Rush Tour Dates and Setlists

Before 1999, when a recording of the November 15, 1975 show first began circulating, fraudulent recordings of this tour were circulated, which accordingly led to the circulation of false setlists. In addition, for many years rumors spread regarding the setlist of Rush headlining in Toronto on January 10, 1976, from a soundboard recording supposedly in the possession of a Jean Weinrib who claimed to be the cousin of Geddy Lee. However, the existence of this recording is believed to be nonexistant and its setlist unsubstantiated, as Ian Grandy, a former member of Rush's road crew from that period, has stated that he never heard of any such cousin, and that the rumored soundboard recording does not exist.

It had long been assumed that Rush had opened for Styx this tour, and thus could not have performed the full 90 minute set demonstrated by the Seattle '76 recording. However, tour posters demonstrate Rush was the headlining act. More importantly, it has been pointed out that Moog Taurus pedals are not present in the Seattle '76 recording; if recorded in October they would likely be present, as Rush were definitely using Moog pedals by then (if not throughout the entire All The World's A Stage tour), as seen in this live photo from October 26th taken two days before the October Seattle show (the pedals are seen on the floor next to Geddy's mic). Lastly, although not as conclusive, during the Seattle recording, "In The End" preceded "By-tor And The Snowdog", whereas by the later May recording it immediately followed "By-tor", a position it would regularly hold in the setlist on multiple tours until it was last played on the Signals warm up tour.

Lerxst's Vapor Trails Rants

"On opening night in Hartford in 2002, Alex broke into a verbal improv like the ones he'd only ever delivered in rehearsals to break the monotony and entertain the crew. In front of a live audience now, and giving Neil and me no warning, he stepped up to the mic during 'La Villa Strangiato' and sang 'Hey Baba Reba!' (from Frankie Yankovic's 'Café Polka,' a drinking song his parents used to enjoy with their friends). That improv turned into a regular nightly stream-of-consciousness featuring such topics as 'While My Guitar Gently Vomits' and 'Chris Isaak on Acid.' For the times he wandered into oblivion or painted himself into a corner, Pratt worked out a drum cue that signaled it was time to wrap it up'like in the vaudeville days, when they'd give a performer who'd outstayed their welcome the shepherd's crook."- Geddy Lee, My Effin' Life

"For the most part I prepared about, maybe, two seconds before I actually opened my mouth. I thought about what I might talk about, and wherever it went, it went. It was fun and terrifying at the same time. There were lots of nights where I thought 'I am so stupid, I can't think of anything', and sure enough, I couldn't."- Alex Lifeson, "Rockline", February 5, 2003

• Opening night in Hartford (6/28) he sang "Hey Baba Reba!" 'What is a Barbaritta you may ask, well, I'll tell you what a Barbarritta is, a Barbaritta is, a barbarritta is....a....'.
• Scranton (6/29), "a walk...selling a cat for 50 cents" and introduced the band as "that guy" (Neil) and "that other guy" (Geddy).
• Charlotte (7/1), "oh why would anybody use words, there are lots of words, some words are really short, and some words are LLLOOOOONNNNNNGGGG" and Alex jumps back into the song after the word long is spoken."
• Virgina Beach (7/3), "going to a zoo, a German zoo and seeing all the animals getting angry at him and then shooting them and then being taken to jail in a tiny car, interrogated by a big black guy with a big black beret and being tossed back into a jail cell with all of the animals he had shot - but that they left the door on the cell open and he busted out to come an play for us."
• Raleigh (7/4), a "Happy Birthday" song to America which concluded with North Carolina (in a southern drawl). In addition, at the close of the show, the big screen flashed "Happy 4th of July from Rush".
• Saratoga (7/6), Alex began with a coughing spell, mostly like coughing up a lung, with some rambling, then introduced the band as "On drums we have....that guy over there, and on bass....that other guy there. And, of course, the beautiful, sexy leader of the band....couldn't make it tonight".
• Darien Lake (7/7), he discussed going for a walk with Commander Tom, an old tv personality from Buffalo, and Professor Bleep and then bumping into Colonel Klink, but "... that's another story for another time..." Then he went on about seeing a fire, "A big fire! I don't know where it was, but it was somewhere! Maybe in Lackawana! Or East Tonawanda! I don't know where, but there was a fire! Lots of fire! FIRE FIRE FIRE!"
• Bristow (7/9), "The wicked witch, the wicked witch is dead....but which witch is dead?...Why would anybody want to write a song about a witch?"...."Mr. Bass (to Geddy)...I want you to play" (then plays a riff which Geddy tries to copy)..."Mr. Drums (to Neil)," etc.
• Holmdel (7/11), "taking a walk in Central Park, finding a pond, a clear and beautiful pond, and washing his laundry in the pond, and swimming in the pond, then taking a taxi across the street to come to the show".
• Mansfield (7/12), "I tried to quit smoking the other day .. ohhh .. I love to smoke .. I tried to cut the filters off and puff away. I even split the cigarette in half so I can smoke two at a time . . ohhh .. I like that. I tried smoking other things ... I tried smoking my socks and shoes .. that didn't taste good .. and then someone gave me this other stuff (acts dizzy, laughs from Ged and Neil), wow ... that was great ... and now I am never going to try to quit smoking again ...."
• Camden (7/14), "here's a scary story, a really scary, but somehow satifying one...", goes into prolonged coughing fit, Neil laughs and looks questioningly at Geddy, and Alex never does tell story.
• Wantagh (7/15), walking the beach with a metal detector, finding the body of Jimmy Hoffa.
• Toronto (7/17), "Buenos Nochas mein froinds. I was dreaming, and I saw a snake. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but then I heard a strange voice, and it whispered to me, 'Snoring...'. I continued dreaming, and this the time the strange voice said to me very loudly, 'SNORING! Please, don't snore anymore!' I sat there in bed like this-- (shot of Alex's eyes on the big screen popping wide open)-- and then I decided to take a walk. And I was walking and walking and walking, and then I met these guys, and we started walking and walking and walking, and we came to Ontario Place, and then we ended up HERE!"
• Milwaukee (7/19), "I had a dream and the ground was the floor and the sky was the ceiling and the lake was... well, I guess my toilet, and I looked around and I realized I was in hell!...a lot like Milwaukee...hot and humid..although its a dry humidity...this is a REALLY LONG STORY...somebody HELP ME!!!"
• Tinley Park (7/20), "I dreamed about porkchops chasing me and all the best food in the world. I ate a giant Marshmallow. I woke up and my pillow was gone!"
• Kansas City (8/1), Alex rambled in a Snaggletooth voice and included comments about his guitar and a short rendition of the chorus from "Kansas City" including "they've got some crazy little women there and I'm going to get me 5 or 6!" He then went in to a "trance" and requested that the band "play something happy" and Ged and Neil played a little riff, followed by "play something mysterious" to which Ged and Neil played a very similar sounding riff, and then he said they should play something with the 5 basic emotions but maybe save that for later...
• Maryland Heights (8/2), he sang happy birtday to KSHE radio (it was their 35 birthday party), and then followed up by making a series of Ugghhh sounds and said "that was a seal singing jazz." He proceeded to make the sounds again and said "that was me making funny noises."
• Cincinnati (8/4), he started off with what sounded like a Police song-"EEEE-OOOO.....OOOOOOO.....", then something like, "AAAAAHT-AAAAHT-AAAAAHT..." and then he started marching in place yelling "NOW LET'S HEAR SOME....ARMY! MUSIC!!" to which Neil started in with some cadence snare drumming while Alex snapped off several mock salutes and yelling "...HUT..TWO! THREE! FOUR!!..." like an over zealous drill sergeant.
• Burgettstown (8/6), he rambled about taking a walk to Primanti Brothers (Pittsburgh restaurant famed for serving sandwiches with fries and slaw on them) for a "sammich" (Pittsburgh-ese) and an Iron City, and then "I had a Suzy Q, and I started feeling really funny, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital. I had an overdose of Suzy Q's. That happens when you have like 14 Suzy Qs. That doesn't happen when you eat a gob."
• Columbus (8/8): Alex sang Happy Birthday to QFM96 radio (their 25th anniversary bash). He then started sing "ya-ya-ya..yayay..yaya..Thats what The Beatles really wanted to sing...was the Ya-Ya song..." Then he said he "never met O'Charley before, but he's no damn good with darts, and he lost $20.00 dollars at his pub. But O'Charley can't pay up, or play this" as they return to "La Villa..."
• Noblesville (8/9), Alex sings, first gargling, then yodeling, and says "singing is easy, but I was to sing something different... How about something... mysterious?" and the band plays something mysterious with Alex singing sounds like choking "I don't know, that was kinda weird...how about something happy?" and Geddy and Neil play something happpy, with lots of happy tom and cowbell fills, and Alex sings in a silly high voice, and then Alex says "Wow, that was a waste of time!" as a they break back into "La Villa..."
• Clarkston (8/11), Alex talked of floating over Detroit, Joe Louis Hall, Cobo Hall, the Michigan palace (which is gone), then he corrected himself saying it wasn't there.
• Clarkston (8/12), Alex FORGOT to play "Limelight" following "Temples of Syrinx". As he began the intro to "La Villa", Ged walked over, smiled at him and said "What about 'Limelight'?". Alex got a horrified look on his face, pretends to cry and nodded. The rant, spoken in a German accent, was all an inside joke to his forgetting "Limelight": "...I thought I was someplace else, but I wasnt there... where I was supposed to be 5 minutes ago is where I'm going to be in 2 minutes..."
• Nashville (8/14), Alex began by making bizarre noises, and then spoke in a Sigmund Freud-esque voice about dreams. "I had a dream that had a very profound effect on me. I cannot remember the dream... but I know that it had Kim Basinger in it! You know that sort of dream where you wake up and remember it for five minutes, and then it's changed into something completely different? Then your mind starts getting crazy things in it. Ya'know... Like that Charlie Manson guy. Remeber him? Marilyn's brother. Well he sucks. Not Marilyn... He's allright" He rambled on about dreams until Neil signalled to get on with it by hammering the drums, and he apologized for his "loquacity" and ripped back into "La Villa".
• Woodlands (8/16), Alex began making bizarre noises and convulsions, and with eyes closed complained about his stomach. He asked Geddy and Neil to play some different kind of music, to which they responded by coming to a complete stop. This obviously caught Alex by surprised as he lost it and started laughing. Regaining his composure, he said that was nice and began making strange noises again, "ooooooooooooohhhhhhhh, ooooooooooooohhhhh, ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh, something's coming, something's coming...oh yeah, something's coming...(silence).....Uh Oh..." Neil's eyebrows raised and a sort of embarrassed smile sort of broke out over his face. Then he looked over at Geddy who was smiling broadly. When Alex said “uh oh,” he and Geddy both started laughing out loud. Next, Alex asked them to play some other kind of different music. Geddy and Neil played a short little riff, which Alex said was nice, but not as nice as the first music. Finally Alex introduced them, with Neil as Flip Wilson, himself as Brad Pitt and Geddy as "That Guy".
• San Antonio (8/17): Alex looked out at the crowd for a couple of seconds, and then asked in a lisp, "Does anybody feel like dancing?" He then cavorts across the stage with his knees bent and splayed out, and with both armns in the air, elbos bant and hands wide open, kind of like a can-can dancer, I guess. He gets back to the mike and says, "You guys suck ...you don't dance at all. Oh wait, I know, you do the cool dance." He then just stands there nodding his head up and down in a perfect imitation of guys who get dragged onto a dance floor by the girlfriends against their will. Then he says, "I like the cool dance best because you can do it while lying down." He then falls to the stage and proceeds to do the cool dance while lying down. After he got up, Neil had had enough and gave the cue to go back into the song.
• Dallas (8/19): Alex pretended to cry, then said, "okay okay okay okay la la la la. Hey play that song, play that part you played the other day." Geddy and Neil stopped playing. Alex whistled a little and then said, "You know sometimes you just have nothing to say, because there's nothing in your brain, nothing going on upstairs, empty empty empty"... back into La Villa.
• Albuquerque (8/21): he sang an incredibly fast paced vocal skat, beginning with blues (ala Aretha Franklin), "a doo be doo be doo be doo bop bop bee bop", and then sequeyed to square dance style "doe see doe, doe see doe, doe do doe, doe see doe", and then a cool-jazz vocal solo "get down, so low, get down, get down, so low".
• Salt Lake City (8/23): he went into a "Flick my Bic, Flick my Bic" song, then did alot of do-do-da-da's, sometimes going into a lower tone - Geddy and Neil waiting for him to finish, finally have enough and kick back into La Villa.
• Denver (8/24): (In strange monotone voice) "Good evening my friends. This is the part of the show where I have to talk to you. It is the only time they (points at Ged and Neil) ever let me talk, not that I blame them, because I'M NOT WELL! (Covers his eyes) I have to close my eyes, because I can't talk with my mouth and see with my eyes at the same time--I haven't figured that out, yet. I don't have anything to talk about, except this (and he vocalizes the melody played by Geddy). How did I know he was going to play that you might ask? I don't know much else, except this..." (as they rip back into La Villa).
• Vancouver (9/8): "Today I flew in an airplane across Canada and part of the United States. I landed here in Vancouver, and I noticed that it smells different here [the pot smoke was pretty heavy during the show...]. I LIKE how it smells here, here in BC. You know, I was born here in BC... in Fernie, BC. It's over there [points east] in the other part of BC. There are lots of mountains and rivers and rocks there. But it doesn't smell like it smells here. But I LIKE the way it smells here."
• Seatle (9/14): His ramble consisted of whistling, humming and finally a story about going to the zoo, about how the animals at the zoo were all relaxing having lunch and smoking cigars, but they didn't know that the zoo was just about to open, and their wonderful day was about to be ruined by... PEOPLE! "I was the first one in," Alex said. He said he had decided to free the animals, but first he had to figure out how to open all the locks. Then once he got the cages open, the animals just stayed in the back of their cages and wouldn't come out. "That's how it is!" he complained. "It's always about the animals! The animals! Animals animals animalsanimalsanimalsanimals!" He said the word "animals" really quickly over and over until it turned into a silly, maniacal noise. Alex finished with the story saying he had just accidentally swallowed the quarter that he was going to use for a phone call to have a van come pick up the animals. Then he said, "And that's all." He paused, and said "I *SAID* THAT'S ALL!!!" and they all jumped back into the song.
• Portland (9/15): "This is the part where we all dance...(he then dances a bit)...I suck at dancing...I want to tell you a story...a scary story...about getting attacked by a sandwich...I was walking down the street, there was happy music (he whistles...Geddy and Neil play a happy jig)...no, much happier than that....and I stop to get a sandwich...it was bread and salami and cold cuts and salami and ham and salami and mustard and mustard flavored salami...and...then...I ate the sandwich...which only goes to how...this is the stupidest story I've ever told..."
• Concord (9/17): Alex ranted about "turkey and turkey things!", describing his lunch of turkey and was quite facinated with "turkey things" for quite some time before talking about..."California Meat Bee's that swoop down and eat a guys lunch". He then asked Geddy to "Make some Bee sounds", to which Geddy twiddled a little on the bass, then Alex said "Oh nevermind".
• Sacramento (9/18): "This is the part of the show were I come out and say very stupid things ... stupid, stupid, stupid ... stupid. Stupid. Stupid...." (crowd starts chanting along to "STUPID" song for 20-30 seconds, then he mentioned that he had some hired help and would make them perform! "You two! Play something else! Play something ... mysterious, yet gay!" (Neil plays chopsticks on the glockenspiel) "PERFECT!"
• San Francisco (9/20): "I've lost my voice, and I cant find it! Some people around here" (looks at Ged and Neil) "would say that's a good thing...I can't think of anything so I'm going make them play songs for you" (then says to Ged and Neil, "play some Spy music" (Ged and Neil go into something and Alex says) "I never knew Batman was a Spy!!!! Play something happy" (Ged plays a happy riff and he sings 'YO YO YO' like Sting used to do with the Police.) "now play something scary" (Ged stops, and Neil plays a scary beat on the toms, and he knocks on the Microphone and says) "Don't Open The Door!! Don't Go In The Basement!" He then starts to talk back to the crowd, when Ged and Neil start up 'La Villa' and a surprised Alex says to the crowd "I've got to go!"
• Las Vegas (9/21): He began with a very long coughing spell, then attempting to clear his throat, said "Does anybody want to lick this mike?" (after much applause and a pause, he said) "My voice is changing. It sounds like Michael Jackson's voice. His voice now sounds like mine used to. Screw Michael Jackson anyway! (pauses, then he then begins whistling, then says) "everybody knows this one, join in!" (waves arms to get crowd to join in, then says to Ged and Neil) "now stop" (crowd is all whistling) "you guys are pretty good! Actually I have some very important things to tell you" (Ged and Neil start playing again) "but I'd rather hear what you guys have to say" (looks at Ged and Neil) "now stop" (encourages audiences to talk by waving arms, audience begins to chatter) "really? You don't say".
• Los Angeles (9/23): Alex started (again) with the meat bees (like in Concord), and described how he was eating a turkey sandwich and they swooped down and cut out a section of the turkey and carried it off. Then one came back and bit him and he felt like a vampire (which he shouted over and over until they cut back into "La Villa."
• San Diego (9/25): He began by whistling a tune, and the crowd joined in after he said "everybody whistle!" Then he said "Let's see, what kind of story can I tell. Hmmmm. I have a really scary story about...the zoo! Let's talk about the zoo. The animals at the zoo like the blues. It's the zoo-zoo blues! (All 3 broke into a short blues melody)..."The animals fooled the zoo keeper with the blues. All the animals escaped from the Zoo. The moral of the story is never turn your back on an animal that listens to the blues!"
• Phoenix (9/27): "I been sick....here...what's this? (points to his throat) stomach? sore stomach? no...sore throat....." He said his head hurt...and his throat hurt...and his eyes hurt (etc...). Then he said that he was sleeping soundly in the hotel when suddenly, at 3 am, he was woken up by a gentle poking. His wife was poking him, poking him... and she softly said "snoring...". The rant continues with him saying how she went from poking to outright hitting - he bapped the microphone to emphasize his point, and knocked the cord/endcap right out the back of it. For the rest of the rant he was struggling to hold the cord in place (thus, his voice was breaking up over the speakers) and kept saying (in a pitiful little voice) how his microphone was broken, all cuz of "snoring, SNORING!". He ended his rant by saying that he hoped the next time someone woke you (the crowd) up, that you tell them to go buy a new mic.
• Irvine (9/28): Alex began with a bunch of mumbling, and talk about sleep and being woken up to poking and someone saying "...snoring", and then he said "and I turn over" (Ged and Neil stop playing) "and she said (speaks in a woman's voice) "do you think I'm fat?"
• Mexico City (10/5): This was Rush's first performance in Mexico. Geddy greeted the crowd with "Hola, buenas noches, no hablo español (Hello, good evening, I can't speak Spanish)". Then he explained in English that they would be playing "mucho, mucho" (many, many) songs. Following "Freewill", he said they had "a special gift" for the fans of Mexico, and they played "Closer To The Heart". Before "Resist", he introduced Alex as "This is Mr. Lerxst, Alexjandro" (Spanish equivalent for Alex). Alex's Rant: another coughing spell as on other nights, and another story of waking up at 3 a.m. to someone saying "SNORING!". He then said he had the chance to sleep for two hours, three hours, and then again a gentle poking from his wife, who asked him "do you think I am fat?".
• Tampa (10/10): (In a mellow, spaced out voice, similar to Tommy Chong's) "That was jazz, man. Jazz is, like... cool. Jazz is the easiest to play because you just play whatever you want and look cool. And say cool things like, 'dig it'. Cool jazz guys smoke too. They keep their cigarettes here (gestures to the tuning gears on his guitar) so they can just go (brings the guitar to his mouth to take a drag off the imaginary cigarette). Those are some cool jazz guys over there. That guy on the drums is... Bongo-head. The other buy we call 'Boom-boom Boom-boom'"...
• West Palm Beach (10/11): "So I went to an aquarium zoo... it's a zoo where they have animals that are all underwater...they had lots of fish, big fish, little fish, shiny fish...then I saw the most dangerous animal in the whole world - the flying shark snake...and it's dangerous because it doesn't only have sharp teeth and shark skin and all that, but it's like a snake too! And, they're always in a bad mood! Well, I thought no problem, it's inside a tank. So then later I was driving, I was in a rental car, and I was stupid, because it's Florida, and I'm driving with the windows open, and it's like 95 degrees. So my arm is on fire - that's the only place I get any suntan. And then from behind me... a flying shark snake passes me! I was so scared, I peed in my pants!" (then as the song continues, he sings along a little in a kind of deep scary voice: "flying shark snake, flying shark snake!")
• Atlanta (10/13): "Do you ever get so mad, that you just want to grab that guy, and rip off his ears, pull his hair out, poke him in the eye and punch him in the nose? Do you ever feel like that? I don't, I never feel like that. Instead, I just turn around and walk away (made prancing noises and did a funny walk back to his amps, then returned to the mike for "I always come back and kick him in the shin...but right now, I'm getting the cue, to introduce the band to you. On the drums, from his home town of Eth, in 'Eth'-iopia, the King of Ethiopia, the Emporer 'Highly Unlikely'". Then he said directly to Neil, "this is where you start playing the drums again, but more interesting than the solo!" (Neil played short solo, and Alex said) "Better, that's better...now he's getting good!" and then intoduced Geddy as "someone just was released from prison where he had been since he was 7 years old, Boom Boom-Boom Boom." (Geddy played short bass solo) "And then there's me, I'd like to play a little blues for you", and then played a few blues bars before returning to La Villa.
• Baltimore (10/15): At the beginning of Resist, Geddy and Alex began with some "country music". For the rant, Alex talked about growing up hearing strange music in his house as a kid, then made farting sounds with the guitar and later went into the "HEY Bongo man" (Neil) and "Big Daddy BOOM BOOM over there, who we now refer to as 'Emeel'" (Geddy). He then carried the rant back into the song singing about "this is the song La Villa Strangiato" and began humming it... (Neil stopped playing for a moment as he was laughing too hard)
• Rochester (10/16): Again before playing Resist, Alex began with a country riff, and Geddy joined in. They played for about a minute..and then they stopped and Geddy said "That's all the country music we know", as the crowd responded with a loud roar... During the rant, Alex started by playing weird sounds on his guitar, and said it was something that will be on the next album. He then introduced Neil as the latin singer "Shakira", and then went on to talk about her wonderful hips, and accompanied this commentary with a brief imitation of Shakira by swivelling his hips while Neil played along. and Geddy as "The Vivacious...Preston Manning" (former Canadian Politician, Geddy's face just went blank, Neil laughed). Alex then started screaming "Alex...Wake up...Alex Wake up..."
• Montreal (10/18): Alex began with "I'd now like to introduce the band. Geddy meet Neil, Neil...Geddy." The crowd, and Geddy and Neil burst out laughing. He then talked about playing Jazz. He asked the band to play something jazzy and Neil and Geddy both started playing. Alex looked at Geddy and said "Not you!". So Geddy stopped playing (and appeared to be a little stunned - Neil was laughing). Then Neil played for a short piece and Alex told him "That is so retarded! But that's the great thing about jazz - it's retarded but, cool at the same time!". Neil is laughing quite hard at this point, then he asked Geddy for a bass fill but he didn't play much and Alex went on to play his little Jazz number that he just made up and Geddy had to tap him on the shoulder to get him to finish La Villa. (Rumored performance of "Nobody's Hero" on this night was determined to be false).
• Quebec City (10/19): the rant was about a voice saying "wake up Alex" over and over as he slept, and then when he went out for a walk the voice kept saying "Keep walking Alex". As on the previous night he then said "I'd now like to introduce the band. Geddy meet Neil, Neil...Geddy." Then he called them by different names, referring to the bass player as Ricky. He told Neil to play a cool beat, and Neil played a little bit, then he he asked for a song from the "magnificent bass plaer, Ricky". Geddy half heartedly played a little ditty and Alex said "Awesome"...
• Toronto (10/22): Alex began playing a weird sound on his guitar, and said "this is a new song...what do you think of it?" Then he started talking about "walking around", and said "what do I think about while I am walking around", and "what do other people think about? Hey you, hot shot drummer, what do you think about?" and Neil did a heavy drum beat. Then Alex looked at Geddy and said "And the suave young man over there with the guitar. What's this? Only four strings?" Then Geddy sat down on the corner of the drum riser and played something very jazzy, as Alex started to sing the words "La Villa Strangiato" over and over until Neil and Geddy broke back into the song...but Alex just kept singing "La Villa Strangiato La Villa Strangiato La Villa Strangiato" as Neil and Geddy had a laugh.
• New York, New York (10/24): Out of rotation, the band played the same setlist as the previous show (which included The Trees, Freewill and Ghost Rider). In addition, again for Resist, Geddy and Alex played some country music, with Geddy ending it with "That's all of the country music we know!" For the rant, Alex started by playing some Hawaiian music then said "That was a new Hawaiian song i just wrote." Then he talked about "walking on the beach in Hawaii, picked up a rock - ouch, lava, hot, I always do that!" Then his said, "this is what's in my head" and then played more Hawaian music." Then he said "Hey, you there in the funny hat" (to Neil) "What's in your head?" and Neil played a heavy drum rhthym. Then to Geddy "Hey, you...What's in your head?" and Geddy played "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on the bass.
• Hershey, Pennsylvania (10/25): He started off talking in a "Yogi Bear" type voice, mumbling something incoherent. He then said (in the voice) "How ya doing, Hershey?" which received a loud response. Alex then asked Neil and Geddy, who were playing a diddy, "Can you guys stop playing.." to which Neil yelled "NO!" through one of his drum mikes and began laughing. Both Neil and Geddy stopped playing and Alex began plinking the strings on his guitar, asking the audience if they liked his new song. They then played a bit of the star spangled banner, and then Neil then began playing the beat to "Wipeout" and Alex played along, playing the wrong notes to the song on purpose. Neil and Geddy just looked at Alex in amazement and Geddy started laughing. Alex then said, "Gotta go now" and they jumped back into La Villa.
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (10/27): In a girlish-voice, Alex talked about baseball players and drugs that ballplayers use for big heads. "Why would anyone want a big head, I mean everyone wants a little head"...(long pause)..."now and then". Then he asked Neil if he could play something that sounded good or he was going to come over and play drums himself, to which Neil made a cross with his sticks. He then turned to Ged and said, "Can you play something good for a change?" Geddy played "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" on the bass while Alex sang some funny lyrics about baseball and drugs, suggesting that maybe Ged & Neil were taking the drugs to make their heads bigger, "....as if your heads could get any bigger!"
• Boston, Massachusetts (10/28): Thanks to the fan who emailed me shortly after the show for this report: He was invited to the Meet and Greet, where he presented Alex with a complete set of "Three Stooges" bobblehead dolls, as a "thank you for the music". Hoping to see them during the live show, he was rewarded during the drum solo: when Neil's drum kit spun around, standing betweeen the two Spongebob Squarepants dolls was the Curley bobblehead doll! He also reported that the person who came out on stage during "Leave That Thing Alone!" to put quarters in the dryers was long time Rush fan, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson! Before the show, the fan had seen Johnson near the soundboard and had made small talk as Rush fans do, taling about the Angels winning the Series, Rush, etc....
• Chicago, Illinois (10/30): First Alex went to the mic and just stood there and didn't say anything, then he said his doctor said he had amnesia, or least that's what he thought his doctor said, but he couldn't quite remember. Then he stood there and did nothing, so Geddy and Neil stopped playing. Geddy then went over and showed him that he should be playing his guitar, and started hitting the strings for him, so then alex started hitting the strings and said "isn't this annoying" and then said "this is going to be on the new album" (wails on guitar) "you will just have to wait for the rest." Then he said "if you think that was annoying..." and then started screaming into the mic. This had Geddy and Neil laughing pretty good, at which point Neil queued the song back up and they started back into La Villa. For the rest of the song Alex kept sing "La Villa Strangiato" and ad libbing other parts as the song finished.
• Ames, Iowa (11/1): Alex began with a bit of coughing & "la la la..." (like scales), then said he was happy to be in Iowa with the Iowans. He was glad to be back at school. "You should be at school...instead of here...I didn't stay in school. Neither did they (motions to Neil & Geddy). But you should...otherwise you'll end up like them. Or you'll have to get a job. And that REALLY sucks..." He said to Neil and Geddy "you dropouts, play something smart!" Geddy & Neil stop playing, but only a second or two. Neil did a quick run around the drums before they went back to their jazz/swing improv. Alex clarified that now Geddy should play something smart. He acts flustered & confused, then returns to improv with Neil. As Alex returned to issue of school, Geddy & Neil move back into La Villa, and Alex began singing "Go Cy-clones!... Go Cy-clones!" while the crowd joined in. Side note, Neil apparently had a cold, as he was seen throwing many tissues over his shoulder.
• Minneapolis, Minnesota (11/2): Alex began with lots of moaning, then went on to tell about how he was performing in Lebanon only to be thrown out. Then he went to Syria because they like that type of singing too. Then he asked Neil if he could play some lebanese drums? Neil smiled and shook his head no. Can Geddy play some lebanese bass? He also smiled and shook his head no. Then he said something like "Oh, forget it!" and they got back to the song, although Alex kept up the crazy moaning for about 15 seconds until Ged jokingly told him to stop.
• Cleveland, Ohio (11/4): Alex began by him playing a little tune, then he walked up to the mic and said: "Voting...who to vote for? Why is it you can never vote for someone you actually like? Hey Neil, play some voting drums!" (Neil stops and plays a shuffle beat) "Hey Geddy, play some voting bass!" (Geddy stops and plays the original Batman theme). "Oh geeze thats great...if your voting for BATMAN! (Everyone laughs) Well, maybe if he was an independant. And whats up with that Robin Guy...just what is a robin anyway? Hey, I wrote a song for Robin..." (Geddy and Neil stop while Alex plays his song. Neil covers His mouth as he is laughing so hard. Alex sings a few Robin lyrics and then they break back into La Villa, only Alex is still singing with the beat). "Robin, I like your tights. Robin, what the hell is he anyway?!"
• East Rutherford, New Jersey (11/6): Alex turned to Neil and Geddy and asked "How you guys doing?", they said "fine", he then asked "So what are you guys doing tonight?" Neil replied "Working!". Alex then played a weird riff on the guitar and said "The first song goes like this", then played another riff and said "and the second song goes like this." Geddy and Neil stopped playing, looked at each other and shook their heads. Alex then said "Look for it! Coming to a music store near you!" He looked at Neil and said "Can you play anything remotely interesting on the drums?" Neil stopped the jazz beat and hits the cowbells with the horse racing 'at the starting gate' tune, and then played the same tune on his toms, then went back into the jazz beat. Alex then asked Geddy "And you, do you like know how to play the bass at all?", and Geddy ripped it up for a moment before going back to into the groove. After a bit more, Alex said "This part of the show is borring...." and then they went back to "La Villa".
• Uncasville, Connecticut (11/8): Alex started the rant played a wailing song on his guitar and said "that's on our new record!" to much applause, then said the rest of the song goes like this (as he plays some more) then says "I love that part". Then he stared weeping and told a long and funny story about how he lost all of his money at the casino. He had been gambling and said "If I had another $10,000 I could leave with $500".
• Manchester, New Hampshire (11/10): For this, the final show in the US, the band played "Closer to the Heart" in place of "The Trees" or "Between Sun and Moon" (in the setlist with "Freewill" and "Ghost Rider"). For the rant Alex started crooning into the microphone and playing some sort of blues scale on the guitar, then he says "I sound like Chris Issak on acid"...then he continues, "What is acid?...I thought it was orange juice. I think it is something I did in high school"...then he continues, "What is high school?" He then continued playing, then he stops and says something (or to the effect of) about it being the last night of the tour and that he will return to being nobody tomorrow...then he says, "Speaking of nobodys...there are these two nobodys back here"...points at Neil and Geddy. He then points specifically at Neil and says "Is there anything you would like to play since its the last show?" Neil just shrugged no. Then he looks/points at Geddy, "What about you?" He then looks back at Neil and says, "Not you....him!" And he points at Geddy and says "Him!" Geddy is like "Me?"...."Yes you!" And this continues until Alex gives up and starts playing "La Villa..." again.
• Porto Alegre. Brazil (11/20): 35,000 fans attended this first Brazilian performance. The setlist included The Trees and Freewill, which was followed by Closer To The Heart (same setlist for all three Brazil shows). Alex began the rant with a really poor guitar solo and said "That's how our next album will sound", then coughed for a long time.
• São Paulo, Brazil (11/22): 64,000 fans attended this performance, the largest in Rush's history. This show was recorded for backup to the Rio show which was recorded and filmed for DVD the following night. The rant was similar to the Rio rant the following night.
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (11/23): 50,000 fans attended this performance. Filming for the Rush In Rio DVD took place this night, the final show of the tour. Alex began the rant with raving and making weird sounds and then commented on Geddy and Neil's jamming with "this is jazz...jazz is cool"...then after a pause said "I love singing, singing is so easy..." and then said "I'd like to introduce you my backup band, the guys that followed me on this tour: on the drums...Mr. Milton Banana!" and Neil played some samba rhythms. "On the bass guitar, the Guy From Ipanema" and Geddy played Garota de Ipanema (the Girl from Ipanema) on the bass; when he get to the chorus Alex joined in on the guitar and mic singing "Laaaaa... lalalalalalalaaaaa....."

Lerxst's R30 Rants

• Opening night in Antioch (Nashville) (5/27): Lerxst told a story using different voices for a grandfather and his grandson, about flying model airplanes and repeatedly crashing them. "Grandpa! Grandpa! Tell us the story about the airplane!" he would say in a nasally, childish voice, and then tell about flying an airplane, and then making airplane crashing sounds.
• Charlotte (5/28): Lerxst talked about being old, wondering where he got "this" as he grabbed his belly, and complained of losing his hearing and things of that nature.
• Virginia Beach (5/29): Lerxst said one of his kids asked him to tell a story, and his reply was, "There are two types of stories, happy and sad." Since his kid wanted a happy story, he told the story of "One day, at a zoo, there was a lion, and he got outta his cage to visit his friend, the tiger"..."Lions and tigers and bears" then the audience replied "OH MY!" This went on two or three times. Then he said something about monkeys. Something like the monkeys were watching, and waiting for something to happen. At that Neil started a drum roll. (Double stroke.) Alex continued: "and then one monkey started a drum roll", Alex said. "A drum roll! How apropos said the other monkey to the first." At that point Neil and Geddy were split screen on the board. Neil whipped a look to Geddy, and you could tell Neil was trying to hold it in. Most of the crowd laughed at this...then Neil picked up the drum roll and they finished the song. Later, during "By-Tor & The Snowdog", when Geddy sang "By-tor...{pause}...and the Snowdog {second pause}, square for battle..." during the first pause Alex let out a primal war cry, and during the second pause made a bunch of barking sounds. Geddy was laughing too hard to sing "Square for Battle, let the fray begin!"
• Burgettstown (5/31): Lerxst talked about how it was Monday night (Memorial Day), "the end of a long holiday weekend...maybe a little drink" (tipping a shotglass), "maybe a little smoke" (puffing a joint)...and how much "it SUCKED to have to go back to work on Tuesday...Work SUCKS! Back to a stinky, smelly boss...get me this ASAP...get it ASAP your ass!..."
• Columbus (6/2) Lerxst started singing with the notes from his guitar. "Bah - bah - bah - bah....", a few times, then ended with: "Bah bah bah black sheep." After which he started to tell a story about how a sheep was driving a bus, which he thought was odd, because the goat was supposed to be driving the bus! Then, he asked how goats can drive a bus, and then was trying to figure out how a goat keeps receipts. He didn't know where a goat would keep them, and asked the audience, "DO YOU??" The band went back into the song, and Alex pointed out a stuffed-animal goat sitting on top of his amp, with the tag hanging off it's ear.
• Noblesville (6/4): Lerxst ranted a bunch of random, incoherent noises mumbled into the microphone and then started off singing what he was playing on guitar, interspersed with the occasional "Jumpin' Jimminy(?)."
• Tinley Park (Chicago) (6/5): Lerxst began playing odd chords on his guitar, and said "Geddy thinks he's sick..." and paused in response to Geddy's mention that the audience should excuse him because he is coming down with a slight cold, then continued by rambling about "The Day After Tomorrow...I went to see that movie. There were all these waves and all these storms and people were drowning in the city and it was SO STUPID! ..a REEEALLY dumb story." He went on about "having to sit through this crappy movie for 2 1/2 hours after running out of popcorn in the first 35 minutes. It reminded me of 'Titanic' where the ship hit an iceberg and SANK and a lot of people DIED..." and he said "why weren't there any ninjas on the ship, because that would have been more interesting", and concluded in a whiny voice - "WHY CAN'T THEY MAKE INTERESTING MOVIES ANYMORE?"
• Clarkston (Detroit) (6/8): Lerxst ranted about milk. "Drink more milk...or I'll kill you! 2% milk, 1% milk, homo, homo, homo milk that is, drink milk, drink milk, drink milk. Drink more milk or I'll kill you!" Another note about the Detroit show: Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys came on stage during 2112 to restart the dryers, gestured to the audience a couple of times and did an air drum roll before sauntering back off stage.
• Milwaukee (6/7): Lerxst started with a lot of shreeky singing, then began doing both sides of a silly-sounding conversation between a man and a woman: (in a woman's voice) "nice suit"...(in a man's voice) "thanks, I just had it pressed".
• Cuyahoga Falls (Cleveland) (6/10): Early in the show, Lerxst was visibly upset at the security at the front of the stage and during "The Spirit of Radio" he went over to center stage and yelled twice at the security guard to sit down. From that point on they never stood and the crowd loved it. He started his rant by making funny noises into the mic and on his guitar, and then he started saying "Hey pool boy, hey pool boy, time to get out of the pool" (more was said but was difficult to hear).
• St. Louis (6/12): Lerxst began by saying "Baby, baby, baby" then talked about a person with a rash all over his face and finished by making popping noises with his hand & mouth. He also mentioned "Pool Boy" a few times. After the rant Geddy said "He's so fucked up" (talking about Alex) with a big smile for those in the front rows.
• Bonner Springs (6/13): Following the usual odd noises in to the microphone, Lerxst discussed surfing and the ocean and waves and sighting a fin coming out of the water and swimming out to take on the shark and singing "Pool Boy, Pool Boy". This led to all three playing a "Gangster" tune, where Lerxst confessed to killing someone! Just when it seemed the rant was done, he went into another verse, then held out his arms as if keeping his balance and yelled "Surfs Up!"
• Dallas (6/23): Neil's new book Travelling Music was first on sale at the Dallas show. Lerxst's rant began with his playing "take me to the ballgame" on the guitar, then talked about baseball, "Baseball, everybody loves baseball...how 'bout these Rangers". He then emulated a baseball announcer introducing "player 47" and related the pitches all the way to a homerun.
• The Woodlands (Houston) (6/26): This is reportedly the first show where Geddy sang in an old pirate voice "We are the pirates of the Temple of Syrinx, Arrrrr" during the "2112 medley". During the short rant of only half a minute, Lerxst discussed the weather which was was poor, and he may have said something about "wet socks...gray everywhere" and "he's gonna get on that plane and get out...you gotta go, gotta go, gotta go, go go!" and then said another sentence toward Ged's direction and Neil just went right back into the song.
• Denver (6/29): A short rant, where Lerxst basically expanded on the old saying "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". "You know, we have a saying where I come from! You can fool some of the people some of th... Er.. Some of the people can get fooled if.. Er.. If you are the fool who follows the.. um...I won't get fooled again! I won't get fooled again!"
• West Valley City (Salt Lake City) (6/30): Lerxst pretended to be a pirate (speaking in a pirate voice) and talked about how he was a pirate captain and how he was never out of work because "When anybody needed a captain, they called me." He then explained that, "I have sailed the seven seas. I've seen a lot of good men go down .. (pause with a smile) and I've seen a lot of good women go down." He then went on to tell a story about a time "when I was sailing the eighth sea, it's a little known sea, it's not very big, I was looking for bounty and gold to plunder. I was also looking for a good bed to rest my aching back, and my aching wooden peg leg, and my aching wooden eye, and my aching wooden ear, and that's a completely different story" as to how he got a wooden ear that he would have to work on and cracked himself up in the process! Sidebar (via eyewitness reports): a couple in the first section (102) had a picture of a soldier and the girl kept raising it over her head during the first two or three songs of the show. An usher came over and asked her to put it down, as people were complaining that it was obstructing their view. Shortly after that a member of the Rush crew came over and stated that Alex wanted to display her sign on stage. Before or during "Red Barchetta" one of Alex's guitar techs took the picture and placed it to the left side of his amps (later moved right in front of his amps), which said anthonyquayle.com across the front. The touching moment came when Alex and the lady made eye contact, Alex saluted her and smiled, which of course made her cry. The picture stayed on stage for the rest of the night.
• Auburn (Seattle) (7/2): Continuing the pirate theme begun at The Woodlands, about three songs into the second set the crew on stage right were seen wearing pirate hats and eye patches. This brought laughs from Neil, Alex and Geddy, and Alex again sang in his pirate voice "We are the pirates of the Temple of Syrinx, Arrrrr" during the "2112 medley". For his rant, he started off with a series of strange chords then slipped back into the old pirate voice, and talked about being an old pirate, how his peg leg is bothering him and about the things pirates say like "shiver me timbers, avast ye swabbie and blow me (with a pause) down." He then sang a song called "The Pirate Blues".
• Ridgefield (7/3): Lerxst spoke as though he was a pirate, and talked about how he had just sailed in, and how he just loves being a pirate.
• Hollywood (7/6): Lerxst again gave a pirate inspired rant, and a Captain Morgan-esque picture (like a black light rug) popped up while Alex was ruminating on various pirate things, but nothing specific. One viewer reported that after resuming La Villa, the video screen showed Alex from his right side and he appeared to look down at someone in the crowd and said "I couldn't think of anything..."
• Chula Vista (7/7): Lerxst continued the pirate theme, begining with the usual strange opening chords and moaning and groaning, "la, la, la, la, la, la,", then said he was a "naughty pirate" but that he "didn't need one of those stinkin' patches" (Treasure of the Sierra Madre reference?). He then rambled about the Seven Seas, "Ahhhh, yes, to be a Pirate on the high seas, I want to be on the high seas, and sail on the seven seas being a pirate..."
• Mountain View (7/9): Lerxst rambled for a bit before continuing with the pirate theme... "Harrr haaarrrr, arrrrr, arrrrrrr, arrrrrrr. I stink. Tis a hard job being a pirate captain... The hardest part of being a pirate captain is making sandwiches for all the other pirates. 'I need four pastrami on rye, gimme two BLT's...toasted, and something dry to drink.....grop....it's the Pirate Blues.....Harrr harrrr har har..." During the 2112 medley, he again sang "We are the pirates, of the Temples of Syrinx, all the gifts of life, are down below"
• Concord (7/10): Pirate Lerxst began with the usual nonsense chords and then some tapping on the fretboard, and then slapping the neck with both hands, making tons of noise, then saying "Arrrrrrr....we were out on the seven seas....I don't remember which one, it coulda been the big one....someone was on the poop deck, it was a mess.....someone was in the crow's nest, way up high...." at this point ged and neil were laughing, and Al continues "You all remember the story of the Meat Bees? Well, this is different...arrrrrr......we didn't have anything to eat but fish.....big scary fish....nothing but fish" he grabbed the mic with both hands and stopped playing, whispering into the mic. Both ged and neil stopped playing as well, and it was just al whispering "Big nasty fish......they had big eyes......and giant sharp scary claws....and big fangs....scary fish....and that's all we could eat were scary fish........STUPID ATKINS DIET!"
• Marysville (7/12): Lerxst's rant was similar to previous nights, including the "Pirate Blues". He also threw in another reference to "the Atkins diet," then corrected himself and said "the Claude Akins diet, which is something very different."
• Irvine (7/14): Jack Black was in attendance for the show (Rush has been referenced in two of his films, see the Pop Culture References page for details), and during the 2112 medley jumped on stage, stripped down to his boxers and threw his cloths in the dryers, then jumped on top of the dryers and posed as the "man in the star", then ran over to Geddy to bow before him ("we're not worthy"), before high five him a few times and playing air guitar. Geddy sang the last chorus of "Temples of Syrinx" in a pirate accent ("Argh, all the gifts of life, are held down below..."), and even played one song with a stuffed parrot on his shoulder! During Lerxst's rant, he discussed "Blackbeard, Yellowbeard, that other beard...but the most dreadful or terrible pirate was the pirate Jack Black-and his butt crack".
• Phoenix (7/16): Lerxst ranted about "those damned pirates...German pirates, we were the best...in boats...it was a good boat...it was a boat that could float...and we would steal and pillage...and go to the beach..." and then broke into a neo-surf tune.
• Vegas (7/17): Again, during the 2112 medley, Geddy was wearing a shoulder parrot, sang 'We are the pirates", and added (for the first time?) during Grand Finale, "Attention all pirates of the solar federation...". In addition, the three flying saucers during the 2112 Grand Finale video were flying the "Jolly Roger". During the rant, Lerxst started with "I pooped on the deck once. Couldn't make it in time. See, I was avasting some scallywags...I was looking at some dead man's chests. Say, I always wondered about that. I mean, I see a lot of chests here tonight...and they sure ain't no 'dead man's' chests. Live ladies, ya see..." Then they broke in the Pirates Blues, and Alex added "Reminds me of my peg leg...er...what about the peg leg, I'm not sure..."
• West Palm Beach (7/29): Geddy told the crowd, "Today is the exact 30th birthday since our friend the drummer joined." Today being Geddy's birthday, during "2112 Overture" two very scantily clad women came out to tend to the dryers as the crew brought out a giant birthday cake loaded with candles. Without stopping playing Geddy went over to blow them out, and the crew re-lit them and kept it the cake on stage for the duration of the song. Between songs before the acoustic set, Lerxst walked on stage in his third shirt of the night...and Geddy said to the audience, "This guy changes his shirt more often than (someone [inaudible])." At the beginning of the acoustic set, Lerxst played the first six notes of "happy birthday" and a large portion of the audience started signing happy birthday, but Ged and Alex didn't stop and went right into "Resist". During the rant Lerxst mentioned the scantily clad women and then said that Geddy was having a "pirate birthday" and sang "Happy Birthday" to Geddy in a psuedo-sad crying/screech "Happy Birthday....(sob...sob)....Happy Birthday to you....(sob...sob)....Happy Birthday to you....(sob...sob)....YOU'RE SO OLD!....Happy Birthday....(sob...sob)...to you." and finally "happy birthday dear old man."
• Tampa (7/30): Lerxst started off by babbling incoherently into the mike which turned into a rendition of what sounded like a children's song. He then told a hysterical story of a couple trying to decide what to do that night. Man: "I thought maybe we'd go to a rock concert" Woman (in high pitched voice): "A rock concert? That's just typical. You always want to do what YOU want to do. How come you never want to do what I want to do? Do we have to sit here? It's so loud" Man "We can do whatever you want to do tonight, honey" Woman "I want to stay home and watch 'Fried Green Tomatoes'!..." This escalated into a blues song as he sang about having a mean woman that treats him bad as he never gets what he wants while the woman whines about him. Even though the rant wasn't pirate-themed, a large Jolly Roger flag was flown in the audience and Geddy had a Jolly Roger windsock on his mic stand and the parrot on his shoulder.
• Atlanta (8/1): Lerxst played some "jazzy" sounding guitar, then began to sing incoherently, finally degrading into a mixture of mock laughing and crying which went on for some time. Somewhere in the midst of this, Neil and Geddy stopped playing and looked at each other as if Alex had totally lost it. Geddy then tapped Alex on the shoulder and encouraged him to snap out of it.
• Bristow (Washington DC) (8/3): [The morning of the show, Dirk and Lerxst appeared live from XM Radio's "state-of-the-art performance studio" in Washington, DC, for "Artist Confidential". Geddy and Alex partook in a Q&A session and performed acoustic renditions "Heart Full of Soul" and "Resist". The show premiered October 10th, 2004, on XM Live 200, Boneyard 41, Deep Tracks 40 and Music Lab 51.]
  Lerxst started his rant with a scat singing bit then started making fun of Geddy. "Oh Ged, it's the same old thing (makes bass noises)" then makes fun of Neil "Drums, Drums, always drums...they're EASY". Then he made fun of himself "then the guitar (looking down at it)" and proceeded to make up a song containing power chords and lots of nonsensical screaming and yelling as Ged and Neil looked on while playing along with him. Then he stopped and said "that's the easy stuff". He then started making more weird guitar noises before going back into La Villa. Lerxst also took a flower from a bouqet tossed on stage and stuck it in the strings on his guitar head. In addition, the pirate theme was continued during 2112 and it was noticed the stage lights spelled "BYE BYE" during the Jerry Stiller trailer.
• Camden (8/4): It During YYZ two very exotic dancers came out check on the dryers, and pretended to try them on as they gyrated provocatively for the band's benefit - Geddy walked back to them and leaned up against the vending machine as he played and checked them out with a cool guy "how you doin?" kind of look, and then wondered back up to the front...; in addition it was noted that six banks of bright white stage lights spelled out YYZ. During the rant Lerxst began with his typical guitar doodling before saying "there's always something happening over on that (indicating Geddy's) side of the stage...dancing girls, guys in pirate hats...nothing ever happens on this side of the stage and no one ever comes over here, except those guys"...pointing out the crew who were smoking on his side of the stage "always smoking...smoking, smoking and more smoking...". Then someone from the audience threw a hat at on stage and within a second he kicked it back and said "No thank you!" which had everyone laughing.
• Hartford (8/6): The new biography, Contents Under Pressure was on sale at the show. Lerxst's rant was like "nah nah nah nah nah nah nah" for a few minutes while making more bizarre guitar noises (more info welcome...). The Pirate theme was continued with a couple of "pirates" with hats and cutlasses adding coins to the dryers during the show. Geddy had the parrot on his bass strap during 2112 and sang "We are the Pirates...", the three flying saucers during the Grand Finale were still flying the "Jolly Roger", and one of the guys working the board wearing a rather large pirate hat. During the rant, Lerxst started off with the funky jazz guitar as usual then he started to sing along with his guitar part, "na na na, Na. na, na, naaaaaaa...", before the jazz warbling guitar would come back in. He would repeat the vocal part mirroring his guitar part. This went on for a minute or two and then Neil started to really pick up the drums to match Alex. Alex, sensing it was time to get back into the song started to pick it up along with Neil doing something like "Na NA NA!! Na NA NA. Na NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA!!!!!!." All the while Neil and Geddy were cracking up and the music is building and building and Neil seems as if he's trying to punch a hole in his snare drum. Then all of a sudden....it got really quiet again and Alex started it all again..."Na na na na NA na naaaaa."This went on for a little bit and then came into a mighty crescendo before going back into the song.
• Scranton (8/7): Lerxst began playing some dream notes (more of a dream scale - from a low pitch to a high pitch, hitting every note in between, then back down to low). He played around on his guitar for a while, then finally stepped up to the microphone. At first it was incoherant words (sounded likes "oo-oo-oo-ah-ah-ah", like a monkey, but slower and differentiating pitches), then he started screaming into the microphone ("RAAAAAH!", sort of like a battle cry, which the audience would answer back). He did his war cry about four times, then started saying what sounded like "La Villa Strangiato is La Very Strange" or something of the like.
• Saratoga (8/9): Neil could be seen sporting an eye patch during 2112. Lerxst began the rant with the usual odd guitar notes and mumbling, then began telling a story about a boy and girl who walked into the woods and found a house made of gingerbread. When they started eating it, a witch came out of the house and said "Stop eating my house!" The kids replied, "Be quiet you old bat. We're eating your house." He end by saying "Fairy tales really suck these days."
• Jones Beach (8/11): During 2112 Geddy again sang "We Are The Pirates...". For the rant Lerxst began by making random noises and singing along as "La La La LA LA", then said "I smell a skunk. I smell a Stinky Skunk." He continued babbling and making od noises, then ending in a whiny kind of voice, "What a stupid thing to do! What a stupid, idiotic, insane, retarded, moronic...thing to".
• Mansfield (8/12): After the drum solo, as Geddy and Alex came out to play Resist Geddy said "it feels good to able to sit down, he (pointing to the drum set) gets to sit down the whole show!" 2112 included the lyrics "We Are The Pirates..." Lerxst began the rant by singing the notes he was playing up and down the neck, then Pratt took up the pace with a bass-snare-snare beat, resembling a surfing style song. Lerxst then sang nonsense lyrics to the tune of "Monster Mash" for about a verse, but before the chorus he changed the tune into a blues song. Dirk and Pratt were in perfect sync for this as Lerxst rambed on in jibberish until they built to a crescendo until stopping in the blues tradition so Lerxst could let out on big note, which he sang along to, then finished saying "If a schmuck like me can sing the blues" (Pratt then starts the snare return to LVS) "then so...can...YOU!"
• Holmdel (8/14): Geddy informed the crowd that it was "to-the-day, the 30th anniversary of their first American gig" (with Neil Peart on drums). During the rant, Lerxst discussed smoking and drinking and making sure we had enough, and told the loud crowd "you guys are soooooo damn quiet in joisey".
• Darien Lake (8/15): During YYZ some girls came out to check the laundry, and 2112 still had the pirate theme with a parrot on Geddy's shoulder and sang the final chorus of Temples in his now signature pirate voice. Also during 2112 two of the crew came on stage with w/huge hats and vests carrying golf clubs and began to feed the dryers quarters, and when they didn't start spinning again they took out their clubs and beat the dryers. When done they walked past Alex and gave him a big wave. Moments later a guy wearing a black shirt and Speedo slowly walked across the stage. Lerxst started by making rollercoaster ride sound effects "RAAAAUHHHHH...RAAAAAAUHHHHHH" going up and down (the roller coaster ride at Six Flags was present in the backround throughout the show) and then started crying obnoxiously before telling a story about Little Boy Blue, and what he was wearing and "poor Little Boy Blue" before being joined by Geddy and Neil for a short blues tune.
• New York City (8/18): Lerxst warmed up the crowd with some of his signature strange guitar sounds and noises, then began "Oh thank you God for making me Paris Hilton...I'm thinking to myself, maybe I'll spend some money today, maybe I'll get my picture taken again...and again...and again...and again...and again...AND AGAIN!...and why? I don't know why. Just why not?" This led to a rock riff where he sang "Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton, where are you baby? Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton, where are you baybee? Where's your brain? Where's your brain? Where's your brain? WHERE'S YOUR BRAIN!?!? Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton, you're so beatiful, oh yeah, Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton, YOU MAKE ME SICK! I don't know what my problem is, but she makes me sick...well I probably make her sick, but you know what? I COULDN'T CARE LESS!"
• New York City (8/19): During 2112, the pirate theme was again continued, with Geddy sporting a parrot on his shoulder. During the rant Lerxst began mumbling nonsense as usual, then did alternating voices of "parents" saying "time to go...come on we gotta go"... followed by the voice of a child whining..."But I don't wanna go....I don't wanna go home!" which ended with "I don't want to leave New York City, the best city in the world!!" He followed that with more whining before finishing it up with a short blues song.
• Montreal (8/21): Geddy introduced "Between The Wheels" as a song "recorded not far from here". During 2112, Ricky and Bubbles (Robb Wells and Mike Smith) from the Trailer Park Boys walked onstage: Ricky lit a cigarette and Bubbles posed as the 2112 guy. The pirate theme was continued, with Geddy wearing a parrot and using a pirate accent for "We are the pirates...", one of the crew wore a pirate hat while checking on the dryers and the soundboard operator had a huge jolly roger flag which he waved at the end of "Temples". During the rant, Lerxst began with the typical mumbling/singing of nonsense, before clearing his throat and singing in a loud, and hoarse voice. Then he started to sing a blues tune while Geddy and Neil joined in, "Just a poor boy..."
• Toronto (8/22): Lerxst began with the usual odd guitar noises...then he started saying "there is no place like home...there is no place like home...click your shoes dammit...there is no place like Toronto...Toronto" ...and then he started breathing through his nose into the microphone in what sounded like a country & western beat. After doing this for a minute or so, they broke back into La Villa and Geddy asked Lerxst (not into the mic) "What was that?"
• London (9/8): During 2112, Geddy sported his parrot and included his pirate lines. Lerxst began the rant singing la la la la la and making weird sounds with his guitar, then talked about the tower of London, Buckingham palace and how bad Radio One was (BBC 1 pop type radio station). He also sang some lines from Roger Miller's England Swings: "England swings like a pendulum do; Bobbies on bicycles, two by two; Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben; The rosy red cheeks of the little children".
• London (9/9): The parrot was again in the house during 2112, and after appearing to have audio problems with his inner ear monitor, Lerxst began the rant with a mock sobbing rambling about his problem and mentioned "they won't turn it up". In reference to an earlier mistake in La Villa, Alex said "It was strange, I was dreaming. I dreamt I was in a band and playing in front of all these people and that I made I mistake. And then I realised it wasn't a dream, it was real! I've been playing this song for like 100 years and it happened. On no! Wait, how does it go again? I remember how it goes again!" He starts singing the last section and played some more of his odd guitar sounds.
• Birmingham (9/11): Lerxst began with the usual odd guitar sounds, then said "I'm so sad...I'm so sad...I'm so sad. They've closed Boddingtons Brewery..after 200 years of brewing beer." Boddingtons is a brewery in Manchester, makers of 'Real Ale', which was being closed after 230 years in business. Lersxt then turned it into a sad blues, similar to what he's played on earlier nights of the tour. "I'm so sad. Everybody's drinking too much lager now...I want my Boddington's!...Well its only beer!"
• Manchester (9/12): At the beginning of YYZ a cake with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL" flashed up on the screen, and it was brought onstage during the song. After the song, the crowd started singing "Happy Birthday" but were cut short by the beginning of "The Trees". For the rant Lerxst began with the usual strange noises before squealing like a pig. "Hey I sound like Babe". Then he seemed to go into a conversation with himself as Babe and the farmer (could be wrong here?) When he really got into it he seemed to be sort of telling himself off - gruff voice / wingey voice, eyes closed, grimacing all the time. Then his eyes popped open as if he'd just woken up and he started staring around at the crowd and said, "Hey, where did you come from?" He ended it by just tanding and waving his arms and said, "That's it."
• Glasgow (9/14) - Lerxst's rant started with him mumbling into mic with the usual strange guitar noises and heavy breathing before launching into the song "I belong to Glasgow" ending up with "there'll always be a Scotland!" to much applause from the crowd. During Bytor Lerxst stood all the way over on stage right and screamed at Geddy who was singing over on stage left. He kept shouting "Oi" "Oi" until geddy finally heard him and turned. Alex then gestured that he wanted to fight ged and they made their way to stage centre and started throwing punches. At one point during the show a roadie came onstage to check the dryers wearing shorts and a pillowcase over his head with a face drawn on it with a big tongue hanging out. Lerxst looked at neil and mimed "he's mad". Lastly, the pirate theme was continued including skull and crossbone balloons provided by the crowd, while Geddy wore his parrot on his shoulder during 2112 and ending it with "shiver me timbers". Although some fans hoped for the addition of Closer To The Heart during the Glasgow show (see site of "Closer To The Heart" recording for Exit Stage Left), the setlist remained the same.
• Birmingham (9/15) - Lerxst played a slow bluesy riff and sobbed into the microphone "12 years .....sorry, but we gotta go" (referring to the 12 years since the last UK tour!!) He repeated this a few times before starting to sob profusely. Geddy & Neil joined in wholeheartedly with the slow blues but soon began to show signs of losing it. Neil was smirking and Geddy was making a "T" (Time out!!) sign behind Lerxst' back, much to the crowds enjoyment. He wrapped up by saying something like "....next stop - Amsterdam!!!!!" (should have said Germany!)
• Oberhausen (9/17) - Geddy greeted the audience during the drum intro to Animate by saying "Hello Deutschland" (accent free). With all remaining German dates, he greeted each city by changing his greeting to "Hello Stuttgart/Frankfurt/Hamburg" instead of "Deutschland". For the rant Lerxst mumbled a few things as if he had a bad cold or something, sounded a bit like he was choking.
• Stuttgart (9/19) - One of the roadies put a dwarf on stage which Alex took during the middle part of By-Tor to play his guitar! Lerxst's rant was totally insane, he never said a word and was just laughing and screaming.
• Milan (9/21) - For Rush's first visit to Italy, Geddy first greeted the crowd with somthing like "Grazie! Thank you so much! Sorry I can speak Italian...just a little...'piccolo'..it took us quite a long time to come to Italy but now we are here to play a million songs tonight!" ('Piccolo' means 'small'; it was pointed out by one Italian fan that he should have said 'poco', which means 'little', but his minimal Italian still still received a strong ovation from the crowd!). In addition, following Limelight, Geddy said 'buona notte' (good night) . During his rant, Lerxst mumbled for some time, sounds like "bbbb... bbbbbboooppp....bbbbiii....booo.... bbboooo..." and didn't speak until the very end, when he counted off the return to La Villa Strangiato with "uno due tre quattro" (Italian for one, two, three, four).
• Frankfurt (9/24) - As expected after being alluded to by Geddy while on Phil Jupitus' Breakfast Show, this show was filmed by the band "not that we have a specific DVD release in mind for it, but just kind of as a historical record of 'this' tour." This may be why, during the rant, Alex didn't say anything, he only laughed for awhile! Like in Frankfurt, Lerxst again counted into the return to La Villa in German ("Eins, zwei, drei, vier").
• Prague (9/25): Geddy spoke some Czech, specifically "Dekuji", which translates as "I thank you". Likely as there were few native-English speaking audience members, the "rant" was entirely non-verbal. No words. Lerxst began with the weird guitar stuff and segued into some low kind of mumbling that you couldn't really hear much less understand, with Geddy and Neil smiling. Eventually Lerxst heightened the pitch of the rant little by little until he was squealing with his arms held up high. Then he moved into a kind of a gub-gub-gub sound made by vibrating the back of his hand under his chin before ending the rant and returning to La Villa by counting one two three, not only in Czech, but in slang Czech. He said ?Raz dva tri?, and the crowd let out a big cheer. The concert was held in the Sparta Praha national ice stadium, and during 2112 (while Geddy wore his parrot), the Rush Backstage Club's Patrick McGlocklin and pyrotechnician Kevin came on stage to fill the Maytags with coins wearing hockey jerseys: the first was wearing a Czech nationals jersey while the second wore a Team Canada jersey. As they put the coins into the dryers they started to jostle each other, then in true ice hockey style they pretended to throw gloves to the floor and started fighting with each other while the band looked on.
• Hamburg (9/27): Lerxst began with something like "mi, mi, mi, mi" (similar to Beaker from the Muppet Show) which progressed to some kind of Polka Stuff (Humba, Humba, Humba), until everybody had tears of laughter in their eyes, Neil even stopped playing and the crowd clapped along to his strange noises. Like in Frankfurt, Lerxst again counted into the return to La Villa in German ("Eins, zwei, drei, vier"). During the intro to the second half of the show Lerxst threw an empty plastic bottle at the road crew and as an response he got ten to twenty of them back from his crew and it soon turned into a bottle fight. During 2112 Lerxst had a big owl on his left shoulder which was at least three times the size of Geddys parrot. During Temples it fell of his shoulder but was still hanging on his back so Lerxst turned around a few times like a dog chasing his tail, trying to get a look at it. Later the owl fell on the ground and Lerxst kicked it to the crew. The drawf from Stuttgart returned, as the crew also positioned the dwarf and a sheep in front of his mic.
• Stockholm (9/29): Lerxst ranted about Mats Sundin. It was unclear if Sweden would never get Sundin back, or if he was sorry about Mats Sundin coming back from Toronto. This led into a blues tune that evolved into a heavy metal chant, "Come Back, Mats! Come Back, Mats! No Mats Sundin, he doesn't wanna hang out with you...no more Mats Sundin boo hoo hoo, no more NHL boo hoo hoo too bad too bad boo hoo hoo".

Shows Notes

• The dryers from the previous tours were replaced by three rotisserie chicken roasters (periodic 'bassting' is required), which were as tall as Alex's stacks of H&K amplifiers and say "Henhouse" across the front of them. Like the previous two tours, before the encore the band threw t-shirts to fans in the crowd. The t-shirt used for the 2007 leg of the tour is black and does not say Rush anywhere; the front has an image of a waitress holding up a roast chicken while saying 'Feel like chicken?', while the back has the same phrase in six other languages: Dutch, German, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish; listed in the same order as they tour the respective countries. The front of the t-shirt used for the 2008 leg of the tour simply reads "Henhouse" , while the back has a detailed display of a Henhouse roaster demonstrating how to get that "hot tasty sound", etc. (This image was later published on Rush.com).
• There were multiple "Barbie Doll" groupies known as "Big Al's Babes" standing on stage in front of Alex Lifeson, holding "Post-It" signs with various sayings on them, apparently created by the roadies. Sayings included: "I Like The Drummer", "My Grampa Says Your Cool", "Can I Roll Your Bones?", "I'm A Dino-Whore AKA Suckasaurass", "I Was Conceived While My Dad Was At A Rush Concert", "I'm Not Wearing Any Panties", "My Mom Thinks Your Hot!", "I'm Only Doing This To Pay For College", "Freebird!", "I Thought ZZ Top Had Beards", "Bass Player's Cute! Is That His Real Nose?", "I Golf Naked", "Nice Dinosaurs - You Must Be A Caveman" and "If It's Too Loud You're Too Old".
• The opening video began with a dream sequence of Snakes and Arrows images, then Alex sits up in bed, saying, "Snakes? Who would dream about snakes, that's so creepy. Honey? Honey - wake up. I had this weirdest dream, it was a snake..." then the person lying next to him sits up and its Neil. They look at each other and yell in surprise...then after another sequence, Geddy wakes up in a chair and says "What did they do to my food?" and then in walks a man in a Scottish costume who speaks with a Scottish accent who tells Geddy he doesn't care how he is feeling, to "...wipe that chicken off your face and get out there!" after which they all ran out. The guy in the Scottish costume is actually Geddy, dressed in make up and wig. At the end of the show, another video of Scottish Geddy, aka "Harry Satchel" plays, where he tells people to go home because he wants to get back to eating his chicken, and "Limelight" is played on the bagpipes.
• For the first leg of the tour, the video intro for the second set was "The Plane of Dharma", featuring Alex in rare, comical form, playing several characters on the Snakes and Arrows Leela board. The board shifted around the screen and highlighted certain lines to which Alex popped up and executed various Alex rants.
• For the second leg of the tour, a new video intro was used called "What's That Smell", which included Geddy and Alex, Barbie Dolls, fried chicken, the return of both Harry Satchel (aka Geddy Lee in Scotsman garb) and Jerry Stiller, as well as a short appearance by Alex's "swami head in a box", and guest appearances by "Neil's head in a box" and others, along with lots of inside jokes for Rush fans; unfortunately, this video replaced Alex Lifeson's "Plane of Dharma" video. At the end of the outro video, where during the first leg of the tour "Limelight" was played with bagpipes, during this leg it is played with Indian sitar music. All other videos from the first leg remained, although some were modified (for example, one of the televisions from the Power Windows cover is seen blowing with the tumbleweeds during "When The Wind Blows").
• There was a video of Bob & Doug McKenzie to introduce "The Larger Bowl"
• "The Larger Bowl" has video snippets showing alternating images between the rich and the poor, etc.
• Click here for a 1:05 edit of the rearscreen animation created by Crankbunny for "The Way The Wind Blows".
• Alex played a mandola mounted on an Omega stand during "Workin' Them Angels"; the song had a video accompaniment similar to the album art of various types of workers and soldiers with angel wings.
• There was a South Park video intro to "Tom Sawyer"; during the video, the South Park characters begin playing "Tom Sawyer" but Cartman sings the wrong lyrics, "...floated down the river on a raft with a black guy", which leads to an argument with Cartman saying he's read the book and that's how the story goes, but the others quickly correct him saying "that's Huckleberry Finn, stupid!". Cartman then says "I am Geddy Lee! And I will sing whatever lyrics I want!". They then start again to count off the beginning for Rush.
• During "A Passage To Bangkok", a video played showing footage of far east trains, poppy fields, marijuana plants and many other scenes related to the lyrics.
• Geddy Lee played his 4001 Rickenbacker bass on stage for the first time in 25 years (last seen on the Signals tour).
• Geddy Lee used a minature Snakes & Arrows drum as a cup holder.
• "Digital Man", last played on the Grace Under Pressure warm-up tour, had a new arrangement and is missing the first "He's got a force field" lyric.
• The drum solo was completely revamped: the "Scars" and "Pieces of Eight" sections were dropped; there were a slew of new marimba samples which gave the middle section including the "Momo's Dance Party" bit an Oriental percussion feel; instead of "One O'clock Jump", the solo included a complete big band triggered sample of "Cotton Tail" which Neil performed with the Buddy Rich Band on Burning for Buddy Vol. I.
• "The Trees" was added for the second leg of the tour, included Geddy triggering a sample of Cartman from South Park saying "Real guitars are for old people".
• Added for the second leg of the tour, located on a pedestal near Geddy was a minature model of Neil Peart at his Snakes & Arrows drum kit.
• During the tour and for years afterwards, Neil's House Music List was available at Rush.com

Shows Notes

• The stage set, as noted in the tourbook, was inspired by the "steampunk" genre of science fiction with heavy use of copper accents as well as video and amplifier tubes. Alex's Hughs & Kettner amps were housed in steampunk cabinets, Neil's drumkit hardware as well as all cymbal and keyboard stands were copper plated, and in place of Geddy's amp there was a "time machine". Frequently during the show, steam released from the pipes. When not playing production videos, the primary video screen showed a split screen where onto of a steampunk background one large video screen (tv tube) featured on the right half, and two smaller ones on the left, with each band member featured on at least one screen at all times whether it's a full frontal shot, a closeup on the playing, etc. The "steampunk" background, when was featured on the screen, had gears spinning at all times, etc. During the big band section of the drum solo, a computer generated video of a steampunk robot played, and was synchronized with Neil's playing. In addition, for certain songs, a five second video of the "odometer" from the tourbook cover played before the song, where it would spin to the year that song was released, i.e. for Leave That Thing Alone it stopped at 1994, for Marathon it stopped at 1985; for The Spirit Of Radio, it stopped at 1979, and not 1980, however.
• The opening video was titled "Rash, The 'Real' History of Rush", and featured the 'Gershons Haus of Sausage' diner with Geddy working the counter, Alex in a fatsuit eating sausage, and Neil as a second patron [Gershon is of course Geddy's real name]. A polka band, "Rash", played The Spirit of Radio on accordion, tuba and drums! After Alex brought out and used a time machine dubbed the "Gefilter", the music changed to a disco rendition of The Spirit of Radio, and after another adjustment changed to country music. After one final adjustment, the original studio version was heard as the video ends and the concert begins. Geddy usually wore a tshirt featuring either the debut logo but spelled "RASH", or a tshirt featuring the logo "Gefilter". Early in the tour (after opening night), preceding the encore, Geddy and Alex tossed tshirts to the fans. One shirt read "Gershon's" on the front and "Nobody Beats My Sausage" on the back. A second shirt read "Slobovich Says..." on the front and "The Last Time Someone Grabbed My Sausage..." on the back.
• The alternate versions of "The Spirit Of Radio" and "Closer To The Heart" (exit music) were arranged by the Dexter's Lou Pomati.
• The intro video for the second set was part 2 of "The 'Real' History of Rush" from a second/alternate timeline. This time, Alex, still in the fat suit but sporting a mullet and going by the name of Rush's real manager Ray Danniels, is the manager of the "polka band", who are now wearing the kimonos from 2112. The band is filming a video, with Geddy made up as Andy Warhol portraying the director and Neil as the cameraman. More time machine hijinks ensued, leading into Moving Pictures...
• Don't miss this website and photo gallery from Louise Mackintosh, makeup artist responsible for the makeup effects on the Time Machine tour.
• In the tradition of the dryer tenders and chicken basters of recent tours, twice during the show people appeared on stage pushing a shopping cart containing "rubber chickens" to "feed" the sausage machine (the chickens were dropped into the large funnel closest to Neil's kit).
• The Moving Pictures videos: each song had an all new ~20 second Monty Python-esque video featuring the Parliament Building and/or the movers in the red suits in one way or another. For "Red Barchetta", a Ferrari 166MM Barchetta race car with number 2112 on the door pulls up to the Parliament Building, the movers get in and drive away. For "YYZ", a biplane lands in front of the Parliament Building, and then airplanes are shown circling Toronto's CN Tower which is being climbed not by King Kong but rather a giant mover. For Limelight, a light switch is shown, which when switched on turns on a few light bulbs, and then the movers are seen walking a tightrope. "The Camera Eye" features camera bulbs at the beginning, and then each segment shows fast paced videos of New York or London. "Witch Hunt" features the movers chasing a litte girl witch through a forest with sausages on pitchforks for roasting on the fire. "Vital Signs" featured the movers, a robot and an EKG.
• During "Red Barchetta", we heard Daffy Duck saying "No more for me thanks, I'm driving", previously heard during the 2009 leg of the Snakes And Arrows Tour.
• Near the end of "The Camera Eye", we first heard Austin Powers' "Yeah Baby!", followed by a sample from Family Guy (Stewie: "Nobody likes you here man." New Brian: "Well, I disagree. I think everybody likes me." Stewie: "No we don't."), followed by a sample from Monty Python's The Holy Grail ("Bring Out Your Dead").
• The video at the end of the show was titled "I Still Love You Man", and featured Paul Rudd and Jason Segel reprising their roles from I Love You Man. They have snuck into the band's dressing room, and are still there when the band walk in after the show.
• "Faithless" had a video showing butterflies and seashells in a dream landscape, and a business man holding a briefcase and umbrella. He sprouts butterfly wings and floats around. Video ends with a moral(?) compass swinging on a string.
• "Caravan"'s video features blimps flying over a burned out world; perhaps a view of the theme of the upcoming Clockwork Angels?
• This was the first tour since its inception that Neil Peart did not utilitze the rear/electronic drums for any of the songs performed, with the exception of his drum solo.
• For the encore, the band started playing an all new polka piece, with Geddy and Alex playing the accordian and tuba sounds on the keyboards and pedals. This morphed into the beginning of La Villa Strangiato.

Shows Notes

• There were three videos played during the show: the show opened with "Gearing Up"; the second set opened with "The Appoinment"; and the show ended with "Office Of The Watchmaker".
• During the film "The Appoinment", the doorbell first plays "Closer To The Heart" and then "Tom Sawyer".
• At the end of the "Office Of The Watchmaker", we hear "Tom Sawyer" (Calliope version).
• Geddy's backline included a popcorn machine and a large floating brain in a giant jar.
• There was a small stage behind the drumkit with a small staircase leading up to it from both sides for the string section, which came out and performed for the entire second set, leaving before the encore.
• During "The Big Money" we heard Dr. Evil from Austin Powers say "One Million Dollars!". The Austin Powers films have been referenced on Different Stages (Geddy says "Yeah Baby!"), in the Snakes In Arrows Live linernotes ("Isn't that weird"), and on the Time Machine Tour during "The Camera Eye" (a sample of Austin saying "Yeah Baby, Yeah!").
• Alex had a keyboard (same as on the Time Machine tour), which he used to play the piano on "The Garden".
• Late in "Wish Them Well" the band played 30 seconds of "Dance To The Music" by Sly and the Family Stone.
• Beginning the fifth show in Chicago, the starman appeared in the opening video for "2112", then Stewie from Family Guy kicked the starman off the screen and took his place.

Shows Notes

• During the opening video, a roadsign appeared listing the current city and its population (which is reportedly accurate), and a city slogan. To the right of the roadsign was pictured an actual physical landmark, person or mascot, etc., unique to that city.
• "Roll The Bones"' rapping skeleton was replaced by celebrity rappers including the Trailer Park Boys, Paul Rudd & Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Les Claypool, Tom Morello, Chad Smith and Peter Dinklage, brother of violinist Jonathan Dinklage, who was a member of the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble.
• "The Camera Eye" was dedicated "in loving memory" to Rush's long time photograher Andrew MacNaughtan who shockingly passed away in 2012 due to a heart attack in 2012 at the young age of 47. It returned after last being played on the Time Machine tour, and in fact, Alex Lifeson said that on the Time Machine tour "it ended up being our favorite song to play on a nightly basis...We'll continue to play it on [the Clockwork Angels] tour." - Guitar Player, November 2012; one can assume it was dropped from the preplanned Clockwork Angels setlists due to time constraints.
• "Mel's Rockpile" starring Eugene Levy had been a recurring skit on SCTV.
• "Jacob's Ladder" was a song that Alex Lifeson had said they would play on the Time Machine Tour, but which was shot down by Neil Peart with the statement "you can't go back".
• "Xanadu" was performed by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee with both of them using their doubleneck guitars for the first time in decades.
• "Natural Science" included sounds of R2D2 beeping at the lyric "computerized clinics" instead of the computerized sounds heard in the studio version.
• "The Camera Eye" included a sample of the conversation "Surely you can't be serious?" "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley" from the movie Airplane!.
• "The Big Money" was listed in the tour book's rear screen film credits but was not included in any of the final setlists, indicating it may have been planned to be included but dropped due to time constraints.