{{Short description|1990 concert tour by Rush}} {{Infobox concert| | concert_tour_name = Presto Tour | image = Rush-1990-Presto tour.png | type = | location = North America | album = ''[[Presto (album)|Presto]]'' | artist = [[Rush (band)|Rush]] | start_date = February 17, 1990 | end_date = June 29, 1990 | number_of_legs = | number_of_shows = 63 | last_tour = [[Hold Your Fire Tour]] <br> (1987–1988) | this_tour = '''Presto Tour''' <br> (1990) | next_tour = [[Roll the Bones Tour]] <br> (1991–1992) | image_caption = Poster to the concerts in Toronto, Canada }} The '''Presto Tour''' was a concert tour by Canadian rock band [[Rush (band)|Rush]] in support of their thirteenth studio album ''[[Presto (album)|Presto]]''.
==Background== The tour started on February 17, 1990 at [[Greenville Memorial Auditorium]] in [[Greenville, South Carolina]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Little |first1=Michelle |title=Rush starts jamming and presto: A concert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L1MgAAAAIBAJ&dq=rush+concert&pg=PA51&article_id=4915,432996 |access-date=May 11, 2023 |publisher=Herald-Journal |date=February 16, 1990 |location=Spartanburg, South Carolina |page=B11 |language=en}}</ref> and concluded on June 29, 1990 at [[Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre]] in [[Irvine, California]],{{sfn|Popoff|2021|p=299}} having performed to more than 650,000 fans.{{sfn|Daly|Hansen|2019|p=290}} Opening bands that premiered in the tour included [[Mr. Big (American band)|Mr. Big]], [[Chalk Circle (American band)|Chalk Circle]] and [[Voivod (band)|Voivod]].{{sfn|Popoff|2021|p=292}} The stage production for each of the shows were presented with elements of the ''Presto'' cover art, which had featured lasers and Vari-Lites that were dropped from trusses on extensions as well as two giant inflatable rabbits, two sets of rear PA speakers on the back end of the stage floor to represent a quadrophonic effect on the sound which was engineered by Robert Scoville,<ref name="rushknickerbockerreview">{{cite news |last1=Hochanadel |first1=Michael |title=Rush Serves Up Spectacular Show |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DHMhAAAAIBAJ&dq=rush+concert&pg=PA12&article_id=2659,890623 |access-date=May 11, 2023 |publisher=The Daily Gazette |date=June 4, 1990 |location=Albany, New York |page=B8 |language=en}}</ref> and a projection screen that displayed video sequences and retro films throughout the performance.{{sfn|Daly|Hansen|2019|p=290}} When the band performed in Toronto for two shows in May 1990, both shows had raised $200,000 for United Way for the demands on the band for complimentary tickets.{{sfn|Popoff|2021|pp=291–292}}
==Reception== Michael Hochanadel from the ''Daily Gazette'' opened his review stating that the visuals made the Rush concert at the Knickerbocker Arena on June 2, 1990, one of the biggest, brightest and overwhelming rock spectacles - with effects representing a 1970s arena rock throwback with the usage of lasers and haze. While criticizing the music's lyrics as being sometimes preachy, he stated that they were at the same time, anthemic and tackled subjects in a fairly obvious way, but added that they needed something to keep their songs from sounding too alike. Praising Lee's vocals, Hochanadel affirmed that his voice gave the songs emotion that the lyrics did not always earn.<ref name="rushknickerbockerreview"/>
Reviewing the Pittsburgh performance on June 7, 1990, Janice Haidet of ''The Vindicator'' stated that the band put a huge reliance on talent from the instruments they were using, treating a crowded arena of fans to a "searing rock and roll feast". Haidet noted that the band kept the audience standing on their seats with fists raised in time with the music, and Geddy Lee delivering extraordinary vocals that were presented by a balanced and clear sound mix - also noting the show as one of the best light shows in rock music, although outdone by [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] and [[Pink Floyd]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Haidat |first1=Janice |title=Rush uses its talent to electrify concert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7ZRAAAAIBAJ&dq=rush+concert+presto&pg=PA20&article_id=1118,3966095 |access-date=May 6, 2023 |publisher=The Vindicator |date=June 8, 1990 |location=Youngstown, Ohio |page=24 |language=en}}</ref> Peter B. King from the ''Pittsburgh Press'' who was in attendance at the same show that night, stated that the band had offered some of the best visuals seen at a rock concert, and expressed that Rush had delivered an intelligent, distinctive brand of "art rock".<ref>{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Peter B. |title=Rush lights up Civic Arena with art-rock display, visual explosion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1XUcAAAAIBAJ&dq=rush+concert&pg=PA14&article_id=4871,4114522 |access-date=May 11, 2023 |issue=345 |publisher=The Pittsburgh Press |date=June 8, 1990 |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |page=C3 |language=en}}</ref>
==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.{{sfn|Daly|Hansen|2019|p=293}}
#"[[Force Ten (song)|Force Ten]]" #"[[Freewill (Rush song)|Freewill]]" #"Distant Early Warning" #"[[Time Stand Still (song)|Time Stand Still]]" #"[[Subdivisions (song)|Subdivisions]]" #"[[Marathon (Rush song)|Marathon]]" #"[[Red Barchetta]]" #"Superconductor" #"[[Show Don't Tell]]" #"[[The Pass (song)|The Pass]]" #"[[Closer to the Heart]]" #"[[Manhattan Project (song)|Manhattan Project]]" #"[[Xanadu (Rush song)|Xanadu]]" #"[[YYZ (instrumental)|YYZ]]" #"[[List of Rush instrumentals|The Rhythm Method]]" (Neil Peart drum solo) #"Scars" #"War Paint" #"[[Mission (song)|Mission]]" #"[[Tom Sawyer (song)|Tom Sawyer]]" #;Encore #"[[The Big Money]]" #"[[2112 (song)|2112: Overture]]" #"[[La Villa Strangiato]]" #"[[In the Mood (Rush song)|In the Mood]]" #"[[Wipe Out (instrumental)|Wipeout!]]"
==Tour dates== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+ List of 1990 concerts{{sfn|Daly|Hansen|2019|pp=293–301}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Presto Tour |url=https://www.rush.com/tour/presto/ |website=Rush.com |access-date=6 April 2023 |language=en-CA}}</ref> ! style="width:150px;"|Date ! style="width:180px;"|City ! style="width:120px;"|Country ! style="width:250px;"|Venue ! style="width:150px;"|Attendance ! style="width:150px;"|Revenue |- |February 17, 1990||[[Greenville, South Carolina|Greenville]] | rowspan="14" |United States||[[Greenville Memorial Auditorium]] |7,230 / 7,230 |$137,370 |- |February 19, 1990||[[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]]||[[Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum]] |7,254 / 7,500 |$128,279 |- |February 20, 1990||[[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]]||[[Bayfront Center]] |7,094 / 8,400 |$124,838 |- |February 22, 1990||[[Miami, Florida|Miami]]||[[Miami Arena]] |13,541 / 13,541 |$245,662 |- |February 23, 1990||[[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]]||[[Orlando Arena]] |12,156 / 12,156 |$220,650 |- |February 25, 1990||[[New Orleans]]||[[Lakefront Arena]] |9,204 / 9,204 |$165,113 |- |February 26, 1990||[[Houston]]||[[The Summit (Houston)|The Summit]] |13,153 / 13,153 |$240,119 |- |February 28, 1990||[[San Antonio]]||[[Convention Center Arena]] |9,656 / 11,468 |$158,698 |- |March 1, 1990||[[Dallas]]||[[Reunion Arena]] |15,666 / 15,666 |$239,509 |- |March 3, 1990||[[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]||[[Kemper Arena]] |12,145 / 16,000 |$224,682 |- |March 5, 1990||[[St. Louis]]||[[St. Louis Arena]] |12,750 / 12,750 |$228,309 |- |March 6, 1990||[[Cincinnati]]||[[Riverfront Coliseum]] |13,032 / 13,032 |$235,968 |- |March 8, 1990|| rowspan="2" |[[Auburn Hills, Michigan|Auburn Hills]]|| rowspan="2" |[[The Palace of Auburn Hills]] | rowspan="2" |27,622 / 28,000 | rowspan="2" |$572,440 |- |March 9, 1990 |- |March 20, 1990||[[Edmonton]]||rowspan="3"|Canada||[[Northlands Coliseum]] |7,500 / 13,049 |$132,900 |- |March 21, 1990||[[Calgary]]||[[Scotiabank Saddledome|Olympic Saddledome]] |8,107 / 11,754 |$109,720 |- |March 23, 1990||[[Vancouver]]||[[Pacific Coliseum]] |12,701 / 12,701 |$185,993 |- |March 24, 1990||[[Portland, Oregon|Portland]]|| rowspan="24" |United States||[[Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Portland, Oregon)|Veterans Memorial Coliseum]] |8,931 / 9,300 |$169,689 |- |March 26, 1990||[[Seattle]]||[[Seattle Center Coliseum]] |12,299 / 12,299 |$219,410 |- |March 28, 1990||[[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]]||[[ARCO Arena]] |12,236 / 12,236 |$232,602 |- |March 30, 1990|| rowspan="2" |[[Oakland, California|Oakland]]|| rowspan="2" |[[Oakland Coliseum]] | rowspan="2" |26,124 / 26,124 | rowspan="2" |$509,436 |- |March 31, 1990 |- |April 2, 1990|| rowspan="2" |[[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]]|| rowspan="2" |[[Great Western Forum]] | rowspan="2" |28,000 / 28,000 | rowspan="2" |$535,300 |- |April 3, 1990 |- |April 5, 1990||[[San Diego]]||[[San Diego Sports Arena]] |12,000 / 12,000 |$218,300 |- |April 7, 1990||[[Costa Mesa, California|Costa Mesa]]||[[Pacific Amphitheatre]] |13,856 / 18,861 |$298,250 |- |April 8, 1990||[[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]]||[[Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum]] |13,669 / 13,669 |$243,040 |- |April 20, 1990||[[East Rutherford, New Jersey|East Rutherford]]||[[Brendan Byrne Arena]] |18,717 / 18,717 |$350,944 |- |April 22, 1990||[[Uniondale, New York|Uniondale]]||[[Nassau Coliseum]] |15,546 / 15,546 |$302,391 |- |April 24, 1990||[[Philadelphia]]||[[Spectrum (arena)|The Spectrum]] |14,130 / 14,130 |$256,937 |- |April 25, 1990||[[East Rutherford, New Jersey|East Rutherford]]||[[Brendan Byrne Arena]] |13,138 / 14,953 |$241,334 |- |April 27, 1990||[[Philadelphia]]||[[Spectrum (arena)|The Spectrum]] |14,130 / 14,130 |$256,937 |- |April 28, 1990||[[Rochester, New York|Rochester]]||[[Rochester Community War Memorial|War Memorial Auditorium]] |8,418 / 8,418 |$158,866 |- |May 1, 1990||[[Atlanta]]||[[The Omni]] |12,186 / 12,186 |$221,384 |- |May 2, 1990||[[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]]||[[Charlotte Coliseum]] |7,985 / 16,003 |$155,708 |- |May 4, 1990||[[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]]||[[Richmond Coliseum]] |6,819 / 9,543 |$126,152 |- |May 5, 1990||[[Largo, Maryland|Largo]]||[[Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland)|Capital Centre]] |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |- |May 7, 1990||[[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]]||[[Civic Center]] |11,888 / 12,100 |$231,816 |- |May 8, 1990||[[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]||[[Hartford Civic Center]] |11,991 / 12,513 |$229,535 |- |May 10, 1990|| rowspan="2" |[[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]]|| rowspan="2" |[[The Centrum]] | rowspan="2" |21,897 / 23,344 | rowspan="2" |$413,870 |- |May 11, 1990 |- |May 13, 1990||[[Quebec City]]||rowspan="4"|Canada||[[Colisée Pepsi|Colisée Quebec City]] |10,540 / 11,500 |$181,500 |- |May 14, 1990||[[Montreal]]||[[Montreal Forum]] |12,128 / 12,800 |$208,301 |- |May 16, 1990|| rowspan="2" |[[Toronto]]|| rowspan="2" |[[Maple Leaf Gardens]] | rowspan="2" {{n/a}} | rowspan="2" {{n/a}} |- |May 17, 1990 |- |June 2, 1990||[[Albany, New York|Albany]]||rowspan="18"|United States||[[Knickerbocker Arena]] |14,335 / 14,335 |$267,232 |- |June 4, 1990||[[Baltimore]]||[[Baltimore Arena]] |5,671 / 14,000 |$110,585 |- |June 5, 1990||[[Hampton, Virginia|Hampton]]||[[Hampton Coliseum]] |7,227 / 9,124 |$133,699 |- |June 7, 1990||[[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]]||[[Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)|Civic Arena]] |11,049 / 12,500 |$209,462 |- |June 8, 1990||[[Richfield, Ohio|Richfield]]||[[Richfield Coliseum]] |15,539 / 15,539 |$310,780 |- |June 10, 1990||[[Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio|Cuyahoga Falls]]||[[Blossom Music Center]] |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |- |June 11, 1990||[[Cincinnati]]||[[Riverbend Music Center]] |8,089 / 8,089 |$163,802 |- |June 13, 1990||[[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]]||[[Cooper Stadium]] |9,654 / 15,000 |$207,515 |- |June 14, 1990||[[Noblesville, Indiana|Noblesville]]||[[Deer Creek Music Center]] |7,904 / 18,062 |$135,198 |- |June 16, 1990|| rowspan="2" |[[East Troy, Wisconsin|East Troy]]|| rowspan="2" |[[Alpine Valley Music Theatre]] | rowspan="2" |40,269 / 60,000 | rowspan="2" |$886,384 |- |June 17, 1990 |- |June 19, 1990||[[Bloomington, Minnesota|Bloomington]]||[[Met Center]] |10,725 / 10,725 |$201,864 |- |June 20, 1990||[[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]]||[[Omaha Civic Auditorium]] |5,349 / 8,000 |$105,643 |- |June 22, 1990||[[Englewood, California|Englewood]]||[[Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre]] | rowspan="2" {{n/a}} | rowspan="2" {{n/a}} |- |June 24, 1990||[[Salt Lake City]]||[[Salt Palace (arena)|Salt Palace]] |- |June 26, 1990||[[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]]||[[Cal Expo Amphitheatre]] |14,355 / 14,355 |$327,218 |- |June 27, 1990||[[Mountain View, California|Mountain View]]||[[Shoreline Amphitheatre]] |15,400 / 20,000 |$287,931 |- |June 29, 1990||[[Irvine, California|Irvine]]||[[Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre]] |15,000 / 15,000 |$337,203 |}
==Personnel== * [[Geddy Lee]] – vocals, bass, keyboards * [[Alex Lifeson]] – guitar, backing vocals * [[Neil Peart]] – drums
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== * {{cite book |last1=Daly|first1=Skip|last2=Hansen|first2=Eric|title=Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth – The Official Touring History|year=2019|publisher=Insight Editions|isbn=978-1-68383-450-2}} * {{cite book |last1=Popoff |first1=Martin |title=Limelight: Rush in the '80s |date=2021 |publisher=ECW Press |location=Toronto, Canada |isbn=978-1-77041-569-0 |language=en}}
{{Rush}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presto Tour}} [[Category:Rush (band) concert tours]] [[Category:1990 concert tours]] [[Category:Concert tours of North America]] [[Category:Concert tours of the United States]] [[Category:Concert tours of Canada]]