The Clothes Washers and dryers on stage are a stand-in for bass amp cabinets. When Geddy Lee started exclusively using in ear monitoring he switched to no bass cabs and felt he needed something to take their place. Over the years he has had the washers and dryers, as well as a rotisserie chicken roaster, a popcorn machine among other things where his amps would have been.
Rush were a fabulous studio band, but they were astonishing live. Living in the UK, I only saw them three times - twice in the 80s and once on their R30 tour, but they never disappoint.
Fantastic live performance by our YYZ boys. Just a phenomenal performance by each of them. Live almost always escalates the sensation of a masterpiece and this proves it. I enjoyed the Stones intro too. Glad you enjoyed Harri. 💎💎Thanks Harri and Cosmo. 👏👏 Cheers from Canada.🇨🇦
Laundry machines, chicken rotisseries, popcorn poppers, all on stage - Canadian humor! If you lived where it’s so cold outside your keys break off in locks, car doors freeze shut; and where you can’t outrun an agitated moose, and you have really weird neighbors to your south, you just have to have a sense of humor to survive! Seen them countless times since 1980 - ordinary looking guys who were geniuses at their craft …and had a little fun along the way, too! 🇨🇦❤🇨🇦
I was one of the 550,000 to 600,000 in attendance. The concert was headlined by the Rolling Stones and AC/DC (who had been touring together when approached). The next request went out to Rush. It had a day's worth of performances by other bands. It was held to help Toronto get back on its feet after being hit with SARS-COVID-1.
Amazing artists. Each is a master of their craft. And they are perfect partners, not only meshing well musically, but personally. Watch 'Dinner with Rush' to see behind the curtain. I know fans that have seen them more than 50 to over a hundred times. Saw Rush live 13 times. Once front row and a meet and greet. One of the highlights of my life.
Cosmo, you outdid yourself with this one. Rush showed their skills and stage presence and showed why they were considered one of the most talented bands in Rock. Bravo!!! Harri, I thoroughly enjoyed your review.
One of the best things about this performance was watching people enjoying the show with not a phone in sight! Glad I grew up in a generation that went to concerts to watch the bands perform not looking at a stupid screen!
People today have tic toc attention spans, there's no way they could appreciate a three hour Rush concert even with them being the musical geniuses that they were/are.
can you see Geddy looking over there at Alex’s solo? He’s heard that 10x more than I have for sure, probably 500x, but even I can tell that one was special. He was fired up!
A few more possible reasons for the washer-dryers on stage: they were responding to a music critic who had said that seeing a Rush concert was about as boring as doing his laundry; Geddy wanted his voice to have that fresh, clean sound; he wanted to prove to his wife that he could multi-task by singing, playing bass, playing keyboards, and doing his laundry at the same time; like all Canadians, they liked their clothes fresh from the dryer. Cheers from Canada! 🇨🇦 🎤 🎹 🎸 🥁 🎸 🔥 🔥 🔥
Two words: BAD ASS! Never a bad time to listen to Rush! Way to knock it out of the park, Cosmo! Dug your reaction, too, Harri! BTW, Harri, you've seen the washers and driers before when you reacted to my selection of "Animate" live in Frankfurt. The appliances were part of the stage props on Rush's R:30 Tour.
I got just as big a kick out of the rotisserie ovens full of chickens. Well, tbh, nothing will match the chuckles and delight as at the first sight of the wall of washers. Too funny.
Saw the Permanent Waves tour in 1980 and this was certainly their most commercial hit at the time. The band was in their prime and blew the roof off of the arena. I believe Pat Travers was the opening act.
Me too! At the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA March 15, 1980! It was my first rock concert, I’ll never forget it, at least what I can remember anyway. There were lots of substances being passed around and ingested. Somehow I ended up eating some mushrooms in the parking lot. Next thing I knew, I was standing there with my friends about to enter, we looked at each other and cracked up, fade to black, I’m sitting on the floor, a sea of legs around me, I stand up, its dark, I hear an opening riff, and I see this light from an overhead spotlight slowly descending until it engulfed Getty and I was just standing there in amazement of the sensory overload I was having. Fade to black. I am conscious again, and I’m sitting up in the seats near the rafters, I have no idea where anyone is or how i got there. Fade to black. I’m home wondering how I got there, if it was all a dream. What a RUSH!
I was at the SARS concert! RUSH was fantastic!! As far as l was concerned..RUSH AC/DC and The Guess Who all blew The Rolling Stones away. Great day of music!! ❤❤
Love your reviews HarriBest, I have been watching for a few months now. I was lucky enough to have attended this concert, amazing day, great bands and Rush killed this performance, however ACDC stole the show. Would love to see you react to their set as well
There are few other Rush songs from this festival as well - Tom Sawyer, Limelight, and Freewill I believe. Here's some sad context for everyone: Woodstock 99 had half the attendance as this and people were being assaulted, and raped throughout the festival, as well as the insane price gouging, and various medical emergencies taking place on a regular basis. Canada puts on a festival a couple years later with twice as many people, and everyone is cheerful, chilling, and grooving with the music.
I got to see Rush ages ago, when they were opening for other acts and no one knew who they were yet. They opened for Styx and I didn't even care to hear Styx after these guys played; They blew the roof off the place, it was amazing!
tickets were 5 dollars - that was a concert to attend (at Downsview airport, north of Toronto) , i was mid-center near closer to the front, At the end of the day I believe that ACDC 's performance was far superior that that of Rolling Stones.
My wife, at the time my gf, bought me tickets to Rush during this era as my Christmas gift. I did not question the washing machines and wound up marrying the gal.
I've heard all of the "evening out the stage" stories and Geddy does love making fun of Alex. I'm sure that played a part in his stage setup. However, Geddy is all about his "sound." He quit using stage amps in '96 and didn't start using Tech21 Pre-amps until 2001. He had to be using something to boost his output. What better than a hot, moist chicken or a steamy dryer to fatten up his sound.
The story on the clothes dryers goes that some reviewer, early in their career, said Rush were great musicians but "about as exciting to watch on stage as watching my clothes dry"... so Geddy trolled him for years with the dryers on stage!
There were other bands at this concert as well so a lot of those 490,000 people could have been there to see AC/DC or the Rolling Stones. Funny thing is that I'm from Toronto area and had may opportunities to see Rush and never did. I did see all of the other acts that were there that day but not at this concert. I believe I was out of the country when this was on.
Harri, I knew you'd get a real rush outta seeing this one live--especially in front of that vast sea of people. Heck, I thought there were a lot of people when I saw RUSH, circa 1980, at an indoor arena that held 20,000. This crowd was 25x that big! LOL
The washing machines…. At some point bands started using the house venue’s PA system, instead of using their own amplifiers. Some guitarists still wanted to show off their awesome gear and put their amps and speakers on stage even though they weren’t actually using them. Geddy said well, if Alex can put useless crap on the stage, so can I…….washing machines.
Ah, the washing machines. RUSH has a very silly sense of humor. Roadies would come out and change the laundry at various points. He also had ovens with chickens on rotisseries roasting behind him. It was all legit, they would donate the roast chickens to local homeless shelters.
I was one of those 490,000 that day...
The Clothes Washers and dryers on stage are a stand-in for bass amp cabinets. When Geddy Lee started exclusively using in ear monitoring he switched to no bass cabs and felt he needed something to take their place. Over the years he has had the washers and dryers, as well as a rotisserie chicken roaster, a popcorn machine among other things where his amps would have been.
Always bitter-sweet seeing Rush nowadays. Much missed.
I don't care how many times I watch that footage, it still fills me with joy.
Rush were a fabulous studio band, but they were astonishing live. Living in the UK, I only saw them three times - twice in the 80s and once on their R30 tour, but they never disappoint.
My Hometown - Toronto !!! Cheers to All !!!
Fantastic live performance by our YYZ boys. Just a phenomenal performance by each of them. Live almost always escalates the sensation of a masterpiece and this proves it. I enjoyed the Stones intro too. Glad you enjoyed Harri. 💎💎Thanks Harri and Cosmo. 👏👏 Cheers from Canada.🇨🇦
Yes, the Paint It Black intro was killer! Thanks, Mary, and thank you Canada for RUSH!
3 old dudes still doing it better than anyone.. take your medicine kids..
There is just something "happy" about RUSH music! Always puts a smile on your face.
Laundry machines, chicken rotisseries, popcorn poppers, all on stage - Canadian humor! If you lived where it’s so cold outside your keys break off in locks, car doors freeze shut; and where you can’t outrun an agitated moose, and you have really weird neighbors to your south, you just have to have a sense of humor to survive! Seen them countless times since 1980 - ordinary looking guys who were geniuses at their craft …and had a little fun along the way, too! 🇨🇦❤🇨🇦
I was one of the 550,000 to 600,000 in attendance. The concert was headlined by the Rolling Stones and AC/DC (who had been touring together when approached). The next request went out to Rush. It had a day's worth of performances by other bands.
It was held to help Toronto get back on its feet after being hit with SARS-COVID-1.
Amazing artists. Each is a master of their craft. And they are perfect partners, not only meshing well musically, but personally. Watch 'Dinner with Rush' to see behind the curtain.
I know fans that have seen them more than 50 to over a hundred times. Saw Rush live 13 times. Once front row and a meet and greet. One of the highlights of my life.
Cosmo, you outdid yourself with this one. Rush showed their skills and stage presence and showed why they were considered one of the most talented bands in Rock. Bravo!!! Harri, I thoroughly enjoyed your review.
Much obliged, Dave.
Epic performance. Thank you Cosmo and Harri. It was a rush by Rush. 😀😀😀
Hari, you are a classy guy, thanks for your reactions and the standing-o much respect!
One of the best things about this performance was watching people enjoying the show with not a phone in sight! Glad I grew up in a generation that went to concerts to watch the bands perform not looking at a stupid screen!
People today have tic toc attention spans, there's no way they could appreciate a three hour Rush concert even with them being the musical geniuses that they were/are.
can you see Geddy looking over there at Alex’s solo? He’s heard that 10x more than I have for sure, probably 500x, but even I can tell that one was special. He was fired up!
Yeah, he's going WTF Alex? You're going ape shit!
A few more possible reasons for the washer-dryers on stage: they were responding to a music critic who had said that seeing a Rush concert was about as boring as doing his laundry; Geddy wanted his voice to have that fresh, clean sound; he wanted to prove to his wife that he could multi-task by singing, playing bass, playing keyboards, and doing his laundry at the same time; like all Canadians, they liked their clothes fresh from the dryer. Cheers from Canada! 🇨🇦
🎤 🎹 🎸 🥁 🎸 🔥 🔥 🔥
Great reaction! Thank you and thanks to Cosmo!
My pleasure, Jackie, glad you enjoyed it.
Two words: BAD ASS! Never a bad time to listen to Rush! Way to knock it out of the park, Cosmo! Dug your reaction, too, Harri! BTW, Harri, you've seen the washers and driers before when you reacted to my selection of "Animate" live in Frankfurt. The appliances were part of the stage props on Rush's R:30 Tour.
Thanks, pncombies, I knew this was a must-see for the Guvnor, given his love of RUSH.
I got just as big a kick out of the rotisserie ovens full of chickens. Well, tbh, nothing will match the chuckles and delight as at the first sight of the wall of washers. Too funny.
Saw the Permanent Waves tour in 1980 and this was certainly their most commercial hit at the time. The band was in their prime and blew the roof off of the arena. I believe Pat Travers was the opening act.
Me too! At the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA March 15, 1980! It was my first rock concert, I’ll never forget it, at least what I can remember anyway. There were lots of substances being passed around and ingested. Somehow I ended up eating some mushrooms in the parking lot. Next thing I knew, I was standing there with my friends about to enter, we looked at each other and cracked up, fade to black, I’m sitting on the floor, a sea of legs around me, I stand up, its dark, I hear an opening riff, and I see this light from an overhead spotlight slowly descending until it engulfed Getty and I was just standing there in amazement of the sensory overload I was having. Fade to black. I am conscious again, and I’m sitting up in the seats near the rafters, I have no idea where anyone is or how i got there. Fade to black. I’m home wondering how I got there, if it was all a dream. What a RUSH!
I saw the next 3 tours after that
🤗 I love this version! 🥰🐰
The laundromat really makes this special!
I was at the SARS concert! RUSH was fantastic!! As far as l was concerned..RUSH AC/DC and The Guess Who all blew The Rolling Stones away. Great day of music!! ❤❤
I was there too, I would add that Sam Roberts was also amazing!
Guitarist is ALEX LIFESON!!!! His speech at the R&R Hall of Fame induction was hilarious and priceless!
So much for Canadians being boring!
Love your reviews HarriBest, I have been watching for a few months now. I was lucky enough to have attended this concert, amazing day, great bands and Rush killed this performance, however ACDC stole the show. Would love to see you react to their set as well
There are few other Rush songs from this festival as well - Tom Sawyer, Limelight, and Freewill I believe. Here's some sad context for everyone: Woodstock 99 had half the attendance as this and people were being assaulted, and raped throughout the festival, as well as the insane price gouging, and various medical emergencies taking place on a regular basis. Canada puts on a festival a couple years later with twice as many people, and everyone is cheerful, chilling, and grooving with the music.
I was there..phenomenal
I got to see Rush ages ago, when they were opening for other acts and no one knew who they were yet. They opened for Styx and I didn't even care to hear Styx after these guys played; They blew the roof off the place, it was amazing!
TORONTO CANADA🇨🇦Check in this one AC⚡️DC & ROLLING👅 STONES 《version 》ROCK ME BABY 🎼 🎩 🎸🎶🎶🎶☮️✌️
I had the absolute joy of seeing them twice live!
Only got to see them 1 time live...1982....will always be 1 of my most cherished memories.
Nothing like seeing RUSH live.
Love these guys
I love this tune, it's one of my top 5 all time favourites.
Excellent band and song and Rush is one of the best. Thanks Cosmo and Harri.
You bet, Cynthia, appreciate the comment. :)
That must've been one helluva show to have been at !
My regret is I never saw them live. Great reaction.
Alex Lifeson is the guitarist. 1 of the greatest rock guitarists and because of Neil & Geddy, most people don't know his name.
So true, couldn't agree more, sooo underrated!!
tickets were 5 dollars - that was a concert to attend (at Downsview airport, north of Toronto) , i was mid-center near closer to the front, At the end of the day I believe that ACDC 's performance was far superior that that of Rolling Stones.
👉Fanfreakintastic!👈
Thanks for the reaction! 🤘🍻
Rush live is phenomenal. That said...this was not in there top 20 live performances of this song. Alex must've been already hammered...
My wife, at the time my gf, bought me tickets to Rush during this era as my Christmas gift. I did not question the washing machines and wound up marrying the gal.
❤RUSH❤
I've heard all of the "evening out the stage" stories and Geddy does love making fun of Alex. I'm sure that played a part in his stage setup.
However, Geddy is all about his "sound." He quit using stage amps in '96 and didn't start using Tech21 Pre-amps until 2001. He had to be using something to boost his output.
What better than a hot, moist chicken or a steamy dryer to fatten up his sound.
wash 45 mins + dry 45 mins = 90 min Rush concert
More like wash 1.5hrs dry 1.5hrs... 3 hour shows always
If you love Rush doing Reggae, then check out Working Man live in Cleveland.
The story on the clothes dryers goes that some reviewer, early in their career, said Rush were great musicians but "about as exciting to watch on stage as watching my clothes dry"... so Geddy trolled him for years with the dryers on stage!
There were other bands at this concert as well so a lot of those 490,000 people could have been there to see AC/DC or the Rolling Stones. Funny thing is that I'm from Toronto area and had may opportunities to see Rush and never did. I did see all of the other acts that were there that day but not at this concert. I believe I was out of the country when this was on.
The best part of that Rolling Stones intro was that Mick Jagger wasn't singing
It's to allow Neil to get a clean get away at the end of the gig!!
Harri, I knew you'd get a real rush outta seeing this one live--especially in front of that vast sea of people. Heck, I thought there were a lot of people when I saw RUSH, circa 1980, at an indoor arena that held 20,000. This crowd was 25x that big! LOL
"The Three Man Electrical Band"
the washing machiens are Geddys goof on big stage amps considering all rhe music goes out to the audiance through front of house anyyway
The washing machines….
At some point bands started using the house venue’s PA system, instead of using their own amplifiers. Some guitarists still wanted to show off their awesome gear and put their amps and speakers on stage even though they weren’t actually using them. Geddy said well, if Alex can put useless crap on the stage, so can I…….washing machines.
Ah, the washing machines. RUSH has a very silly sense of humor. Roadies would come out and change the laundry at various points. He also had ovens with chickens on rotisseries roasting behind him. It was all legit, they would donate the roast chickens to local homeless shelters.
I'm not going to subscribe until you jump the shark. Do a full album of an early Billy Joel. This will put you in the "jump the shark" zone.