Counterparts Tour

The Counterparts Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their fifteenth studio album, Counterparts and the members' 20th anniversary as a band.^[1][2]

Counterparts Tour

Tour by Rush
Location	North America
Associated album	Counterparts
Start date	January 22, 1994
End date	May 7, 1994
No. of shows	54
Rush concert chronology
Roll the Bones Tour (1991–1992) Counterparts Tour (1994) Test for Echo Tour (1996–1997)

Background

The tour kicked off January 22, 1994 at the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida and culminated on May 7, 1994 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto,^[3] estimated to have performed to 589,137 fans.^[2] Opening acts for this tour were Candlebox, The Melvins, Primus, The Doughboys, and I Mother Earth.^[4] Some recordings from the tour were featured on the 1998 live album Different Stages.^[5]

This was the last of the band's tours to have an opening act.

Reception

The New York Times's John Pareles, reviewing one of the two Madison Square Garden shows in March, opened that the band performed for two hours amid film clips and special effects such as smoke, psychedelic patterned lights, and spark showers. He continued, stating that Rush flaunted music proficiency with "speeding guitar scales, hard-hitting drumming and earnest vocals" to "melodic hooks of pop tunes" similar to The Police. Noting on the audience, Pareles acknowledged that the band counted on many fans during the show to sing along to every song performed. The only criticism Pareles gave was the change in sound in songs when Lifeson went from acoustic to electric, proceeding the music at one "unvarying" volume, also noting that Rush lacked a rudimentary sense of dynamics.^[6]

Reviewing the May 3, 1994 performance at Albany's Knickerbocker Arena, Michael Hochanadel from The Sunday Gazette, praised the band's sound, stating that it sounded like it had settled into a sound similar to Pink Floyd and The Police and had become a genre themselves "through sheer sound and style", adding that the special effects and fireworks have elevated the band's music. Commenting on the interaction with Rush and their fans, Hochanadel noted when Lee had advanced closer towards the audience during the song "Closer to the Heart", stating that he matched movement to words as well as adding that Peart's drum solo had a tip-off when his drum riser was used.^[7]

Despite the positive reception from many critics and audiences, Ed Masley from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who attended the April 20, 1994 performance in Pittsburgh, had opened that Rush did not know how to put on a 'real' rock show, stating that Peart did not know anything about that - calling him a "drag". He noted on the special effects the band used in their performance, stating that the band were still boring, noting on how the images on the screen behind the band had drawn more applause than the musicians performing.^[8]

Kelley Crowley from the Observer-Reporter, whom also criticized the band's performance in a negative light claimed that Geddy Lee's vocals were possessed by the spirit of a mouse and in an "electronic frenzy", also criticizing the "muddy and distorted" sound the band had presented, and the mistakes Lifeson was making on his guitar solo in "The Spirit of Radio". Crowley also acknowledged the complaints of fans on their expectations of hearing the old material at the show. However though, Crowley stated that with the use of the video screen, special effects and lights, it was described as a "sensory experience".^[9]

Set list

This is an example setlist 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.^[10]

1. "Dreamline"
2. "The Spirit of Radio"
3. "The Analog Kid"
4. "Cold Fire"
5. "Time Stand Still"
6. "Nobody's Hero"
7. "Roll the Bones"
8. "Animate"
9. "Stick It Out"
10. "Double Agent"
11. "Limelight"
12. "Bravado"
13. "Mystic Rhythms"
14. "Closer to the Heart"
15. "Show Don't Tell"
16. "Leave That Thing Alone"
17. "The Rhythm Method" (drum solo)
18. "The Trees"
19. "Xanadu"
20. "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres – Prelude"
21. "Tom Sawyer"

Encore

22. "Force Ten"
23. "YYZ"
24. "Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage" (teaser)

Tour dates

Date^[11]^[12]	City	Country	Venue
January 22, 1994	Pensacola	United States	Pensacola Civic Center
January 23, 1994	New Orleans		Lakefront Arena
January 25, 1994	Austin		Frank Erwin Center
January 26, 1994	Houston		The Summit
January 28, 1994	Dallas		Reunion Arena
January 29, 1994	San Antonio		HemisFair Arena
January 31, 1994	Las Cruces		Pan American Center
February 1, 1994	Phoenix		Veterans Memorial Coliseum
February 3, 1994	Inglewood		Great Western Forum
February 5, 1994	Anaheim		Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
February 7, 1994	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
February 8, 1994	Fresno		Selland Arena
February 10, 1994	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
February 11, 1994	Daly City		Cow Palace
February 12, 1994	San Jose		San Jose Arena
February 23, 1994	Murfreesboro		Murphy Center
February 24, 1994	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum
February 25, 1994	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum
February 27, 1994	Miami		Miami Arena
March 1, 1994	Orlando		Amway Arena
March 2, 1994	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Coliseum
March 4, 1994	St. Petersburg		Thunderdome
March 6, 1994	Chapel Hill		Dean Smith Center
March 8, 1994	New York City		Madison Square Garden
March 9, 1994
March 11, 1994	Worcester		Worcester Centrum
March 12, 1994
March 22, 1994	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
March 23, 1994	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
March 25, 1994	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum
March 26, 1994	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
March 27, 1994	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
March 29, 1994	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon
March 30, 1994
April 1, 1994	Peoria		Peoria Civic Center
April 2, 1994	Madison		Dane County Coliseum
April 4, 1994	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena
April 5, 1994	Kansas City		Kemper Arena
April 7, 1994	Milwaukee		Bradley Center
April 8, 1994	Minneapolis		Target Center
April 9, 1994	Moline		MARK of the Quad Cities
April 18, 1994	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
April 20, 1994	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
April 22, 1994	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena
April 23, 1994	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
April 24, 1994	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
April 26, 1994	Landover		USAir Arena
April 29, 1994	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
April 30, 1994
May 1, 1994	Providence		Providence Civic Center
May 3, 1994	Albany		Knickerbocker Arena
May 4, 1994	Rochester		War Memorial Arena
May 6, 1994	Montreal	Canada	Montreal Forum
May 7, 1994	Toronto		Maple Leaf Gardens

Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references

Date (1994)	City	Venue	Attendance	Gross	Ref(s)
January 22	Pensacola, United States	Civic Center	8,422 / 8,422	$176,550	^[13]
January 23	New Orleans, United States	Lakefront Arena	7,432 / 7,432	$180,302
February 5	Anaheim, United States	Arrowhead Pond	13,460 / 13,460	$333,647	^[14]
February 7	San Diego, United States	Sports Arena	11,242 / 11,668	$226,598	^[15]
March 11–12	Worcester, United States	Centrum	22,127 / 25,008	$535,570	^[16]
March 23	Richfield, United States	Coliseum	14,717 / 14,717	$360,270	^[17]
March 29–30	Rosemont, United States	Rosemont Horizon	21,665 / 21,665	$528,363
April 4	St. Louis, United States	Arena	13,570 / 13,570	$322,305
April 20	Pittsburgh, United States	Civic Arena	11,062 / 12,000	$267,991	^[18]
April 22	East Rutherford, United States	Meadowlands Arena	14,083 / 14,083	$365,829	^[19]
April 23	Uniondale, United States	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	11,585 / 11,585	$313,287
April 29–30	Philadelphia, United States	Spectrum	23,979 / 27,090	$586,134
May 6	Montreal, Canada	Forum	12,913 / 12,913	$291,306	^[20]

Personnel

• Geddy Lee – vocals, bass, keyboards
• Alex Lifeson – guitar, backing vocals
• Neil Peart – drums

References

Citations

1. Shuster, Fred (April 21, 1994). "Rush celebrates 20 years in music industry". No. 293. Gadsden, Alabama: Gadsden Times. p. C2. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
2. Daly & Hansen 2019, p. 320.
3. Daly & Hansen 2019, p. 322.
4. Popoff 2017, p. 148.
5. Morse, Steve (November 19, 1998). "Rush's new live CD best one yet". Observer-Reporter. p. B6. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
6. Pareles, John (April 17, 1994). "Rush delivery: a breakneck set in NYC". New York City, New York: Observer-Reporter. p. F3. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
7. Hochanadel, Michael (May 4, 1994). "Special effects lift Rush's music from familiar to classic-looking". Schenectady, New York: The Sunday Gazette. p. B10. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
8. Masley, Ed (April 21, 1994). "After two decades, Rush still doesn't know rock". No. 264. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C-4. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
9. Crowley, Kelley (April 19, 1994). "Don't hurry to see Rush". Observer-Reporter. p. B2. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
10. Daly & Hansen 2019, p. 324.
11. Daly & Hansen 2019, pp. 324–331.
12. "Counterparts Tour". Rush.com. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
13. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 6. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 5, 1994. p. 14. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
14. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 8. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 19, 1994. p. 14. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
15. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 10. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 5, 1994. p. 20. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
16. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 13. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 26, 1994. p. 24. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
17. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 16. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 16, 1994. p. 19. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
18. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 19. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 7, 1994. p. 16. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
19. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 20. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 14, 1994. p. 24. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
20. "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 22. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. May 28, 1994. p. 13. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 23, 2023.

Sources

• Popoff, Martin (2017). Rush: Album by Album. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-5220-5.
• Daly, Skip; Hansen, Eric (2019). Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth – The Official Touring History. Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-68383-450-2.