A crucial window into Rush’s Grace Under Pressure era just opened up on YouTube. In conjunction with the 1984 album’s new super deluxe reissue, full-length footage of the band’s Sept. 21, 1984 performance at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens is now online.
Scenes from the concert previously appeared on Rush’s 1986 Grace Under Pressure Tour home video and CD. The new YouTube upload expands on that footage with 37 previously unreleased minutes, presenting the iconic combination of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart at the peak of their powers, wrecking shop in their hometown. The footage is newly edited from the original camera masters and newly remastered in HD.
Full audio from the gig is included in the new super deluxe reissue of Grace Under Pressure. The release is available in 4CD + Blu-ray, 5LP + Blu-ray editions, both of which feature full-length audio and video recordings of the Maple Leaf Gardens performance. The Dolby Atmos digital edition of the reissue also includes full-length concert video. The Super Deluxe digital edition includes full-length audio from the gig. Video from the concert can also be purchased as a standalone digital product under the title Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto 1984.
Grace Under Pressure, the latest Rush album to be featured in UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records’ reissue series, features eight tracks inspired by an influx of new technologies in an ever-evolving world. Rush were breathlessly transforming too. The band’s tenth LP found them launching into a new era, working with producer Peter Henderson after a decade of collaborations with Terry Brown.
“Our songwriting had taken us to a different musical place, Lee explains, “an expansion of our soundscape with a range of new technologies, not just keyboards and samples, but electronic drums too, while getting to know the new dude behind the console with a very different working style.”
On their tour supporting the release, Rush wove new material into a set that pulled from throughout their storied catalog up to that point. The newly uploaded Toronto performance is a thrill ride for longtime fans and a great place for newcomers to dive in.
