I’d like to take you back to June 12th 1980 when we were all young and quite literally thrusting. On that date I saw Rush play Newcastle City Hall on the Moving Pictures tour. I wasn’t a Rush student, I knew bits and pieces, I loved Spirit Of Radio. If you remember those days, we came to music quite randomly because it was hard to hear rock music. So how it worked for me was I was more familiar with Mahogany Rush than Rush because my pal Russell brought Tales Of The Unexpected and World Anthem into school and 6th form regularly. He brought All The World’s A Stage too, but less frequently, so we didn’t grow as familiar with Rush. I think I went through a phase of thinking they were related. I mean, they’re both Canadian and share a name.
Anyway, back to 1980, I was vaguely aware of Rush from those school days, but had no idea how slavish their fans were and how much they were loved. I was in for a shock. I think I had got a ticket off someone because I somehow ended up going on my own at the front of the second block in the stalls.
Before the gig there were dozens of people down the front, ogling the gear and the pedals; a great array of them. All part of the experience.
They opened up with 2112, a number I love now but wasn’t familiar with in 1980. The crowd went berserk. I was obviously too young to have experienced Beatlemania and had too much taste to have experienced Rollermania, but this was the nearest thing. I was nearly 19 and I felt old. I was struck by how young the audience were. People weren’t screaming but were yelling throughout. The noise was incredible for the two hours. They were jumping up and down and generally going wild and knew every detail.
By the time of the encore of a crushingly brilliant La Villa Strangiato, I was caught up in the mania, joining a crowd at the front of the stage. It was an amazing gig, maybe because I wasn’t familiar with most of the material. It was all fresh. I didn’t even really know what they looked like. Do rock bands attract such a reaction anymore?
You couldn’t avoid a major band in the same way now because you’d just look them up online and download their music. But back in the day, it was quite common not to know much of a band’s music. When I saw Led Zeppelin, I only really knew II and IV plus side 2 of Physical Graffiti. I saw SAHB but barely knew any of their music. I bet there were great bands that you didn’t know much about when you saw them which you’re now glad you saw. I’m certainly so glad I saw Rush, possibly at a peak period when their fans were some shade of crazy because, you know what it’s like, back then, you always thought there’d be another gig, another tour. ‘I’ll catch them next time’ you’d say but never did.
Opting to stay in the pub rather than go to the show. It all felt so easy to do. There were so many gigs by so many bands, you could see a gig 6 days a week. It never occurred to me that one day this wouldn’t be possible. I mean, I never saw Rory Gallagher despite having an opportunity a couple of times, most years. I just always thought I’d catch him next time. Then it wasn’t possible. It could have been the same with Rush.
