taurus Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Based on what I've read from past discussions about it, whatever unused film footage from the ESL shoot in Montreal is long gone. Ditto the GUP tour Btw, did anyone ever notice how opposite ESL and GUP are visually? Where ESL was grainy and dark and underlit in many places giving it a nice atmosphere, GUP was seemingly recorded under the brightest spotlights ever invented. Its TOO well lit! I need to wear a welders mask to watch most of it lol The "lost footage" thing is really a bummer. The 1981 material was shot on film so maybe filming a full length show on multiple cameras, processing, editing and video transfer would have been costly, so perhaps I can see that they actually didn't even film the entire 2 hour concert with multi-cameras but the 1984 shows taped in Toronto at MLG. That was video and the cost to record both shows in their entirety would have been inconsequential. I was at both shows in MLG in 1984, on the floor and I can confirm that they had the cameras moving about for both nights. If your intention is just to use 1 night (likely the second night), you would still record the first night as a safety. You would look upon the first night as a rehearsal for the crew and the second night is show time. But all it would take is a few video tape cassettes to record the evening. To only have the 60 minutes that was released, as the only surviving material from both nights, would indicate a level of sloppiness and indifference that I don't think the Rush organization was capable of. The only tricky thing that should be getting in the way is if the original recording format of video used back in 1984 became extinct and they never got it transferred to a more accessible format. I'm not sure what they used but if it was the M format as opposed to betacam, then yeah sure - finding M machines would be a challenge (not impossible). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taurus Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 The more expansive stuff - the Trees, Xanadu, Jacob's Ladder - sound killer on ESL. It works when there's more space and band dynamics. But with SOR, and CTTH, YYZ, and Tom Sawyer - everything is bogged down in mud. Alex's guitar is the culprit - mid rangey yuckiness. --- There's a Police boot on youtube where the band recorded their life set in a rehearsal space to be used on a future "Live" record. They didn't record vocals for the purpose of doing those in the studio. I believe it was the same deal with ESL. My personal theory is that sides 1/3 & 4 were recorded in both Montreal and Toronto and the muddier sounding cuts were from Toronto. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grep Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Horrible live album. It does sound muddy and not really live. You can barely hear the audience, which to me, is important in a live concert audio or video production. That tour actually opened with 2112, but in the ESL video, Limelight is the first song. So, right there, I didn't like it because it didn't seem like a true concert. Also, no drum solo on the video. I guess they had time issues, but to omit the drum solo in a Rush show? That was a bad choice. Grace Under Pressure live is as good as it gets with a live Rush recording. It's just about perfect.I guess back then bands weren't as conscious about wanting to preserve stuff for the future as they maybe would be now. The band has expressed a lot of negative feelings about Exit in the years since, both about overdubbing stuff and about the sequencing. If you're going to alter things and cherry-pick, it's much better to do it the way they did it on Different Stages, where it's at least sequenced like a single concert with a beginning and end and keeps most of the important stuff. All the World's a Stage is their best live album to me. Combines a great performance, great sound quality and the authenticity of being an actual live recording. Can't be beat. I'm kind of hoping that an ESL40 would have the full shows, correct sequencing, and most of the original playing. That's a lot to ask for, and a lot would have to happen to make it so. Like the band still having the original tapes.... (Or Ole having the tapes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taurus Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 (edited) I remember a radio interview at the time, Geddy mentioned how they didn't want any songs included that were on the previous live album, but I think that was the wrong decision. Make ESL the best representation of the MP tour would have been a better choice. Side OneOvertureTemples of SyrinxFreewillLimelight Side TwoThe Spirit of RadioRed BarchettaYYZCloser to the Heart Side ThreeBroon's BaneThe TreesXanadu Side Four Tom SawyerNatural ScienceLa Villa Strangiato Yeah - that would have been a kick ass ESL Edited February 2, 2019 by taurus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thizzellewashington Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 I remember a radio interview at the time, Geddy mentioned how they didn't want any songs included that were on the previous live album, but I think that was the wrong decision. Make ESL the best representation of the MP tour would have been a better choice. Side OneOvertureTemples of SyrinxFreewillLimelight Side TwoThe Spirit of RadioRed BarchettaYYZCloser to the Heart Side ThreeBroon's BaneThe TreesXanadu Side Four Tom SawyerNatural ScienceLa Villa Strangiato Yeah - that would have been a kick ass ESLThat's also why they cut songs from the original R30 DVD release -- they didn't want any redundancies with Rio. They later realized that's dumb and it's better to just include the whole concert and no one will care if a few songs overlap. They restored the whole show on the blu-ray reissue. Video is probably a lost cause for Exit but I have to think they've got the rest of the audio somewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YYZ Working Man Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Based on what I've read from past discussions about it, whatever unused film footage from the ESL shoot in Montreal is long gone. Ditto the GUP tour Btw, did anyone ever notice how opposite ESL and GUP are visually? Where ESL was grainy and dark and underlit in many places giving it a nice atmosphere, GUP was seemingly recorded under the brightest spotlights ever invented. Its TOO well lit! I need to wear a welders mask to watch most of it lol The "lost footage" thing is really a bummer. The 1981 material was shot on film so maybe filming a full length show on multiple cameras, processing, editing and video transfer would have been costly, so perhaps I can see that they actually didn't even film the entire 2 hour concert with multi-cameras but the 1984 shows taped in Toronto at MLG. That was video and the cost to record both shows in their entirety would have been inconsequential. I was at both shows in MLG in 1984, on the floor and I can confirm that they had the cameras moving about for both nights. If your intention is just to use 1 night (likely the second night), you would still record the first night as a safety. You would look upon the first night as a rehearsal for the crew and the second night is show time. But all it would take is a few video tape cassettes to record the evening. To only have the 60 minutes that was released, as the only surviving material from both nights, would indicate a level of sloppiness and indifference that I don't think the Rush organization was capable of. The only tricky thing that should be getting in the way is if the original recording format of video used back in 1984 became extinct and they never got it transferred to a more accessible format. I'm not sure what they used but if it was the M format as opposed to betacam, then yeah sure - finding M machines would be a challenge (not impossible). ESL : with all its sound challenges will remain in my top 5 for sentimental reasons . Love so many different parts of the album the phaser in Tom S , YYZ drum solo , BB, the Jac L intro, drum fills in La Villa and the trees, transitions from trees into xanadu The GUP show second night at Maple Leaf Gardens was the footage on the video . 17 years old - was my first Rush show. This was back in the day when you lined up outside a mall the night before tickets went on sale and charged the doors of a Ticket master outlet with cash in hand . Ended up with 1 st row floors GED side way over to the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytserush Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 I remember a radio interview at the time, Geddy mentioned how they didn't want any songs included that were on the previous live album, but I think that was the wrong decision. Make ESL the best representation of the MP tour would have been a better choice. Side OneOvertureTemples of SyrinxFreewillLimelight Side TwoThe Spirit of RadioRed BarchettaYYZCloser to the Heart Side ThreeBroon's BaneThe TreesXanadu Side Four Tom SawyerNatural ScienceLa Villa Strangiato Yeah - that would have been a kick ass ESL Only duplication between those live albums would have been Overture/Temples and the encore bits of Working Man/By Tor/ In The End/ In The Mood.Looks like about 10 minutes maybe a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurkst Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 I remember a radio interview at the time, Geddy mentioned how they didn't want any songs included that were on the previous live album, but I think that was the wrong decision. Make ESL the best representation of the MP tour would have been a better choice. Side OneOvertureTemples of SyrinxFreewillLimelight Side TwoThe Spirit of RadioRed BarchettaYYZCloser to the Heart Side ThreeBroon's BaneThe TreesXanadu Side Four Tom SawyerNatural ScienceLa Villa Strangiato Yeah - that would have been a kick ass ESL Only duplication between those live albums would have been Overture/Temples and the encore bits of Working Man/By Tor/ In The End/ In The Mood.Looks like about 10 minutes maybe a bit more. Would've needed to be a triple album to have captured the complete setlist. Maybe that discouraged them?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthemic Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 That tour actually opened with 2112, but in the ESL video, Limelight is the first song. So, right there, I didn't like it because it didn't seem like a true concert. Also, no drum solo on the video. I guess they had time issues, but to omit the drum solo in a Rush show? That was a bad choice. Full setlist. If only they could unearth the unused film.... 2112 Part I: Overture2112 Part II: The Temples of SyrinxFreewillLimelightCygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part I: PreludeBeneath, Between & BehindThe Camera EyeYYZDrum SoloBroon's BaneThe TreesXanaduThe Spirit of RadioRed BarchettaCloser to the HeartTom SawyerVital SignsNatural ScienceWorking ManCygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part IV: ArmageddonBy-Tor & The Snow DogIn the EndIn the Mood2112 Part VII: Grand FinaleEncore: La Villa StrangiatoOh man, that would probably be the crème de la crème of all their concert videos, just based on pure nostalgia alone. Much less the fact that it's the full Moving Pictures Tour and set list. Just seeing some of the songs on the video that were not on the album is a tease that there probably was a lot more footage originally shot from those shows. They should dig it up and put it together. I'd certainly buy it and watch the hell out of it! we all would but that footage is long gone. back then videotape was expensive, very bulky and hard to store, so it was routinely recycled. no one thought anyone would care forty years later about the rest of that footage so the tapes were probably degaussed the day after the thing was edited. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytserush Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I remember a radio interview at the time, Geddy mentioned how they didn't want any songs included that were on the previous live album, but I think that was the wrong decision. Make ESL the best representation of the MP tour would have been a better choice. Side OneOvertureTemples of SyrinxFreewillLimelight Side TwoThe Spirit of RadioRed BarchettaYYZCloser to the Heart Side ThreeBroon's BaneThe TreesXanadu Side Four Tom SawyerNatural ScienceLa Villa Strangiato Yeah - that would have been a kick ass ESL Only duplication between those live albums would have been Overture/Temples and the encore bits of Working Man/By Tor/ In The End/ In The Mood.Looks like about 10 minutes maybe a bit more. Would've needed to be a triple album to have captured the complete setlist. Maybe that discouraged them?... Probably. Can't think of many triple albums that were released after the '70s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 It was always a big disappointment to me. But think of Alex's reaction to it: "Where the f**k is my guitar?? I'm so low in the mix you can hear a snailfish shitting instead of my guitar solos!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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