Lifeson confirms Rush break up, will not reunite again.

[dgtlman]

When I saw them open for Rush in Chicago (Power Windows) it was more like indifference than booing (myself included). I do remember SOME enthusiastic fans and probably some converts, but overall, it was a lukewarm reception. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes did not do so well with Rush in '79. They cut their set short, with the singer's last words being "Fuck you Chicago!"

That reminds me of the time Mountain Smoke opened for Kiss. Talk about a hostile crowd.

[GuitarGeek]

When I saw them open for Rush in Chicago (Power Windows) it was more like indifference than booing (myself included). I do remember SOME enthusiastic fans and probably some converts, but overall, it was a lukewarm reception. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes did not do so well with Rush in '79. They cut their set short, with the singer's last words being "Fuck you Chicago!"

Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes opened for Rush?! Now there's a mismatched bill from hell. As I recall, wasn't Southside Johnny Lyon (why the frell do I know his last name?!) basically like a B list Bruce Springsteen? I don't think I've ever actually heard any o ftheir music. They played in a beer commercial (either Miller or Budweiser, I think) circa 1982, which got a lot of airplay on MTV, but I'm not sure I've ever heard anything else they've ever done.

Regarding Chicago and fans reception to opening bands, when I saw Rik Emmett, he told a story about Triumph playing at the Aragon Ballroom in '79 or '80, I think he said it was, and April Wine was the opening band. The audience was throwing plastic cups at April Wine while they were playing. He said it looked like a snow storm! "And they were a good band, too, they didn't deserve that!"

[GuitarGeek]

Aerosmith's first big tour when their first album came out apparently entailed them playing several dates opening for Mahavishnu Orchestra! I can't imagine what the fusion heads must have thought of that.

[dgtlman]

Did that actually happen? I remember bringing this up on IMDB, in a comment I posted on the board for the movie Roadie (which Asleep At The Wheel appear in, performing as entertainment for a tire convention of some kind, with Ray Benson mumbling, "Who booked this gig?" at one point in the scene). Anyway, so I brought up that I had heard a story of Asleep At The Wheel and Kiss being on the same bill once, and one of the members of Asleep At The Wheel responded that she didn't ever remember such a matchup.

Aerosmith's first big tour when their first album came out apparently entailed them playing several dates opening for Mahavishnu Orchestra!

Sorry man! It was Mountain Smoke when Vince Gill was in the band. I get the two confused. Post corrected

[JKL2000]

Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes opened for Rush?! Now there's a mismatched bill from hell.

I saw Suzanne Vega open for Jethro Tull. And this was in 2002, so it's not like she was a new artist. Who put that together?

[GuitarGeek]

I saw Suzanne Vega open for Jethro Tull. And this was in 2002, so it's not like she was a new artist. Who put that together?

Actually, I can kinda see that one, since both feature prominent acoustic instrumentation in their respective musics. Of course, Suzanne Vega is more of a middle of the road singer/songwriter type, so maybe it's still a mismatch.

The first time I saw Tull, ELP opened for them. That was in '96. The second time I saw Tull, in November 2007, I think, there was no opener, though after the first song, Ian wished us a happy Thanksgiving, and then said "It's such an honor to be here tonight, opening for Jethro Tull!".

[Progatron]

The first time I saw Tull, ELP opened for them. That was in '96. The second time I saw Tull, in November 2007, I think, there was no opener, though after the first song, Ian wished us a happy Thanksgiving, and then said "It's such an honor to be here tonight, opening for Jethro Tull!".

Of the several times I saw Tull, I think they only had an opening act once, and that was Saga.

[moecurlythanu]

Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes opened for Rush?! Now there's a mismatched bill from hell. As I recall, wasn't Southside Johnny Lyon (why the frell do I know his last name?!) basically like a B list Bruce Springsteen? I don't think I've ever actually heard any o ftheir music. They played in a beer commercial (either Miller or Budweiser, I think) circa 1982, which got a lot of airplay on MTV, but I'm not sure I've ever heard anything else they've ever done.

You had to hear them a lot, Chris, unless it's an age difference thing. They got a ton of airplay on Cleveland radio, especially MMS. "We're havin' a party, everybody's swingin'. Dancin' to the music, on the radio. So listen, Mr. DJ...Plenty of others too.

Little Steven was a prominent member of the band.

[DocProgger]

Regarding Chicago and fans reception to opening bands, when I saw Rik Emmett, he told a story about Triumph playing at the Aragon Ballroom in '79 or '80, I think he said it was, and April Wine was the opening band. The audience was throwing plastic cups at April Wine while they were playing. He said it looked like a snow storm! "And they were a good band, too, they didn't deserve that!"

Give me April Wine over Triumph any day of the week.

[JKL2000]

^More like the PE epitaph.

Marillion...will be my epitaph

[moecurlythanu]

Give me April Wine over Triumph any day of the week.

I saw April Wine once in '79 or '80. I think they opened for Rush, who were good about bringing other Canucksters with them when they toured the US.

[Garden Dreamer]

Wow, this completely came out of left field, as I didn't even know the new FU MANCHU album was released today... but Alex guests on the 18-minute track "Il Mostro Atomico"!!! Alex and my favorite stoner band together, HOW THE HELL DID THAT COME ABOUT?! But I'm listening to it now and it's not exactly an epic... 6.5 minutes of variations on the same riff, then it morphs into a faster song with a brief vocal section, then more riffing the rest of the way.

[GuitarGeek]

You had to hear them a lot, Chris, unless it's an age difference thing. They got a ton of airplay on Cleveland radio, especially MMS. "We're havin' a party, everybody's swingin'. Dancin' to the music, on the radio. So listen, Mr. DJ...Plenty of others too.

Little Steven was a prominent member of the band.

Yeah, Little Steven produced the first three albums and wrote a lot of the songs, too, at the same time that he was playing with Springsteen. Wikipedia says that the third record is sometimes called "The best album Bruce Springsteen never made", then there's an explanation of why that "isn't true", apparently hinging on the fact that they only do a couple Springsteen songs on the record, which sort of misses the point of the original comment, which probably hinges on the fact that it sounds like a Springsteen record, regardless of who wrote the songs.

If I was gonna hear something on WMMS, it would have had to been something they played regularly circa 1982-1985. I wasn't listening to the radio much before 1982, and after about 85 or so, I mainly listened to WONE and WNCX, and then around 1988, I discovered college radio and more or less abandoned commercial radio altogether.

[MudShark22]

Wow, this completely came out of left field, as I didn't even know the new FU MANCHU album was released today... but Alex guests on the 18-minute track "Il Mostro Atomico"!!! Alex and my favorite stoner band together, HOW THE HELL DID THAT COME ABOUT?! But I'm listening to it now and it's not exactly an epic... 6.5 minutes of variations on the same riff, then it morphs into a faster song with a brief vocal section, then more riffing the rest of the way.

We are the Priests... Of the Temple...of Bong Hits.

That's awesome.... Maybe Alex can replace Josh Homme in a revamped Kyuss!!

[Nearfest2]

Give me April Wine over Triumph any day of the week.

Never. "Triumph loves you!"

[ytserush]

Absolutely. But implying they're obligated to declare their intentions either way is something different.

Geddy has been saying since the late '80s that when they were done there would be no farewell tour, no announcements and that they (the band Rush) would quietly go away.
I'd argue they've already given us more than that. In other words, there was never going to be a press conference.

[ytserush]

Rush was generally a hard rock band, in the main, and they have a built-in advantage of having a core audience that loved to bang their heads . To compare them with yes or Genesis , circa 1971-1977, is a facile comparison . These bands were swimming against the tide because they did not play hard rock, heavy metal or cock rock or whatever you want to call It.

That may have been why many of those abandoned ship after the Signals Tour in 1982-83 because The only pre-1980 songs in a 100 minute set were Closer To The Heart, The Trees, and a medley of Overture/the Temples Of Syrinx/Xanadu/La Villa Strangiato/In The Mood

[ytserush]

Nor do I.

At the show I saw in I think Hartford, but could have been Worcester (one of those two), I actually remember a pretty fair contingent of Marillion fans being there. Lots of Marillion t-shirts.

This was also my first exposure to Marillion, except maybe hearing Kayleigh once on the radio. I remember thinking that they really wanted to be Genesis, but I was intrigued enough to buy a couple of their LPs, Fugazi first and Script later. They never clicked with me, but I did enjoy them at the Rush show.

Bill

That's the one thing I remember about Marillion open for Rush March 31 and April 1 1986 --- Marillion shirts and jackets. I'm sure I saw Rush shirts too, but the Marillion presence was huge.

[JKL2000]

Geddy has been saying since the late '80s that when they were done there would be no farewell tour, no announcements and that they (the band Rush) would quietly go away.
I'd argue they've already given us more than that. In other words, there was never going to be a press conference.

That's probably because they were smart enough to know that IF they made some formal announcement that they were ceasing, it would make it harder to start back up again if they decided to.

Yeah, that's the ticket!

[GuitarGeek]

Give me April Wine over Triumph any day of the week.

Personally, I like both of them. And I still say If You See Kay is the greatest song title of all time.

[Jerjo]

I like April Wine. Lots of catchy crunchy riffs with absolutely no pretension. I imagine that Triumph is more of a band that true Rush fans embraced after that embarrassing Signals album.

[dropforge]

Never. "Triumph loves you!"

Triumph's rad!

[dropforge]

I like April Wine. Lots of catchy crunchy riffs with absolutely no pretension. I imagine that Triumph is more of a band that true Rush fans embraced after that embarrassing Signals album.

Nothing embarrassing about the Rush album with Geddy's best bass tone, his best-sounding synths, and some of the band's best-ever songs. Kicks ass from front to back!

[Plasmatopia]

I like April Wine. Lots of catchy crunchy riffs with absolutely no pretension. I imagine that Triumph is more of a band that true Rush fans embraced after that embarrassing Signals album.

[dgtlman]

April Wine was support on the Hemispheres tour. I dug 'em.