour, where they nailed 2112. The place was packed too. But, the HUGE improvement in the AFTK show: the musicianship, the lights, pyro, back film screen, the sound, the songs (Xanada, for example) was mind blowing. That was the first tour where they used synthesisers, Taurus pedals, et cetera and where Neil had the additional acoustic percussion instruments.

I would give my left ball and half of the other one to find some concert footage on YouTube of the AFTK Tour or the Hemispheres Tour. And, Yes, I'm okay with only having one half of a ball for the rest of my life. As long as I can still pee...

Lorraine, it was something to behold... I am so thankful to have seen that era of Rush, live. Back then, if you heard a sound, it meant that one of the guys played something... not just someone stepping on a pedal or hitting a pad to trigger recorded sounds. Geddy was especially busy back then.

I remember that part... Geddy (and 8,000 people) sang "the First Noel" and Neil played the notes on the stand-up tubular bells that he used in CTTH and Xanada. Your memory is better than you think!

I was also at the AFTK show, April 2, '78... Max opened up, with Butler playing before them. WICKED. That was the first time I saw Max Webster. The Hemispheres show was December 21, '78. Wicked.

I was there and will never forget it :haz: Wish I could find a recording of that one along with the April '78 show (my first) also at the Civic Center Hey if you there, you might remember (for the end of the encore) Alex being on the shoulders of that huge roadie guy? He was running around the stage (with Alex on his shoulders) and Alex was ripping his guitar for the end of the show. Also, do you remember Neil being at Geddy's microphone and thanking the Ottawa crowd? That was at the beginning of the encore. That was the only time I've ever heard of Neil addressing the crowd on a microphone... Stellar memories.

Many great recordings of the tour. I remember the Ottawa, Ontario show... 8,000 people, packed and sold out. I nearly lost my shit. I kept on thinking to myself... How does he DO that? (Geddy.)

Yes, I agree. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

There are a few songs on the debut that I really like: Finding My Way (wicked riff), Working Man and Here Again. But, to me, the debut album really isn’t Rush. It’s a hard rock band before it became Rush. Neil turned what always had down deep inside them into Rush. However, I can’t stand to listen to Working Man live. They always play it WAY too slow and to be honest, I don’t like the way Neil plays it. He OVER plays it. Rutsey did a better job of holding it down (tight as a frog's ass) while Alex goes mental on the solos.

I don't know HOW they keep track of all this sequencer stuff live... they must have to REALLY pay attention. But - what really got me into Rush in the 70s, was how they made that big FAT sound all live - without any sequencers. Especially, Geddy... what he did LIVE was astonishing and only at the age of 25. Crazy talent.

Not sure if this has been talked about here or not... if so, please forgive me. For at least 13 years now, I've been hearing that Rush has sold 40 million albums worldwide. This doesn’t sound right to me. If this is right, that means they haven’t sold anything since Vapor Trails in 2002? They’ve had 3 studio albums and 5 live albums since VT. Also, Rush is more mainstream now after BTLS and the RRHOF. One would think they’d be well over the 50 million mark at this point.

Hemispheres will always be my favourite Rush album, but in second place... Permanent Waves, no doubt. When I first heard Natural Science, I nearly lost my shit. I remember running (okay, walking fast) from Treble Clef music store in Ottawa with that damn vinyl record under my arm. When I got home, I must have played it 6 times over and over...