Audio 5 March 1976 - Randhurst Ice Arena, Mount Prospect, Illinois [Audience]

[Rush Archives]

Downloads:​

• 1976-03-05 - Mount Prospect, Illinois (44-16 AKAV)
• 1976-03-05 - Mount Prospect, Illinois (96-24 AKAV)

Track Listing:​

01 - Intro​

02 - Bastille Day​

03 - Anthem​

04 - Lakeside Park​

05 - I Think I'm Going Bald​

06 - By-Tor And The Snow Dog​

07 - Fly By Night​

08 - Working Man​

09 - Drum Solo​

10 - Finding My Way​

Notes:​

• This is one of only two recordings from the "Down The Tubes" tour that are known to exist in circulation, and features the only known live recording of I Think I'm Going Bald.
• This also features one of five known recordings of Fly By Night played in its entirety. Within three weeks after this show, Fly By Night was only ever played partially in a medley with In The Mood.
• Another unique aspect of this recording is Finding My Way being played as the sole encore, when with later recordings it is always played in partial form in a medley of other songs. During the debut Rush tour and Fly By Night tour, Finding My Way was always the opening song, which was replaced with Bastille Day starting with the Caress Of Steel tour.
• The setlist structure here at the Randhurst Arena very closely resembles what we currently know about typical non-headlining concerts during the Caress Of Steel tour. The difference here is that The Necromancer seems to have been omitted in favor for I Think I'm Going Bald and Fly By Night, plus enough time for an encore with Finding My Way. Confirmed by Rush's original sound engineer Ian Grandy, I Think I'm Going Bald was played during a small handful of COS tour dates, allegedly usually resulting in a poor reception. While no one knows for sure if parts of The Fountain Of Lamneth were ever played, there have been fan reports claiming that some iteration was played during some COS tour performances.
• Alongside the 15 November 1975 Rockford recording, no other recordings from the Caress Of Steel tour have yet been reported to exist with any credibility.
• For a long time, a live recording of I Think I’m Going Bald has been one of several potential Rush recordings held at a mythical holy grail status. By the gracious generosity of original taper Mark Moore, and the help of “Analog Kid Audio Video” for the high quality transfer, we now can hear this song live for the first time.
• In the book "Wandering The Face of The Earth: The Official Touring History", there is a note claiming that a recording for this date once existed and featured Bald, but had since been long lost. In the past I'd spoken with someone about this "lost" recording, who is friends with the person who provided the claim about the tape once existing. He stated that when it was recorded, only a few copies were made amongst a small group of friends. He claimed the tape(s) had been lost or possibly taped over many decades ago, innocently not realizing its great value, and that none of the copies were able to be found. Despite all that, the recording is now proven to have somehow survived these assertions of its likely demise, and what a miracle it is for Rush history that it did survive. Luckily, the taper, Mark Moore, had recently unearthed the master tape during the summer of 2022.
• If you or anyone you know recorded Rush at any point between 1968 and mid-1977, these are very valuable documents of Rush history, and would be very important to be preserved online.

Preview:​

​

 

[By-Tor X-1]

I've replaced the video in the main post with the entire concert upon its full release.



Also, here's an outtake from my original notes:

• Even though March 5 has long been considered part of the very beginning of the 2112 tour, it appears that some of the earliest dates didn't yet feature 2112 tracks. The 2112 album was recorded sometime during a month off from touring between January 10 and February 6, but not released until approximately very late March. From February 6 to sometime around mid March 1976, it is now being considered as an extension of the COS tour that preceded the proper start of the 2112 tour. With plenty evidence presented, many people are now believing that the COS tour properly ended on March 8, while the 2112 tour properly started a week later on March 15. By the time of the March 26 Seattle concert three weeks later, they were already playing the standard 2112 tour setlist we see repeated in May in Springfield and June in Toronto (ATWAS album). For a full explanation of the date controversy, you can read the discussion in the posts below or at the dedicated research thread, which thoroughly presents all evidence that the COS tour likely spanned longer than previously believed.

----------

I’d like to propose and hopefully discuss something that myself and others are considering.

For years it has been said that the Caress Of Steel tour ended on January 10 of 1976 with Rush’s return to Toronto, which was their last gig until February 6. During that downtime, the band recorded 2112. Starting February 6, they went back on the road without any real break from touring until about a week and a half between July 29 and August 8 to mix the All The World’s A Stage album. That break is considered the dividing line between the 2112 and ATWAS tours.

Truth is, for all tours preceding the A Farewell To Kings tour, drawing the starting and ending lines have been harder to set in stone with absolute certainty. In fact, these proposed start/end dates for the early tours have changed several times over the years. Before the “Wandering…” book, I remember the debut tour was proposed to have started on February 4 of 1974 and lasted until January 31 of 1975, as well as a few other shifts among the dates of the 2112 and ATWAS tours. This can still be reflected on the official Rush website. Problem is, the physical documents of these early years are very sparse, speculative, and even at times incorrect. Rush’s official site also listed many wrong dates, cities and venues. The research that went into the Wandering book, which is an officially recognized Rush product, set very deep into research to fix as many of the unknowns and inaccuracies from the official site’s records.

My point? It is being proposed that the Caress Of Steel tour should, in fact, span through about mid-March of 1976, despite the month long break following January 10, due to the fact the COS setlists remained for a while longer until the 2112 tracks were broken in sometime in mid to late March.

Again, the early documentation is poor, a lot based on fragmented records, and the officially recognized dates have changed several times. In fact, there may have not really been a true set beginning and end date to any of these tours until the AFTK tour in August 1977. The band toured so much without many breaks in the early years that perhaps such dates weren’t really considered a worthy topic. The band was on tour constantly, period, the defining lines of tours in the eyes of the band likely coincided with when the new material was released and fully introduced into the setlsts.

What we don’t really want to do is have too many various sources start writing their own versions of history, which makes a topic that is confusing, even more confusing to the average fan who isn’t well researched on these things. It’s already often hard for me to explain to people why Wandering(and CX1.net’s mirror of these dates) and the Rush website have so many differences.

If the people behind Wandering agree to change the dividing lines between tours again in the next edition of the book, I’m more than happy to support this change. The resurfacing of the Randhurst tape is bringing up hard facts that weren’t really available in the past, so just like ancient archeology, new discoveries sometimes rewrite the pages of history.

It has been said that the period could be called the “Pre-2112 tour” or “2112 warm-up tour”, however compared to other tours of that type, the setlist doesn’t feature early songs from the upcoming album, rather mirrors the preceding tour. I think, going forward, perhaps we should look at it exactly like the forgotten idea of the “Archives tour”. Rush released the Archives compilation of their first three albums on vinyl and cassette during the first half of 1978, and the band hit the road again during May for a little promotion, which was about a month after the AFTK tour supposedly ended in early April. The setlist however remained identical, and these days is considered just an extension of the AFTK tour, and I believe it makes perfect sense to label it this way. I think this is a very similar mirroring to what we’re learning with the COS tour.

Hopefully people are willing to discuss this, I’d really like to see what others think on the topic.

 

[CoS]

Almost a surreal experience to finally hear this! Really good sound quality all things considered. Interesting too to hear how they played it beyond the studio version fade out. Thanks!

 

[By-Tor X-1]

Almost a surreal experience to finally hear this! Really good sound quality all things considered. Interesting too to hear how they played it beyond the studio version fade out. Thanks!

I was thinking the same thing when I first heard the full song, quite a surreal feeling! It felt like a dream.

I'd been interested to hear how they would end the song without the fade out, and it exceeded what I expected! A little bit of an alternate ending arrangement, rather than just ending with a little flourish at the conclusion of the familiar guitar solo part, as I had expected compared to other live songs with studio fadeouts.

It takes multiple listens to fully absorb every nuance going on. If you listen to what Neil is doing on the drums towards the end? He's so busy and all over the place! Crazy!

----------

Even though the full recording isn't available yet, since Mark has publicly shared the segment of Bald on YouTube, I've moved this draft into public view, allowing the historical perspective.

 

[CoS]

Very good points you bring up here. Simply put, I don't think you could consider this set of tour dates to be part of the 2112 tour when, as far as we know, there were no songs from 2112 in the setlist. According to Wandering the Face of the Earth you see that they were both headlining and and openers in this period, so there would have been opportunities to preview 2112 tracks. We can't completely rule out that a 2112 song could have been played during this period, and I suppose we would have even more confidence in considering this as part of the CoS tour if Rush was the sole headliner and not co-headlining on this March 5th date (maybe Rush then gets more stage time?). But until more proof surfaces, I think we can be reasonably assume that no 2112 songs were played before March 5th. The first proof of any 2112 song being played is the March 25th Seattle date, right?

I agree that it makes more sense to consider this as part of the CoS tour rather than something like the "Pre-2112 Tour" as they didn't feature any "pre-release" previews of any songs from 2112.

On a separate note, I think they got a decent crowd reaction at the end of I Think I'm Going Bald in this clip.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

Anyone who doesn't own the "Wandering..." book can see the online mirroring of it at Cygnus-X1.net's tour listing page, which should help anyone reference what is being talked about.

"Analog Kid Audio Video" proposed to me that the chain of four gigs at The Starwood in mid-March possibly saw the band introduce the new songs. He is personally considerng this Randhurst gig a Caress of Steel tour show. I can't argue with that at all, and support it too, I was already struggling to consider this part of the 2112 tour, but the currently accepted dividing lines between the tours were troubling me. I previously figured to settle on the "COS show in spirit" thing. Though I'm so glad this topic has been brought up, I initially didn't want to be the only one trying to convince people the current official tour boundaries should be questioned.

My speculative theory before this was discussed, was March 21 in Sacramento probably being the start of the standard 2112 setlist, based on the fact that the recording for March 26 in Seattle features the 2112 setlist, and both gigs, along with the two in between in Fresno and Medford, all feature Rush co-billing with Styx, with Sutherland Brothers and Quiver as the openers. This has me believing the shows were likely identical. AKAV's theory could still very likely be correct, even if the sets at the Starwood may have not been identical to the standard 2112 setlist, we may have at least heard Something For Nothing and perhaps the title piece.

However, if we are going to extend the line of COS tour to mid-March, how do we make that choice? Is it best to overshoot, or undershoot? I'd say undershoot surely, use the first Starwood date on March 15, since extending it past January 10 is already highly debatable. That's the big problem with the lack of recordings between 1974 and 1976, it leaves so many questions up in the air. What we can feel comfortable saying, 2112 tracks were likely not played from March 8 and prior. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a topic of discussion before a next edition of "Wandering" is released, from what I understand those guys are just as serious about these things as we are. I'd like to see that happen. If this website the only source projecting the new dates, it's going to be quite hard to get a wide range of people to accept it, it's already hard for me to convince some people not to cite the official Rush website as definitive. As far as my opinion goes, I vote for the 2112 tour starting with March 15. I think the best path forward is for me to indeed make this site reflect the proposed new dates, that way it'll help get that ball rolling forward.

On the other note you mentioned, I did notice that too. The crowd didn't seem to not enjoy hearing Bald being performed, despite Ian Grandy's claim that "it never went over really well". I think that's something worthy to note. I think the band liked all the material on the album at the time, so would've played as much of it as they could whenever they had the chance, which is why it seems on some odd gigs they swapped out The Necromancer for Bald and Fly By Night. If a gig permitted longer time on stage, they may have done at least both Necromancer and Bald, or perhaps Necromancer and Bacchus Plateau. I've already discussed my full theories on parts of the Lamneth suite being played under the Rockford '75 thread.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

I think the best path forward is for me to indeed make this site reflect the proposed new dates, that way it'll help get that ball rolling forward.

On that note, I've now updated the main page of the website to reflect what is being discussed here, as well as a slight revision in the main post of this Randhurst thread.
In the meantime, further changes may be made while discussions on the path forward are ongoing.

 

[CoS]

As far as my opinion goes, I vote for the 2112 tour starting with March 15.

After taking a closer look at the "Wandering" book, I'd agree. In addition to the points you make, the book has a March 13th entry with no tour date, but states that "Over 100,000 copies of 2112 have been sold in the 5 days since its release." There is a March 8th date in Sioux City, IA listed, but it's the last date touring with Kansas and the entry implies that they were an opener rather than co-billed with Kansas. Could there have been a 2112 song thrown in there?...maybe, but there's a better chance that some version of the 2112 tour setlist kicked in on the 15th, especially since the album had just been officially released. There's also a review snippet from the Sacramento March 21st show that mentions that they "moved well through 70 minutes of metal mashing and echo effects - mostly promoting their new album." So we know 2112 songs were being played as early as the 21st.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

Anyone who has known me long enough knows that I sometimes tend to over explain things with every single possible reason and explanation, and with tons of comparisons, sometimes to the point of ultimately talking myself in circles. I think I made every substantial point without beating this into the ground. I would like to add though, I completely overlooked this little note in the Wandering book earlier in the week. I'm sure I read this note in the past, but this was the first time since I learned about this tape still existing. Under the very first part of the 2112 section of the book:



So if anyone is hard-set to go by the currently supported dates, even the book mentions there is ambiguity between the tour lines. I have been made aware that there are some people who still firmly want to call this Randhurst show at 2112 tour concert, and while I full understand why this is being a debated topic, at this point I have zero reason to support saying the Caress Of Steel tour ended on January 10. The month off for recording the album is apparent, and would make sense to consider the gigs that succeeded to be part of the new tour, but if the band went back on the road with the clear intention to continue promoting Caress of Steel for a while longer (as is clearly apparent with this Randhurst recording), then I think it is obvious that the band wanted to try a bit longer to promote and improve the poor reception of Caress of Steel, until it was closer to the release of 2112 to start the new promotion. Does that not make perfect sense in hindsight? It does to me.

Myself and others have said the same thing, that at this point the arguments for the COS tour extending into mid-March are aplenty. So for those opposing this and still go by the January 10 end date, a legitimate and productive historical debate for utmost accuracy should present evidence and theories as to why something "is" or "should be". In this case, presenting why March 8 and earlier being part of the 2112 tour needs to be elaborated on. Many times over the years people have quoted something because "it's on the official Rush website", but with anyone who has researched the Wandering book and dug decently into live recordings, you'd know that the official site is full of proven inaccuracies, therefore is not substantial evidence on the dividing dates of the COS and 2112 tours.

The point I made earlier about not "overshooting" still stands. We don't want to extend too far. The March 8 show a few days later clearly falls more in line with the preceding gigs performing with Kansas, while the chain of four Starwood shows starting on March 15 are a clear change in comparison with preceding dates. That week off the road in between could be that defining line for the band to finalize preparations of their new headline and opening setlists. While evidence very easily points at the 2112 tour properly starting on March 21 at the latest (as presented in the above posts), AKAV's point about the band breaking in the new songs at the chain of Starwood gigs makes perfect sense as well. If someone out there can unearth a recording of a Starwood gig, that would be amazing, but of course we know how rare tapes from this era are. If someone can produce more recordings between February 6 and March 8, that would help further support or reject what is being said here about the dividing lines of these two tours. On the point about perhaps a 2112 track being played during this time, we have to remember the only tracks they played until the later ATWAS tour was Something For Nothing and 2112. I believe that even if they played SFN or maybe the 2112 Overture and Temples, at least one of those would have been done during this Randhurst show instead of something like I Think I'm Going Bald and Fly By Night. Unless such evidence is produced, I am very comfortable as a serious historian presenting this Randhurst recording as part of the Caress of Steel tour. Of course I am in no way an authority on the matter, but I'd feel wrong if I stuck to current beliefs just because I'd be the only one publicly presenting something that evidence shows is probably not historically accurate. I'll quote what I said a few days ago, "like ancient archeology, new discoveries sometimes rewrite the pages of history", and to add to that, anyone who is a serious historian knows that sometimes it is hard to get people to break from what they always believed to be true.

It would not suprise me one bit if newly discovered recordings from early and mid 1975 could also potentially rewrite the current lines of the debut tour ending, Fly By Night tour beginning and ending, and Caress of Steel tour beginning. For example, the dates at the believed beginning of the COS tour? I can easily see that potentially see that being more of the FBN tour. The COS album wasn't released until late September, that's a good bit of time in between. Same can be said with the beginning of the Fly By Night tour. No way to surely say though unless evidence with recordings manage to appear at some point. These dates are all speculation based on minimal available documentation.

Anyway, back on the point of the COS and 2112 tours' dividing lines, my only hope at this point is that people with open minds on the subject will consider it, and if they agree, to also present these beliefs publicly and openly as I am. That's how accepted history ultimately changes. I also hope that, if Skip and Eric of "Wandering..." agree (I can't really say if they would or wouldn't, I suppose we'll see), that the book could be updated in the next edition, which would be the most productive way to get the new evidence spread into the widest public consciousness.

 

[armus2112]

First of all, this is fantastic, thank you! Please note, the Youtube 'I Think I'm Going Bald' runs ~4.0% too fast. If someone could perhaps let “Analog Kid Audio Video” know about this so that if/when this show is released, it can be speed-corrected in advance, that would be great. Now, the 4.0% number is of course specific to that one track. Maybe the rest of the show has a slightly different speed (drifting), sometimes this can be the case.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

Thank you for that note! I was under the impression that they just played the song at a faster tempo than studio, and the pitch sounds correct (to me), but my ear for detecting these things are far from perfect. I suppose they still could have played it faster and the tape speed could still be incorrect. Comparing with the tempo of the other songs should help. I will send a note to AKAV and see what he says. I sort of figured that would’ve been adjusted before the YouTube clip was uploaded. One thing that was mentioned to me is making sure the proper time and care is given before releasing the recording, rather than a hurried release with various issues. Though it’s surely inevitable, the less “fixed” versions people start putting out there, the better.

 

[armus2112]

Thanks By-Tor. Yeah, so it's not about the tempo, it's about the pitch of the notes. I have this weird 'gift' or maybe curse where if the pitch is off (due to any variety of reasons), I really notice, and as such I have been advising on speed corrections for a while now. Not to steal anyone's thunder but I took a little time to speed-correct the Bald track (see link below) - give that a listen =)

File on MEGA

mega.nz

 

[Grommet2112]

Thanks By-Tor. Yeah, so it's not about the tempo, it's about the pitch of the notes. I have this weird 'gift' or maybe curse where if the pitch is off (due to any variety of reasons), I really notice, and as such I have been advising on speed corrections for a while now. Not to steal anyone's thunder but I took a little time to speed-correct the Bald track (see link below) - give that a listen =)

File on MEGA

mega.nz

You definitely got that pitch spot on the album version. Great Job!

 

[By-Tor X-1]

@armus2112 No worries about stealing anyone's thunder, in the end this is for all fans, so any and all help is always appreciated. The pitch does indeed sound better to my ears. I was initially worried a 4% change would drag the tempo, but your correction seems fine to me (only 8 seconds longer), and it is still faster than studio. (I prefer the live tempo more than the studio version!)

It will be better too when we can compare the speed with the rest of the recording. I know these things tend to fluctuate a bit, but testing at an approximate 4% overall decrease in speed should give us a good idea close how the entire show should be. I still haven't heard the full show in its current speed, but I'd imagine if it is approx 4% too fast it will be obvious when listening to the other songs we're familiar with hearing live.

After I talk to AKAV about it more, if he is still unsure, I'll see if I can get you to assist with a proper speed adjustment.

 

[armus2112]

I'm available to help out.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

Just a quick update on the speed correction, AKAV is in suppport of the 4% decrease in speed. He also was also told the same approximate percentage by someone else with a great ear, so since 4% seems to be a collective agreement, that helps in confidence with the quality accuracy. So at this point I feel assured when the full show comes out, they will have had given it all a proper going over to correct the overall speed.

 

[armus2112]

@By-Tor X-1 Good to know and thanks for the update.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

Mark Moore has uploaded the entire concert on YouTube, so I have updated the main post with the new video.

The audio files are not yet public for download, I'm told hopefully with Mark's permission we may see that in a few days.

In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys listening this Rush Christmas release! This is the most significant Rush recording we've seen since Northampton '75 for Christmas 2018.

 

[CoS]

Nice, thanks!

 

[armus2112]

Incredible =) Thank you!!!

 

[By-Tor X-1]

If anyone didn't already notice they were up, I'm realizing now that I forgot to make quick message that the lossless files for this recording are now available as of last weekend!

Sadly, a couple weeks ago I heard the news that the taper Mark Moore had suddenly passed away, to the shock of many.
Rest in peace Mark, your legacy will live on. and Rush fans will be forever grateful!

I'm going to copy/paste AKAV's notes here from the download file, I think it's important that others read what he has to say after all the time and work he's put into it.
Thanks again for all your hard work!

Both a 96-24 and a 44-16 version are being provided. For best results, get the 96-24!

Lineage: Memorex MRX2 120-minute master analog cassette recorded from the audience > 2022 transfer via Chord Company interconnects from Nakamichi Dragon > Naim NAC 72 (with Naim Hi-Cap power supply) > Lavry Blue 4496 AD converter > Sound Devices 722 digital audio recorder > Reaper (Elastique 3.3.3 Pro speed and pitch correction, r8brain free sample rate conversion for the 44-16 version) > FLAC 0

DO NOT SELL - PLEASE.

It's a great day to be a Rush fan.

Firstly, a huge thanks to Mark Moore for recording this concert, and for his selfless generosity in sharing with Rush fans everywhere. Please visit Mark's YouTube channel and leave a comment of appreciation:

www.youtube.com/@markmoore1993

Also, a huge thanks to Jim Bossier for never giving up on finding the tape after all these years, and for orchestrating the digital transfer of the master tape in 2022.

Mark and Jim, you guys ROCK!

Regarding the guy who yells, "You suck, Kansas! Kansas, you suck!" between Fly by Night and Working Man... He was close enough to the microphone to suggest he's a friend of the taper. Mark and his friends were there to see Rush. Thus, the comment was not likely about Rush. (As anyone who listens to this recording will attest, Rush's performance does not suck!) Instead, the comment may have been directed to someone nearby in the crowd, perhaps to a fan wearing a Kansas t-shirt.

To curb any speculation, the Kansas performance following Rush was not recorded. (Again, Mark was there for Rush).

Regarding when the Caress of Steel tour ended and the 2112 tour began... In the early days of the internet, fans created an "Unofficial Rush Tour Dates Listing" which was posted on Jimmy Lang and Meg Jahnke's website The National Midnight Star. (Anyone remember that?!) While this initial attempt to chronicle Rush's concert history was indeed a noble effort, it contained many gaps, through no fault of those involved, simply because so little information was available at that time. For years, this list showed the Caress of Steel tour ended on January 10, 1976 at Massey Hall in Toronto and the 2112 tour began on March 15, 1976 at the Starwood in West Hollywood, California - with no other shows between those two dates. Version 5.0 of the list, updated on March 17, 1999, still reflected the Caress of Steel tour ending on January 10, 1976 and the 2112 tour beginning on March 15, 1976. We now know Rush did in fact play concerts in February 1976 and early March 1976, prior to the March 15 Starwood date; however, the old notion (based solely on a lack of information) that the Caress tour ended on January 10, 1976 has become fixed in the minds of many Rush fans. This recording from Randhurst Arena on March 5, 1976 offers new evidence to challenge that long-held belief. If you view Randhurst as a 2112 show (or even a "pre-2112" show), then how do you explain the complete absence of 2112 material?

Further, a review of Rush's HEADLINE performance on February 21, 1976 in Brantford, Ontario reported the setlist as, "three songs from each of three albums" and even went so far to say, "It would have been nice to hear something from "2112" but what can you do?" If Rush was not performing anything from 2112 during shows they headlined in February 1976, it's a hard sell to consider these dates being part of the 2112 tour.

Whatever you call it, a concert tape of Rush playing songs from only their first three albums does not come along often. (The last time was 1999.) So again, a huge thanks to Mark and Jim for bringing this amazing music to our ears.

A few technical notes for those interested. Analog Kid Audio Video believes a less-is-more production is usually best. What you hear is quite faithful to the original tape, with minimal post processing. No EQ, compression, noise reduction, limiting, stereo imaging, etc. was used. A speed adjustment of 0.96 was applied via Elastique 3.3.3 Pro in Reaper. (Always remember to uncheck the "Preserve pitch when changing rate" box when adjusting speed and pitch on analog tapes.) The recording was captured directly from the tape at -15 LUFS, which lies precisely between the Spotify standard of -14 LUFS and Apple Music at -16 LUFS, so no adjustments were made to the overall volume. If you think the sound is too low, turn it up!

Analog Kid Audio Video is committed to preserving as much recorded sound as possible. No part of this Rush recording was edited or faded in/out. (Because the concert was recorded on a 120-minute tape, it was possible to capture 60 continuous minutes on each side, which is why there are no pauses or tape flips during the performance.) The beginning fade in and ending fade out you hear in the final production were both constructed by copying and pasting crowd noise from existing parts of the tape, in order to keep every second of recorded sound intact.

The minimal production is a testament to Mark Moore's fine capture. This recording sounds remarkably good coming directly off the tape. A note to all you "remaster" wizards out there: please refrain from mangling this into your own Frankenstein monster. If the extra processing was truly needed, it would have been applied!

Lastly, if you recorded Rush or have "rare" Rush tapes in your possession, why not share the wealth like Mark Moore? Is your tape more "rare" than a show with I Think I'm Going Bald? Ha - probably not. Please contact Analog Kid Audio Video to have your tapes transferred and restored with the careful attention to detail they deserve.

Gifted by Analog Kid Audio Video on January 29, 2023.

ADDENDUM: The above notes were written in early January 2023. Woefully, Mark Moore passed away on January 24, 2023. We honor Mark's wishes by sharing this recording. Mark was passionate about music and passionate about sharing with others. He stated, "I want to share the past with all" and "Music is meant to be shared". In addition to rock bands such as Rush, Montrose, Kiss and Piper (to name a few), Mark also loved blues, including artists like Joe Bonamassa and Rory Gallagher. Mark: "I'm a big Rory Gallagher lover!!!" In his last text, Mark sent photos of his original 1975 pressing of Caress of Steel and said, "Sooo glad I have my old vinyl." Well said! Thanks again, Mark. May your memory live on.

If you enjoy this free historical document and you don't already own every Rush album, please support the band and buy an official CD or DVD today.

RUSH WANTED! In search of: uncirculated Rush recordings, vintage Rush master/low generation audio and video tapes of concerts, interviews, radio and TV appearances, and any other interesting or unusual Rush recordings from 1968 to present. Especially searching for Rush Super8 film concert footage shot from the audience and Rush pro-shot video footage from the Capital Centre in Landover, MD, The Palace in Auburn Hills, MI and The Summit in Houston, TX.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

I just edited a link into the main post, but to make another note, earlier this year I created a dedicated thread to compile all research and discussion on the "2112 tour start date" subject. The topics overlap, but the 2112 tour start date subject expands beyond just the setlist here at the Randhurst Arena, so I feel the research thread is best to be used for further detailed discussion on that overall topic. I moved the recent posts to that thread, that way discussion here can stay more directly related to this recording.

2112 Tour Start Date: February 6 or March 15?

There's been a lot of talk about this topic around the Internet lately since the rare March 5 recording from the Randhurst Arena became public knowledge. It's surprisingly hard to get a clear cut consensus, so it's unfortunately become a topic of debate. I'm not the type who likes to argue or...

rush-archives.net

 

[Spetts]

Finally got around to playing this recording from start to end, and I gotta say, it holds up pretty well to my ears.
As intriguing as the old Rockford '75 bootleg with a full performance of The Necromancer was, I think having that piece back-to-back with By-tor and the Snow Dog really killed that show's momentum. Not to mention that bootleg's quality, which isn't the worst I've heard, but definitely bad enough to hinder my enjoyment. All in all, a historically significant recording, but I always found it difficult to sit through.
This new show on the other hand is exceptional, even putting aside the hair-loss hype. Swapping out The Necromancer for two shorter songs made for a much better setlist in my opinion, even if I'm not ecstatic for Fly By Night.
It also helps a great deal that the audience are very receptive. That definitely fed into Rush's performance for the better, and the mid section for Working Man in particular was absolutely charged. Heck, the show went over so well that this tape has an encore! Who would've thought we would ever hear an encore from the "Down the Tubes Tour?"
As for sound quality, it was good enough that I could comfortably crank it in my car, even at work. All in all, Rush put on an excellent show, and I'm grateful that Mark Moore did such a wonderful job recording and eventually sharing it. R.I.P.

 

[rocky chains]

Reading through this series of posts again, I wanted to pull the thread on the Brantford, Ontario review. Every now and then I go back to the admirable cynus-x1.net website and discover new (to me), delightful nuggets. And the newspaper review of the February 21, 1976 show at BCI Triple Gym at the Brantford Collegiate Institute, in Brantford, Ontario, is posted there - referenced above in the quote from Analog Kid Audio Video.

I realize it's old news, and I'm being redundant, but here are the relevant excerpts from the review: "Even though the music was carried out with mathematical precision (three songs from each of three albums with the time allotment from each album representing almost exactly equal figures)... It would have been nice to hear something from "2112" but what can you do?..."

This fairly specific contemporaneous evidence seems to confirm that the Randhurst setlist omission of 2112 material was probably the norm for all the shows in February and early March 1976 - perhaps 11 shows.

Also, the specific tallying of 3 songs from 3 albums, with the time allotment being almost exact begs the question (for me at least) - what songs were performed that night? Rush was headlining (with MW opening), so my guess would be one long song from each album (Working Man, full By-Tor, full Necromancer), and two shorter songs from each album (Finding My Way and Need Some Love or What You're Doing; Fly By Night and Anthem; Bastille Day and Lakeside Park).

A pointless exercise perhaps, but for me it's fun to think about those performances of the full Necromancer in those short months in the autumn and winter of 1975. I think the performance of the Into the Darkness portion at the Rockford 1975 show is brilliant and of course would love to hear the same from other concerts.

 

[By-Tor X-1]

Also, the specific tallying of 3 songs from 3 albums, with the time allotment being almost exact begs the question (for me at least) - what songs were performed that night? Rush was headlining (with MW opening), so my guess would be one long song from each album (Working Man, full By-Tor, full Necromancer), and two shorter songs from each album (Finding My Way and Need Some Love or What You're Doing; Fly By Night and Anthem; Bastille Day and Lakeside Park).

Based on what we know with other setlist, I may only speculate the Brantford set could have been something similar to this:
Bastille Day, Anthem, Lakeside Park, The Necromancer, By-Tor, Fly By Night, Working Man, Finding My Way, In The Mood.

A pointless exercise perhaps, but for me it's fun to think about those performances of the full Necromancer in those short months in the autumn and winter of 1975. I think the performance of the Into the Darkness portion at the Rockford 1975 show is brilliant and of course would love to hear the same from other concerts.

It goes without saying that many people would love to hear another live recording of the complete Necromancer.

I selected a few notes from Skip and Eric's "Wandering the Face of the Earth" book when I created this tour date page, as well as other sources, and we know the full Necromancer was played at least as late as February 14, 1976 in Waterloo. It's safe to assume it was a setlist standard, but perhaps some nights in 1975 more resembled the Randhurst setlist. After all there are other documented performances of Bald, such as December 22, 1975.

I'm really hoping to try my best to reach out to people who are sitting on forgotten tapes they recorded, to help document more holes in Rush's touring history. Not limited to the Caress of Steel tour, audio and video from the 70s, 80s, and early 90s is of a lot of interest still. Of course, the mid 70s era is the biggest black hole, so hopefully we find more from that era.