Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Rare Rush 1977 performance of Xanadu to be shown at Old Grey Whistle Test 40th anniversary show

Wed, Jan 4, 2012@11:41AM | comments removed/disabled

[Rare RUSH Performance On OGWT Anniversary Show!]

UPDATE - 1/17@4:52PM: According to reader Russell T who attended the event, no Rush at all was shown - not even the Xanadu clip. :(

UPDATE - 1/4@2:58PM: From several reader comments and other Rush forum comments I've been reading, it looks like it's very likely that this rare footage they are talking about is just the Xanadu in-studio video that's an extra on the R30 DVD and was filmed at Seneca College Theatre in Toronto in 1977. That is the footage that was originally shown on the show back in 1977 according to several accounts from folks who watched the show. Unless there's some other, unknown live in-studio footage that we don't know about, this footage they are talking about is probably not new. Nothing's been confirmed yet, but that's the way it's looking.

The influential BBC television show The Old Grey Whistle Test - which ran from 1971 to 1987 - celebrated its 40th anniversary last year and will commemorate the occasion with a special show at the Sage Hall in Gateshead, UK on January 15th that will unveil rare footage from BBC Worldwide archive recording. One of the recordings is of special interest to Rush fans. From the MusicPro website:

... The highlight of the show and the clip which is causing the most interest for UK progressive rock fans is an extremely rare recording of Canadian progressive rockers, RUSH, performing Xanadu in it's entirety during a performance that Phipps regards as one of the main peaks of the Old Grey Whistle Test shows. Phipps says of RUSH at the time, "I knew about them but I'd never seen them and that set literally blew me away." ...

This footage originally aired on the show back in 1977. The Old Grey Whistle Test 40th Anniversary show starts at 8pm on Sunday, January 15th in The Sage, Hall Two and tickets are available online at this link. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.

NOTE: Posts over 10 years old are partially archived. All comments, images and other embedded media have been removed.

Share