The Power Windows Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush, in support of the band's eleventh studio album Power Windows.

Power Windows Tour
Tour by Rush
LocationNorth America
Associated albumPower Windows
Start dateDecember 4, 1985
End dateMay 26, 1986
Legs2
No. of shows70
Rush concert chronology
  • Grace Under Pressure Tour
    (1984)
  • Power Windows Tour
    (1985–1986)
  • Hold Your Fire Tour
    (1987–1988)

Background

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Prior to the tour's start, the band embarked on a short warm-up tour of four shows in Florida which the band called the "Spring Training" tour.[1][2] The tour officially started on December 4, 1985, at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine, and concluded on May 26, 1986, at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California.[3] Select songs at the two East Rutherford, New Jersey, shows were recorded for the 1989 live album A Show of Hands.[4] Opening bands on the tour included Steve Morse, Marillion, FM, Blue Öyster Cult, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Kick Axe.[5]

Reception

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Ethlie Ann Vare from Billboard opened their review of the band's performance in Inglewood, noting the band as an anomaly in arena rock, stating that the band drew the same crowd as Van Halen or Mötley Crüe and delivered a jazz-based, laid-back sophisticated performance, yet continued to excite the sold out audience of fans attending the show. The only criticisms that were given was Geddy Lee's vocals which were considered "cruel and unusual punishment to some", as well as stating the band can be boring. However Ann Vare stated that it was refreshing to see a band in the heavy rock genre that satisfies its fans without pandering to them.[6]

Greg Barr from the Ottawa Citizen gave the Ottawa performance he attended a positive review. He opened his review, stating that the band had reached a pinnacle of technical and musical prowess, being compared to familiar acts like Van Halen and Bruce Springsteen. He praised the visuals and music, noting on the show as well-paced and choreographed, noting on the inclusion of lasers, a laser-holograph generator, a 35mm rear screen movie projector and a group of masked native dancers on the film screen behind the band. Regarding the effects and visuals, Barr stated that it would have the audience talking about it for some time. He praised Peart's drum solo which has praised as "spell-binding", noting on him using two different drum sets that swiveled around like gun-turrets on the deck of a battleship.[7]

Set list

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These are example set lists 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.[8]

Tour dates

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List of 1985 concerts[9][10][11][12][5]
Date City Country Venue
March 11, 1985[13] Lakeland United States Lakeland Civic Center
March 12, 1985[13]
March 14, 1985[14] Fort Myers Lee County Civic Center
March 15, 1985 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
December 4, 1985 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center
December 5, 1985 Providence Providence Civic Center
December 7, 1985 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
December 8, 1985 Hartford Hartford Civic Center
December 10, 1985 Rochester Rochester Community War Memorial
December 12, 1985 Worcester Centrum in Worcester
December 13, 1985
December 15, 1985 Richmond Richmond Coliseum
December 16, 1985 Landover Capital Centre
December 18, 1985 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic Arena
December 19, 1985 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
List of 1986 concerts[11][12][5]
Date City Country Venue
January 9, 1986 Pensacola United States Pensacola Civic Center
January 10, 1986 Lafayette Cajundome
January 12, 1986 Dallas Reunion Arena
January 13, 1986
January 15, 1986 Houston The Summit
January 16, 1986
January 18, 1986 Austin Frank Erwin Center
January 19, 1986 San Antonio Hemisfair Arena
January 30, 1986 Daly City Cow Palace
January 31, 1986 Oakland Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena
February 2, 1986 Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center
February 3, 1986 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
February 6, 1986 Inglewood The Forum
February 7, 1986
February 8, 1986 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
February 10, 1986 Tucson Tucson Community Center
February 12, 1986 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum
February 14, 1986 Denver McNichols Sports Arena
February 27, 1986 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
February 28, 1986 Hamilton Canada Copps Coliseum
March 1, 1986 Ottawa Ottawa Civic Centre
March 3, 1986 Quebec City Colisee de Quebec
March 4, 1986 Montreal Montreal Forum
March 6, 1986 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens
March 7, 1986
March 20, 1986 Indianapolis United States Market Square Arena
March 21, 1986 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon
March 22, 1986
March 24, 1986 Milwaukee MECCA Arena
March 25, 1986 St. Paul St. Paul Civic Center
March 28, 1986 Detroit Joe Louis Arena
March 29, 1986 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
March 31, 1986 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena
April 1, 1986
April 3, 1986 Springfield Springfield Civic Center
April 4, 1986 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
April 13, 1986 Binghamton Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
April 14, 1986 Philadelphia The Spectrum
April 16, 1986
April 17, 1986 Baltimore Baltimore Civic Center
April 19, 1986 Hampton Hampton Coliseum
April 20, 1986 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
April 22, 1986 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
April 23, 1986 Augusta Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center
April 25, 1986 Atlanta The Omni Coliseum
April 26, 1986 Birmingham BJCC Coliseum
April 28, 1986 St. Louis St. Louis Arena
April 29, 1986 Kansas City Kemper Arena
May 1, 1986 Oklahoma City Myriad Convention Center
May 2, 1986 Valley Center Britt Brown Arena
May 11, 1986 Winnipeg Canada Winnipeg Arena
May 12, 1986 Salt Lake City United States Salt Palace
May 15, 1986 Calgary Canada Olympic Saddledome
May 17, 1986 Vancouver Pacific Coliseum
May 19, 1986 Portland United States Portland Memorial Coliseum
May 21, 1986 Seattle Seattle Center Coliseum
May 24, 1986 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheatre
May 25, 1986 Costa Mesa Pacific Amphitheatre
May 26, 1986

Box office score data

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List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references
Date City Venue Attendance Gross Ref(s)
March 11–12, 1985 Lakeland, United States Civic Center 16,875 / 20,000 $232,890 [15]
March 14, 1985 Fort Myers, United States Lee County Arena 4,375 / 4,500 $56,875
March 15, 1985 Pembroke Pines, United States Hollywood Sportatorium 11,211 / 11,500 $144,885 [16]
December 10, 1985 Rochester, United States War Memorial 10,200 $135,716 [17]
January 9, 1986 Pensacola, United States Civic Center 5,813 / 7,000 $78,677 [18]
January 15–16, 1986 Houston, United States The Summit 18,803 / 20,000 $284,382 [19]
January 18, 1986 Austin, Texas Frank Erwin Center 14,055 $199,154 [20]
January 19, 1986 San Antonio, United States Convention Center 9,331 / 10,500 $135,486
January 30, 1986 San Francisco, United States Cow Palace 11,034 $165,510
January 31, 1986 Oakland, United States Alameda County Coliseum Arena 13,711 $219,376
February 3, 1986 San Diego, United States Sports Arena 11,121 $154,344 [6]
February 5–6, 1986 Inglewood, United States The Forum 30,005 $425,789
March 1, 1986 Ottawa, Canada Civic Center 7,421 / 8,000 $103,893 [21]
March 6–7, 1986 Toronto, Canada Maple Leaf Gardens 22,145 / 24,000 $345,461
April 4, 1986 Uniondale, United States Nassau Coliseum 15,931 $254,211 [22]
May 15, 1986 Calgary, Canada Olympic Saddledome 8,036 / 14,000 $107,931 [23]
May 24, 1986 Sacramento, United States Cal Expo Amphitheatre 12,200 $201,300

Personnel

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Daly & Hansen 2019, p. 261.
  2. ^ Popoff 2021, p. 183.
  3. ^ Popoff 2021, p. 204.
  4. ^ Giles, Jeff (January 9, 2016). "Why 'A Show of Hands' Found Rush at an '80s-era Crossroads". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Daly & Hansen 2019, pp. 269–277.
  6. ^ a b "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 8. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 22, 1986. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  7. ^ Barr, Greg (March 3, 1986). "Rush powers to pyrotechnical peak in long-awaited show". Ottawa, Ontario: Ottawa Citizen. p. A18. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  8. ^ Daly & Hansen 2019, pp. 263, 269.
  9. ^ "Rush Concert Tour Dates Listing".
  10. ^ "TRC".
  11. ^ a b "Power Windows Tour". Rush.com. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Daly & Hansen 2019, p. 263.
  13. ^ a b "This Ledger's March Calendar of Events". No. 130. Lakeland, Florida: Lakeland Ledger. March 1, 1985. p. 1C. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  14. ^ "Weekend Billboard: Coming Up". No. 148. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. March 1, 1985. p. 2D. Retrieved June 4, 2022. Rush, Lee Civic Center, Fort Myers, 8 p.m., March 14
  15. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 13. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 30, 1985. p. 50. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  16. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 14. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 6, 1985. p. 43. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  17. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 52. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 28, 1985. p. 50. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  18. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 4. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. January 25, 1986. p. 39. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  19. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 6. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 8, 1986. p. 37. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  20. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 7. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 15, 1986. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  21. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 12. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 22, 1986. p. 51. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  22. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 16. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 19, 1986. p. 25. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  23. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 23. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 19, 1986. p. 23. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 8, 2022.

Sources

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  • 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.