Power Windows Tour

Power Windows Tour

Tour by Rush
Poster to the concert in Atlanta, USA
Location	North America
Associated album	Power Windows
Start date	December 4, 1985
End date	May 26, 1986
Legs	2
No. of shows	70
Rush concert chronology

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

Background

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. 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. Select songs at the two East Rutherford, New Jersey, shows were recorded for the 1989 live album A Show of Hands. Opening bands on the tour included Steve Morse, Marillion, FM, Blue Öyster Cult, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Kick Axe.

Reception

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.

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.

Set list

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.

Warm Up leg

1. "The Spirit of Radio"
2. "Subdivisions"
3. "The Body Electric"
4. "The Enemy Within"
5. "The Weapon"
6. "Witch Hunt"
7. "The Big Money"
8. "New World Man"
9. "Between the Wheels"
10. "Red Barchetta"
11. "Distant Early Warning"
12. "Red Sector A"
13. "Closer to the Heart"
14. "Middletown Dreams"
15. "YYZ"
16. "2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx"
17. "Tom Sawyer"

    Encore

18. "Red Lenses" (with drum solo)
19. "Vital Signs"
20. "Finding My Way"
21. "In the Mood"

North American leg

1. "The Spirit of Radio"
2. "Limelight"
3. "The Big Money"
4. "New World Man"
5. "Subdivisions"
6. "Manhattan Project"
7. "Middletown Dreams"
8. "Witch Hunt"
9. "Red Sector A"
10. "Closer to the Heart"
11. "Marathon"
12. "The Trees"
13. "Mystic Rhythms"
14. "Distant Early Warning"
15. "Territories"
16. "YYZ" (with drum solo)
17. "Red Lenses"
18. "Tom Sawyer"

    Encore

19. "2112 Parts I & II: Overture/The Temples of Syrinx"
20. "Grand Designs"
21. "In the Mood"

Tour dates

List of 1985 concerts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance	Gross
March 11, 1985	Lakeland	United States	Lakeland Civic Center	16,875 / 20,000	$232,890
March 12, 1985
March 14, 1985	Fort Myers		Lee County Civic Center	4,375 / 4,500	$56,875
March 15, 1985	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium	11,211 / 11,500	$144,885
December 4, 1985	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center	6,114 / 9,500	-
December 5, 1985	Providence		Providence Civic Center	10,792 / 10,792	$155,020
December 7, 1985	New Haven		New Haven Coliseum	7,099 / 11,000	-
December 8, 1985	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center	10,595 / 16,500
December 10, 1985	Rochester		Rochester Community War Memorial	10,048 / 10,048	$135,176
December 12, 1985	Worcester		Centrum in Worcester	21,050 / 21,050	$300,816
December 13, 1985
December 15, 1985	Richmond		Richmond Coliseum	7,829 / 11,000	-
December 16, 1985	Landover		Capital Centre	16,040 / 16,500	$232,580
December 18, 1985	Pittsburgh		Pittsburgh Civic Arena	10,782 / 17,500	$148,353
December 19, 1985	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum	14,880 / 18,000	-

List of 1986 concerts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance	Gross
January 9, 1986	Pensacola	United States	Pensacola Civic Center	5,426 / 7,000	$78,677
January 10, 1986	Lafayette		Cajundome	8,151 / 12,000	-
January 12, 1986	Dallas		Reunion Arena	24,697 / 26,450	$371,182
January 13, 1986
January 15, 1986	Houston		The Summit	18,175 / 21,836	$284,382
January 16, 1986
January 18, 1986	Austin		Frank Erwin Center	13,671 / 13,671	$199,154
January 19, 1986	San Antonio		Hemisfair Arena	9,397 / 10,500	$135,486
January 30, 1986	Daly City		Cow Palace	11,034 / 11,034	$165,510
January 31, 1986	Oakland		Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena	13,711 / 13,711	$219,376
February 2, 1986	Las Vegas		Thomas & Mack Center	4,340 / 6,650	$65,100
February 3, 1986	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena	10,817 / 10,817	$154,344
February 6, 1986	Inglewood		The Forum	30,006 / 30,006	$425,309
February 7, 1986
February 8, 1986	Phoenix		Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	13,755 / 13,755	$191,325
February 10, 1986	Tucson		Tucson Community Center	5,002 / 8,600	-
February 12, 1986	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum	3,345 / 11,500
February 14, 1986	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena	11,474 / 18,590	$173,562
February 27, 1986	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	11,258 / 14,605	-
February 28, 1986	Hamilton	Canada	Copps Coliseum	6,797 / 19,000
March 1, 1986	Ottawa		Ottawa Civic Centre	7,421 / 8,000	$129,868
March 3, 1986	Quebec City		Colisee de Quebec	13,059 / 13,059	$228,532
March 4, 1986	Montreal		Montreal Forum	14,618 / 14,618	$283,481
March 6, 1986	Toronto		Maple Leaf Gardens	22,145 / 24,000	$431,827
March 7, 1986
March 20, 1986	Indianapolis	United States	Market Square Arena	10,100 / 11,500	$146,450
March 21, 1986	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon	26,447 / 26,982	-
March 22, 1986
March 24, 1986	Milwaukee		MECCA Arena	8,883 / 11,000	$127,615
March 25, 1986	St. Paul		St. Paul Civic Center	8,917 / 15,406	$133,755
March 28, 1986	Detroit		Joe Louis Arena	15,036 / 15,036	$232,230
March 29, 1986	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum	11,378 / 17,500	-
March 31, 1986	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena	30,949 / 42,000	$438,016
April 1, 1986
April 3, 1986	Springfield		Springfield Civic Center	8,460 / 9,000	-
April 4, 1986	Uniondale		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	15,531 / 15,531	$254,211
April 13, 1986	Binghamton		Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena	7,061 / 8,000	$102,754
April 14, 1986	Philadelphia		The Spectrum	30,386 / 30,386	$452,382
April 16, 1986
April 17, 1986	Baltimore		Baltimore Civic Center	10,036 / 13,641	$145,522
April 19, 1986	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum	11,466 / 11,500	-
April 20, 1986	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum	6,998 / 9,500
April 22, 1986	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum	6,918 / 10,000
April 23, 1986	Augusta		Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center	3,364 / 9,000
April 25, 1986	Atlanta		The Omni Coliseum	12,806 / 12,806	$192,090
April 26, 1986	Birmingham		BJCC Coliseum	5,454 / 10,000	-
April 28, 1986	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena	11,369 / 11,369	$170,535
April 29, 1986	Kansas City		Kemper Arena	11,236 / 12,000	$162,922
May 1, 1986	Oklahoma City		Myriad Convention Center	7,719 / 11,000	-
May 2, 1986	Valley Center		Britt Brown Arena	6,537 / 10,000
May 12, 1986	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace	7,495 / 13,000
May 15, 1986	Calgary	Canada	Olympic Saddledome	7,770 / 10,000	$134,914
May 17, 1986	Vancouver		Pacific Coliseum	8,354 / 9,000	$151,617
May 19, 1986	Portland	United States	Portland Memorial Coliseum	6,882 / 12,888	-
May 21, 1986	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum	10,640 / 17,500
May 24, 1986	Sacramento		Cal Expo Amphitheatre	12,200 / 12,200	$201,300
May 25, 1986	Costa Mesa		Pacific Amphitheatre	21,533 / 32,000	-
May 26, 1986

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.