UPDATE - 3/10@9:53PM: The PNC date is not correct. It's a mixup from the 2008 tour (they played there on the '08 leg on July 12th).
UPDATE - 3/10@8:36PM: Not so sure about that PNC date right now. I'll keep it, but with a question mark. Earlier I mentioned that they'd be starting in the Southwest. I'm starting to narrow that down and it looks like it'll be Albuquerque, NM. Not sure of the venue but I assume it's The Pavilion.
UPDATE - 3/10@4:27PM: According to rushdude38 who cites a venue source, there will be a show at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ on July 12th. I've added it below.
UPDATE - 3/10@10:57AM: It looks like the Atlanta opening in early June is unlikely to happen. I was a little hesitant about that information to begin with and now I'm hearing conflicting reports putting the opening date more towards mid-late June in the Southwest rather than the Southeast. The good news is that the rest of my information regarding Milwaukee, St. Louis, San Francisco and the Casino Rama seems to be pretty solid. They'll still probably hit Atlanta at some point but it looks like it'll be more towards the end of the tour. And for anyone worried about the Casino Rama date meaning that they won't play Toronto, don't be; I've heard that they are confirmed to play the Molson Amphitheatre but I'm not sure of the date yet. Speculating on the tour announcement; I don't expect any kind of tour announcement this week, but I think next week is a good bet - likely early in the week. I would anticipate an initial announcement that the tour is happening - probably with some general information (number of dates, duration, opening city, etc.). Then a week or so after that we'd get the full list.
UPDATE - 3/8@6:46PM: It looks like the major concert announcement from 103.5 The Arrow for tomorrow will be regarding Sting - not Rush.
* This comes from a source at the venue (thanks lifesonfan). This is around the same time they played this venue on the 2007 tour. So it's starting to look like the tour route will be very similar to the '07 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour.
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UPDATE - 3/8@2:22PM: This may be a bit of a stretch, but reader hermy noticed that the Xcel Energy Center had the date of July 5th grayed out on their calendar which means that the date is on hold. He confirmed this with the venue but they would not give any details as to who may be scheduled. Rush played the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN on both the 2007 and 2008 legs of the Snakes & Arrows tour and - assuming the July 3rd Summerfest date is confirmed - they'll be close by in Milwaukee just 2 days prior. Interesting...
In other news, Jason R let me know that Utah classic rock station 103.5 The Arrow is advertising a major concert announcement for tomorrow morning at 9AM EST. This of course could have nothing to do with Rush, but it's worth keeping an eye on I suppose.
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UPDATE - 3/8@11:28AM: Reader robertkincaid96 noticed that the Gwinnett Center Arena now has a show booked on June 6th (June 3rd and June 5th too) so if the opening show is at the Gwinnett Center it won't by on June 6th. Nothing is officially scheduled at Encore Park for June yet.
I've been gathering a few scraps of information regarding Rush's expected 2010 tour since my update on Friday. I'll first repeat what I'd mentioned on Friday; that I continue to hear from multiple reliable sources that the tour is happening, and have not heard any news to the contrary. The general consensus is that the North American portion of the tour will kick off in early-mid June and run through September - much like the 2007 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour. Dates are still being finalized which is why we haven't had an announcement yet. There are also several side rumors that I'm less sure of including whether South America and/or Atlantic Canada will be included, whether the rumored European leg in 2011 will happen, whether the tour will contain some kind of nod/celebration to the 30th anniversary of Permanent Waves and whether the tour will kick off in the Southeast US (more on this below). Those are all rumors I've heard but have not been able to corroborate. Remember, these rumors did not materialize out of nowhere; Alex Lifeson kicked off the tour rumors back in September when he said hopefully by next summer, [Rush would] be ready to tour in this NoiseCreep.com interview. Since then, both Geddy Lee and Neil Peart have chimed in with similar statements. And let's not forget that back in December several major radio stations across the country ran contests to promote the release of the Working Men live compilation and gave away chances to win tickets to Rush's next tour. And at the end of January 105.7 WAPL out of Appleton, WI announced on the air that Rush would be playing Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 3rd. They even had a page up on their website promoting the event that has since been taken down. Radio stations do not do this kind of thing unless they have been given some kind of assurance that a band will be touring. I know and understand that everyone is getting a little antsy for an announcement, but to put things in perspective - the dates for the 2007 Snakes & Arrows tour were not announced until March 26th with tickets going on sale the following day. The only official mention of a tour prior to that occurred on February 14, 2007 with the official announcement of the Snakes & Arrows album - and all they said at that time was on tour this summer. details coming soon. So we still may be waiting a couple weeks before we get any official tour dates, although I'm hoping to get some leaked dates prior to that. Speaking of which, here a few of the scraps of information I spoke of earlier:
June ?? (mid-late June): tour kick-off in Albuquerque, NM - The Pavilion? (unsure of the venue)
UPDATE - 3/10@10:57AM: It looks like the Atlanta opening in early June is unlikely to happen. I was a little hesitant about that information to begin with and now I'm hearing conflicting reports putting the opening date more towards mid-late June in the Southwest rather than the Southeast. They'll still probably hit Atlanta at some point but it looks like it'll be more towards the end of the tour.
UPDATE - 3/8@11:28AM: Reader robertkincaid96 noticed that the Gwinnett Center Arena now has a show booked on June 6th (June 3rd and June 5th too) so if the opening show is at the Gwinnett Center it won't by on June 6th. Nothing is officially scheduled at Encore Park for June yet.
* It looks like they are/were attempting to book the Alpharetta show as the opening date on the tour but ran into potential scheduling conflicts. So the Gwinnett Arena was one alternative venue they were looking at. If the conflicts could not be worked out, it's likely they would still kick-off the tour somewhere in the Southeast US at some other venue, but this may still end up being the opening date.
* As I'd mentioned above, at the end of January 105.7 WAPL out of Appleton, WI announced on the air that Rush would be playing Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 3rd. They prematurely announced the show and even had a page up on their website promoting the event for a short time. I was informed by sources at the venue that this date has indeed been confirmed, although there has still been no official announcement.
July ??: 2 shows at the Casino Rama - Rama, Ontario (60 miles north of Toronto)
* This is an interesting one! I received word that Rush is booked to play two shows in July at the Casino Rama about 60 miles north of Toronto. The venue seats about 5000 and KISS played 2 back-to-back shows there last summer (July 20,21), so it's certainly plausible. The dates have not been announced yet but I assume they'd be back-to-back shows sometime in mid-late July. If true, it would seem to suggest that Rush plans to hit several more Canadian dates than on the 2007/08 tour - including Atlantic Canada hopefully.
* This comes from a source at the venue (thanks lifesonfan). This is around the same time they played this venue on the 2007 tour. So it's starting to look like the tour route will be very similar to the '07 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour.
Remember that until Rush confirms any of this information, it's not official. If anyone has any industry connections or contacts at the various concert venues, find out what you can and let us know. I'll continue updating the site as I receive more information.
UPDATE - 3/6@11:36AM: It looks like the Snakes & Arrows concert on Direct TV will actually begin airing this evening at 9PM and re-air periodically over the next week. Just check you local guide for times. Thanks to Im a Rushfan and afansince74 for the heads up.
We're a week into March and still no official tour announcement from Rush. Despite this, I continue to hear from multiple reliable sources that the tour is happening, and have not heard any news to the contrary. The general consensus is that the North American portion of the tour will kick off in early-mid June and run through September - much like the 2007 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour. Dates are still being finalized which is why we haven't had an announcement yet, although it'd be nice to at least get a tour details coming soon. Throw us a bone Rush! There are also several side rumors that I'm less sure of including whether South America and/or Atlantic Canada will be included, whether the rumored European leg in 2011 will happen, whether the tour will contain some kind of nod/celebration to the 30th anniversary of Permanent Waves and whether the tour will kick off in the Southeast US. Those are all rumors I've heard but have not been able to corroborate. Remember, these rumors did not materialize out of nowhere; Alex Lifeson kicked off the tour rumors back in September when he said hopefully by next summer, [Rush would] be ready to tour in this NoiseCreep.com interview. Since then, both Geddy Lee and Neil Peart have chimed in with similar statements. And let's not forget that back in December several major radio stations across the country ran contests to promote the release of the Working Men live compilation and gave away chances to win tickets to Rush's next tour. And at the end of January 105.7 WAPL out of Appleton, WI announced on the air that Rush would be playing Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 3rd. They even had a page up on their website promoting the event that has since been taken down. Radio stations do not do this kind of thing unless they have been given some kind of assurance that a band will be touring. I know and understand that everyone is getting a little antsy for an announcement, but to put things in perspective - the dates for the 2007 Snakes & Arrows tour were not announced until March 26th with tickets going on sale the following day. The only official mention of a tour prior to that occurred on February 14, 2007 with the official announcement of the Snakes & Arrows album - and all they said at that time was on tour this summer. details coming soon. So we still may be waiting a couple weeks before we get any official tour dates, although I'm hoping to get some leaked dates prior to that. If anyone has any industry connections or contacts at the various concert venues, find out what you can and let us know. Hang in there everyone! :)
Neil Peart was in the DC Studios again yesterday filming a special on Classic Rush albums for VH1... look for it soon!
Since then I've also confirmed that a few other folks in the Rush camp have been interviewed for this series and - better yet - that specials covering both Moving Pictures and 2112 are currently in production. Hopefully this means they'll be released sometime this year.
On Wednesday the list of 2010 Juno Award nominees was announced and Rush's Snakes & Arrows Live DVD (also on Blu-ray) was nominated for Music DVD of the Year. Rush won a Juno award in this category for Rush in Rio back in 2004. Winners will be announced at the Juno Gala Dinner & Awards on Saturday, April 17 at the St. John's Convention Centre, as well as at The 2010 Juno Awards broadcast on CTV on Sunday, April 18 at Mile One Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
John at Cygnus-X1.net recently posted the fourth installment of his Rush: A Brief History of Time series where he compiles scans of old Rush articles. You can check this latest batch out at this link. He has also combined all the items from the 4 installments and presented them on one page here. This batch contains a bunch of great articles - mostly from 1978 - including an article from the March 22, 1978 edition of Dutch magazine Muziekkrant OOR titled Rush Met Voetversnelling which features a very interestingphoto of Geddy (click on thumbnail above). In total there are 16 articles from 1978, a couple from both 1977 and 1979, and 7 or so from the '80s/'90s/'00s. This is fascinating stuff; I highly suggest you check it out when you get a chance.
This article in The Mark discusses how Google and The Author's Guild recently reached a settlement on digital books. The author is not happy about the settlement and uses some Rush lyrics to make his point, comparing Google to the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx:
... As for me, I'm going to continue contemplating this while I listen to the Rush album 2112. Perhaps you're familiar with it. Lyricist Neil Peart acknowledged Ayn Rand (author of Anthem) in the liner notes to the album, a futuristic tale about a single ruling power that controls "all the gifts of life" - in other words, all literature, music, and art.
... "Alex is the funniest man I've ever met and he's also a mad professor!" says Jimmy. "When it was time to go on tour, he would start talking and he had very specific ideas on what he wanted. And it would be nothing like the last time we went out. He'd say, 'This is what I'd like to make happen. What do you think?' When I had something that was close, I'd give him a call and he would come by and play through it, and we'd polish it a little bit. And he'd say, 'That's close, but maybe if we can do this' So over the course of anything from a week to a month, we'd get a guitar rig together that was suitable for him.
"Working with Rush was fabulous and I was very fortunate also to be asked to join them for their studio sessions, whether it was at the pre-production stage or the recordings. I was always there doing anything from making lunches to rewiring things or coming up with goofy new ways to make things happen!"...
Reader and blogger Jaybird put up a series of blog posts over the past couple weeks covering Rush's many tours over the years with the help of the Power Windows tour archive. Jay includes the tour details, pictures of some of his own Rush memorabilia, the number of shows per tour, a total shows running tally and a ticket price range for each tour. It looks like Rush has played at least 1,790 shows! Here's the first post and here's the last one.
Reader The Clansman 2112 wanted me to let you all know that there are 10 spots open in his 3rd annual rushisaband Fantasy Baseball League. It's free to join and he's offering up prizes again for the top 3 spots. It's a 20 team Roto league that will be using an Auto-Draft to get the teams. Only serious managers need apply! To join up go to this link and use the League ID 297025 with Password atmsite.
Rush did not end up performing at the Olympics closing ceremony this past Sunday. The initial rumors surrounding their involvement with the opening/closing ceremonies seem to have been rooted in the fact that they were invited to perform in some capacity by VANOC - Anthem confirmed this much to me. They even went so far as to sign a non-disclosure agreement which tells me that they didn't immediately shut the door on VANOC, but likely seriously considered performing. At some point after being asked and prior to the start of dress rehearsals, Rush decided against participating although it's not known exactly why. It's now clear that they were never bumped from the opening ceremony and never participated in any rehearsals - these were simply rumors. Because of the non-disclosure agreement and the absurd amount of secrecy surrounding the ceremonies on VANOC's part, it was impossible to prove/disprove any of the rumors until after the fact - which made for a very frustrating situation. Ultimately it looks like Rush's non-participation in the ceremonies was their decision and VANOC can't really be held accountable. Seattle Times reporter Bob Condotta liveblogged the closing ceremony and complained a couple of times about Rush not being involved (thanks Doug from Seattle):
7:23 Bob Condotta: Sadly, no mention of Rush so far. ... 7:29 Bob Condotta: I'll have to say it again, where's Rush? ...
... Simple Plan and Hedley, really? Where's Celine? Arcade Fire? Metric? Stars? Where is Rush? Be cool or be cast out, Canada...
Maybe the band will have something to say regarding the details of why they opted out of participation in the ceremonies in coming interviews, but until then we can only speculate.
Since many of us have had to dig out of snowstorms in the past few weeks, here's some celebrity winter advice from our own Geddy Lee. This humorous video piece is from the CBC's Rick Mercer report and aired in January of 2004. In it Geddy Lee gives some togogganing safety tips including the following ... small children and people worried about their brain should always wear a helmet.... Good advice Geddy.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Neil Peart's The Hockey Theme soon available for Rock Band
Here's your DLC for the week of 3/9/2010! There's an all-star three pack from The White Stripes, the return of Shaimus to rhythm gaming, some Canadian hockey love and more! Enjoy!
Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (March 9) and PlayStation 3 system (March 11):
The Futureheads - "Decent Days & Nights" + The Futureheads - "Hounds of Love" + The James Gang - "Walk Away" + Neil Peart - "The Hockey Theme" + * Shaimus - "All of This" + * Shaimus - "Tie You Down" + * The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl" + The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army" The White Stripes - "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)" +
(All tracks are original master recordings)
These tracks will be available for purchase as "The White Stripes Pack 02" as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, and as individual tracks only on Wii. Tracks marked with "+" are also available for download in the family-friendly LEGO® Rock Band Music Store.
Price:
$1.99 USD, £.99 UK, 1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
$5.49, £2.49 UK, 3.99 EU (440 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for "The White Stripes Pack 02"
MUSIC DVD OF THE YEAR Miroir Noir Vincent Morisset, Vincent Morisset & Arcade Fire ARCADE FIRE Merge*F>A>B
Snakes & Arrows Live Pierre & François Lamoureaux Allan Weinrib, Pegi Cecconi, Ray Daniels RUSH Anthem*Universal
Iron Maiden Flight 666 Sam Dunn, Scott McFadyen Ron Smallwood, Stefan Demetriou, Andy Taylor IRON MAIDEN EMI
The Trews Acoustic - Friends & Total Strangers Tim Martin, John-Angus MacDonald, Larry Wanagas THE TREWS Bumstead*Universal
DRUM! Live Aaron Young, Doris Mason, Colin Smeltzer, Daniel Brooker Brookes Diamond DRUM! Independent*Fontana North
Rush won a Juno award in this category for Rush in Rio back in 2004. Winners will be announced at the Juno Gala Dinner & Awards on Saturday, April 17 at the St. John's Convention Centre, as well as at The 2010 Juno Awards broadcast on CTV on Sunday, April 18 at Mile One Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
John at Cygnus-X1.net recently posted the fourth installment of his Rush: A Brief History of Time series where he compiles scans of old Rush articles. You can check this latest batch out at this link. He has also combined all the items from the 4 installments and presented them on one page here. This batch contains a bunch of great articles - mostly from 1978 - including an article from the March 22, 1978 edition of Dutch magazine Muziekkrant OOR titled Rush Met Voetversnelling which features a very interestingphoto of Geddy (click on thumbnail above). If you happen to speak the language, John would love to get a translation. In total there are 16 articles from 1978, a couple from both 1977 and 1979, and 7 or so from the '80s/'90s/'00s. This is fascinating stuff; I highly suggest you check it out when you get a chance. Thanks John!
You've asked for it, and now it's here: a precise recreation of Geddy Lee's Rickenbacker 4001 bass. His primary instrument of the 70's, first seen during RUSH's first tour in 1974, Geddy effectively retired this bass after the Signals tour until bringing it back on tour in 2007.
This 1:4-scale replica miniature bass collectible is made of solid mahogany wood, hand crafted and airbrushed with outstanding detail. As these guitars are hand made, please allow 3-4 weeks for delivery as supplies are limited.
This bass guitar sells for $24.99. Click here to order. For the complete RUSH miniature instruments collection, click here. Axeheaven is providing a special discount for Power Windows Website Users. To receive the discount, just enter the below coupon code while checking out at AxeHeaven.com:
* For free shipping for all domestic orders: coupon code * For an overall 10% discount off of international orders: coupon code TEN2010
... Reports indicate Michael Bublé, Diana Krall and rock band Rush may all perform at the closing, which gets underway at 5:30 p.m. local time. Those names haven't been confirmed ...
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UPDATE - 2/28@10:02AM: A commercial for the Olympics closing ceremony was running on NBC last night and they mention Neil Young, Avril Lavigne, and Nickelback as performers. I've confirmed that these artists along with Alanis Morrisette were present at the final dress rehearsals but Rush was not. So it looks unlikely at this point that Rush will be performing.
On a positive note, I managed to get some updated information regarding the tour. The band is still working on finalizing a few dates so the announcement could come as early as later this week. They are looking to start in mid-late June at a city/venue in the Southeast US.
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UPDATE - 2/27@9:52AM: This recent Toronto Star article speculates regarding the performers at tomorrow's Olympics closing ceremonies and mentions Rush. They cite Rush's affiliation with the Games' headline talent producerSam Feldman:
.... Toronto rockers Rush, also members of Feldman's flock, are factoring into the rumour mill, as well. A publicist for the trio cited a non-disclosure agreement when asked to comment on rumours of their involvement. ...
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Things were relatively quiet this past week as Rush fans wait patiently for some kind of official announcement regarding the 2010 tour and also wonder whether any of the rumors are true regarding Rush possibly performing at the Winter Olympics closing ceremony this Sunday. The last I'd heard, the tour announcement was supposed to be coming towards the end of February, which is where we are currently at. But knowing how these things go I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed a bit, though I don't see how they could delay much beyond the middle of March if they plan on touring by Summer. There also has not been so much as a peep from the Rush camp since Neil Peart's Canadian Press interview last month, which we can only hope means that they are cooking up something big. I also noticed that Neil Peart's drum tech Lorne Wheaton posted the following to his MySpace page on February 14th: Waiting for decisions to be made..... Hmmm... I wonder what that's all about. If Rush does end up playing the Olympics closing ceremony Sunday night - that may also affect the timing of the tour announcement. Maybe they want to somehow coincide the performance with the announcement or at least wait until shortly after the performance. I continue to hear rumors that Rush will be playing, but in light of how everything went with the opening ceremonies I'm taking everything with a large grain of salt. Here's one positive sign though; closing ceremony producer David Atkins said the following on Wednesday night:
...the three-hour pageant would be a "celebration of Canadian humour, talent and innovation" featuring several well-known Canadian performers and rock bands. "Canada has an embarrassment of riches in those departments," Atkins said ... "It's going to be a very contrasting night to the opening ceremony." Atkins said the globally televised event will capture the "spirit of the Games" and be an occasion for the athletes to "let their hair down." ...
It sounds like the closing ceremony will be a more casual affair than the opening, with a rock-and-roll sort of vibe, so Rush would certainly be a good fit. This CTV article also had the following to add:
... As for who will appear in the closing ceremonies, Michael Bublé is a safe bet, given his huge interest in the Games, the fact that he's local, and that he hasn't done anything official with the Olympics since the torch relay. Shania Twain also carried the torch but has not yet appeared in Vancouver. There are rumours Neil Young will perform. Other big Canadian acts who haven't made an appearance at the Games yet include Avril Lavigne, the Tragically Hip and Rush. Celine Dion's publicist has said she won't participate. ...
We'll just have to wait and see.
In addition to waiting for a tour announcement and the Olympics closing ceremony, we're also awaiting some official word on the Rush documentary, although we've had plenty of unofficial news. On Wednesday Power Windows reported that Rounder films has set a tentative release date of May 18th for the documentary and that we can expect an official announcement shortly. Late last month we received confirmation that the documentary had finally been completed and would be released this Spring - most likely at a film festival(s). Then last week we received word via TNMS member Oz that the theatrical premier would occur at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York which runs from April 21st through May 2nd although this has yet to be confirmed.
If you watched the Superbowl earlier this month, you may have seen the controversial Dodge Charger commercial Man's Last Stand which depicts various dour-looking men as a voice-over ticks off a list of things they must endure from their spouses/girlfriends so that they are able to drive the car they want; in this case a Dodge Charger. A group of ladies decided to create a spoof of the ad from the female perspective called Woman's Last Stand. One of the things they list as having to endure from their men is:
I will listen to Rush and tell you "Yes, if there were a gold medal for air-drumming you would win it"
You can watch the spoof at this link; the Rush part starts at about the 55-second mark. Thanks to John T for the heads up.
Reader, Rush fan, and composer/performer Ben Sommer recently created a music discovery podcast and blog called Bands Like Rush where bands that have some kind of connection or similarity to Rush are interviewed. To kick off the site, Ben interviewed 2 members of Detroit-based progressive rockers Tiles a few weeks ago. For his next installment Ben interviews Mike Hyder - the lead guitarist and primary songwriter for UK-based prog rockers The Treat who Ben found thanks to a suggestion from RIAB reader MajorSkalle. Ben and Mike spend a good deal of time discussing Rush and the pros/cons of constantly being compared to them. You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript at this link, and to find out more about The Treat check out their website.
Dan Patrick: Why wasn't Rush playing the opening ceremonies?
Steve Nash: I don't know. I'm wondering if people feel like their stage act is a little rusty right now, or what.
DP: I gotta have Geddy Lee up there instead of Bryan Adams.
SN: You should have gotten yourself on the committee.
DP: I tried to, but I'm not Canadian. I was pushing for Nelly Furtado.
Thanks to Cygnify at Counterparts for the heads up.
Bryce Shoemaker of Seattle's The Stranger magazine recently announced his intention to conduct a Rush Experiment, where he would immerse himself in Rush - a band he never could get all the way into - for an entire weekend in an attempt to finally understand the band. He then posted his conclusions the following Monday. If you ask me, it sounds like this guy already had a low opinion of the band to start with - and to say his conclusions are a little off the mark is a gross understatement. Thanks to glortiz for the heads up.
This was the leadoff track from the album Permanent Waves, released on January 1st, 1980... thus making this song among the first 80's songs ever released! The track, inspired by a Toronto radio station's slogan (CFNY, The Spirit Of Radio) was an ode to the power of Marconi's medium, and also marked the Canadian power trio's first foray into the world of pop songs (well, as pop as a progressive band like Rush was gonna get at the time). Bristling with electricity, and railing against the format-heavy philosophy of commercial radio - the song made no bones about it's stance: "All this machinery making modern music / Can still be open-hearted / Not so coldly charted / It's really just a question of your honesty, yeah, your honesty / One likes to believe in the freedom of music / But glittering prizes and endless compromises / Shatter the illusion of integrity". Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart commented about it to Billboard magazine: "The Spirit of Radio was actually written as a tribute to all that was good about radio, celebrating my appreciation of magical moments I'd had since childhood, of hearing 'the right song at the right time.' However, the song's celebration of the ideals of radio necessarily seemed like an attack on the reality - on the formulaic, mercenary programming of most radio stations, with music the last of anyone's concerns. And yes, it was really ironic that such a song became popular on radio, though it was a kind of litmus test. Some radio guys who 'got it' could hear the song and think, 'That's the way it ought to be,' while others - the shallow, swaggering salesmen-of-the-air - could be oblivious to the song's meaning and proudly applaud themselves, 'That's about me!'"
Steven Sandor of Vue Weekly takes issue with the choice of Canadian music played at the Winter Olympics in this recent article. He compiles a list of some Canadian music that he thinks should instead be played including Rush's Marathon:
If you want to go classic rock, this is another option. Neil Peart waxes poetic on the spirit of competition and how dreams never die. But at least it's got a beat and Alex Lifeson on guitar. That gives it some Trailer Park Boys cred, right.
Doctor Who Confidential is a BBC documentary series that was created as a complement to the revived British sci-fi TV series Doctor Who. On a recent episode Rush's Countdown is used as background music. They play almost the entire song beginning at about the 4-minute mark in this YouTube clip. Thanks to Reed Lover for the heads up.
Will C located this FishbowlDC wrap up of a Twitter trash talk session between some NBC and ABC reporters earlier this week that includes a Rush mention.
There's nothing like walking past the weight room first thing in the morning here at Fitch and hearing Rush music blaring. Had a great mix going that had me checking my bag to make sure nobody stole my iPod. Heard "Limelight," "Red Barchetta," "New World Man," "Distant Early Warning" and a rousing version of "Working Man." I may have even won a convert in Sam Fuld, a youngster who said he likes that classic stuff. The magic music certainly does make your morning mood, to quote "The Spirit of Radio." ...
... It's an FM transmitter for your iPod, which allows you to listen in your car to the music you already like from your collection at home. We ask you: How are you supposed to stay in tune with mainstream sensibilities if you don't hear Rush's "Tom Sawyer" in heavy rotation? You're going to be in your own little music-elite world, see, totally out of touch with the real America.
Back in the late 70's and early '80s Rush became friends with Warren Cromartie - a baseball player for the Montreal Expos. The secondary school on the Signals back cover was named after him, and both he and the Expos are thanked in the Signals linernotes. Cromartie had a band in the late 80's called Climb (he played drums) and Geddy made a guest appearance doing some backing vocals on their song Who's Missin Who. Reader RushFanForever dug up the song on YouTube and you can give it a listen at this link. See if you can spot Geddy's contribution.
Late last month we received confirmation that the long-anticipated Rush documentary had finally been completed and would be released this Spring - most likely at a film festival(s). Then last week we received word via TNMS member Oz that the theatrical premier would occur at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York which runs from April 21st through May 2nd although this has not yet been confirmed. Oz also mentioned that they were discussing a September-ish DVD release date and that this info came straight from filmmaker Scot McFadyen. This was consistent with earlier reports I had heard that the DVD would be released towards the end of this year. However, Power Windows is now reporting that Rounder films has a tentative release date of May 18th for the documentary and that we can expect an official announcement shortly. Hopefully this information is accurate; the earlier the better!
This past week some more information came trickling in regarding both the expected Rush 2010 tour as well as the upcoming Rush documentary. My sources have recently informed me that Rush plans to begin touring in the late Spring hitting South and North America in 2010 with an extensive Canadian leg including Atlantic Canada, and after taking a break follow this up with a European leg in 2011. Of course, all of this info is unofficial; we should have some kind of official announcement coming in the next couple of weeks. The Rush documentary is rumored to premier at the Tribeca Film Festival in late April and get a DVD release sometime later this year.
Rush of course did not perform at the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver last Friday, but there is still an outside chance we might see them at the closing ceremony. VANOC is being just as tight-lipped with the closing ceremony as with the opening, so I assume we won't really know for sure until the ceremony itself on Sunday, February 28th. While Rush hasn't appeared at the Olympics, a good bit of Rush music has. The Canadian hockey team burst onto the ice Tuesday to the riffs of Rush (thanks chutch15), part of Malignant Narcissism was played and Mix Master Mike spun a little Tom Sawyer during the Men's Halfpipe Qualifiers, and Anthem was played during the Ski Jump on Saturday (thanks Hakky). And although it's moot now, you can go vote for Geddy as the Canadian most deserving of lighting the Olympic torch (thanks robertkincaid96).
35 years ago this past Monday Rush released their 2nd studio album, 1975's Fly By Night. This was Rush's first album with drummer/lyricist Neil Peart and their first album produced by Terry Brown, who would go on to produce all of Rush's albums up through 1982's Signals. It peaked at #113 on the Billboard album charts and was certified both Gold and Platinum by the RIAA on December 1, 1993. In celebration of this momentous event, for the current poll I'm asking everyone what their favorite song off of Fly By Night is. Take the Poll and let us know if you haven't already.
The latest issue of Classic Rock's Prog magazine contains a short feature on Rush producer Terry Brown along with a review of the Working Men live compilation. You can check these out by clicking on the thumbnails. Thanks to MajorSkalle for the heads up and the scans.
Reader John H noted that the Getty Images database contains a ton of greatRushimages. Unfortunately they are all watermarked, but they're still fun to browse through.
In the latest edition of online radio show The Used Bin, hosts Brad and Joe dedicate a good portion of the show to discussing Rush (something they do often), specifically the Olympics opening ceremony rumor. You can listen to the podcast at this link. The Olympics bit starts around the 25-minute mark and runs about 5 minutes. They also mention Rush a couple of other times later in the show. I was a guest on the show the week before last and also back in the summer. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
Speaking of YYZ, UK-based symphonic progressive metal band Xerath have recorded a cover of Rush's YYZ and posted it to their MySpace page. You can give it a listen at this link. Thanks to BW&BK for the heads up.
Reader Pat R let me know that his wife is a jewelry artist based in Asheville, NC. She recently created a really neat Snakes & Arrows-inspired silver and leather necklace which you can check out at this link.
PhillyMike let me know that in the second hour of The Tony Kornheiser Show on Tuesday, February 16, Rush was discussed. Tony and a couple others on the show were teasing Washington Post sports reporter Liz Clarke about her avowed dislike of all things Canadian. Her longstanding position is that Canadians have not contributed anything of consequence to the arts and humanities. Gary Braun, who's also part of the show, mentioned twice in response that Rush was a Canadian cultural icon. You can listen to the conversation at this link. The Rush bit starts around the 40-minute mark.
Reader emajor7th located this IndyWeek.com article referencing how Clear Channel Raleigh was changing the format of WRDU-FM from country music to Rush Radio. The article is titled Rush Radio: Truth is false and logic lost:
When I first heard that Clear Channel Raleigh was changing the format of WRDU-FM, 106.1 from country music to something called "Rush Radio," I thought: Wouldn't it be cool, in a nerdy way, if the station was devoted solely to the music of Rush? It's a very "satellite radio" sort of concept, but why not? At least RDU would be getting back to its rock roots. No such luck. Instead, the San Antonio-based radio giant Clear Channel has reprogrammed WRDU as a talk station with a daylong cavalcade of conservative stars, headlined by that "talent on loan from God," the gaseous Rush Limbaugh. ...
Rush is a band! :)
Degrassi Junior High was a Canadian TV teen drama series that ran from 1987-1989 on the CBC. The show often used Rush as background music as listed on the Power Windows Rush in Pop Culture page. Reader Sean located YouTube clips to go along with a couple of the listed references:
During the episode "He Ain't Heavy", as Joey takes the demo tape from his band, the Zit Remedy, to the local radio station (C-RAZ) in hopes of that they will play it on the air, "Force 10" is reportedly heard playing 'on the air'. Then, as Joey is trying to give the DJ his demo tape, the very end drum fills of "Limelight" are head.
During the episode "The Whole Truth", as Joey is going through records at the radio station (C-RAZ), after he gets fired and Dr. Sally comes and tells him his tape was good and to keep working, he is listening to his walkman and "Lock And Key" is playing through his headphones.
Sean also located this 2-part interview with Rush sound engineer Rich Chycki which was conducted in December. Rich talks extensively about all of his many Rush-related projects. You can check out part 1 at this link and part 2 here.
... According to Blokkermansson, children (or lonely middle-aged men) can now create Lego-realizations of many Rush fan favorites, such as the car chase scene in "Red Barchetta," a collapsible "Temples of Syrinx," and the "Bytor and the Snowdog" battle scene. There is also the Legoization of the popular live album, Exit Stage Left, featuring Neil Peart's complete drum and percussion kit at 3,172 bricks. ...
Heck, I'd kill to get a By-tor and the Snow Dog battle scene lego set. All kidding aside, people have been making custom Rush lego sets/figures and selling them on eBay (see picture above) for a while now. Thanks to V for the link.
Speaking of By-tor - in celebration of the 35th anniversary of Fly by Night here's By-tor and the Snow Dog live from the Exit ... Stage Left video:
Information is slowly trickling in regarding Rush's expected 2010 tour. Alex Lifeson kicked off the tour rumors back in September when he said hopefully by next summer, [Rush would] be ready to tour in this NoiseCreep.com interview. Since then, both Geddy Lee and Neil Peart have chimed in with similar statements. Another clue that things were starting to happen occurred back in December when radio stations across the country ran contests to promote the release of the Working Men live compilation where they gave away chances to win tickets to Rush's next tour. And at the end of last month 105.7 WAPL out of Appleton, WI announced on the air that Rush would be playing Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 3rd. They even had a page up on their website promoting the event that has since been taken down. Apparently the date had been confirmed unofficially but the station prematurely announced it. And then in late December I reported hearing that the band was in the process of nailing down dates for a 2010 tour to start in the late Spring, focusing particularly on first getting to places they missed on the last tour - like South America and Atlantic Canada. I've just received more information which corroborates this; the band plans to tour South and North America in 2010 with an extensive Canadian leg including Atlantic Canada. In yesterday's Rush documentary update post, I let you know how TNMS member Oz had mentioned in his remarks regarding the documentary that Rush would be touring later this year but that Europe would not be included. I've also heard that it is indeed the case that Europe would not be included this year but that Rush would be following up the North/South American leg of the tour with a European leg in 2011. I am also still expecting the official tour announcement by the end of this month, although I'm not sure whether anything regarding a European leg will be included in this announcement.
Was lucky enough to see this last week & have to say I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't the final mixed down version. Trying to cram 30+ years into 1hr 42 mins, means that invariably the film makers haven't gone into depth over every album, but have focused on what the band perceive to be breakthroughs & turning points. Pleasingly there's a good chunk of the film dedicated to the early days, including previously unseen photo's of Ged & Al as kids & teenagers, interviews with parents, plus footage of the earliest filmed gig with [John Rutsey] at [Laura Secord] High School. Anecdotes & reverence from Gene Simmons,Sebastien Bach, Jack Black, Mike Portnoy, Kim Mitchell, Billy Corgan and more. Interviews with Ray Daniels, Terry Brown, Rupert Hine, Pter Collins, Howard Ungerleider & Liam Birt as well as interviews with Ged & Al & Neil (obviously) with Neil in particular being more open than I'd anticipated. The friendship between the 3 is what resonated the strongest for me. ... Due to Premier at Tribecca Film Festival (New York) ...
So he says it was 1 hour, 42 minutes long although this was not necessarily the final version that he saw. He also mentions that it's due to premier at the Tribecca Film Festival in New York which runs from April 21 through May 2, although this has not been confirmed. I should also add that he later edited his post adding this bit of information regarding the tour:
The other news to come out was the band will be going on the road later this year, however Europe is not included.
We already knew they were touring but this is the first I'd heard that Europe would not be included, although I suspected as much. None of this is official of course. I'm still hearing that the official tour announcement will come before the end of this month.
UPDATE - 3/1@1:00PM: Rush did not appear at the closing ceremony either despite rumors to the contrary. Outside of the absurd amount of secrecy regarding the performers on VANOC's part, it looks like all the rumors and speculation stemmed from the fact that they were approached by VANOC and asked to take part in the ceremonies in some capacity. I independently confirmed this with Anthem and the fact that they kept citing a non-disclosure agreement also supports this. So since we know they were asked to appear but obviously did not, then they must have either refused up front or backed out at some later point. The exact details are not known.
UPDATE - 2/19@9:48AM: Thanks for all the feedback everybody. Reader jackrelax posted the following in the comments yesterday:
I just spoke with a co-worker who was in Vancouver for the opening ceremonies. He was in attendance at the 2nd of 2 dress rehearsals that took place 2 days before the final show. Rush was never scheduled to attend. There was never a "Ontario" segment in the show. The opening ceremonies were identical to the rehearsal that took place well before the athlete died. Rush was never slotted to perform. Nothing was canceled.
This jibes with a couple of other reports I've received since this post first went up. So my bet is that if there was ever an Ontario segment that included Rush it was either cut long before the ceremony or it's actually part of the closing ceremony, for which - like the opening ceremony - there have been very few details revealed. We also have confirmed that Rush is bound by an NDA and therefore were at the very least approached to perform by VANOC. So they either turned them down completely or will be performing at the closing ceremony (performers for the victory ceremonies have already been announced/finalized). Now if Rush's official tour announcement will indeed occur towards the end of the month, from a purely PR standpoint - an appearance at the closing ceremony on February 28th would make a lot of sense. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
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Rush fans everywhere were disappointed when the band did not perform at Friday night's Winter Olympics opening ceremony as had been rumored. There's been a lot of confusion among fans (me included) as to what happened and why they did not appear, mainly due to the fact that there was never any kind of official announcement regarding the performers; any information obtained prior to the performance itself was rumor and/or speculation. All we know for sure is that they obviously did not perform. Questions remain as to whether they were ever scheduled to appear at all, whether they were scheduled and had their portion cut, whether they will be performing at another time - possibly the closing ceremonies, etc. In light of all this I thought I'd put up a post summarizing events as I know them.
As far as I am aware, the rumor that Rush would be performing first appeared on the Counterparts message board on Friday, February 4th around 3PM in a post from board member Sniglets:
Just heard through a friend who is working with a sound crew that is contracted with NBC that the big rumor today was Rush being tapped to perform in the opening night ceremonies for the Winter Olympics on Feb. 12th as a representation of Canada's culture and music. The song would be a "different version of YYZ" and something representing each province in Canada musically. So obviously Rush is Ontario.
Later that evening at around 9:30PM I independently posted the rumor as I'd heard it from my sources. I was not aware of the Counterparts post until after the fact, but the information was similar. At the time all I had heard was that they would be performing YYZ as part of a larger program showcasing Canadian music. The actual performance did indeed include a segment representing different geographical areas of Canada, which lends credence to the validity of the original rumors as reported here and on Counterparts.
A commercial then aired the following evening on February 5th during NBC's Saturday Night Live promoting the network's Olympic coverage. In the commercial it was mentioned that the opening ceremony performers would include Bryan Adams, Nelly Furtado and Sarah McLachlan which later proved to be an accurate but not complete list. Rush was not mentioned but neither were other some of the other performers (K. D. Lang for instance).
A few days later I updated my original post noting the fact that the Headline Talent Producer for the games is Samuel Leon Feldman who happens to represent Rush:
Headline Talent Producer: Samuel Leon Feldman
Through two different companies, Sam Feldman represents more than 175 musical artists such as Nelly Furtado, Rush, Joni Mitchell and Elvis Costello. Feldman is also a partner in The Characters Talent Agency, representing Canadian actors such as Molly Parker and Ryan Reynolds.
At the time this seemed to bolster the chances that Rush might be involved. In hindsight I should also note that Joni Mitchell (also represented by Feldman) singing Both Sides Now served as the soundtrack to the portion of the show celebrating the Plains of Canada.
Dress rehearsals for the show at BC Place began the Monday prior to opening ceremony and the organizers were keeping very tight-lipped about everything. No reports of any Rush spottings leaked out but that didn't necessarily rule them out according to this BCLocalNews article:
... Not all the performers were there in person - there were some lip-synching stand-ins, including a performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." ... The lighting of the Olympic cauldron wasn't part of the dress rehearsal - secrets such as how it's lit and other surprises are being withheld for the actual night. ...
So up until this point all we had were vague rumors. Then the Canadian Press published this article on Thursday, February 3rd - the day prior to the ceremony which seemed to all but confirm Rush's involvement:
In an age where news travels as fast as a sled hurtling down a skeleton track, the sustained secrecy surrounding Friday's opening ceremonies at the Vancouver Games is an Olympic feat in of itself.
Only in the past few days have small amounts of information dribbled out as Twitter-happy fans have leaked rehearsal information.
Recent reports indicate that Bryan Adams and Sarah McLachlan have been spotted rehearsing for the show.
Meanwhile, Rush and 16-year-old Montreal jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky also seem to be involved. A publicist for the veteran Toronto rock trio and Yanofsky herself both responded to questions from The Canadian Press with no-comments, citing non-disclosure agreements.
"NDA, non-disclosure, we're not allowed to say anything," Yanofsky said when asked if she would perform. ...
Nikki Yanofsky did of course end up performing Canada's National Anthem at the ceremony while Rush obviously did not perform. So rather than say no, Rush's publicist said no comment citing a non-disclosure agreement according to the Canadian Press. I took this as the closest thing to a confirmation we were going to get considering all the secrecy surrounding the event, as did several other news sites and blogs such as People Magazine, BW&BN, Power Windows, Cygnus-X1, etc. I've verified with Anthem that Rush were in fact bound by an NDA, which in the very least means that they were approached to perform by VANOC.
Early on the Friday of the opening ceremony my source reported to me that both Closer to the Heart and YYZ had been heard playing repeatedly at the venue late Thursday night. This prompted me to update my post saying that Rush may be playing Closer to the Heart tonight as well. Then that evening prior to the show I heard a report that BBC America had shown Alex and Geddy at BC Place stating We have been informed Rush are to perform sometime tonight with their 70s classic hit Closer To The Heart. I still can't find any independent reference to this online. So if the BBC America report was accurate, Geddy and Alex were at least at the venue Friday night although I haven't been able to get any confirmation of that either. Then came the actual ceremony itself. Just like the rumors had reported, the show contained a series of segments celebrating each major geographic region of Canada, but the Ontario region (Canada's most populous) was curiously not represented. Toward the end of the ceremonies, I received the following information from my source:
... What I'm now hearing is that [the Ontario portion] of the show was scrubbed due to the nature of today's tragic events. Apparently it had a full rock and roll metropolitan vibe to it and was cut for sensitivity. The word is now that Rush may tentatively play at the closing ceremony. ...
The tragic event being the death of Georgian luge slider Nodar Kumaritashvili earlier in the day. Four days after the fact there has still been no official word of any kind regarding whether Rush was ever scheduled to perform, whether they were scheduled but got cut, whether they weren't scheduled to perform but Rush music would be used, etc. We also don't know whether they will be involved with any of the victory ceremonies or closing ceremony, although it seems unlikely at this point. This article at top40charts.com (thanks John at Cygnus-X1.net) seems to suggest that Rush will be involved in one of the victory ceremonies:
... On Friday, February 19th, Theory of a Deadman will be joining the ranks of Sarah MacLachlan, Rush, Nelly Furtado, Barenaked Ladies and many other artists given the honor of performing in 'The Victory Concert Series.' ...
Hopefully this gives people a better idea of the origins of the rumor, how it propagated, and where things stand currently. Unfortunately we still have no official word on this and likely won't for a while given the fact that Rush is bound by an NDA. I'll continue to share any new information I obtain.
A couple of months ago it was announced that Rush along with Quebec musician Robert Charlebois would be the 2010 songwriter inductees into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Rush will be recognized for their songs Limelight, Closer to the Heart, The Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer and Subdivisions. The 2010 inductees will be honored at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame 6th annual Gala on Sunday, March 28th at the George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts. The performers for the gala were announced this afternoon and will include Canadian hardcore rockers Alexisonfire performing Tom Sawyer; Primus frontman Les Claypool playing a version of The Spirit of Radio; and Canadian folk singer/songwriter Jacob Moon doing his rendition of Subdivisions. Thanks to Brad Hirsch of Used Bin Radio for the heads up.
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UPDATE - 3/1@1:00PM: Rush did not appear at the closing ceremony either despite rumors to the contrary. Outside of the absurd amount of secrecy regarding the performers on VANOC's part, it looks like all the rumors and speculation stemmed from the fact that they were approached by VANOC and asked to take part in the ceremonies in some capacity. I independently confirmed this with 
