I didn't become a fan until after the Signals tour hit Houston. I was in 6th grade and remember walking to school with several kids in 8th grade who were all wearing the Signals tour t-shirt with the dog/fire hydrant. My first actual exposure to Rush music is visiting my Grandma in South Carolina and her son was living with her at the time. He was a long haired dude who looked exactly like Neil Peart back in the old days right around the Xanadu era..except he played guitar. Anyway, they had just finished band practice that I missed in my Grandma's workshop building next to her house. He comes out with his guitar in hand and he was asked to play a tune for us. He ended up playing some Rush from Moving Pictures album. That was my first real exposure and then all of my friends back in Houston got into it because their older brothers were into it. I remember "Countdown" really drew me in because my Dad worked for NASA and I was always interested in the space thing...as he was into training astronauts, project manager of building the space shuttle simulator, etc. . I became a hardcore Rush fan and every new album launch after was a huge event for us where we would blast the new vinyl album on 4 100 watt Bose speakers in an upstairs bedroom with a bunch of us hanging out up to no good. We would listen to Rush albums ad nauseum. And, then the concerts rolled around which we were always at. Those were good times. I wish I could go back.

My first Rush Experience was going over too my freinds house too hear Rush Chronicles because he was starting out too be a Drummer in the school band and his music Teacher told him about Neil Peart i was excited too hear it I believe i was 12 or 13 at the time.   I was so excited about it we Both bought Test for Echo it wasnt till later I saw my first show on the VT tour i saw them in Camden with my dad and him it was my first concert ever too :)   then I talked too my Cousin Micheal the next year and I got on Rushtour and never looked back ive seen them 10 times and i can not wait for Clockwork Angels tour and i think i am going too talk too my freind if he wants too do Red Rocks Rush style !!!  

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In 78 I visited my bro in San Diego I was 15, we did some partying with his navy buds they put on 2112 and the rest is history!!

Early 1977, i called for my friend to come out and he wasn't ready, so i waited in his house. His older brother was playing records in the other room , i went in and all i could hear was this crazy drum solo playing, it was Didacts & Narpets and that was it.

My first Rush Experience was very interesting. It gave me pleasure.

I had bought the Gene Simmons solo slbum with twinkle twinkle little star at the end and realised I should not have done so. It was the only Kiss album I have ever owned. Maybe if I had chosen more wisely I would now be on a Kiss site. As it was I took up the offer from a friend who believed he was a Kiss fan to swap said album with Fly By Night. My mate on hearing the Kiss album quickly tried to renege on the exchange but given I had by then heard the stop start Rush trademark in Anthem & its machine gun guitar solo there was no chance. Thus began a wonderful relationship. Shame the members of Rush know nothing of it. I have posted this before in several guises and therefore stress the need for having the number of posts from 2000 restored.

When my friend's brother bought 2112 the day it came out! He showed me the cover and I said two-thousand one hundred twelve? (hey, I was only in 6th grade :) )  Heard the album and I was hooked!

Back in the 70's, heard the 2112 album and got into them but wasn't like hooked, know what I mean?  Halfway through high school, got into ESL and wore it out.  First concert, signals while in college.  I was so blown away, to hear them sound like they did exactly on the album and only 3 guys, just wow.

Reply to @Big+T:

Back in 1981 when I was 12 or 13 my sister's boy friend and now husband was zooming down the street toward our house to pick my sister up and his stereo was a blarin' and wow!!!! I had never heard such AWESOME sounds before. I ran up to his 68ish Ford Bronco and asked him what the heck he was listening to and he told me "Spirit of Radio by Rush. I was hooked from there on and came down with a case of Rush Fever which I still have today and have had ever since. I remember running up to my room to grab some money I earned by mowing lawns and scooping snow and my back pack and I Rushed off on my bike to the record store. I purchased Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures on vinyl and Rushed back home and fired up the old turn table and WOW!!!! I just couldn't believe my ears!!! I loved the heck out of those records and soon I had the whole Rush collection. I always wanted to become a drummer and listening to Rush made me want to get a drum set so piece by piece I put together my first drum kit by going to pawn shops, thrift stores, garage sales and where ever I could find drums and stuff and I still drum today, 31ish years later. 

I can relate, cyberbri. Rush is why I picked up the guitar and have continued to play guitar all these years since the early 80s. Even today, I'm still picking up subtle nuances as far as how Alex plays the songs versus how I learned to play them by ear or tab. It is the only reason I keep picking up my guitar...is to keep learning to play Rush. And, how many guitarists and drummers out there play along with Rush when they listen to their songs? I listen to Rush so much...that I can't just listen versus having to play along when I listen.

I was 4, my pops would play Moving Pictures when I'd ask for the band with the girl singer. Fast forward a few years to the age of 9/10, given my first music cassette tapes, Rush Chronicles and some band called Led Zep that I listened to maybe once or twice. I didnt know, but I knew...

Back in the 70's, we were into Blue Oyster Cult. We got tix to see them @ the now demolished New Haven Coliseum. We went to see them in 78 and the opening band was Rush. Well after listening to my buddies A Farewell to Kings album a couple of times (pre-music sharing) thought they sounded pretty good. Went to the concert and was totally blown away! Songs like Bastille Day, Xanadu, and my first Rush favorite Cygnus-X1 we were hooked! They had the old fashioned rear screen projection for cygnus(would love to see that again) apprently the crowd was too, because BOC was actually booed for the first couple of songs :)

Now having seen them 35+ times, cant say which one was the best, but the only band we have planned vacations around for sure!!

Looking forward to the new release and next tour!

Since this website is about the band touring, I will describe my first "live" RUSH experience. It was the 1984 p/g tour in Toronto at MLG. They filmed the show and the projection video for the song the weapon was in 3D. I was only 16 years old at the time and was almost in tears for most of the show. REO Speed wagon was the opening act. It was my first major concert experience and I was totally blown away. I have seen them at least once on every tour since then, and they have never disappointed me once! As an added bonus, the back of my head can be seen in the concert DVD. Just before they perform Distant Early Warning, there is a short intro movie on the projection screen. There was only one camera at the back of the venue, and there was only one brief shot from it in the final edit just before the intro movie starts. I am the guy screaming and holding up the lighter! LOL! Seriously, though, I still have the ticket to prove that is where I was sitting, AND the 3D glasses from the show!

My friend Gary called me over to his house to hear his new album, A Farewell To Kings. I must admit, much like meeting my wife for the first time, it was not love at first sight, and I didn't know quite what to make of it. But, like my wife, I knew it was different than anything else I had ever seen, and I knew I was powerfully drawn to it.

The next tour is going to blow us all away because the next album is going to blow us away the Stormking has spoken the truth............

Year: 1977.  Location:  home town of Aberdeen, MD.  Medium: WKTK Radio - BALTIMORE'S BEST ROCK!  Age: 14.  I was babysitting the kid of my mom's best friend.  She and her husband were a bit younger than my parents and they def were into rock and roll lifestyle.   Their home had black lights, lava lamps and there was even a old Led Zeppelin poster in their den!  Anyhow, they had this early 70s era hi-fi console in the living room, you've seen them - big, wooden, dusty brown cloth mesh speaker covers.  You'd open up the lid and there was a turn-table, 8-track player and an AM/FM tuner.

Well, they had a Melonie record on the turntable (i remember because my older sisters had the same album...and I detested it!), so I decided to turn on the radio.  As soon as I turned up the volume the DJ announced that "this is a new track from RUSH off their album, 'A Farewell to Kings'.  The strains of an acoustic guitar commenced and then...Well I had never heard anything like it before.  I had been into Led Zeppelin and other rock up to that point, but never heard of RUSH.  I was immediately hooked.  The way the sounds came together just spoke to me in a way that no other music had before, or since.  As soon as I got my babysitting money I had my mom drive me to Woolworth's and I got the new RUSH 8-track - A Farewell to Kings.  There may have been other 8-tracks there from RUSH, but I was just so obsessed with Closer to the Heart that all I could think of was getting home a plugging the cartridge into my tape machine. 

Since that time, so long ago, I wore out countless copies of 8-tracks, cassette cartridges and albums of A Farewell to Kings.  It remains in my top five favorite RUSH albums.  I didn't get to witness a RUSH show until 3 years later, during the Moving Pictures warm-up tour.  It was disappointing that they played only two songs from that album. 

RUSH immediately became my favorite band.  35 years and 32 shows later they are still my all-time favorite band.  This year I will have the honor of taking my two young daughters to the Clockwork Angels show in Bristow. 

Morning radio (WNEW in NYC) playing Spirit Of Radio in 1979. I was hooked instantly.

I remember Exit Stage Left was being simulcast on Q107 in Toronto. My older brother was the RUSH fan at the time. So he wanted to catch the broadcast and encouraged me to watch and listen.

It was cool that you could watch the video on TV and listen to "Hi-Quality" stereo from your Amplifier instead of those crappy tv speakers. I had just bought a new Technics receiver (my first). We didn't even have a VCR in those days...

Red Barchetta....plays...loud....loved it!

I ran out to buy Moving Pictures....and I was hooked. I bought their entire catalog on records.

Shortly after my 16th birthday I was the designated driver for "Power Windows" at Copps Colisem in Hamilton Ontario. OMG. My first RUSH live show.

I have never missed a show within a 2-3 hour drive ever since...

I have 3 boys, 12, 10 and 8. They have all seen RUSH in the last 3 tours. The 10 year old has been to 7 shows and is a crazy RUSH fan. His 8th show will be in Buffalo this Oct....and my 30th.


We can't wait.