Index > Back by request: A "FIVE RELISTENS" POST!!!!!!! FUCKING WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Back by request: A "FIVE RELISTENS" POST!!!!!!! FUCKING WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Joe (@joe) on May 17, 2025, 12:02 a.m.

Presto is one of the Rush albums that I really don’t remember. Because I have a dorky fascination with setlists, I decided to look it up on setlist.com to see how much they played it and what songs lasted live, since Rush was notable for a mainstream area rock band that really played their catalog.
(brackets are number of times played live)

The Pass (242) played 1990-1992, 2002, 2012, 2013
Show Don’t Tell (221) last played 1994
Superconductor (166) last played 1992
Presto (82) only played 2010-2011
Scars (64) 1990 only
War Paint (64) 1990 only

So The Pass and Presto, which they didn’t play when it was new, were the songs that were played past the mid-90s.

It’s their third least played album, ahead of Vapor Trails and Test for Echo. Those for are behind Caress of Steel, but that one barely received no attention after 1980 until Lakeside Park got played at every show in 2015 (their last year on tour).

It’s harder to evaluate Vapor Trails against the other three because it came out later, but they still played One Little Victory during their final year on tour. Just eyeballing it and not trying to come up with some kind of equation to account for the fact that they were released at different times, it seems like the albums that lasted the least on stage, in descending order, were Presto>Caress of Steel>Test For Echo.