Rush - Grace Under Pressure 1984 Tour

Place: Madison Square Garden.  Date: September 17, 1984. I will always remember because this was the first the RUSH concert that I ever saw.  Oddly enough it was easier for a 15 year old kid to get to MSG than Brendan Byrne Arena, so I did not see RUSH a second time twelve days later.  I know that this blog is design to bring the ignored and underappreciated music to the forefront but I would be remiss if I did not review this CD.  The concert was originally released only on VHS and Laserdisc (remember these?) over Christmas 1984.  I was unaware of the release until I saw the video played on Mtv (again back when they played music instead of idiot shows like "Jersey Shore") and purchased it immediately.  From the VHS, I recorded the audio onto a "high density" metallic tape that at time gave the "clearest" recordings available but it still sounded like crap.  When Mercury Records began its "Chronicles" brand in the '90's this concert was mentioned to be one of the first to be released but unfortunately the CD version would not see the light of day until 2006 as part of the RUSH X-3 DVD package which re-released and remastered the three '80's/'90's concert videos; Exit...Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure and A Show of Hands.  If you purchased the set from Best Buy, there were four previously unreleased tracks included.  Two of which were the Exit...Stage Left tour and two from the Hold Your Fire tour.

So, there I was sitting in Section 124 Row 5 Seat 6 with heightened anticipation and going through the motions of listening to the opening act (Fastway) which they thankfully dropped for the Test for Echo tour.  Finally, the lights dropped and the Three Stooges Introduction began and they immediately launch into "The Spirit of Radio" and after that it was all a blur.  I do remember seeing Geddy Lee play his Steinberger bass and synthesizer simultaneously while singing, Alex playing and jumping around like a lunatic, staring in sheer amazement at the Professor on his Candy Apple Red Tama set (still my favorite drum kit) and watching it rotate for "Witch Hunt". This CD does bring back alot of memories.  My only gripe with this release is that it is a straight soundtrack of the DVD and not a complete concert.  Everything I have read is that RUSH has kept a substantial collection of their concert performances and I am sure that they have a complete recording of the shows that they played at Maple Leaf Gardens.  One can only hope that when RUSH eventually retires, they will release a career retrospective of live performances that have not  been previously available.  The entire set is listed below with the songs that appear on the CD in italics. 

Madison Square Garden Set List

1. Three Stooges Introduction
2. The Spirit of Radio
3. Subdivisons
4. The Body Electric
5. The Enemy Within (Part 1 of the Fear Trilogy)
6. The Weapon (Part 2 of the Fear Trilogy)
7. Witch Hunt (Part 3 of the Fear Trilogy)
8. New World Man
9. Between The Wheels
10. Red Barchetta
11. Distant Early Warning
12. Red Sector A
13. Closer to the Heart
14. Kid Gloves
15. YYZ/Temples of Syrinx/Tom Sawyer
16. Red Lenses/Drum Solo/Red Lenses
17. Vital Signs
18. Finding My Way
19. In the Mood

While there has been a large quantity and quality of live RUSH material released inthe past five years, this CD does serve an excellent time capsule for wher the band was in1984, their musicianship and the sonic sound that they employed at that time.  It is a good listen but would probably only interest the tried and true RUSH fan RUSH - Grace Under Pressure: 1984 Tour