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My first Rush show- 25 years ago today


Blue J
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It's difficult for me to fathom that my very first Rush show has now been exactly 25 years ago. The guys in the band were still in their 30s back then- several years younger than I am right now. ( :o ).

 

Thanks to Citizen of the World (a member on this forum), I have a recording of the show, which I never knew for sure even existed, until it was given to me. March 6th, 1990, at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. It's not the best recording in the world, but considering what audience recording technology was like in arena rock shows at the dawn of the 1990s...it really sounds pretty good.

 

I was a junior in high school, just about a month short of my 17th birthday, and I didn't have anyone to go with me, so I just went alone. And I had an absolute blast- it was the most amazing thing to go see this band that even back then, I had been listening to for ten years, and never seen live.

 

And here I am, 25 years later- gearing up for another Rush tour.

 

I missed out on a lot of years- after 1994, I didn't see Rush again until 2013. And after that long dry spell was finally broken, I promised myself that I would never miss another Rush tour, for however long they continue to play for us.

 

I'm reminded of a lyric from another band's song-

 

"Shake it up, now, Sugaree

I'll meet you at the jubilee

And if that jubilee don't come,

Maybe I'll meet you on the run..."

 

I urge everybody with the means and the opportunity to get out there and see Rush this year. We all deserve to be there!

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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

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Wow...never thought to really look... my first one was 30 years ago this past November!

 

 

(and I looked...my first ever concert will be 40 years ago next month...I went to see the Carpenters!)

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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

Both tours featured the same "medley" - about half of Xanadu into the entire Superconductor. That's when the bunnies came out! :)

I remember that tour as well. I remember thinking "man, these guys are getting up there in years. They probably won't be playing too much longer...."

 

Silly me.

 

Clem.

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Maybe they started doing that later on in the Presto tour, I don't know- if you say they did, I won't challenge it. But my first show, March 6th of '90, did not go that way. I was there. And I just listened to the recording this morning. Geddy introduced Superconductor by itself before they started playing it (and no, he was not talking over Xanadu). ;) Edited by Blue J
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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

Both tours featured the same "medley" - about half of Xanadu into the entire Superconductor. That's when the bunnies came out! :)

I remember that tour as well. I remember thinking "man, these guys are getting up there in years. They probably won't be playing too much longer...."

 

Silly me.

 

Clem.

 

 

This is inaccurate. Superconductor was performed on it's own. Xanadu was between Manhattan Project and YYZ. The bunnies came out during the Tom Sawyer closer.

 

Here is the Presto tour setlist. To my knowledge it was never altered, except as noted:

 

Force Ten (with "A Show of Hands" video intro)

Freewill

Distant Early Warning

Time Stand Still

Subdivisions

Marathon

Red Barchetta

Superconductor

Show Don't Tell (preceeded Superconductor until 2/22)

The Pass

Closer To The Heart

Manhattan Project

Xanadu

YYZ

The Rhythm Method (Drum solo)

Scars

War Paint

Mission

Tom Sawyer

Encore: The Big Money (replaced by The Spirit of Radio 4/2)

2112 (Overture)

La Villa Strangiato

In The Mood

Wipe Out

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It's difficult for me to fathom that my very first Rush show has now been exactly 25 years ago. The guys in the band were still in their 30s back then- several years younger than I am right now. ( :o ).

 

Thanks to Citizen of the World (a member on this forum), I have a recording of the show, which I never knew for sure even existed, until it was given to me. March 6th, 1990, at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. It's not the best recording in the world, but considering what audience recording technology was like in arena rock shows at the dawn of the 1990s...it really sounds pretty good.

 

I was a junior in high school, just about a month short of my 17th birthday, and I didn't have anyone to go with me, so I just went alone. And I had an absolute blast- it was the most amazing thing to go see this band that even back then, I had been listening to for ten years, and never seen live.

 

And here I am, 25 years later- gearing up for another Rush tour.

 

I missed out on a lot of years- after 1994, I didn't see Rush again until 2013. And after that long dry spell was finally broken, I promised myself that I would never miss another Rush tour, for however long they continue to play for us.

 

I'm reminded of a lyric from another band's song-

 

"Shake it up, now, Sugaree

I'll meet you at the jubilee

And if that jubilee don't come,

Maybe I'll meet you on the run..."

 

I urge everybody with the means and the opportunity to get out there and see Rush this year. We all deserve to be there!

 

Wow, I went to that show. How cool is that?

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Being younger than most of you :LOL: my first show was when I was 10 years old. Saw them in St. Louis on the R30 tour during the summer around my birthday. From what I remember of it, amazing show.
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"Shake it up, now, Sugaree

I'll meet you at the jubilee

And if that jubilee don't come,

Maybe I'll meet you on the run..."

 

I urge everybody with the means and the opportunity to get out there and see Rush this year. We all deserve to be there!

 

 

They're a band beyond description

Like Jehovah's favorite choir

People joining hand in hand

While the music played the band, Lord

They're setting us on fire

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I remember that tour as well. I remember thinking "man, these guys are getting up there in years. They probably won't be playing too much longer...."

 

Silly me.

 

Clem.

 

Haha...when I was 16, and they were in their late 30s, I thought of them as getting up there in years, too. :LOL:

 

Ah, youth.

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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

Both tours featured the same "medley" - about half of Xanadu into the entire Superconductor. That's when the bunnies came out! :)

I remember that tour as well. I remember thinking "man, these guys are getting up there in years. They probably won't be playing too much longer...."

 

Silly me.

 

Clem.

 

 

This is inaccurate. Superconductor was performed on it's own. Xanadu was between Manhattan Project and YYZ. The bunnies came out during the Tom Sawyer closer.

 

Here is the Presto tour setlist. To my knowledge it was never altered, except as noted:

 

Force Ten (with "A Show of Hands" video intro)

Freewill

Distant Early Warning

Time Stand Still

Subdivisions

Marathon

Red Barchetta

Superconductor

Show Don't Tell (preceeded Superconductor until 2/22)

The Pass

Closer To The Heart

Manhattan Project

Xanadu

YYZ

The Rhythm Method (Drum solo)

Scars

War Paint

Mission

Tom Sawyer

Encore: The Big Money (replaced by The Spirit of Radio 4/2)

2112 (Overture)

La Villa Strangiato

In The Mood

Wipe Out

 

Yes, I finished listening to all the rest of the show that I have- Xanadu is abbreviated at between six and a half and seven minutes, but going from that into YYZ is not bad. ;) And from YYZ into a monster drum solo (even with an average audience recording, holy crotales, it just comes thundering through the speakers!).

 

The recording I have ends after Scars.

Edited by Blue J
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It was 37 years ago (Nov ) since my first Rush show. My first concert as well.

 

It was 1978....Jimmy Carter was President....The Bee Gees 'Saturday Night Fever' was #1 in the Charts...Fantasy Island was the Hit show....

 

....and the 1st "micro on a chip" was patented by Texas Instruments.

 

It was on the glorious Hemispheres Tour. I was 13 in 8th grade....

 

I am almost 51 now but can still vividly remember that night and when myself and 2 friends held up and then tossed red frisbees with star cut-outs during..."...hold the Red Star proudly high in hand."

 

My life changed that night...

 

I soon after became a musician and after hearing 'live rock' for the first time that night, i was motivated to attend some 200+ concerts of almost every prominent Rock/Hard Rock/Heavy Metal group and still going strong to this day.

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Since we're all sharing....28 years for me this past December. Hold Your Fire tour at MSG. Tommy Shaw opened. I was 4 months shy of 15.

 

I would love to have seen the Hold Your Fire tour. I was one tour too late!

 

You and I are just about exactly the same age.

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That is a good story, seems you and I are very much alike with respect to our first Rush show and age. Mine was also 25 years ago with my older brother. We had nose bleed seats for the Miami Arena, about as far from the stage as you could get. I was also 17 at the time.

 

Very cool, I missed many shows between 1990 and when they stopped playing, because I was in college and had very little money. Since they have come back I have been fortunate enough to be able to spend the money to seem them many times.

Edited by iglehart
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:bump:

 

I decided to bump this thread, since yesterday I watched an entire pro-shot video from the Presto tour...not the same show(s) I saw, but still, I got to re-live my first show (thanks to the sameness of the set list ;) ). I highly recommend it to anybody who is interested, and has a couple of hours to spare, heh heh...

 

No Xana-conductor, to be sure.

 

The Xanadu--> YYZ--> Neil's solo is very nice indeed.

 

 

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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

Both tours featured the same "medley" - about half of Xanadu into the entire Superconductor. That's when the bunnies came out! :)

I remember that tour as well. I remember thinking "man, these guys are getting up there in years. They probably won't be playing too much longer...."

 

Silly me.

 

Clem.

 

 

This is inaccurate. Superconductor was performed on it's own. Xanadu was between Manhattan Project and YYZ. The bunnies came out during the Tom Sawyer closer.

 

Here is the Presto tour setlist. To my knowledge it was never altered, except as noted:

 

Force Ten (with "A Show of Hands" video intro)

Freewill

Distant Early Warning

Time Stand Still

Subdivisions

Marathon

Red Barchetta

Superconductor

Show Don't Tell (preceeded Superconductor until 2/22)

The Pass

Closer To The Heart

Manhattan Project

Xanadu

YYZ

The Rhythm Method (Drum solo)

Scars

War Paint

Mission

Tom Sawyer

Encore: The Big Money (replaced by The Spirit of Radio 4/2)

2112 (Overture)

La Villa Strangiato

In The Mood

Wipe Out

 

Yes, I finished listening to all the rest of the show that I have- Xanadu is abbreviated at between six and a half and seven minutes, but going from that into YYZ is not bad. ;) And from YYZ into a monster drum solo (even with an average audience recording, holy crotales, it just comes thundering through the speakers!).

 

The recording I have ends after Scars.

 

FWIW my copy has War Paint (but stops after that).

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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

Presto was my first live show as well, in San Jose. It was a great setlist, and featured the return of Freewill. :dweez: Superconductor was really good live, and brought a lot of energy to the crowd.

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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

Both tours featured the same "medley" - about half of Xanadu into the entire Superconductor. That's when the bunnies came out! :)

I remember that tour as well. I remember thinking "man, these guys are getting up there in years. They probably won't be playing too much longer...."

 

Silly me.

 

Clem.

 

 

This is inaccurate. Superconductor was performed on it's own. Xanadu was between Manhattan Project and YYZ. The bunnies came out during the Tom Sawyer closer.

 

Here is the Presto tour setlist. To my knowledge it was never altered, except as noted:

 

Force Ten (with "A Show of Hands" video intro)

Freewill

Distant Early Warning

Time Stand Still

Subdivisions

Marathon

Red Barchetta

Superconductor

Show Don't Tell (preceeded Superconductor until 2/22)

The Pass

Closer To The Heart

Manhattan Project

Xanadu

YYZ

The Rhythm Method (Drum solo)

Scars

War Paint

Mission

Tom Sawyer

Encore: The Big Money (replaced by The Spirit of Radio 4/2)

2112 (Overture)

La Villa Strangiato

In The Mood

Wipe Out

 

Just a bit of house keeping...

 

Bunnies inflated during War Paint (see videos) but they were rocking out to Tom Sawyer

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So for your first Rush experience you got to watch them segue Xanadu into Superconductor :P

 

No, that was on the Roll the Bones tour- which I also did see, three shows, I think. But my first show was Presto tour. We got the full Superconductor, by itself. I believe they did play an abbreviated Xanadu that night, but I can't be certain (the recording of the show I have is missing about the last half hour- which also included La Villa Strangiato, in the encore!).

Presto was my first live show as well, in San Jose. It was a great setlist, and featured the return of Freewill. :dweez: Superconductor was really good live, and brought a lot of energy to the crowd.

 

 

The return of the first part of Freewill anyway......

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