Recorded and released in less than 3 months time,
2112 launched the band to new heights, and they launched into a tour that started March 5th of 1976, and once again took them across North America til August 1st, their longest tour since their first one. They constantly toured, opening for Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith, and Kansas. And when they were headlining, they had Styx, Sutherland Brothers & Quiver, Artful Dodger, Starcastle, Thin Lizzy, Max Webster, and Stu Daye opening for them.
With four albums under their belt, they had a growing catalog, now including another side-length epic, following on the heels of bands like Yes and Genesis. However, with the unexpected popularity and attention their new album gained, they managed to play longer sets, and headlined for 90 minutes, rather than playing shorter/opening sets of an hour. With the longer set times, they were able to play (most of) "2112", bring in 8 songs from their first two albums, and play more than half of their new album (of which, only "Lessons" and "Tears" are known to have not been played live by the band).
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Even though only 2 bootlegs have circulated from this tour, there is the official live release in the form of
All The World's A Stage. The album's tracklisting is similar to the setlist documented from the Springfield, IL show. From the Power Windows website, on the set list:
There are only two unofficial recordings of this tour in circulation; both are headlining shows, with the only difference being the placement of "In The End" in the setlist, and the encore changing from "Best I Can" to "What You're Doing". This later setlist is virtually identical to the All The World's A Stage tracklist, with the only change being that the "Fly By Night-In The Mood-Something For Nothing" medley is listed earlier in the show (inserted between "Anthem" and "Lakeside Park"), possibly to conform to album sides. The earlier show, recorded in Seattle in March of '76, was long believed by collectors to have been recorded seven months later during the All The World's A Stage Tour.
With that in mind, all I did for my 2112 Tour disc was re-order the tracks to match the set list from the Springfield show:
Rush - 2112 Tour - 79:39
(Live In Toronto, OT on 6/11-13/76)
(All The World's A Stage - Official)
Disc 1 -
1. Bastille Day 5:12
2. Anthem 5:09
3. Lakeside Park 4:27
4. 2112 16:01
5. Fly By Night 2:06
6. In The Mood 2:55
7. Something For Nothing 3:57
8. By-Tor & The Snow Dog 11:55
9. In The End 7:20
10. Working Man 3:56
11. Finding My Way 5:13
12. Drum Solo 5:41
13. What You're Doing 5:47
(Tracks re-ordered to reflect
known set lists of the tour)
Note - Missing "Best I Can" played
on another night this tour
Despite most of the rest of my Live Tour CD sets having ALL of the songs played during their respective tours, this one is missing only one known other song in "Best I Can", used as an encore, as evidenced by the Seattle, WA show.
Being an official release, everything is crisp and clear, and being Rush's first official live album, you can feel and hear their intensity through everything, even the production and mix. This truly is a live album, and unlike the two that would follow, it's got a great mix of band and audience, and the famously known shout during "Bastille Day":
Mike Myers claimed that at 4:01 of "Bastille Day" on All The World's A Stage, the voice that screams out when the music abruptly stops is that of his brother who is yelling "Nighthawk!", the name of his then-current band.
The set is a pretty good mix of their four albums, except the severely under-represented
Caress Of Steel, which only sees 2 songs on this tour in "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park". It would have been nice to have "The Necromancer" or parts of "The Fountain Of Lamneth" on this tour, but they wanted to play as much of the new album as possible, and of that, we get the opening and closing tracks. As mentioned above, we do get 4 songs each from their first two albums, and probably the best choices from them, even though most of them are in medley form (a fate that many of the songs from their first two albums would see in coming tours).
As for the performances themselves, this is a top-notch recording and the boys really cook throughout the whole show. Of course, the highlights would have to be "Bastille Day", "2112", the extended version of "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" (before it became truncated to segue into "Xanadu"), and the closing "Working Man" medley (a trend that would continue for five more years) with Neil's solo at the end.
This tour showed a growing band that had reached the top of it's game, and so, with a growing repertoire and a yearning to experiment and explore, their stage show and instruments would continue to expand and evolve. This would be the last tour Neil used his classic chrome Slingerland drums, and the next tour would see Neil's set grow, and Geddy would include Moog Taurus pedals, as well as touring Europe for the first time. They had no where to go but up from this point on!
BTW - if anyone wants to add pics/videos/stories/articles concerning the 2112 Tour, please Please PLEASE do so! I would love to read/hear what everyone has to share!
-Marc.