Watch Rush Perform ‘Losing It’ in Concert for the First Time Ever
Lots of veteran rock acts say they want to add deeper cuts to the setlist when they head out on tour, but for most bands, making room among all the expected hits is more trouble than it's worth. Rush, however, are not like most bands, and they proved it all over again during their stop in Toronto on June 19.
As you can see in the fan-shot footage above, the show — the second of two back-to-back dates in Toronto on the group's R40 Tour — marked the first-ever live performance of "Losing It," a track from their 1982 Signals LP. Joining them on electric violin was Ben Mink, who also played on Signals — and whose subsequent career credits boast production duties for a lengthy list of acts that includes k.d. lang and Barenaked Ladies.
While never a single, "Losing It" has been something of a white whale for certain Rush fans, some of whom hoped in vain for a performance when the group toured with a string section in 2012-13. One such fan, who goes by the Analog Kid online, offered his tribute to the song in a post titled "Five Rush Songs That Have Never Been Played Live" — a post that's already been amended with a short note that reads in part, "I watched it live via Periscope, and I cried like a little baby. We truly live in a remarkable world, my friends."
With the Toronto performance, "Losing It" joins a select handful of songs that Rush have only played once; with a number of shows left to go before the R40 Tour wraps, fans still have plenty of opportunities to look forward to more rarely (or never) played songs from the vaults.
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