Thank you very much, Toronto! Good night!
It was in September of 1984, just back to my second year of college, that I reconvened with my hometown friends in The Big Smoke, AKA Toronto, Canada. For this was yet another monumental occasion, the return of Rush to their hometown for an evening of fine musical entertainment.
When my gang and I arrived at our concert seats, we found some curious goodies awaiting us. There was a little printed programme for the evening, welcoming us, the loyal fans, to the videotaping of that night's show. And would we please put on the snappy 3-D glasses provided ("you'll know when to wear them") and smile for the cameras? Oh boy, does it get any better than this?
Opening act Red Rider was mildly interesting. I knew a tiny bit of their music, especially the hit songs Lunatic Fringe, White Hot, and Don't Fight It. Today's youngsters may have no clue who Red Rider was, but they were in fact Tom Cochrane's band in his early days on the circuit. You know, Tom Cochrane, best known for hits Big League and Life is a Highway. Not bad stuff, but not as exciting as the headliner that evening.
Naturally, Canada's homegrown heroes received a roar of appreciation when they took the stage. Rush injected into the set a healthy portion of their latest album Grace Under Pressure, a synth-heavy soundtrack to a dystopian world - the bleak soundscape that the boys concocted for the recording. As I mentioned in a previous post, Alex's guitars once again moved nearer to the front of the mix, kind of sharing the stage with Geddy's droning keyboards. Don't get me wrong - this is excellent music, crafted with care and precision as always, but it does have a price-tag.... it's gloomy and depressing for the most part.
Rush always boasts pristine concert sound, with perhaps the best road crew around, so combined with their impeccable musicianship and stunning concert visuals, one can only marvel at the experience. Red Sector A, Kid Gloves and Red Lenses were among my favourite tunes from the new disc, and naturally, the classics from Rush's "Golden Era" were amazing.
The moment came for our 3-D glasses.... the intro video for the Signals song The Weapon played upon the large screen at stage rear. Count Floyd from television's SCTV appeared, howling and snarling. He warned us that the next song was "scaaaarry stuff, kids" and that we must now put on our 3-D glasses. I don't think there was anything 3-D to look at, but the joke was on us. When I finally got around to seeing the video of this concert, the audience looked pretty silly wearing those white cardboard glasses, peering all over the place trying to find whatever was going to pop out in 3-D. Ha - what a bunch of clowns!
I offered up my hard-earned cash for some merchandise, too: a Grace Under Pressure Tour shirt, a tour program, and a couple of buttons. Everything but the shirt are still in my possession. True Rush fans wear their tour shirts until they are rags not even worth waxing their cars with. Loyalty points!
The tour program: funny stories, great pics, and a puzzle!
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