While working near Port Aransas TX in the summer of 1976 I was able to attend the first of many RUSH concerts in the 1970's. The show was at the Ritz theater in Corpus Christi TX on 7/8/1976. It's located on chaparral in downtown. It was originally a movie theater that held approximately 200 seats. For concerts the floor seats had been removed, so i'm guessing that this show had about 300 fans in attendance. In other words; its was a small venue. The backup band was "TOO SMOOTH" from the Beeville TX area. RUSH was touring for the 2112 album. This tour is documented on the "All the Worlds a stage" album. The set list was exactly the same as on that release. To see this band in such a small venue was pure heaven. The sound quality was very good and there were no bad seats in the theater. I was amazed at how professional these guys were. Geddy Lee sang high enough to be heard in the stratosphere, and his bass playing was mind-boggling. Alex Lifeson mesmerized everyone with his style and range, and Neil Peart flabbergasted the audience with his ability. He and Keith Moon have surely influenced more drummers than anyone else in rock history. (No offense to Carl Palmer)... This was the first of many RUSH concerts that i attended. They all were excellent shows, but this one is my favorite because of the RITZ being the venue. I hope the theater has been restored, because it's a real Texas treasure.....
On July 29th 1977 I attended a MOXY/AC-DC concert at the Ritz theater in Corpus Christie Texas.
What made this lineup unusual was the fact that AC/DC were the backup band. They were touring to
support the "Let there be rock" album. The band was not well known in America yet. I had heard a couple of songs on the San Antonio radio station KMAC AM(yes: AM band), and I was familiar with the band MOXY because the late Tommy Bolin was involved in recording their first album. On a good night the KMAC signal was strong enough to reach Corpus and they played some really interesting and unusual rock for the AM format.
The Ritz is an old movie theater in downtown Corpus. I've heard that it still exists and may be in the process of being restored. The cost for a ticket was $7.00(No kidding). All seats were general admission and I was in the front row of the balcony. AC/DC played for about 45 minutes, including a
one or two song encore. Bon Scott and the band were absolutely in control of the stage and the audience. Bon's stage presence was incredible, and the band just tore the roof off the place. I didn't know what to think of Angus Young's school uniform, but I was astounded by his guitar playing. They played most of the "Let there be rock album", including "Go Down, Let there be rock,Problem Child,and Whole lotta rosie". Some of the other songs they played were "T.N.T,The Jack,It's a long way to the top,High Voltage,and Big Balls". Bon carried Angus on his shoulders into the audience during one song and played the bagpipes on "It's a long way to the top" WOW!!!! During instrumental breaks in some songs he would go behind the amps and chug Jack Daniels, Heineken and huff on a big spliff. Now that's Rock and Roll. Within a year this band was headlining stadium venues. I was really sad when Bon passed away in 1979. The same kind of sadness when SRV passed away.
Moxy put on a good show afterwards, but how could anyone compete with the raw power that preceeded them. I would recommend that everyone search out the first Moxy album(self titled), because its a really good rock album. It was recorded and mixed very well, and the band could really rock out. All in all a great concert by two relatively unknown bands at that time in a small venue where every seat was a good one. Amen.......
