University of Maryland Baltimore County Gym

Baltimore, Maryland, September 13, 1974


"It was a long time ago, the first tour in fact in 1974. We were playing at a university in Baltimore. It was just before the show and we came out to sort of peak around to look at the audience before the doors opened and they came in. And we saw that the girls were dressed in little white socks and long skirts and all the guys had greaser hairdos. It turned out to be one of these '50s sock hop things. We went on and were wearing satin pants and big high boots. And we started with 'Finding My Way' from the first record. They just sort of stood there and stared at us. Then by the second song they started to rumble. By the fourth song it was 'BOOOOO.' Get out of here! Get off!' So of course we turned everything up a little bit and continued to play. Then finally the promoter said, 'Thanks guys. You're done.' But they were nasty. They were really pissed off. I'm sure if we would have kept going they would have thrown their greasy combs at us." - Alex Lifeson, The Worst Gig, Lawrence.com, February 13, 2004

"Well, when I first toured in '74, on of the earliest ones was opening for Sha Na Na at a Baltimore high school. And it was my 22nd birthday. They didn't like us [laughs]. That was one of the worst matchups in history, until, five years later, let's say, when Blondie opened for us [laughs]. Bad choice [Blondie, booed off the stage, was a last-minute replacement at a Philadelphia stop on the Hemispheres tour.]" Neil Peart, Contents Under Pressure

[Webmaster note: although Neil Peart remembers this show as occuring on his 22nd birthday, the below advertisement confirms the date as September 13th, 1974, one day after his birthday. There is no record of a show on the 12th.]