Tour of the Semispheres Dates

September 12, 1979 Allentown Remastered
Location: Allentwon Fairgrounds, Allentow, Pennsylvania, USA
Source: Audience (1st Gen)
Grade: A-/A
Setlist: 2112
A Passage to Bangkok
By-tor and the Snowdog
Xanadu
The Spirit of Radio
The Trees
Cygnus X-1
Hemispheres
Closer to the Heart
Freewill
Meledy
La Villa Strangiato

Comments: This show was remastered from the first generation tapes. The speed seems to be right, with just about every version of this show has good speed. There was noise reduction with the recording, but it sounds much better than previous versions. There is less distortion and distorting at some levels, so you get much clearer sound and its very good. The sound is still a little bit on the high end side, but you can equalize it if you want to add more bottom end. Anyways, great show, you should definatly get it from me.


September 12, 1979 United the Allentown '79 Master
Location: Allentown Fairgrounds, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Source: Audience (Master)
Grade: A-
Setlist: 2112 17.12
A Passage To Bangkok 4.07
By-Tor And The Snow Dog 5.36
Xanadu 13.28
The Spirit Of Radio 5.39
The Trees 5.03
Cygnus X-1 10.21
Hemispheres 17.12
Closer To The Heart 3.41
Freewill 6.17
Medley 16.31
La Villa Strangiato 10.45

Comments: This sounds exactly the same as Tour of the Semispheres Platinum Edition, except that the meldey here is put together into one track. As I have said before, the sound is excellent for its time with great dynamics, but not as full and airy atmosphere as A Passage to Oslo Platinum Edition, but very close. The performance is stellar, to say the least, with some awesome versions of about every song that is on there. This is a good show to have because of the sound and the performance, so I don't think that you really want to miss it.


August 22, 1979 Premature Waves
Location: Capital Center, Largo, Maryland, USA
Source: Audience
Grade: C+
Setlist: 2112
A Passage to Bangkok
By-Tor and the Snow Dog
Xanadu
The Spirit of Radio
The Trees
Cygnus X-1
Hemispheres
Closer to the Heart
Freewill
Working Man
Anthem
Bastille Day
In the Mood / Drum Solo
La Villa Strangiato

Comments: Definatly not the best in sound, but the performance is top-notch. They give a great show, but unfortunatly the tape dosen't sound very good. It sounds very distant, and there is a great amount of distortion and there is no real clarity. What saves this is the performance, and the fact that there are pre-released versions of "Spirt of Radio" and "Freewill" both sound really great. Only really for collectors, really.


September 08, 1979 Practice makes Perfect
Location: Alpine Valley Amphitheater, East Troy, Wisconsin, USA
Source: Audience
Grade: B
Setlist: 2112
A Passage to Bangkok
By-Tor and the Snow Dog
Xanadu
The Spirit of Radio
The Trees
Cygnus X-1
Hemispheres
Closer to the Heart
Freewill
Working Man
Anthem
Bastille Day
In the Mood / Drum Solo
La Villa Strangiato

Comments: The Performance is really great, I can tell Geddy, Alex, and Neil are just dieing to play their new songs "Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill," so they were really energetic that night. The sound quality on this boot is pretty decent, nothing really bad except for a few minor cuts, but what do you expect? The greatest sound boot? There is some noticable distortion and some tape hiss with this show, but the overall musical signal is very good hear, and the hiss isn't distracting at all. But, this is definatly worth adding to you collection because of the rarity of the performance.


September 12, 1979 Tour of the Semispheres Platinum Edition Location:Allentown Fairgrounds, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Source: Audience (1st gen)
Grade: A-
Setlist: 2112 16:24
A Passage To Bangkok 3:57
By-Tor And The Snow Dog 5:34
Xanadu 12:34
The Spirit Of Radio 5:24
The Trees 5:03
Cygnus X-1 10:14
Hemispheres 16:34
Closer To The Heart 3:32
Freewill 6:02
Working Man 3:35
Finding My Way 0:23
Anthem 1:41
Bastille Day 1:30
In the Mood 2:42
Drum Solo 6:07
La Villa Strangiato 10:30

Comments: This is one of my favorites from this short tour, if not, my favorite. Some songs, particularly "A passage to Bangkok," sound like a decent soundboard recording, but it is indeed an audience recording. The sound here is really good, right up in your face loud. The sound quality is not as great as A Passage to Oslo P.E. but its damn close to it with all the other top-notch audience recordings. Geddy's vocals are really nice tonight, and Alex is playing great that night. The bass is a bit muddy, but the overall quality is great. Neil, as always, sounds really nice. I highly recommend this to any casual collector, and diehard Rush bootleg collecters of any kind.


September 12, 1979 Tour of the Semispheres
Location: Allentown Fairgrounds, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Source: Audience
Grade: B-
Setlist: 2112 16:21
A Passage To Bangkok 4:04
By-Tor And The Snow Dog 5:23
Xanadu 13:16
The Spirit Of Radio 5:21
The Trees 4:50
Cygnus X-1 9:57
Hemispheres 16:34
Closer To The Heart 3:32
Freewill 5:58
Working Man Medley / Drum Solo 16:08
La Villa Strangiato 10:16

Comments: This dosen't sound as good as the Platinum Edition of the CD. There is a bit of echeo, but you can still listen to it without being to distracted by it. The hiss is at a minimum as well. The bass is really muddy in this, but you can't hear it as much as the other instruments. New versions of "Sprit of the Radio" and "Freewill" are a realy treat, which you can find on every other recording from this very, very short tour. The performance here is definatly excellent though, the boys on fire tonight. Only recommend this to diehards.


August 31, 1979 Check this out (Semispheres Portion)
Location: Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio, USA
Source: Audience
Grade: C
Setlist: The Spirit of Radio 5:15
Synthesizer Test 1:28
Guitar Test 1:16
Freewill 5:17
Entre Nous 4:43

Comments: This is more historical than good sounding. Entre Nous Live (not really, but in the soundcheck) is really cool. The sound, itself is a little muffled, and a tad of echoe, but it is definialty worth checking out just to hear some unplayed tracks on the soundcheck. And, as its says up there, this is an audience, so you can expect a few minor cuts, but its really just like 2 second justs, or just minor gaps. A must-have for rush lovers and collectors.





September 02, 1979 Preludes of the Future
Location: Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Source: Very Audience
Grade: B/B+
Setlist: 2112 17:42
A Passage To Bangkok 4:13
By-Tor And The Snow Dog 5:39
Xanadu 13:24
The Spirit Of Radio 5:33
The Trees 5:03
Cygnus X-1 10:20
Hemispheres 17:34
Closer To The Heart 3:32
Freewill 5:58
Working Man Medley / Drum Solo 16:08
La Villa Strangiato 10:16

Comments: Well, I have to say, I'm not a big fan of this bootleg. Well, I'll start off with the sound. The drums are very heavy, but they don't sound very good, and the echoe is really distracting at most of the times as well. Geddy is sometimes there, but sometimes hes really in the background which isn't very good. The guitar and bass are very muddy and unorganized sounding. But at some points in the mix everything seems to be okay, but only about 70% of the time it sounds pretty good. The only really good thing about this release is that there are 2 new pre-released versions of "Spirit of the Radio" and, of course "Freewill". I don't really recommend this to anyone except for the collectors.