Presto tour

The Presto Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their thirteenth studio album Presto.

Presto Tour

Tour by Rush
Location	North America
Associated album	Presto
Start date	February 17, 1990
End date	June 29, 1990
No. of shows	63
Rush concert chronology

Background

The tour started on February 17, 1990 at Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina and concluded on June 29, 1990 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine, California, having performed to more than 650,000 fans. Opening bands that premiered in the tour included Mr. Big, Chalk Circle and Voivod. The stage production for each of the shows were presented with elements of the Presto cover art, which had featured lasers and Vari-Lites that were dropped from trusses on extensions as well as two giant inflatable rabbits, two sets of rear PA speakers on the back end of the stage floor to represent a quadrophonic effect on the sound which was engineered by Robert Scoville, and a projection screen that displayed video sequences and retro films throughout the performance. When the band performed in Toronto for two shows in May 1990, both shows had raised $200,000 for United Way for the demands on the band for complimentary tickets.

Reception

Michael Hochanadel from the Daily Gazette opened his review stating that the visuals made the Rush concert at the Knickerbocker Arena on June 2, 1990, one of the biggest, brightest and overwhelming rock spectacles - with effects representing a 1970s arena rock throwback with the usage of lasers and haze. While criticizing the music's lyrics as being sometimes preachy, he stated that they were at the same time, anthemic and tackled subjects in a fairly obvious way, but added that they needed something to keep their songs from sounding too alike. Praising Lee's vocals, Hochanadel affirmed that his voice gave the songs emotion that the lyrics did not always earn.

Reviewing the Pittsburgh performance on June 7, 1990, Janice Haidet of The Vindicator stated that the band put a huge reliance on talent from the instruments they were using, treating a crowded arena of fans to a "searing rock and roll feast". Haidet noted that the band kept the audience standing on their seats with fists raised in time with the music, and Geddy Lee delivering extraordinary vocals that were presented by a balanced and clear sound mix - also noting the show as one of the best light shows in rock music, although outdone by Genesis and Pink Floyd. Peter B. King from the Pittsburgh Press who was in attendance at the same show that night, stated that the band had offered some of the best visuals seen at a rock concert, and expressed that Rush had delivered an intelligent, distinctive brand of "art rock".

Set list

This is an example set list adapted from Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth – The Official Touring History of what were performed during the tour, but may not represent the majority of the shows.

1. "Force Ten"
2. "Freewill"
3. "Distant Early Warning"
4. "Time Stand Still"
5. "Subdivisions"
6. "Marathon"
7. "Red Barchetta"
8. "Superconductor"
9. "Show Don't Tell"
10. "The Pass"
11. "Closer to the Heart"
12. "Manhattan Project"
13. "Xanadu"
14. "YYZ"
15. "The Rhythm Method" (Neil Peart drum solo)
16. "Scars"
17. "War Paint"
18. "Mission"
19. "Tom Sawyer"

    Encore

20. "The Big Money"
21. "2112: Overture"
22. "La Villa Strangiato"
23. "In the Mood"
24. "Wipeout!"

Tour dates

List of 1990 concerts

Date	City	Country	Venue
February 17, 1990	Greenville	United States	Greenville Memorial Auditorium
February 19, 1990	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum
February 20, 1990	St. Petersburg		Bayfront Center
February 22, 1990	Miami		Miami Arena
February 23, 1990	Orlando		Orlando Arena
February 25, 1990	New Orleans		Lakefront Arena
February 26, 1990	Houston		The Summit
February 28, 1990	San Antonio		Convention Center Arena
March 1, 1990	Dallas		Reunion Arena
March 3, 1990	Kansas City		Kemper Arena
March 5, 1990	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena
March 6, 1990	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum
March 8, 1990	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
March 9, 1990
March 20, 1990	Edmonton	Canada	Northlands Coliseum
March 21, 1990	Calgary		Scotiabank Saddledome
March 23, 1990	Vancouver		Pacific Coliseum
March 24, 1990	Portland	United States	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 26, 1990	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum
March 28, 1990	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
March 30, 1990	Oakland		Oakland Coliseum
March 31, 1990
April 2, 1990	Inglewood		Great Western Forum
April 3, 1990
April 5, 1990	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
April 7, 1990	Costa Mesa		Pacific Amphitheatre
April 8, 1990	Phoenix		Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
April 20, 1990	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena
April 22, 1990	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
April 24, 1990	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
April 25, 1990	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena
April 27, 1990	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
April 28, 1990	Rochester		War Memorial Auditorium
May 1, 1990	Atlanta		The Omni
May 2, 1990	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum
May 4, 1990	Richmond		Richmond Coliseum
May 5, 1990	Largo		Capital Centre
May 7, 1990	Providence		Civic Center
May 8, 1990	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
May 10, 1990	Worcester		The Centrum
May 11, 1990
May 13, 1990	Quebec City	Canada	Colisée Quebec City
May 14, 1990	Montreal		Montreal Forum
May 16, 1990	Toronto		Maple Leaf Gardens
May 17, 1990
June 2, 1990	Albany	United States	Knickerbocker Arena
June 4, 1990	Baltimore		Baltimore Arena
June 5, 1990	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum
June 7, 1990	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
June 8, 1990	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
June 10, 1990	Cuyahoga Falls		Blossom Music Center
June 11, 1990	Cincinnati		Riverbend Music Center
June 13, 1990	Columbus		Cooper Stadium
June 14, 1990	Noblesville		Deer Creek Music Center
June 16, 1990	East Troy		Alpine Valley Music Theatre
June 17, 1990
June 19, 1990	Bloomington		Met Center
June 20, 1990	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium
June 22, 1990	Englewood		Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
June 24, 1990	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace
June 26, 1990	Sacramento		Cal Expo Amphitheatre
June 27, 1990	Mountain View		Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 29, 1990	Irvine		Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre

Personnel

• Geddy Lee – vocals, bass, keyboards
• Alex Lifeson – guitar, backing vocals
• Neil Peart – drums

References

Sources

• Daly, Skip; Hansen, Eric (2019). Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth – The Official Touring History. Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-68383-450-2.
• Popoff, Martin (2021). Limelight: Rush in the '80s. Toronto, Canada: ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77041-569-0.