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Video 24 August 1979 - Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton, Ontario [Soundcheck] [Proshot]

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Downloads:

Song Segments Captured:

The Spirit Of Radio (Soundcheck)​
Jacob's Ladder (Soundcheck)​
2112​

Notes:

  • Very rare proshot footage from the 1970s exists for this particular show on several scattered newsreels, mainly only from the soundcheck.
  • While only a few clips are publicly available from what was overall videotaped, presumably by CBC, it is worth noting that the entire concert was not filmed.
  • With various versions of this having been scattered in different places over the years, it is very hard to get a comprehensive idea of what publicly exists. Some of these clips are often mixed with clips from Buffalo 1980, and without proper audio, so paying attention to the band's outfits is important to know which is which. We've long been wanting to make a combined source merge of all available clips, which hopefully can finally come to fruition sometime in 2026...

Preview:


 
Rush at Ivor Wynne Stadium 1979 was definitely filmed. Throughout the years so much of the soundcheck would surface in interviews and such. In a Made for TV doc there is footage from the actual show and in the comments of CBC's official YouTube channel, which is kind of like a Canadian MTV for those who don't know, They said "The remainder of the archive is largely concert footage, which we don't have the rights to distribute, unfortunately." the video I'm referring to ill link below




I've done a little digging on the subject and found 2 things
1. CBC website might of hosted some more footage at one point but this hasn't been proven. Internet archive can be hit or miss sometimes
2. On the R30 DVD rush gives credit to CBC for a lot of the archived footage on the second disc. On that Bonus DVD there's a short sample of the soundcheck different from the clip they uploaded to YouTube and an interview with Geddy.

If anyone else has more details about this don't be afraid to respond, this is my personal holy grail of rush material. I'll also share a video I made a while ago of all the footage I could find combined together, its not greatly edited but you will get the idea

 
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Thank you for the very intriguing post. I don't have more details to add, unfortunately.

It makes some sense that there might be some more footage in the can from Ivor Wynne. I always assumed this was some TV footage for a CBC story that included snips of soundcheck, band walking to stage, and some clips of the opening number (2112 on that tour), and then the cameras go off. I noted that some of the audio (Natural Science from the live footage and Jacob's Ladder from the soundcheck footage) is dubbed studio album sound, not sure what that signifies. The 2112 audio from the live footage seems legit. If this was actually more comprehensively captured on film, this is indeed would be a holy grail!

One question is that at the very end of the second YouTube video you posted, after it says "Bonus," there is some footage of the band from what looks like the Permanent Waves Tour playing Xanadu. Does anyone know what that's from?

Thanks!
 
Thank you for the very intriguing post. I don't have more details to add, unfortunately.

It makes some sense that there might be some more footage in the can from Ivor Wynne. I always assumed this was some TV footage for a CBC story that included snips of soundcheck, band walking to stage, and some clips of the opening number (2112 on that tour), and then the cameras go off. I noted that some of the audio (Natural Science from the live footage and Jacob's Ladder from the soundcheck footage) is dubbed studio album sound, not sure what that signifies. The 2112 audio from the live footage seems legit. If this was actually more comprehensively captured on film, this is indeed would be a holy grail!

One question is that at the very end of the second YouTube video you posted, after it says "Bonus," there is some footage of the band from what looks like the Permanent Waves Tour playing Xanadu. Does anyone know what that's from?

Thanks!
The audio is something I dubbed in since there is talking over the original footage. I made that edit pretty fast awhile ago just wanting to share it with more people, natural science wasn’t even played that night, Jacobs ladder however was played at the soundcheck for sure. The original audio does exist❗

That clip at the end is labeled as Toronto 1980 in the original documentary but I actually think this is false. If you look closely at their clothes you can see it’s the same as the Buffalo NY footage (I will link below). This actually leads me to believe more was filmed then we realize from that show considering how much exists from different parts of the show. The more I dive into old rush tv interviews from the time, the more footage I find of these two shows here and there. Since making that YouTube video I have already found more footage from that night

 
I hope this isn't too redundant, but this popped up in my YouTube feed this morning. 30 seconds in, this video has slightly more of the Spirit of Radio soundcheck than what was previously posted here.
 
@Grommet2112 has been planning to eventually make a new video compiling all the scattered sources of the Ivor Wynne footage, with pieces of original audio, so that may be something in the works for 2024.
 
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