Roll the Bones Tour
Tour by Rush
Location
  • North America
  • Europe
Associated albumRoll the Bones
Start dateOctober 25, 1991
End dateJune 28, 1992
Legs3
No. of shows101
Rush concert chronology

The Roll the Bones Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their fourteenth studio album Roll the Bones.

Background

The tour kicked off October 25, 1991 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario and culminated on June 28, 1992 at the World Music Theater in Tinley Park, Illinois, estimated to have performed to more than 960,000 fans.[1] Guitarist Eric Johnson was the initial opening act in the autumn of 1991,[2] following the band losing a Grammy nomination for "Where's My Thing?" to Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover".[3] American rock band Primus were the opening act for Rush later on this tour when Johnson canceled his last two weeks on the first leg as an opening act,[4][5] as well as Vinnie Moore and Mr. Big.[6][7] Opening for the band's hometown show in Toronto, Ontario on December 16 was The Tragically Hip,[6] which was set up as a benefit for United Way, alongside the Daily Bread Food Bank - in which the audience had donated fifty thousand pounds of food.[8] The band included super-sized screens, laser lights and moving pictures throughout their performances.[7]

In Sacramento on January 27, 1992, the band performed what they had considered their worst show, as they performed to an unruly audience who threw objects at the band throughout the performance. Prior to the show, Rush refused to perform "general admission" performances due to rowdiness,[9] potential injury and death in the crowd, but was booked to perform the show and was unexpectedly general admission.[6]

Reception

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's John Hayes, reviewing the Pittsburgh performance on October 28, 1991, opined that Rush had found an effective formula that held the attention of rock fans after the release of twenty albums and a long history of successful concert tours, later stating that the shows are kept alive by the "sheer talent" of the band members. Notifying the Roll the Bones Tour as one of the biggest productions on the road, he acknowledged the stage's usage of lasers, lighting, special effects, a rotating drum platform during Peart's solo and inflatable rabbits throughout the show.[10]

Reviewing the Burgettstown concert on June 21, 1992, Kurt Bruner of the Observer-Reporter opened that the trio pulled no punches and was a knockout, sending the audience who was predominantly late 20s to middle aged reeling. He expressed on the usage of special effects and lighting, praising its usage in highlighting the songs performed, as well as the choreographed lasers and lights during Peart's drum solo, which he also noted as "outstanding", "superb" and as one of the memorable aspects of the show. He acknowledged the band, stating that they looked to be enjoying themselves without exerting much effort - as well as praising the stage design as simple, with only a ramp featured around the band.[11]

The Toledo Blade's Ralph Kisiel, reviewing the Toledo performance, stated that Rush still showed that they could do their performances with "intensity" and "imagination". Noting on the audience, Kisiel commented that the overwhelming responses and emotions of the audience were whipped up quickly when the band performed crowd favorites, and when the show was over, had left fans satisfied. Kisiel continued, saying the band "clearly illustatrated that they can rock and rattle your bones for more than two hours".[12]

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.[13] For the encore, the band performed a medley of older material, which would feature a minute of each song for the medley.[1]

  1. "Force Ten"
  2. "Limelight"
  3. "Freewill"
  4. "Distant Early Warning"
  5. "Time Stand Still"
  6. "Dreamline"
  7. "Bravado"
  8. "Roll the Bones"
  9. "Show Don't Tell"
  10. "The Big Money"
  11. "Ghost of a Chance"
  12. "Subdivisions"
  13. "The Pass"
  14. "The Trees"
  15. "Where's My Thing?"
  16. "The Rhythm Method" (drum solo)
  17. "Closer to the Heart"
  18. "Xanadu"
  19. "Superconductor"
  20. "Tom Sawyer"

Encore

  2. "The Spirit of Radio"
  3. Medley: "2112" (Overture) / "Finding My Way" / "La Villa Strangiato" / "Anthem" / "Red Barchetta" / "The Spirit of Radio" (reprise)
  4. "Cygnus X-1" (teaser)

Tour dates

Date[14][15] City Country Venue
North America[16]
October 25, 1991 Hamilton Canada Copps Coliseum
October 26, 1991 Rochester United States Rochester Community War Memorial
October 28, 1991 Pittsburgh Civic Arena
October 29, 1991 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
October 31, 1991 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
November 1, 1991 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon
November 3, 1991 Minneapolis Target Center
November 4, 1991 Omaha Omaha Civic Auditorium
November 6, 1991 Topeka Landon Arena
November 7, 1991 St. Louis St. Louis Arena
November 9, 1991 Normal Redbird Arena
November 10, 1991 Milwaukee Bradley Center
November 13, 1991 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills
November 14, 1991
November 16, 1991 Toledo John F. Savage Hall
November 17, 1991 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
November 18, 1991
November 26, 1991 Ottawa Canada Ottawa Civic Centre
November 28, 1991 Montreal Montreal Forum
November 29, 1991 Quebec City Colisée de Québec
December 1, 1991 Philadelphia United States Spectrum
December 3, 1991
December 4, 1991 Landover Capital Centre
December 6, 1991 New York City Madison Square Garden
December 7, 1991
December 9, 1991 Providence Providence Civic Center
December 10, 1991 Worcester Worcester Centrum
December 12, 1991 Albany Knickerbocker Arena
December 13, 1991 Hartford Hartford Civic Center
December 15, 1991 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
December 16, 1991 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
January 18, 1992 Las Cruces United States Pan American Center
January 20, 1992 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
January 22, 1992 Inglewood Great Western Forum
January 23, 1992
January 25, 1992 Fresno Selland Arena
January 27, 1992 Sacramento ARCO Arena
January 29, 1992 Oakland Oakland Arena
January 30, 1992
February 2, 1992 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
February 4, 1992 Seattle United States Seattle Center Coliseum
February 5, 1992 Portland Memorial Coliseum
February 15, 1992 San Antonio HemisFair Arena
February 16, 1992 Dallas Reunion Arena
February 18, 1992 Houston The Summit
February 20, 1992 Austin Frank Erwin Center
February 22, 1992 Shreveport Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
February 23, 1992 New Orleans Lakefront Arena
February 25, 1992 Pensacola Pensacola Civic Center
February 26, 1992 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum
February 28, 1992 Miami Miami Arena
February 29, 1992 St. Petersburg Florida Suncoast Dome
March 2, 1992 Orlando Orlando Arena
March 4, 1992 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
March 5, 1992 Columbia Carolina Coliseum
March 7, 1992 Chapel Hill Dean Smith Center
March 10, 1992 Richmond Richmond Coliseum
March 12, 1992 Binghamton Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
March 14, 1992 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
March 15, 1992 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Europe
April 10, 1992 Sheffield England Sheffield Arena
April 12, 1992 Birmingham National Exhibition Centre
April 13, 1992
April 15, 1992 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
April 17, 1992 London England Wembley Arena
April 18, 1992
April 21, 1992 Hanover Germany Music Hall
April 23, 1992 Cologne Sporthalle
April 24, 1992 Frankfurt Festhalle Frankfurt
April 27, 1992 Berlin Eissporthalle an der Jafféstraße
April 28, 1992 Nuremberg Frankenhalle
April 29, 1992 Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
May 1, 1992 Paris France Le Zénith
May 3, 1992 Rotterdam Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy
North America
May 21, 1992 Memphis United States Mid-South Coliseum
May 23, 1992 Kansas City Kemper Arena
May 24, 1992 Valley Center Kansas Coliseum
May 25, 1992 Oklahoma City Myriad Convention Center
May 27, 1992 Greenwood Village Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
May 29, 1992 Salt Lake City Delta Center
May 31, 1992 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 1, 1992 Reno Lawlor Events Center
June 3, 1992 Irvine Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
June 4, 1992
June 6, 1992 Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center
June 7, 1992 Phoenix Desert Sky Pavilion
June 9, 1992 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum
June 10, 1992 Lubbock Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
June 12, 1992 Maryland Heights Riverport Amphitheatre
June 13, 1992 Nashville Starwood Amphitheatre
June 14, 1992 Charlotte Blockbuster Pavilion
June 16, 1992 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 17, 1992 Mansfield Great Woods PAC
June 19, 1992 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena
June 20, 1992 Wantagh Jones Beach Amphitheater
June 21, 1992 Burgettstown Star Lake Amphitheater
June 23, 1992 Fairborn Nutter Center
June 24, 1992 Noblesville Deer Creek Music Center
June 26, 1992 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theater
June 27, 1992 East Troy Alpine Valley Music Theatre
June 28, 1992 Tinley Park New World Music Theater

Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references
Date
(1992) 		City Venue Attendance Gross Ref(s)
June 3–4 Irvine, United States Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre 28,492 / 30,000 $724,295 [17]
June 6 Las Vegas, United States Thomas & Mack Center 8,993 / 10,500 $206,198 [18]
June 26 Clarkston, United States Pine Knob Music Theatre 14,977 / 14,977 $325,965 [17]
June 27 East Troy, United States Alpine Valley Music Theatre 21,474 / 35,000 $359,932

Personnel

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Daly & Hansen 2019, pp. 302, 304.
  2. ^ Popoff 2013, p. 120.
  3. ^ Rubin 2015.
  4. ^ Popoff 2017, p. 148.
  5. ^ Romano 2023, p. 257.
  6. ^ a b c Popoff 2004, p. 160.
  7. ^ a b "This Weekend: Rush and Mr. Big". The Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina. June 12, 1992. p. 6B. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  8. ^ Popoff 2022, p. 49.
  9. ^ Popoff 2022, p. 48.
  10. ^ Hayes, John (October 29, 1991). "Rush extravaganza throws fans a bone". No. 77. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 28. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  11. ^ Bruner, Kurt (June 23, 1992). "Rush 'Rolls the Bones' for fans at Star Lake". Washington, Pennsylvania: Observer-Reporter. p. B-4. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  12. ^ Kiesiel, Ralph (November 18, 1991). "Veteran rockers Rush still have imagination". Toledo, Ohio: Toledo Blade. p. P-3. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  13. ^ Daly & Hansen 2019, p. 306.
  14. ^ Daly & Hansen 2019, pp. 306–319.
  15. ^ "Roll the Bones Tour". Rush.com. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  16. ^ Concert announcements:
  17. ^ a b "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 104, no. 29. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 18, 1992. p. 13. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  18. ^ "Amusement Business Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 104, no. 25. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. June 20, 1992. p. 14. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

Sources

Categories