Something Old Something New

Media:	2 CDr
Time:	43:33, 44:30
Catalog:	Digital Reproductions DR 93080
Source:	Soundboard
Quality:	EX-
Date:	09-30-80
Location:	Allentown Fairgrounds, Allentown, PA

Recorded live on September 30, 1980 in Allentown, PA. This was the last show of the PeW tour, more of a short MP pre-release tour with pre-album versions of "Limelight" and "Tom Sawyer" are performed. Ok, this recording is quite unique in that it comes from the mixing board. Because of that you can hear subtle changes in the mix of the songs as the show progresses. For example, Limelight has a lot of reverb on the vocals. By-Tor and the Snow Dog has a more "compressed" stereo mix. Freewill has a more open, airy mix. So if you are expecting another St. Louis '80 show, this isn't it. The source sounds fantastic, but it was not mixed for radio play and thus will sound different from the traditional soundboards many are used to hearing. The first 2 tracks come for a 2nd gen source and do sound very much like a fully mixed soundboard. That given, it seems to be a completely different source than the 1st gen tape. The remaining tracks, sans Spirit of Radio which comes from the same source as the first two tracks, come from the 1st gen mixing board tape.

When I previously produced this recording, the 1st gen source was missing 2112 and the first minute of Freewill. Those songs could be found off the 2nd gen tape. I would have liked to have used the 2nd gen tape for the other songs because of the better mix, but the rest of the songs were plagued with some very severe distortion. The only other song off the 2nd gen tape that was usable was "The Spirit of Radio". On the first gen tape, that song was started by a really nasty tape eat. Part of the 2nd gen TSoR was missing due to a cut and was filled in with that section from the 1st gen tape. All in all I guess this would be shades of Prism "Cygnus Gold" except that both sources used to produce this recording were board tapes of the same show.

This is an excellent sounding show that captures everything up to the last 2 minutes of "Natural Science". So it is only 2/3rds of the show, but an excellent show none-the-less. A live recording that any Rush fan would love to have.

"Something Old, Something New" Allentown, PA 1980 Soundboard. Although I enjoy a good audience show over a soundboard, this is a great show to have in anyone's collection. There are only 2 or 3 audience shows for this short tour after the PeW previewing Tom Sawyer & Limelight, but most of them are C/C- grade shows, until now.

Here's a quick history of how this show surfaced early this year. Tim McAskill works in the hi-fi audio industry in Louisiana and he told me that a Rush roadie dropped by his shop in 1980 and had a tape of this show from the mixing board and allowed him to make a copy. It laid dormant for over 20 years!!!! until mid-March, when Tim agreed to donate the tapes to DR for remastering. All Rush fans should be grateful for such generosity without greed. This show should be in every Rush Fan's collection. (Nov 2000)

An unbelievable sounding soundboard recording from the end of the PW tour! Other than a little hiss (hey everybody used analog back then!) this almost sounds like it could have been an official release! The usual soundboard inherent anomalies exist, mainly the crowd noise (or lack OF!) the “in your face” signal processing (echoes, flange, delays, etc) and the lack of ambient room sound. Other than a few source related problems (the odd momentary channel fade out or minor tape eat related problem) this is a great recording to have! The main drawback is that it isn’t the complete show, CLOSE but not complete, and it fades out during Natural Science (which I might add was an intense performance!) In the “rarities” dept. there are pre-release versions of Limelight (which features an interesting solo by Alex) and Tom Sawyer. (which has a slightly different “bridge” than we’re all used to) There is also a cute little “ditty” that Alex plays before the trees that I’ve never heard before. Highly recommended for the diehard and the causal collector!

Sound: Vg+. his is a really nice sounding show with pre-release versions of Limelight and Tom Sawyer, both of which have a number of differences from the final takes which appear on Moving Pictures. After listening to this boot and reading the above review it was immediately obvious that the 2nd gen source used for the first two tracks and most of The Spirit Of Radio ran too slow, 4.2% too slow to be exact. The Spirit Of Radio sounds terrible because it starts off too slow then speeds up to the correct pitch for a few bars then slows down again for the rest of the song. There is a re-mastered version of this boot now in circulation in which the speed problem has been corrected.

This is a really good boot of a rare show. The pre-release versions of Limelight and Tom Sawyer make this a must have for any hardcore Rush fan. This is a pretty raw soundboard, but it still has a very nice sound. That's not to say the show is without it's problems, though. There is a small cut in Jacob's Ladder, but it's not very noticeable. More noticeable to me is the fact that 2112, Freewill, and Spirit of Radio are all running too slow! Spirit of Radio is especially noticeable. There is a splice in the song, and another source is used to fill in the gap. The difference in speed is very noticeable. However, this is still a very good production and I feel a must have for even the most casual Rush RoIO collector.

Thanks to The Digital Rush Experience for this page