Moving Pictures Tour

Last updated
Moving Pictures Tour
Tour by Rush
LocationNorth America
Associated album Moving Pictures
Start dateSeptember 11, 1980
End dateJuly 5, 1981
Legs2
No. of shows95
Rush concert chronology

The Moving Pictures Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their eighth studio album, Moving Pictures .

Contents

Background

Prior to the tour stating in February 1981 and preparing to enter the studio to record Moving Pictures, the band performed an isolated number of shows from September 11 to October 1, 1980 with Saxon as a support act. The tour began in Kalamazoo on February 20, 1981 and concluded on July 5 in East Troy. Max Webster, FM, Goddo and The Joe Perry Project were also opening acts for Rush on the tour. [1] The March 27, 1981 performance in Montreal was recorded for the band's live album, Exit... Stage Left and its accompanying video. [2] [3] Each show was estimated to have costed $40,000 which featured back-projected film, pyro and dry ice. 905,000 fans had attended the shows overall on tour, with the band making an estimate of $4 million by the end of the tour. [4]

Reception

John Griffin from the Montreal Gazette who attended the performance in Montreal, noted that Geddy Lee's vocals sounded like a guinea pig with an amphetamine habit, but praised both Lifeson, referring to his guitar playing as ordinary at best, and Peart, acknowledging his drumming as an interesting aspect that he made so little of the massive drum kit. [5]

Don Adair, a reporter from the Spokesman-Review opened his review of the band's show in Spokane, stating that the band gave the nearly full coliseum their money's worth, stating that it was heavy metal all the way complete with flash pot and thunderous decibels. Adair praised the band as a healthy rock and roll band, stating that it wouldn't bait the kids with pandering Van Halenesque sex and booze references, and healthy to do a two hour show with minimum posturing and carry the show with their orchestrated music. He also praised the lighting and effects that contributed to the dynamics of the performance which were designed by Howard Ungerlieder. He however, criticized that the music took it far too seriously, calling it pretentious. [6]

Roman Cooney from the Calgary Herald opened his review of the Edmonton performance, comparing Geddy Lee's vocals to a cat, but continued by stating that the band continued to push the heavy metal tide a little farther from imbecility. He claimed that if the band continued to spoil the heavy metal image and making their concerts more musically arresting than before, the group would be taken more seriously. Cooney commented on Peart's drum solo, noting it as "startlingly innovative". He later commented on the rest of the show with the band switching back and forth between "creative, exciting rock" and "insipid, banal exercises in needless noise and commotion". He concluded his review, stating that the band is becoming more adventurous on stage, being able to recreate the excitement their music had on vinyl. [7]

Setlist

These are example setlists adapted from Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth – The Official Touring History of what were performed during the tour, but may not represent the majority of the shows. [8]

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and opening act(s)
Date [9] [10] CityCountryVenueOpening Act(s)
First Leg
September 11, 1980 Hampton United States Hampton Coliseum Saxon
September 12, 1980 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
September 13, 1980 Charleston Charleston Civic Center
September 14, 1980 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium
September 16, 1980 Baton Rouge Riverside Centroplex
September 18, 1980 North Fort Myers Lee County Civic Center
September 19, 1980 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
September 20, 1980 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
September 21, 1980 Jacksonville Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum
September 23, 1980 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
September 25, 1980 Philadelphia The Spectrum
September 26, 1980 Landover Capital Centre
September 27, 1980 South Yarmouth Cape Cod Coliseum
September 28, 1980 Springfield Springfield Civic Center
September 30, 1980 Allentown Allentown Fairgrounds
October 1, 1980 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center
Second Leg
February 20, 1981 Kalamazoo United States Wings Stadium Max Webster
February 21, 1981 Dubuque Five Flags Arena
February 22, 1981 Davenport Palmer Alumni Auditorium
February 24, 1981 La Crosse La Crosse Center
February 26, 1981 Chicago International Amphitheatre
February 27, 1981
February 28, 1981
March 1, 1981
March 2, 1981 Milwaukee Mecca Arena
March 4, 1981 St. Louis Checkerdome
March 5, 1981
March 7, 1981 Louisville Freedom Hall
March 8, 1981 Dayton Hara Arena
March 10, 1981 Evansville Roberts Municipal Stadium
March 11, 1981 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
March 13, 1981 Detroit Cobo Hall
March 14, 1981
March 15, 1981
March 21, 1981 London Canada London Ice House FM
March 23, 1981 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens
March 24, 1981
March 25, 1981
March 27, 1981 [11] Montreal Montreal Forum Max Webster
March 28, 1981 Ottawa Ottawa Civic Centre FM
April 3, 1981 Tucson United States Tucson Community Center Max Webster
April 4, 1981 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
April 5, 1981 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum
April 7, 1981 Houston Sam Houston Coliseum
April 8, 1981
April 10, 1981 Dallas Reunion Arena
April 11, 1981 San Antonio Convention Center
April 12, 1981 Fort Worth Tarrant County Convention Center
April 14, 1981 Little Rock T.H. Barton Coliseum
April 15, 1981 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum
April 16, 1981 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
April 18, 1981 Mobile Municipal Auditorium
April 19, 1981 New Orleans Municipal Auditorium
April 21, 1981 Shreveport Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
April 23, 1981 Kansas City Kemper Arena
April 24, 1981
April 25, 1981 Oklahoma City Myriad Arena
April 26, 1981 Tulsa Tulsa Assembly Center
May 6, 1981 Pittsburgh Civic Arena FM
May 7, 1981 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
May 8, 1981
May 9, 1981 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
May 11, 1981 Binghamton Broome County Memorial Arena
May 12, 1981 Rochester Rochester Community War Memorial
May 13, 1981 Syracuse Onondaga County War Memorial Auditorium
May 15, 1981 Glens Falls Glens Falls Civic Center
May 16, 1981LandoverCapital Centre
May 17, 1981
May 18, 1981 New York City Madison Square Garden
May 20, 1981 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum
May 22, 1981 Philadelphia Spectrum
May 23, 1981 Boston Boston Garden
May 24, 1981 Providence Providence Civic Center
June 1, 1981 Denver McNichols Sports Arena
June 3, 1981 Salt Lake City Salt Palace
June 5, 1981 Oakland Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena
June 6, 1981
June 7, 1981 Fresno Selland Arena
June 9, 1981 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
June 10, 1981 Inglewood The Forum
June 11, 1981
June 12, 1981 Anaheim Convention Center
June 14, 1981 Long Beach Long Beach Arena
June 15, 1981 Las Vegas Aladdin Theatre
June 16, 1981 Reno Centennial Coliseum
June 18, 1981 Seattle Seattle Center Coliseum FM
June 19, 1981
June 20, 1981 Portland Memorial Coliseum
June 21, 1981 [12] Spokane Spokane Coliseum
June 23, 1981 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum Goddo
June 25, 1981 Edmonton Northlands Coliseum
July 2, 1981 Bloomington United States Metropolitan Sports Center The Joe Perry Project
July 3, 1981
July 4, 1981 East Troy Alpine Valley Music Theatre
July 5, 1981

Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references
DateCityVenueAttendanceGrossRef(s)
September 11, 1980Hampton, United StatesColiseum4,287$34,820 [13]
September 13, 1980Charleston, United StatesCivic Center Coliseum3,198$25,894
September 20, 1980Lakeland, United StatesCivic Center10,000 / 10,000$84,600 [14]
September 25, 1980Philadelphia, United StatesThe Spectrum14,500$120,483 [15]
September 27, 1980South Yarmouth, United StatesColiseum7,200 / 7,200$61,637
June 18–19, 1981Seattle, United StatesColiseum24,641$237,325 [16]
June 20, 1981Portland, United StatesColiseum9,780$98,944
June 21, 1981Spokane, United StatesColiseum6,172$53,930
June 23, 1981Vancouver, CanadaPacific Coliseum11,408 / 11,408$121,668 [17]
June 25, 1981Edmonton, CanadaNorthlands Coliseum11,285$129,661
July 2, 1981Minneapolis, United StatesMet Center23,691$249,390 [18]
July 4–5, 1981East Troy, United StatesAlpine Valley Music Theatre40,000 / 40,000$394,900

Personnel

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References

Citations

  1. Popoff 2021, pp. 90–92.
  2. Mobley 2014.
  3. Body 2019.
  4. Popoff 2021, p. 93.
  5. Griffin, John (March 28, 1981). "Rush: Pomp-rock trio hot on tedium". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. p. 117. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  6. Adair, Don (June 22, 1981). "No one accused Rush of subtlety". No. 35. Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. p. 13. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  7. Cooney, Roman (June 26, 1981). "Canning heavy metal moves Rush towards sanity". Calgary, Alberta: The Calgary Herald. p. D1. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  8. Daly & Hansen 2019, pp. 199, 205.
  9. Daly & Hansen 2019, pp. 197–213.
  10. "Moving Pictures Tour". Rush.com. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  11. "Friday: Evening". No. 336. Rome, Georgia: Rome News-Tribune. May 30, 1986. p. 6. Retrieved May 12, 2022. This concert filmed in 1981 at the Montreal Forum
  12. "Day by Day: Today". No. 34. Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. June 21, 1981. p. D10. Retrieved May 16, 2022. Concert - Rush, 7:30 p.m., Spokane Coliseum
  13. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 39. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 27, 1980. p. 37. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  14. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 40. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 4, 1980. p. 37. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  15. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 41. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 11, 1980. p. 41. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  16. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 26. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 4, 1981. p. 53. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  17. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 27. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 11, 1981. p. 48. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  18. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 28. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 18, 1981. p. 51. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved May 12, 2022.

Sources