R40 Live Tour
The R40 Live Tour was the final concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush that commemorated the 40th anniversary of drummer Neil Peart joining the band in July 1974. The title hearkens back to Rush's 2004 R30: 30th Anniversary Tour that celebrated the 30th anniversary of the band. The tour grossed US$37.8 million, with 442,337 tickets sold at 35 concerts. Although the tour was shorter than many of Rush’s preceding tours, it was very successful in terms of average concert attendance and gross, which was 12,638 and US$1,080,000 respectively. The tour also saw more sellouts than any other Rush tour in recent memory. With 26 out of the 33 reported shows being sellouts, and the remaining 7 still over 90% capacity, the band felt a taste of their success from their prime years again.[1]
Tour by Rush | |
Location | North America |
---|---|
Start date | May 8, 2015 |
End date | August 1, 2015 |
Legs | 1 |
No. of shows | 35 |
Rush concert chronology |
Though their setlist was meant to represent their entire discography in reverse order, no songs off of the albums Test for Echo (1996), Presto (1989), Hold Your Fire (1987), or Power Windows (1985) were performed for the entirety of the tour.
Films
The shows performed on June 17 and 19, 2015, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto were filmed and released as the concert film R40 Live on November 20, 2015. A documentary titled Rush: Time Stand Still was released in November 2016, dealing with the band's preparations for the tour and their experiences during it.[2] The film was narrated by Paul Rudd and directed by Dale Heslip.
Live album
Rush recorded two of their shows in June in Toronto for a live album released on November 20, 2015.[3] They also recorded "The Wreckers" in Buffalo, NY at the show on June 10, 2015 for the album, as well as "The Camera Eye" at the show in Kansas City, MO on July 9, 2015. The live album R40 Live reached number one on Billboard Top Rock Albums chart.[4]
Book
Neil Peart released a book about the tour titled Far and Wide: Bring That Horizon to Me! on September 13, 2015.[5]
Set list
First set
"The World Is... The World Is" (video introduction)
- "The Anarchist"/"Clockwork Angels" (only on May 8 in Tulsa, Oklahoma)
- "Clockwork Angels"/"The Wreckers"†
- "Headlong Flight" (with "Drumbastica", Neil Peart drum solo)
- "Far Cry"
- "The Main Monkey Business"
- "One Little Victory"/"How It Is"
- "Animate"
- "Roll the Bones"
- "Distant Early Warning"/"Between the Wheels"
- "Losing It"†
- "Subdivisions"
Second set
"No Country for Old Hens" (video introduction)
- "Tom Sawyer"
- "Red Barchetta", "The Camera Eye"/"YYZ"
- "The Spirit of Radio"
- "Natural Science" (only when "YYZ" was performed)
- "Jacob's Ladder"
- "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres"
1. "Prelude" - "Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage"
1. "Prologue"
2. "Part 1"
3. "The Story So Far" (Neil Peart drum solo)
4. "Part 3" - "Closer to the Heart"
- "Xanadu"
- "2112"
I. "Overture"
II. "The Temples of Syrinx"
IV. "Presentation"
VII. "Grand Finale"
Encore
"Mel's Rock Pile" starring Eugene Levy (video introduction)
- "Lakeside Park"
- "Anthem"
- "What You're Doing"
- "Working Man" (featuring intro excerpt of "Garden Road")
"Exit Stage Left" (video outro)
† "Clockwork Angels" / "The Wreckers" were not played June 19 in Toronto, June 27 in Newark, New Jersey, June 29 in New York, New York, July 17 in Vancouver, BC and August 1 in Los Angeles, California. At those five shows, they were replaced by "Losing It," which was played prior to "Subdivisions."
Tour dates
Date[6] | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Gross |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | |||||
May 8, 2015 | Tulsa | United States | BOK Center | 9,830 / 10,355 | $817,400 |
May 10, 2015 | Lincoln | Pinnacle Bank Arena | 9,357 / 10,280 | $654,434 | |
May 12, 2015 | Saint Paul | Xcel Energy Center | 11,835 / 11,835 | $973,166 | |
May 14, 2015 | St. Louis | Scottrade Center | 13,096 / 13,096 | $1,092,824 | |
May 16, 2015 | Austin | Austin360 Amphitheater | 12,898 / 12,898 | $791,645 | |
May 18, 2015 | Dallas | American Airlines Center | 13,320 / 13,320 | $1,032,215 | |
May 20, 2015 | Houston | Toyota Center | 11,202 / 11,202 | $1,046,297 | |
May 22, 2015 | New Orleans | Smoothie King Center | 10,786 / 11,547 | $884,926 | |
May 24, 2015 | Tampa | Amalie Arena | 13,914 / 13,914 | $1,176,535 | |
May 26, 2015 | Alpharetta | Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park | 11,500 / 11,500 | — | |
May 28, 2015 | Greensboro | Greensboro Coliseum | 10,861 / 11,135 | $895,380 | |
May 30, 2015 | Bristow | Jiffy Lube Live | 16,579 / 16,579 | $1,094,711 | |
June 8, 2015 | Columbus | Nationwide Arena | 14,079 / 14,079 | $1,076,164 | |
June 10, 2015 | Buffalo | First Niagara Center | 13,913 / 13,913 | $1,132,154 | |
June 12, 2015 | Chicago | United Center | 14,256 / 14,256 | $1,450,746 | |
June 14, 2015 | Auburn Hills | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 13,083 / 13,083 | $1,092,767 | |
June 17, 2015 | Toronto | Canada | Air Canada Centre (R40 Live) | 28,364 / 28,364 | $2,541,984 |
June 19, 2015 | |||||
June 21, 2015 | Montreal | Centre Bell | 13,024 / 13,024 | $939,304 | |
June 23, 2015 | Boston | United States | TD Garden | 12,953 / 12,953 | $1,232,122 |
June 25, 2015 | Philadelphia | Wells Fargo Center | 13,476 / 13,476 | $1,340,006 | |
June 27, 2015 | Newark | Prudential Center | 12,483 / 12,483 | $1,289,222 | |
June 29, 2015 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | 13,554 / 13,554 | $1,507,393 | |
July 9, 2015 | Kansas City | Sprint Center | 10,629 / 10,736 | $914,828 | |
July 11, 2015 | Denver | Pepsi Center | 12,681 / 12,681 | $1,119,150 | |
July 13, 2015 | West Valley City | Maverik Center | 9,564 / 10,156 | $805,899 | |
July 15, 2015 | Calgary | Canada | Scotiabank Saddledome | — | — |
July 17, 2015 | Vancouver | Rogers Arena | |||
July 19, 2015 | Seattle | United States | KeyArena | 11,933 / 11,933 | $1,055,071 |
July 21, 2015 | Portland | Moda Center | 12,684 / 12,684 | $971,350 | |
July 23, 2015 | San Jose | SAP Center at San Jose | 12,534 / 12,534 | $1,210,279 | |
July 25, 2015 | Las Vegas | MGM Grand Garden Arena | 13,434 / 13,434 | $1,401,719 | |
July 27, 2015 | Phoenix | US Airways Center | 12,282 / 12,551 | $944,212 | |
July 30, 2015 | Irvine | Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre | 14,933 / 14,933 | $1,042,380 | |
August 1, 2015 | Inglewood | The Forum | 12,894 / 12,894 | $1,406,214 |
References
- "Pollstar - Welcome to the New Pollstar!". www.pollstar.com.
- Greene, Andy (November 1, 2016). "Rush's revealing new tour doc 'Time Stand Still': 10 things we learned". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- "Rush to Release CD/DVD of 'R40 Live' Tour". Ultimate Classic Rock. September 19, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- "Rush Debuts at No. 1 on Top Rock Albums With 'R40 Live'". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- "RUSH Drummer NEIL PEART Chronicles 'R40 Live' Tour In New Book". March 17, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- "Rush Announce 2015 Tour Dates". Ultimate Classic Rock. January 22, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
Bibliography
- Daly and Hansen. Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth: The Official Touring History. Insight Editions, 2019. ISBN 978-1683834502