Most Memerable Rush Concert?

[EagleMoon]

I've been reading everyone's stories of their shows and it suddenly hit me that my first concerts were all general admission. It was so different from the way it is now. There were none of these well ordered folding chairs on the floor. Just a bare, open expanse of space to stand. Everyone ran to the front as soon as they got into the door and initially there might have been a little pushing and shifting as you jockeyed for the closest spot, but then you stood there and waited for the concert to begin. If you moved to go to the bathroom you might not get back to your original spot. There were no intermissions. I quit going to concerts for a long while during the 90's and remember thinking how calm and subdued concerts were after they dropped general admission.

[HemiBeers]

November...ummmm 1982? 83? Signals tour...my first show. Took the bus from the Dorms to the local minor league hockey stadium...how uncool is that? Rory Gallegher opened.I was gonna walk/hitchhike home after the show, but luckily ran into a bunch of dorm buddies and got a ride. Floor was all standing room, so depending on how sharp your elbows were you could easily get within 20 feet of the stage, which I did.

[Mr. JD]

My most memorable Rush concert would be the first time I saw them in December of 1974 at the Cleveland Agora. At that point I had the first album for about 6 months and played it almost daily. I was so excited about seeing them but wasn't sure if I would even get in because I was underage. Lucky for me it was very busy when we got there they didn't even look at me twice.

[Jaminbenb]

I've been reading everyone's stories of their shows and it suddenly hit me that my first concerts were all general admission. It was so different from the way it is now. There were none of these well ordered folding chairs on the floor. Just a bare, open expanse of space to stand. Everyone ran to the front as soon as they got into the door and initially there might have been a little pushing and shifting as you jockeyed for the closest spot, but then you stood there and waited for the concert to begin. If you moved to go to the bathroom you might not get back to your original spot. There were no intermissions. I quit going to concerts for a long while during the 90's and remember thinking how calm and subdued concerts were after they dropped general admission.

 

What sucked about the chairs on the floor was for the wilder concerts people STOOD on the freaking chairs, and as wasted as we were, we were always falling OFF of them! My 84 show was a rickety one!

 

I think they started doing that MOSTLY because of the problems they had at a Who concert where a few people got trampled....some places do it occasionally for certain shows...about the only ones Hershey does it for are like "Festival" shows, and bands that request it...Dave Matthews started requesting that the past few times he was here....

 

I also think that the venue feels that they can charge more for "first ten row" seats than the rest...

[x1yyz]

I've been reading everyone's stories of their shows and it suddenly hit me that my first concerts were all general admission. It was so different from the way it is now. There were none of these well ordered folding chairs on the floor. Just a bare, open expanse of space to stand. Everyone ran to the front as soon as they got into the door and initially there might have been a little pushing and shifting as you jockeyed for the closest spot, but then you stood there and waited for the concert to begin. If you moved to go to the bathroom you might not get back to your original spot. There were no intermissions. I quit going to concerts for a long while during the 90's and remember thinking how calm and subdued concerts were after they dropped general admission.

 

I went to a lot of large (5000+) GA concerts during the first half of the 80s. The first time I saw Iron Maiden was from the back of the Oakland Coliseum (60k capacity) and they literally looked like bugs onstage. After my last big show like that (U2 at the same venue, 1988, where I was squished down on the field) I declared never again. And for the next ~24 years I only went to shows in clubs and small (<1500) venues, which was great for seeing bands. Then at the Time Machine Tour I decided I wanted to see Rush again, especially now that their shows were assigned seating. And I would much MUCH rather pay a little more for a good seat where I can actually see the band versus playing less for a GA ticket and fighting to keep a decent "seat" (standing space). :codger:

[Todem]

2 shows.

 

1997 Test For Echo front row smack dab in front of Geddy. Took my then girlfriend of 2 months (now married going on 16 years in October) and she was blown away. I knew right there and then...she will be my wife.

 

2010 - Time Machine Tour. My sons first ever Rush concert (going on his 4th in May up in Tampa). The joy on his face when the first notes of TSOR blared....he was in awe.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Todem

[troutman]

AFTK! :codger: :smoke:

[Lucas]

AFTK! :codger: :smoke:

 

 

C'mon Troutman, you gotta tell us more !

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2015 by Lucas

[EagleMoon]

I've been reading everyone's stories of their shows and it suddenly hit me that my first concerts were all general admission. It was so different from the way it is now. There were none of these well ordered folding chairs on the floor. Just a bare, open expanse of space to stand. Everyone ran to the front as soon as they got into the door and initially there might have been a little pushing and shifting as you jockeyed for the closest spot, but then you stood there and waited for the concert to begin. If you moved to go to the bathroom you might not get back to your original spot. There were no intermissions. I quit going to concerts for a long while during the 90's and remember thinking how calm and subdued concerts were after they dropped general admission.

 

What sucked about the chairs on the floor was for the wilder concerts people STOOD on the freaking chairs, and as wasted as we were, we were always falling OFF of them! My 84 show was a rickety one!

 

I think they started doing that MOSTLY because of the problems they had at a Who concert where a few people got trampled....some places do it occasionally for certain shows...about the only ones Hershey does it for are like "Festival" shows, and bands that request it...Dave Matthews started requesting that the past few times he was here....

 

I also think that the venue feels that they can charge more for "first ten row" seats than the rest...

 

I was at The Who concert a few years earlier at the Riverfront Coliseum where that tragedy happened and I'm not at all surprised that it did. They only opened one door on each side of the building and the entire crowd moved as one like BB's going down a funnel. I remember being lifted completely off of my feet during the mad crush for the doors. It was one of the scariest crowds I've ever been in.

Edited March 24, 2015 by EagleMoon

[Bard]

That's only one of the myriad of reasons why General Admission always sucked, and always will.

[greyfriar]

That's only one of the myriad of reasons why General Admission always sucked, and always will.

Totally wrong son. I was on numerous GA concerts and it was always calm and people around me showed respect and cared for each other. I never had any trouble in over 30 years of attending hundreds of concerts. Good thing is that I saw my most memorable (GA) Rush shows from the front row.

[EagleMoon]

That's only one of the myriad of reasons why General Admission always sucked, and always will.

Totally wrong son. I was on numerous GA concerts and it was always calm and people around me showed respect and cared for each other. I never had any trouble in over 30 years of attending hundreds of concerts. Good thing is that I saw my most memorable (GA) Rush shows from the front row.

 

Did you ever attend Who concerts in the 70's? They were notoriously bad.

[RUSHHEAD666]

I've been reading everyone's stories of their shows and it suddenly hit me that my first concerts were all general admission. It was so different from the way it is now. There were none of these well ordered folding chairs on the floor. Just a bare, open expanse of space to stand. Everyone ran to the front as soon as they got into the door and initially there might have been a little pushing and shifting as you jockeyed for the closest spot, but then you stood there and waited for the concert to begin. If you moved to go to the bathroom you might not get back to your original spot. There were no intermissions. I quit going to concerts for a long while during the 90's and remember thinking how calm and subdued concerts were after they dropped general admission.

 

What sucked about the chairs on the floor was for the wilder concerts people STOOD on the freaking chairs, and as wasted as we were, we were always falling OFF of them! My 84 show was a rickety one!

 

I think they started doing that MOSTLY because of the problems they had at a Who concert where a few people got trampled....some places do it occasionally for certain shows...about the only ones Hershey does it for are like "Festival" shows, and bands that request it...Dave Matthews started requesting that the past few times he was here....

 

I also think that the venue feels that they can charge more for "first ten row" seats than the rest...

 

I was at The Who concert a few years earlier at the Riverfront Coliseum where that tragedy happened and I'm not at all surprised that it did. They only opened one door on each side of the building and the entire crowd moved as one like BB's going down a funnel. I remember being lifted completely off of my feet during the mad crush for the doors. It was one of the scariest crowds I've ever been in.

 

That's crazy Moon! Heck I was 14 years old when I saw my first concert. It was Day On The Green in Oakland. The Who "It's Hard" Tour with The Clash opening! "Combat Rock" baby!

I was scared of the crowd there as well. It was like going to a fuckking Dead show. I remember everyone in the parking lot drinking, smoking, toking and doing mushrooms.

 

1982

 

unreal

[EagleMoon]

I've been reading everyone's stories of their shows and it suddenly hit me that my first concerts were all general admission. It was so different from the way it is now. There were none of these well ordered folding chairs on the floor. Just a bare, open expanse of space to stand. Everyone ran to the front as soon as they got into the door and initially there might have been a little pushing and shifting as you jockeyed for the closest spot, but then you stood there and waited for the concert to begin. If you moved to go to the bathroom you might not get back to your original spot. There were no intermissions. I quit going to concerts for a long while during the 90's and remember thinking how calm and subdued concerts were after they dropped general admission.

 

What sucked about the chairs on the floor was for the wilder concerts people STOOD on the freaking chairs, and as wasted as we were, we were always falling OFF of them! My 84 show was a rickety one!

 

I think they started doing that MOSTLY because of the problems they had at a Who concert where a few people got trampled....some places do it occasionally for certain shows...about the only ones Hershey does it for are like "Festival" shows, and bands that request it...Dave Matthews started requesting that the past few times he was here....

 

I also think that the venue feels that they can charge more for "first ten row" seats than the rest...

 

I was at The Who concert a few years earlier at the Riverfront Coliseum where that tragedy happened and I'm not at all surprised that it did. They only opened one door on each side of the building and the entire crowd moved as one like BB's going down a funnel. I remember being lifted completely off of my feet during the mad crush for the doors. It was one of the scariest crowds I've ever been in.

 

That's crazy Moon! Heck I was 14 years old when I saw my first concert. It was Day On The Green in Oakland. The Who "It's Hard" Tour with The Clash opening! "Combat Rock" baby!

I was scared of the crowd there as well. It was like going to a fuckking Dead show. I remember everyone in the parking lot drinking, smoking, toking and doing mushrooms.

 

1982

 

unreal

 

That's one thing I don't miss from the concerts back then...all the obvious drug use.

[Blue J]

Nepal, Mt Everest Base Camp

 

S.H.I.T. Benefit Concert

 

Sherpa Housing Intiative Training was a blast. Hemisphere's tour 1978. It was a surprise addition to the tour. Had to use equipment borrowed from other bands. Proceeds went to teach Sherpas how to make houses instead of huts. Pretty cool

 

Insanely cool. Freakin Hemisheres yet you bastard! Lol

 

There's something about surprise benefit shows.. I'll never forget Red Deer!

 

I read a wonderfully ebullient review of this show in the Yukon Blade Grinder!

[JARG]

Hemispheres, Austin, 1979. What made it memorable, apart from the killer set list, is that April Wine opened, and off all the bands I've seen open for Rush, I was more familiar with April Wine's material than I was with any of the other opening bands.

[JARG]

San Antonio/Alamodome T4E show on 12.2.1996. A few reasons. One it was one of those nights when the band was just "right" and had their groove on (this despite there being an amp issue during Subdivisions and their absolutely perfect play of Red Barchetta made that show). The crowd was also on point that night. Singing along and raucous, but not rowdy. It is also distinct in it being the only time they played the Alamodome (a massive barn of a venue that has surprisingly good acoustics). And, for me, it was the last time I saw them before the tragedies and the hiatus.

 

I was at that show. Yeah, it was a good one. That said, it took Alex several songs to quit being pissed at his tech.

[Bard]

That's only one of the myriad of reasons why General Admission always sucked, and always will.

Totally wrong son. I was on numerous GA concerts and it was always calm and people around me showed respect and cared for each other. I never had any trouble in over 30 years of attending hundreds of concerts. Good thing is that I saw my most memorable (GA) Rush shows from the front row.

 

You're just fortunate, son. Most GA concerts are a clusterfuck. Of course, I can only speak for SoCal. Respect and care for others has NEVER been a priority in Los Angeles during a GA gig. Whether it's a club or a stadium...people 'round these here parts generally think it's a free for all drunkfest moshing madness opportunity to be as wackadoodle as they can, and damn the consequences. I know. I've had to endure the rowdy BS for the better part of 35 years. What's always interesting about GA behavior is..the women are far more rude and presumptuous than the men. Weird.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Van Squalen

[Captain Avatar]

For me there are two contenders:

1) November 7, 1996. US Air Arena in Landover, Maryland. Test for Echo Tour. I had never seen Rush before in concert, although they had been my favorite band for about four or five years prior. I sat transfixed, mouth agape, watching the nut and bolt coming together, Thus Spake Zarathustra blasting from the speakers. When the lights came on and they began the first notes of Dreamline, I had the biggest smile plastered on my face. It was like watching three superheroes that, until that moment, could have been mythical for all I knew. When the first strums of Natural Science began, I went berserk! Awesome memory.

2) July 9, 2002. Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. Vapor Trails Tour. Couldn't believe that they were back again, nor that I was there to witness it. They played with a new intensity, no doubt spurred on by Neil's triumphant return. During the concert, a HUGE thunderstorm descended upon the pavilion, such that the sky, which had hitherto been crystal blue, was rendered charcoal in mere moments. The thunder rolled, the lightning crashed, and the rain and wind began raging with such ferocity that sheets of water were cascading into and under the pavilion and onto the band and their instruments, such that I thought for sure they were going to stop playing. But Geddy sort of looked up defiantly, straight into the torrent, hair and bass guitar soaked, and played on. Another awesome memory indeed.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Captain Avatar

[Blue J]

2)

July 9, 2002. Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. Vapor Trails Tour. Couldn't believe that they were back again, nor that I was there to witness it. They played with a new intensity, no doubt spurred on by Neil's triumphant return. During the concert, a HUGE thunderstorm descended upon the pavilion, such that the sky, which had hitherto been crystal blue, was rendered charcoal in mere moments. The thunder rolled, the lightning crashed, and the rain and wind began raging with such ferocity that sheets of water were cascading into and under the pavilion and onto the band and their instruments, such that I thought for sure they were going to stop playing. But Geddy sort of looked up defiantly, straight into the torrent, hair and bass guitar soaked, and played on. Another awesome memory indeed.

 

I was not at that show, but I've been to that same venue, exactly once- and there was also a huge thunderstorm that soaked us all. I was on the lawn, and had a blast. 1998, it was.

[ReRushed]

Four Rush concerts stick out in my mind. I don't recall the exact dates:

 

1981 - Brendan Byrne Arena (My first Rush concert!)

1984 - Radio City Music Hall (Three new songs!)

2004 - PNC Banks Arts Center (My Rush love affair is rekindled. And Alex plays snippets of Beatles songs!)

2010 - PNC Banks Arts Center (Underwhelmed reading the setlist. Blown away by the performance. Alex was on fire!)

[Tombstone Mountain]

That's only one of the myriad of reasons why General Admission always sucked, and always will.

Totally wrong son. I was on numerous GA concerts and it was always calm and people around me showed respect and cared for each other. I never had any trouble in over 30 years of attending hundreds of concerts. Good thing is that I saw my most memorable (GA) Rush shows from the front row.

When Grey calls you out, something ain't right! You done effed up.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Tombstone Mountain

[greyfriar]

That's only one of the myriad of reasons why General Admission always sucked, and always will.

Totally wrong son. I was on numerous GA concerts and it was always calm and people around me showed respect and cared for each other. I never had any trouble in over 30 years of attending hundreds of concerts. Good thing is that I saw my most memorable (GA) Rush shows from the front row.

When Grey calls you out, something ain't right! You done effed up.

:codger: Just wanted to make sure that we all have different experiences. Mine were always very good. ;)

 

Back to topic:

The New World tour concert I saw was very memorable. Sound back then is easy in my top 3 of any live sound, by any band.

My first US show at the Alamodome in San Antonio. No setlist information and 2112 in its entirety. What a ride!

Seeing them perform in Nürnberg in front of 1,000 people on the RTB tour.

Front row last minute ticket for 125 $ on the Time Machine tour in Omaha.

Meet and Greet on the Time Machine tour in Frankfurt.

 

Every single one of the Rush shows I've seen, has something to tell. Great experiences and always a special feeling in the air, when I'm in the same town as :rush:

Edited March 25, 2015 by greyfriar

[Self-Indulgence]

The last Rush concert is always the most memorable for me. That is real easy to say after this killer tour!

 

I'd like to share a Rush concert memory that sticks in my head. It is entitled "Billy Sheehan Sucks!"

 

On the Presto tour they played some different venues in Southern California. Mr. Big opened the L.A. Forum show. I was not a fan, but knew that Billy was a shredder. We decided to go to our seats to check out his finale. Everyone else did too, so the entrance to the seats was packed and moving very slowly. You could hear Mr. Sheehan wailing away, like Eddie Van Halen, on the bass! A small Sheehan fan was trying to push his way through and keep shouting: "I've got to see Billy. He's the best bass player ever." We told him to calm down, but he wouldn't let up. Finally a very large Rush fan turned and shouted: Billy Sheehan Sucks! He Sucks! Geddy Lee is the best bass player on the planet! The guy looked up shockingly, then ran to the next entrance. Everyone just busted a gut laughing. Geddy! Geddy! We all chanted.

 

We had great seats and Rush brought back Xanadu on that tour.

[x1yyz]

My most memorable Rush concert was the LA Forum on August 1st. Things started off well because I was having a wonderful day and a lot of fun hanging out with people, but it only got better when the band took the stage. What really made it for me was the energy of the crowd. It was palpable, and it kept building throughout the night. It was exhilarating. (I really wish I was better at describing things like this, but maybe others who were there can do the night justice.)