The Test for Echo Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their sixteenth studio album Test for Echo.
Background It was the band's first tour with no opening act, and was billed as "An Evening With Rush". 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. This was the only concert tour until 2026 in which Rush played the song "2112" in its entirety. During the tour, the band had included live camera footage, video, lasers and strobes as part of their sets. This marked the last tour until 2002 because of tragedies in Neil Peart's life. Recordings from the tour were released on the 1998 live album Different Stages.
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.
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.
The Deseret Newss 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.
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.
Set 1 "Dreamline" "Limelight" "Stick It Out" "The Big Money" (with "Wipeout" outro) "Driven" "Half the World" "Red Barchetta" "Animate" "Limbo" "The Trees" "Red Sector A" "Virtuality" "Nobody's Hero" "Closer to the Heart" "2112" (all chapters)
Set 2 "Test for Echo" "Subdivisions" "Freewill" "Roll the Bones" "Resist" "Leave That Thing Alone" "The Rhythm Method" (drum solo) "Natural Science" "Force Ten" "Time and Motion" "The Spirit of Radio" "Tom Sawyer" Encore "YYZ" "Cygnus X-1" (teaser)
Tour dates + List of 1996 concertsDateCityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossOctober 19, 1996AlbanyUnited StatesKnickerbocker Arena9,727 / 9,727$297,458October 20, 1996BuffaloMarine Midland Arena8,898 / 8,898$259,889October 22, 1996FairbornNutter Center7,835 / 9,000$237,802October 23, 1996Grand RapidsVan Andel Arena6,537 / 10,000$213,138October 25, 1996Auburn HillsThe Palace of Auburn Hills14,673 / 14,673$467,308October 26, 1996RockfordRockford MetroCentre4,933 / 8,614$135,675October 28, 1996ChicagoUnited Center13,400 / 16,595$466,705October 29, 1996MinneapolisTarget Center7,753 / 11,000$256,315October 31, 1996St. LouisKiel Center10,157 / 13,500$313,705November 1, 1996MilwaukeeBradley Center9,730 / 12,777$298,266November 3, 1996PittsburghCivic Arena9,255 / 12,000$284,692November 4, 1996ClevelandGund Arena10,743 / 12,000$339,855November 6, 1996PhiladelphiaCoreStates Center14,759 / 15,147$444,804November 7, 1996LandoverUSAir Arena11,077 / 13,000$326,366November 9, 1996BostonFleetCenter14,003 / 19,580$403,255November 10, 1996HartfordHartford Civic Center9,642 / 10,500$276,260November 20, 1996San JoseSan Jose Arena10,851 / 12,500$340,720November 21, 1996SacramentoARCO Arena6,984 / 12,550$235,455November 23, 1996San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena8,532 / 11,084$211,251November 24, 1996ParadiseThomas & Mack Center7,373 / 9,000$199,618November 26, 1996InglewoodGreat Western Forum19,319 / 25,000$596,855November 27, 1996November 29, 1996PhoenixAmerica West Arena10,858 / 12,000$320,540November 30, 1996El PasoSpecial Events Center5,295 / 8,000$155,835December 2, 1996San AntonioAlamodome10,014 / 15,000-December 3, 1996DallasReunion Arena-December 5, 1996HoustonThe Summit10,413 / 17,050December 6, 1996New OrleansUNO Lakefront Arena7,019 / 7,019$216,070December 8, 1996West Palm BeachCoral Sky Amphitheater13,297 / 18,840$266,803December 9, 1996TampaIce Palace7,691 / 9,500$237,190December 11, 1996AtlantaThe Omni10,143 / 11,000$301,475December 12, 1996CharlotteCharlotte Coliseum7,258 / 10,000-December 14, 1996UniondaleNassau Coliseum12,222 / 12,500$371,712December 15, 1996East RutherfordContinental Airlines Arena15,621 / 15,621$453,538December 18, 1996 TorontoCanadaPhoenix Concert Theatre900 / 900-
+ List of 1997 concertsDateCityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossMay 7, 1997San DiegoUnited StatesHospitality Point5,119 / 5,119$190,810May 8, 1997PhoenixDesert Sky Pavilion9,856 / 20,144$267,785May 10, 1997DevoreGlen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion18,040 / 18,040-May 11, 1997Mountain ViewShoreline Amphitheatre10,099 / 20,000$298,449May 14, 1997PortlandRose Garden Arena8,243 / 10,412-May 16, 1997VancouverCanadaGeneral Motors Place5,497 / 13,340$214,114May 17, 1997GeorgeUnited StatesThe Gorge Amphitheatre19,968 / 20,000$519,100May 19, 1997BoiseBSU Pavilion5,535 / 8,500-May 20, 1997Salt Lake CityDelta Center10,837 / 11,512May 22, 1997Greenwood VillageFiddler's Green Amphitheater11,156 / 17,416$257,616May 24, 1997DallasStarplex Amphitheater9,414 / 20,111$234,936May 25, 1997The WoodlandsCynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion13,024 / 13,024$382,245June 4, 1997CincinnatiRiverbend Music Center8,538 / 14,175-June 5, 1997NashvilleStarwood Amphitheatre9,712 / 17,200$150,472June 7, 1997Bonner SpringsSandstone Amphitheater9,511 / 13,500-June 8, 1997Maryland HeightsRiverport Amphitheater8,647 / 15,700June 10, 1997NoblesvilleDeer Creek Music Center9,617 / 20,085$226,694June 11, 1997BurgettstownStar Lake Amphitheater11,088 / 22,561$188,770June 13, 1997MilwaukeeMarcus Amphitheater6,919 / 15,894-June 14, 1997Tinley ParkNew World Music Theater11,481 / 15,000$373,655June 16, 1997ColumbusPolaris Amphitheater9,889 / 13,677$220,769June 17, 1997ClarkstonPine Knob Music Theater13,409 / 14,500$348,742June 19, 1997HolmdelPNC Bank Arts Center9,371 / 10,802$318,995June 20, 1997BristowNissan Pavilion10,929 / 14,776$282,954June 22, 1997CamdenBlockbuster-Sony E-Centre10,566 / 25,000$273,543June 23, 1997MansfieldGreat Woods Performing Arts Center9,884 / 15,000-June 25, 1997WantaghJones Beach Amphitheater10,541 / 10,541$399,995June 26, 1997CorfuDarien Lake Performing Arts Center7,165 / 8,500$178,325June 28, 1997MontrealCanadaMolson Centre12,521 / 13,942$470,240June 30, 1997TorontoMolson Amphitheatre16,000 / 16,000$649,593July 2, 1997-July 3, 1997Quebec CityQuebec Coliseum6,759 / 9,770$247,010July 4, 1997OttawaCorel Centre6,390 / 11,000$236,475
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDateCityVenueAttendanceGrossOctober 25, 1996Auburn Hills, United StatesPalace15,197 / 15,197$467,308November 6, 1996Philadelphia, United StatesCoreStates Center14,759 / 15,147$444,805November 10, 1996Hartford, United StatesCivic Center9,642 / 10,500$276,260November 26–27, 1996Inglewood, United StatesGreat Western Forum19,319 / 25,000$596,855November 29, 1996Phoenix, United StatesAmerica West Arena10,858 / 12,000$320,540May 8, 1997Phoenix, United StatesBlockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion9,856 / 20,144$267,785May 25, 1997The Woodlands, United StatesCynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion13,024 / 13,024$382,245June 17, 1997Clarkston, United StatesPine Knob Music Theatre13,409 / 14,500$348,743
Personnel Geddy Lee – vocals, bass, keyboards Alex Lifeson – guitar, backing vocals Neil Peart – drums
References Citations
Sources