Prior to the tour stating in February 1981 and preparing to enter the studio to record Moving Pictures, the band performed an isolated number of shows from September 11 to October 1, 1980 with Saxon as a support act.
Max Webster, FM, Goddo and The Joe Perry Project were also opening acts for Rush on the tour.
[4] John Griffin from the Montreal Gazette who attended the performance in Montreal, noted that Geddy Lee's vocals sounded like a guinea pig with an amphetamine habit, but praised both Lifeson, referring to his guitar playing as ordinary at best, and Peart, acknowledging his drumming as an interesting aspect that he made so little of the massive drum kit.
He claimed that if the band continued to spoil the heavy metal image and making their concerts more musically arresting than before, the group would be taken more seriously.
He later commented on the rest of the show with the band switching back and forth between "creative, exciting rock" and "insipid, banal exercises in needless noise and commotion".