Rush - 24 October 1974 - Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario [UNCIRCULATED]

Rush live at Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario during the debut Rush tour. This is Rush's very first time performing at Massey Hall, opening the show for Nazareth.

This show features the earliest known live recording of Anthem, and Geddy states it was "written about a week and a half ago". It's possible to consider they may have waited to debut the song live during their homecoming in Toronto, however Geddy doesn't suggest it to be their first time playing it. Otherwise, the song would've only been played live no more than six shows prior to Toronto. If you listen closely, parts for bass, guitar, and drums are all slightly different compared to the more polished versions we will already hear later in 1974. Prior to obtaining this tape, we had no evidence that Anthem was played this much earlier than the November 19 Seattle show.

Unique playing during the jam section of Working Man can be heard in this show, notably sounding a bit different than all other 1974 live versions we have. Early pieces of By-Tor And The Snow Dog can also be heard during the middle section of Working Man, as usual for 1974 shows with Neil.
Prior to Working Man, Geddy addresses their Toronto fans who are already familiar with the band: "Before we end off tonight, a number of you have seen the band before, so you may notice a new face in the band. We'd like to feature our new drummer for this next tune, Neil Peart."

Track Listing:

01 - Intro​ [0:00]
02 - Finding My Way​ [0:50]
03 - Best I Can​ [5:53]
04 - In The Mood​ [9:12]
05 - Anthem​ [12:58]
06 - Here Again​ [17:31]
07 - Bad Boy​ [26:23]
08 - Guitar Solo​ [30:41]
09 - Working Man​ [32:50]
10 - Drum Solo​ [43:30]
11 - What You're Doing​ [46:15]

This show was recorded by two different tapers in the audience, both who were among a larger friend group in attendance. Source 1 is a mono recording, and captures the full show except for the band's intro tape. Source 2 is a stereo recording, sounds slightly better, captures the intro tape, but ends right after Anthem. This source merge makes full use of Source 2, with Source 1 filling in the remainder of the show.

This is a previously uncirculated recording, not becoming publicly available until May 2025. This same group of tapers also later recorded the Toronto shows on December 12 in 1974 at the University of Toronto, and again on June 25 in 1975 for Rush's first headline show at Massey Hall. Those recordings have been public for decades from higher gen copies, however huge upgrades of these tapes have also been recently obtained.

Downloads:
rush-archives.net

Contributions Wanted! If you recorded audio tapes, videotapes, or film at a Rush concert and would like to help further preserve Rush's history, please contact us at [email protected]