Test for Echo Tour

The Test for Echo Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their sixteenth studio album Test for Echo.

Test for Echo Tour

Tour by Rush
Location	North America
Associated album	Test for Echo
Start date	October 19, 1996
End date	July 4, 1997
Legs	2
No. of shows	68
Rush concert chronology

Background

It was the band's first tour with no opening act, and was billed as "An Evening With Rush".^[1] The tour kicked off on October 19, 1996, at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York and culminated on July 4, 1997, at the Corel Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.^[2] This was the only concert tour in which Rush played the song "2112" in its entirety.^[3] During the tour, the band had included live camera footage, video, lasers and strobes as part of their sets.^[4] This marked the last tour until 2002 because of tragedies in Neil Peart's life.^[5] Recordings from the tour were released on the 1998 live album Different Stages.^[6]

Reception

On the opening night of the tour in Albany's Knickerbocker Arena, Michael Lisi from The Sunday Gazette wrote that the band had shown that practice makes perfect, when the band performed with a visual and aural attack which kept the audience on its feet and screaming the whole show, with other fans waving their hands during the performance of "2112" in its entirety, noting on the words of a fan after the band left the stage that it was "unbelievable". Lisi continued on the mix of old and new songs which he stated was superb, noting the new songs as "right on the mark". He stated that the band were able to breathe life into "Closer to the Heart" which was noted as a "powerful read". Commenting on the band, Lisi stated that they looked like they were having a blast, were right on the money when commenting positively on Lee's vocals being in perfect form, and that they sounded better than ever.^[7]

Reviewing the Civic Arena performance in Pittsburgh on November 3, 1996, Kathy Sabol from the Observer-Reporter, stated that she had enjoyed the concert, noting on the melodic songs along the video backdrop in which she appreciated drummer Neil Peart's statements on greed, ambition, death and despair. Regarding the change in the band's sound, she said that it was no accident that it came from Rush's efforts in the last five years when the band evolved to a richer, clarified sound of its own. Other than taking note on how "2112" performed in its entirety is a big deal, she stated that the sampling, and multi-layering of the guitar and drum work is a credit to the band's history with how they manage.^[3]

The Deseret News's Scott Iwasald, reviewing the May 20, 1997 show at Salt Lake City's Delta Center, mentioned that the band did not need elaborate stage props, stage sets or costumes unlike modern bands those days, in which the music spoke for itself. He wrote that the band were as hot as ever, playing well, tight and looked like they were having fun on stage - working together to put on a terrific live show. He noted when the video backdrop was not working during the first half of the evening, but said the band did not need it, as he stated before that the music spoke for itself. Regarding the audience, he wrote that the instrumental "Limbo" and the power chorus of "Force Ten" brought them to their feet, later concluding that the band held them in their palm, and when the show ended, none of the audience were disappointed.^[8]

Set list

This is an example set list 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.^[9]

Set 1

1. "Dreamline"
2. "Limelight"
3. "Stick It Out"
4. "The Big Money" (with "Wipeout" outro)
5. "Driven"
6. "Half the World"
7. "Red Barchetta"
8. "Animate"
9. "Limbo"
10. "The Trees"
11. "Red Sector A"
12. "Virtuality"
13. "Nobody's Hero"
14. "Closer to the Heart"
15. "2112" (all chapters)

Set 2

16. "Test for Echo"
17. "Subdivisions"
18. "Freewill"
19. "Roll the Bones"
20. "Resist"
21. "Leave That Thing Alone"
22. "The Rhythm Method" (drum solo)
23. "Natural Science"
24. "Force Ten"
25. "Time and Motion"
26. "The Spirit of Radio"
27. "Tom Sawyer"

    Encore

28. "YYZ"
29. "Cygnus X-1" (teaser)

Tour dates

List of 1996 concerts^[10][11]

Date	City	Country	Venue
October 19, 1996	Albany	United States	Knickerbocker Arena
October 20, 1996	Buffalo		Marine Midland Arena
October 22, 1996	Fairborn		Nutter Center
October 23, 1996	Grand Rapids		Van Andel Arena
October 25, 1996	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
October 26, 1996	Rockford		Rockford MetroCentre
October 28, 1996	Chicago		United Center
October 29, 1996	Minneapolis		Target Center
October 31, 1996	St. Louis		Kiel Center
November 1, 1996	Milwaukee		Bradley Center
November 3, 1996	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
November 4, 1996	Cleveland		Gund Arena
November 6, 1996	Philadelphia		CoreStates Center
November 7, 1996	Landover		USAir Arena
November 9, 1996	Boston		FleetCenter
November 10, 1996	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
November 20, 1996	San Jose		San Jose Arena
November 21, 1996	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
November 23, 1996	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
November 24, 1996	Paradise		Thomas & Mack Center
November 26, 1996	Inglewood		Great Western Forum
November 27, 1996
November 29, 1996	Phoenix		America West Arena
November 30, 1996	El Paso		Special Events Center
December 2, 1996	San Antonio		Alamodome
December 3, 1996	Dallas		Reunion Arena
December 5, 1996	Houston		The Summit
December 6, 1996	New Orleans		UNO Lakefront Arena
December 8, 1996	West Palm Beach		Coral Sky Amphitheater
December 9, 1996	Tampa		Ice Palace
December 11, 1996	Atlanta		The Omni
December 12, 1996	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum
December 14, 1996	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
December 15, 1996	East Rutherford		Continental Airlines Arena
December 18, 1996	Toronto	Canada	Phoenix Concert Theatre

List of 1997 concerts^[10][11]

Date	City	Country	Venue
May 7, 1997	San Diego	United States	Hospitality Point
May 8, 1997	Phoenix		Desert Sky Pavilion
May 10, 1997	Devore		Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion
May 11, 1997	Mountain View		Shoreline Amphitheatre
May 14, 1997	Portland		Rose Garden Arena
May 16, 1997	Vancouver	Canada	General Motors Place
May 17, 1997	George	United States	The Gorge Amphitheatre
May 19, 1997	Boise		BSU Pavilion
May 20, 1997	Salt Lake City		Delta Center
May 22, 1997	Greenwood Village		Fiddler's Green Amphitheater
May 24, 1997	Dallas		Starplex Amphitheater
May 25, 1997	The Woodlands		Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 4, 1997	Cincinnati		Riverbend Music Center
June 5, 1997	Nashville		Starwood Amphitheatre
June 7, 1997	Bonner Springs		Sandstone Amphitheater
June 8, 1997	Maryland Heights		Riverport Amphitheater
June 10, 1997	Noblesville		Deer Creek Music Center
June 11, 1997	Burgettstown		Star Lake Amphitheater
June 13, 1997	Milwaukee		Marcus Amphitheater
June 14, 1997	Tinley Park		New World Music Theater
June 16, 1997	Columbus		Polaris Amphitheater
June 17, 1997	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theater
June 19, 1997	Holmdel		PNC Bank Arts Center
June 20, 1997	Bristow		Nissan Pavilion
June 22, 1997	Camden		Blockbuster-Sony E-Centre
June 23, 1997	Mansfield		Great Woods Performing Arts Center
June 25, 1997	Wantagh		Jones Beach Amphitheater
June 26, 1997	Corfu		Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
June 28, 1997	Montreal	Canada	Molson Centre
June 30, 1997	Toronto		Molson Amphitheatre
July 2, 1997
July 3, 1997	Quebec City		Quebec Coliseum
July 4, 1997	Ottawa		Corel Centre

Box office score data

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

Date	City	Venue	Attendance	Gross	Ref(s)
October 25, 1996	Auburn Hills, United States	Palace	15,197 / 15,197	$467,308	[12]
November 6, 1996	Philadelphia, United States	CoreStates Center	14,759 / 15,147	$444,805	[13]
November 10, 1996	Hartford, United States	Civic Center	9,642 / 10,500	$276,260	[14]
November 26–27, 1996	Inglewood, United States	Great Western Forum	19,319 / 25,000	$596,855	[15]
November 29, 1996	Phoenix, United States	America West Arena	10,858 / 12,000	$320,540
May 8, 1997	Phoenix, United States	Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion	9,856 / 20,144	$267,785	[16]
May 25, 1997	The Woodlands, United States	Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion	13,024 / 13,024	$382,245	[17]
June 17, 1997	Clarkston, United States	Pine Knob Music Theatre	13,409 / 14,500	$348,743	[18]

Personnel

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