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  • Archive Status: All known unofficial live recordings from 1974 through 1997 are now currently available for download. 2002 and onward will be added throughout 2026.

Audio 12 December 1974 - University of Toronto Convocation Hall, Toronto, Ontario [Audience]

Rush Archives

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Syrinx Computers

Downloads:​

Track Listing:​

01 - Intro​
02 - Finding My Way​
03 - Best I Can​
04 - In The Mood​
05 - Anthem​
06 - Here Again​
07 - Bad Boy​
08 - Guitar Solo​
09 - Working Man​
10 - Drum Solo​

Notes:​

  • This performance was originally set to be The Sensational Alex Harvey Band opening for Manfred Mann, however the equipment for SAHB was lost in air transit and they were ultimately unable to play the show. This resulted in Rush being called to fill the opening slot with an hour's notice, who were luckily already in Ontario, having played in Ottawa two days prior. The lengthier intro at the beginning of the 1st gen copy of Taper 1 captures an announcer telling the crowd about the SAHB equipment loss and that Rush would be filling in. In hindsight, it's a miracle a last minute show like this was even recorded, as no one would have been at this concert expecting to see Rush, but luckily a group of habitual tapers were in the audience.
  • This recording features an early live version of Anthem.
  • Early pieces of By-Tor And The Snow Dog can be heard during the middle section of Working Man, as usual for 1974 shows with Neil.
  • This show was recorded by the same group of friends who recorded Rush on October 24 at Massey Hall, and again in 1975 on June 25 at Massey Hall. It's interesting to note how they call out for Suffragette City a total of nine times during this show (plus another few times at Massey Hall 1975), the David Bowie cover that Rush was well known for when John Rutsey was still on drums. It's clear some of these guys saw Rush at a show prior to August, though if a recording ever actually existed, it seems unlikely to have survived.
  • This show was recorded by two different tapers among the friend group in attendance. Source 1 is the version that has circulated for decades, however as of May 2025 we now have a notable upgrade, sourced from a 1st gen reel-to-reel copy made by the original taper for their own listening purposes. Sadly the master tape was long lost. Source 2 is completely uncirculated and was transferred direct from the master tape, however it was sadly damaged in the past, having serious flutter issues and a constantly increasing speed, therefore is not really listenable. The damage on Source 2 seems to have been the result of the tape being stretched, which could have been caused by either the pressure pad falling off during an unmonitored transfer, or issues with resistance in the original poor quality cassette shell. While Source 2 could be the better recording, it sadly is not really fixable even with the tools currently available.
  • Old bootleg releases incorrectly reference the date to be November 1st at the Convocation Hall in Toronto, however Rush played the Forum in Montreal on that day. Years ago I wrote an extended post below explaining why this tape was most definitely December 12th in Toronto, but if anyone still had doubts, a newspaper review for the show on December 12 corroborates what is heard at the beginning of the 1st gen upgrade of this tape about Rush filling in.

Preview:​

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Extended Notes on the Date Controversy:​

Here we have yet another recording that often circulates with a mislabeled date, which needs to be corrected for the record.

November 1 in Montreal, or December 12 in Toronto? One of these date/venue combos is correct, and one is wrong. Assuming the December 12 date is correct, the earliest live recording of Anthem would be November 19 in Seattle. In the Seattle recording, Geddy clearly seems to still be breaking in the new song vocally, so I imagine they weren't playing it very long at that point. With this recording, Geddy sounds more comfortable with singing it, and sounds way closer to live recordings that followed and the album version. Unfortunately, I was unable to find an approximate date for when Anthem was written or first performed. Partly based on the inclusion of Anthem in the setlist, I think it is safest to assume this is the correct date and venue, as November 1 seems to be too early of a date for this recording.

However, there are a few other factors to note. Geddy also references that In The Mood will be released as a single sometime soon, which could also help verify the date of this performance. I have yet been able to figure out the date In The Mood was released as a single, although with the Electric Lady Studios recording on Dec 22, Geddy states it has just been released. In The Mood was not performed during the Dec 16 recording in Cleveland, so the next recording to examine would be Nov 19 Seattle again, and Nov 28 at the Whisky A Go Go. In these recordings, Geddy just states In The Mood will be released as their next single, as the one here we're questioning he implies soon. That could just be a choice of words that bears little meaning to help determine our date, but it is worth noting.

Lastly, a note about the guys who are recording the show. They constantly burp, blurt out random statements, call out for non-Rush songs, and make what could possibly be interpreted as heckling comments towards the band. Luckily, most of this annoying banter is in between songs, because despite it they seem to actually enjoy the music. One common theme of their banter is that they keep yelling for the David Bowie song "Suffragette City". Interestingly, "Suffragette City" is also heard being yelled out multiple times during the 25 June 1975 Toronto recording from the Fly By Night tour. It's pretty easy to be certain the group of people who recorded that 1975 show are among the same who recorded this one, their "heckling" comments and banter are nearly identical. You can also hear evidence that the guys in the June '75 recording have seen Rush perform live before, as they make references to Bad Boy (which wasn't played that night), and others like In The Mood and Working Man. It goes without saying they would've been more likely to have recorded several shows in Toronto, rather than take a trip to Montreal. These guys are known for having taped a lot of bands in general that came through Toronto during the 1970s.

Also, in the new book "Wandering The Face of The Earth: The Official Touring History", which obviously had access to all of these early live recordings to denote setlists for particular dates, it also puts this recording's setlist down under December 12, and not November 1.

I am very comfortable with Dec 12 being claimed as the real date for this recording. That's all I have for now in regards to this one. If you have further details that either support or oppose this conclusion, please feel free to post it here.
 
Fairly confident it's Toronto. This group of clowns recorded many prog groups who came through the Toronto area. There are (at the very least) Pink Floyd and Genesis recordings out there by the same guys from roughly the same time frame, also in Toronto. Doubtful that they would have made it all the way to Montreal, as they sound like kids.
 
Ron2112 said:
Fairly confident it's Toronto. This group of clowns recorded many prog groups who came through the Toronto area. There are (at the very least) Pink Floyd and Genesis recordings out there by the same guys from roughly the same time frame, also in Toronto. Doubtful that they would have made it all the way to Montreal, as they sound like kids.
Click to expand...
Are these the Yeeshkul guys?
 
Happy to share another big Rush upgrade today!

We've released a 1st gen upgrade of the known recording of this show, which is a reel-to-reel copy made by the taper for listening. Sadly the master cassette was long lost, but this is still a very notable improvement! It also has a lengthier unheard intro, which I've explained in the main notes above.

Secondly, we've shared an uncirculated second taper source of this show, which was recorded by one among the same group of friends. For this one, it is a transfer of the master tape, but it sadly was physically damaged some time ago, so is not really listenable nor significantly fixable. I've explained that in more detail in the notes above as well.
 
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