With the release of the band's second album, their first with 'new' drummer Neil Peart, they embarked on a tour which started on Valentine's Day 1975, up to the end of June that year. It was a short tour compared to their first, although they traveled all across North America through the US and Canada. Once more, they opened for KISS and Blue Oyster Cult, but they also opened for The Tubes and Aerosmith (yes, that Aerosmith, for 3 dates), as well as a slew of other headlining acts (like REO Speedwagon and Styx, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, and Nazareth). As Eric at the Power Windows site states:
Unfortunately, little is known of this tour as there are only two unofficial live recordings in circulation. Comparison between the first recording in Cleveland on April 7, 1975, and the later performance recorded in Toronto on June 25th, 1975, show only minor changes such as moving "What You're Doing" to the encore, adding "By-Tor And The Snow Dog", and dropping "Bad Boy".
Because it was such a short tour, only 2 known shows have been recorded (each with 5 bootleg titles). What can be assumed is that Rush's and KISS's relationships as fellow touring bands grew even more, as seen in the Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary.
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Having only 2 shows available to cull from for my mix for this tour, I chose the Agora Ballroom show from Cleveland (once more), as the base of the tour, while adding "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" to the middle of the show, the only song played on the later date not in the first show.
And thanks again to Nick, here's the Cleveland show for all to enjoy!
"Bad Boys In Cleveland" Cleveland, OH on 5/15/75 -
www.nickeh.com/botm/rush1975-05-15.rarRush - Fly By Night Tour - 65:36
(Live In Cleveland, OH on 5/15/75)
(Bad Boys In Cleveland - FM Broadcast)
Disc 1 - 65:36
1. Finding My Way - 4:56
2. The Best I Can - 3:41
3. What You're Doing - 5:08
4. Anthem - 4:16
5. Beneath, Between & Behind - 3:03
6. In The End - 6:39
7. Fly By Night - 2:51
8. By-Tor & The Snow Dog* - 9:57
9. Working Man - 10:31
10. Drum Solo - 3:00
11. In The Mood - 3:13
12. Need Some Love - 3:18
13. Bad Boy - 5:03
*(Live In Toronto, OT on 6/25/75)
(The Age of Wonders - AUD)
As for the tour itself, they played 6 out of 8 songs from their new album (the unplayed ones being "Making Memories" and "Rivendell"), as well as bringing back 5 songs from their first album tour (the one being left out was "Here Again"), but they bring out "Bad Boy" once more. However, of the 6 songs from the new album, 4 had already been played live on their previous tour - the only two "new" ones were "Beneath, Between & Behind" and "By-Tor & The Snow Dog".
You can really hear the boys getting tighter as a group, Neil's solo gets a little longer, and the new tunes really show the strength and power that this trio truly exemplifies. As with the shows from the first tour, there is still a certain raw loudness to the band's set, before things got REALLY polished and detailed, you can hear them really letting it rip.
As for the recording itself, it's not as clear as the first tour's ABC shows, as it only ranks an average 8.5/10.0 rating on the DRE, mostly because it's a bit static-y and not as clear, but all the songs are there. It's sort of like listening to it on an old old radio, and that's pretty much true since it was recorded for a radio broadcast. It's not as great as the shows from the first tour but because it's one of the few shows from their second tour, it's easily the best choice.
The end of "Best I Can" features a short segue into the next song as Alex sustains a feedback note into it. In that next song "What You're Doing", about a minute in, there's a bit of a train-wreck on Geddy's part after his vocal section is done.
"Working Man" is quite a bit longer than usual here as Alex and Geddy go through some jammy riffs and interesting improvisations, though the more knowledgeable may be able to recognize whether or not Alex's riffs are lifted from something else. Neil's solo following "Working Man" features most of the same bits from his first solo, but introduces a few bits that would later find themselves in "Didacts & Narpets" on their next album.
The Toronto date is the only one to showcase the band's first "epic", but unfortunately, the sound quality is around 6/10, but as a document to their performance of it on it's first tour out, it's worth having, which is why I added it to the middle of the Cleveland show, oddly enough, between "Fly By Night" and "Working Man", the spot it took in the Toronto show (really fitting and coincidental, but great for me!).
-Marc.
Topic: Rush Live Tourography - The Permanent Waves Tour (REVISITED - World Tour 1980) (Read 73535 times)