Ohio 1975

1975 LIVE BROADCAST FROM CLEVELAND, OHIO BY THE CLASSIC RUSH LINE -UP Shortly after the release of Rush s debut album in 1974, original drummer John Rutsey was forced to leave the band due to health difficulties stemming from diabetes and his general distaste for touring. His last performance with the group was on July 25th, 1974 at Centennial Hall in London, Ontario. Rush held auditions for a new drummer and eventually selected Neil Peart as Rutsey's replacement. Peart officially joined the band on July 29th, 1974, two weeks before the group's first U.S. tour. They performed their first concert together, opening for Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann with an attendance of over 11,000 people at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 14th. In addition to becoming the band's drummer, Peart assumed the role of principal lyricist from Geddy Lee, who had lost interest in writing, despite having penned the words for the band's debut. Instead, Lee, along with Alex Lifeson, now focused primarily on the instrumental aspects of Rush. Their sophomore album, Fly by Night (1975), saw the inclusion of the band's first epic mini-opera, By-Tor and the Snow Dog , replete with complex arrangements and multi-section format. Lyrical themes also underwent dramatic changes after the addition of Peart, because of his love for fantasy and science-fiction literature. Despite these many differences however, much of the newer material still closely mirrored the blues style found on Rush's debut. Having spent almost the entirety of 1974 touring their first album across Canada and the USA, in February 1975 they were back out on the road promoting Fly By Night. Starting the tour again in their native country at Waterloo, Ontario s Wilfrid Laurier University Theatre Auditorium on February 14th, within a week they had crossed the border and were performing at the Indianapolis Convention Centre supporting the Faces. On April 7th 75 the band pulled up at The Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio a venue they had played a year before on their first US tour, and which, like tonight s show, had also been the subject of an FM radio broadcast (available as the ABC 1974 CD). The set list differs quite substantially from the 1974 gig however and this was their first US gig at which they were the headline act. Playing five cuts from FBN, four from their debut and keeping their favourite cover of the time - Larry Williams Bad Boy - in the set, this dynamic performance featuring superb audio sound quality finds Rush at a still early but most ambitious time in the group s history when it must have seemed, for band and fans alike, that just about anything was possible.