RUSH IS A BAND

Friday, August 31, 2007

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Rush came to my hometown of Cleveland last night. They'll continue their trek across Ohio over the Labor Day weekend hitting Columbus and Cincinnati. I had a blast at the show and got to meet several folks from the site there and beforehand - thanks to everybody who stopped by to say hey; it was nice to put some faces to names. A special thanks to everyone from the Rush Tour Forum who stopped and said hi at the Winking Lizard Tavern before the show. I'm stoked because I got to sign the rushtour.com banner (which is a challenging task - no room left!).

The tour continues to do very well in terms of sales and attendance. The latest issue of Billboard contained sales figures for the 2 Washington shows, the Red Rocks show and 2 of the California shows. The July 20th White River show garnered $638,462 in sales and the attendance was 13,689 out of a capacity of 15,552. The July 21st Clark County show generated $581,898 in sales and had an attendance of 10,986 out of a capacity of 13,188. The August 3rd Concord, CA show made $529,150 and the attendance was 9,775 out of a capacity of 10,916. The August 1st show in Mountain View grossed $507,546 and was attended by 9,101 fans out of a capacity of 11,000. And the August 8th Red Rocks show sold out! It garnered $674,504 in sales and filled its capacity of 8,753. Thanks to Scott_PA for the info.

Alex Lifeson celebrated his 54th birthday this past Monday. For last week's poll I asked you where you would place Alex Lifeson on the list of the best all-time rock guitarists. The results are in and pretty much everyone (96%) thinks that Lerxst should at least make the top 20. 86% of us think he's in the top 10, 64% think he's in the top 5, 38% think he's in the top 3, and 17% think he's numero uno.

September was a busy month in Rush history; 6 studio albums and one live album were released in the month of September. One of these is Rush's 5th studio album A Farewell to Kings which will celebrate it's 30th anniversary next month (the exact release date is unknown). So what's your favorite song off this album? Take the poll and let us know.

Speaking of September, UK digital rock station Planet Rock has declared next month to be Rush Month. Aside from playing more Rush and having competitions for tickets (Rush will be playing 7 dates in the UK in the first half of October), they will be broadcasting four exclusive interviews that were recorded in San Francisco earlier this year. The interviews were done by Planet Rock DJ, Mark Jeeves, who is a big Rush fan. The first interview is this Sunday, September 2nd at 7PM (UK time) and is with Neil. Apparently, he talks about Keith Moon and why he couldn't be like Keith, why the UK is important to him and he also chats about his lyrics. The other three interviews will be broadcast on the following three Sundays.

Also in the UK, a new Rush compilation releases early next month titled the Rush Essential Collection. It's a 2-CD set which contains 29 tracks and will retail for $14.99. No doubt this is meant to capitalize on the Rush UK leg of the tour this October. Thanks to messnmagic for the heads up.

September was also supposed to be the month that Neil Peart's new book The Roadshow Illustrated Companion was to be released. However, according to its Amazon listing Rounder Books has now pushed the release date back to July 25th of next year. The good news is that the paperbook edition of Roadshow is now available.

This past week we learned that the new Terry Brown-produced release from Detroit prog-rockers Tiles will be released early '08. Fly Paper, the band's 5th album, will feature an appearance by Alex Lifeson on one track. We also got to see some pics from Terry Brown's 60th birthday party where Neil Peart made an appearance.

Reader arrowsandsnakes let me know that the latest issue of the UK's Guitarist Magazine contains a short interview with Alex Lifeson. The tagline reads:

The Canadian prog megastars are back! Alex Lifeson tells us more about the making of Rush's new album and the gear behind his sound

The article talks about why Alex stopped using PRS guitars; he said that too many people are using it out there and he recognizes this sound everywhere, so he wanted to change. Otherwise it doesn't contain anything we haven't already seen/heard.

As the Rush Far Cry single drops off the charts, The Larger Bowl single is beginning to climb into the top 20. It's currently #21 on the Mediabase Mainstream Rock Chart and climbing fast. Remember to call your local stations and request it!

James Suckling of the Wine Spectator is a good friend of both Alex and Geddy. He's interviewed them both in the past and mentions them and Snakes & Arrows in a recent blog post:

Rush and Barbera
By James Suckling
Posted: Monday, August 27, 2007

Have you heard the new Rush album, Snakes & Arrows? I have been listening to it during my tastings of 2005 Barberas. Maybe it's just the quality of many of the fruity, juicy 2005 Barberas, but I think the album is awesome. It harks back to some of the first great albums from the famous Canadian rock band, and I am very happy for my friends Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, who are big time wine lovers that I like to hang with. In fact, Geddy is one of the most knowledgeable Burgundy guys I know.

The best track for me on the album is the title song, "Snakes and Arrows." I love the beat and amazing guitar work, and the lyrics are cutting, almost haunting. Meanwhile, the best 2005 Barberas I have had come from Vietti, Clerico and La Spinetta. In particular, I really liked Giorgio Rivetti's new Barbera from his Barolo estate, Campè della Spinetta.

The wines have a fabulous richness of bright fruit, with hints of chocolate and citrus fruit as well as lively acidity and more fruit on the finish. They have everything you could want in a Barbera. I e-mailed Luca Currado of Vietti to get his opinion on the 2005 vintage, and this is what he wrote:

"2005 Barbera so far one of my 'preferred' vintages for Barbera. Rich, powerful, intense floral nose like 2003 but more balanced and complete then the 2003. I think it is similar to 1997 Barberas. Yes I think too, 2005 Barberas are better than 2003 and 2004. It looks like also that the top sommeliers in restaurants around the world, prefer the 2005 to the 2004/03."

I forgot to ask Luca's opinion on the new Rush album.

I'll forgive him for thinking Armor & Sword is the title track (I've seen that mistake made often). You can read Suckling's interview with Alex Lifeson from back in January at this link. And here's his blog post from around the same time where he discusses having dinner with Alex and Geddy. He's supposed to meet up with them in Europe when they play in Milan - he'll likely blog about that as well. Many thanks to jahlove for pointing me to this.

A Rush-related charity event that I'd mentioned a few times on the site was the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Westminster. As part of their fundraising efforts, they had set up a raffle for a Paul Reed Smith guitar signed by Rush. The winner was recently announced on August 25th. Here is the announcement from the website:

Congratulations to SHERRY DULL ! The winner of our "RUSH" autographed Paul Reed Smith SE guitar!

Thank you all for helping us support the American Cancer Society through your contribution through this raffle.

Be sure to pick up your copy of the chart topping new RUSH CD "Snakes and Arrows", and get tickets for the ongoing concert tour!

We want to express our sincere thanks to "RUSH" for taking time to help us with this great cause, the great RUSH fans who supported this raffle, "Coffey Music" of Westminster, MD and Paul Reed Smith Guitars for their support.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You helped us raise over $267,000 for ACS!

Please check back with us in 2008 for another unique opportunity.

Sounds like it was a resounding success!

Sam Rubenstein of basketball mag SLAM Online recently wrote about 7 thoughts not related to basketball, one of which was Rush:

Thought #6) Time out to placate Ryan. Ryan, I am going to a RUSH concert in September and it is not for any ironic or too cool for school detached reasons. I bought the tixxx as a present for my brother, who is a little bit older than you. Yes, we are fans of RUSH. Go ahead and make your snarky little comments about our nerdiness. They are great musicians. Neil Peart revolutionized how drums are played and he wrote the lyrics in his spare time. Alex Lifeson would have been a legend in any other band, but in RUSH he's the thrid most well-known out of three people. Geddy Lee has a huge schnozz. Now leave me alone!

Reader dwman pointed me to this article from CNET's Matt Rosoff which discusses the question of what makes a band/song classic rock. It talks about a method of using internet radio service lastfm to assign a numerical score to get a measure of listener devotion to a particular artist. Rush is mentioned:

... Bob Dylan (34.14) and Led Zeppelin (32.36) were in the 30s, which isn't surprising given their lasting influence and breadth of audience, and Rush also scored high (33.68), which shouldn't be a surprise to anybody who's ever met a hardcore Rush fan ...

So true...

Reader Gary alerted me to this story on ipod site ilounge.com about backing up your itunes library. It looks pretty apparent from the screenshots that the author is a big Rush fan. :)

Pro-consumer blog consumerist.com recently put up a post titled 10 Stupid Ways That Smart People Waste Money. Item #9 mentions Rush:

9) Buying DVDs you will never, ever watch, or books you'll never read, or clothes you will never wear...: When buying something ask yourself: "Will I watch this more than once?" or "Will I actually read this?" or "Do I really still like Rush?" If you answer yes, buy it. If not, don't.

Money spent on Rush is never wasted in my humble opinion. :)

A small announcement: reader Troy has started a Neil Peart fan yahoo group at this location if you're interested.

And lastly, Faithless sent me a street sign from Casa Grande, AZ that I think Neil Peart would get a kick out of. There's a North Peart Road there and the street sign just reads N Peart Rd.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Cleveland open thread

UPDATE - 10/27@11:09AM: Attendance: 10,527
Capacity: 13,491
Gross: $449,578

UPDATE - 9/1@10:19AM: Here's a great review from Cleveland Plain Dealer pop music critic John Soeder (thanks Rob E).

UPDATE - 8/31@10:14AM: Setlist #1; no substitution (thanks to me for the info).

Rush comes to my stomping grounds in Northeast Ohio tonight. I'll be there; section 23, row U. I'll be wearing my first prototype Rush is a Band t-shirt so I should be easy to spot (it's white with black lettering). Stop by and say hi if you get a chance. I should also be at the Peninsula Winking Lizard tavern for a couple of hours prior to the show.

Date/Time: Thursday, August 30th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 37
Venue: Blossom Music Center
Place: Cuyahoga Falls, OH

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

New Rush Backstage Club contest

[Win An Autographed Neil Peart Drum Head!]

It's been a while, but there's finally a new contest up at the Rush Backstage Club. This latest contest is for an autographed Neil Peart drum head. You can enter the contest at this link. Details from the site:

Win this autgraphed drum head! Neil gave this to us before the St. Louis show, as his drum tech Lorne was putting on a new one. You'll be able to see the wear from previous shows. This contest closes on September 15, 2007.

Good luck! Thanks to Figerade for the heads up.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Detroit open thread

UPDATE - 9/18@4:27PM: Attendance figures are in (thanks Scott_PA):

Attendance: 11,384
Capacity: 13,213
Gross revenue: $602,300

----- snip -----

UPDATE - 8/29@10:25PM: Here's a nice review from Gary Graff of the Oakland Press.

UPDATE - 8/29@9:33AM: Setlist #2; with the substitution (thanks Justin).

Date/Time: Tuesday, August 28th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 36
Venue: DTE Energy Music Center
Place: Clarkston, MI

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

New Tiles release update and Terry Brown 60th birthday party pics

A few weeks back I let you know that Alex Lifeson would be making a guest appearance on the upcoming Tiles release Fly Paper. Tiles webmaster Michael O just let me know that the album will be released in early 2008 via InsideOut Music and that Alex Lifeson's additions to the song he plays on sound great. If you are unfamiliar with Tiles, they are a Detroit-based progressive rock band who are - not surprisingly - huge Rush fans. Former Rush producer Terry Brown produced their last record and is also producing Fly Paper. The band posted some pics up on their site yesterday of Terry Brown's 60th birthday party from back in June. In attendance were several folks from the Toronto music scence including our favorite drummer Neil Peart. You can check out all the pics at this link.

Monday, August 27, 2007

New article discusses the virtuosity of Neil Peart

[The beat of a different drummer]

In the run-up to tomorrow's show in Detroit, the Detroit Free Press's pop music writer Brian McCollum penned an article focusing on the virtuosity of Neil Peart. It features quotes from fans including Bobby Standridge (creator of the A Digital Man YYZ video) and Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. The article is titled The beat of a different drummer and can be read in its entirety at this link.

Happy 54th Birthday Alex Lifeson!

Our favorite guitarist, Alexander Zivojinovich (aka Alex Lifeson) was born on this date in 1953 in Fernie, British Columbia. Happy 54th birthday Lerxst! May you have many more.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Indianapolis open thread

UPDATE - 10/27@11:07AM: Attendance: 9,599
Capacity: 12,500
Gross: $424,449

UPDATE - 8/27@5:02PM: Here's a link to the Indy Star's photo gallery for the show. And here's reader tst4eko's photobucket gallery for the show.

UPDATE - 8/27@1:15PM: Setlist #1; no substitution (thanks dblagent1).

UPDATE - 8/27@10:00AM: Here's a great review from the Indianapolis Star.

Date/Time: Sunday, August 26th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 35
Venue: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Place: Noblesville, IN

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Saturday, August 25, 2007

September is Rush Month at Planet Rock

UPDATE - 8/28@4:35PM: Here are some more details courtesy reader Distant Early Warning. The interviews were done by Planet Rock DJ, Mark Jeeves, who is a big Rush fan. The first interview is this Sunday, September 2nd at 7PM (UK time) and is with Neil. Apparently, he talks about Keith Moon and why he couldn't be like Keith, why the UK is important to him and he also chats about his lyrics. The other three interviews will be broadcast on the following three Sundays.

According to DJ Nicky Horne, UK digital radio station Planet Rock has declared September as Rush Month. They've been featuring a different artist each month; currently it's Rolling Stones month and they've also paid tribute to Genesis and Pink Floyd as well. Aside from playing more Rush and having competitions for tickets (Rush will be playing 7 dates in the UK in the first half of October), they will be broadcasting four exclusive interviews that were recorded in San Francisco earlier this year. Each of the first three will be with one member of the band, talking about a particular period in their history and then the fourth will be with all three. Thanks to reader Distant Early Warning for the heads up.

Friday, August 24, 2007

St. Louis open thread

UPDATE - 10/27@11:06AM: Attendance: 12,135
Capacity: 16,500
Gross: $490,721

UPDATE - 8/25@11:04AM: Setlist #2; with the substitution.

Date/Time: Friday, August 24th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 34
Venue: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Place: Maryland Heights, MO

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Updates and other random Rush stuff

UPDATE - 8/24@2:29PM: Hmmm.. Regarding my mention of the show Feasting on Asphalt using Red Barchetta as theme music - that seems to be incorrect. Readers questrider and texanmgm emailed me to tell me that it wasn't Red Barchetta, nor was it even a Rush recording. What it was - and is since they're continuing to use this musical passage as part of the theme music for the show - was something that sounds like The Analog Kid. There's a thread over at Counterparts discussing it.

Leg number 3 - the Middle West leg - of the Snakes & Arrows tour is now underway. Rush hit Kansas City last night and will play 9 more dates throughout the Midwest before heading to the Great White North in mid-September.

Neil Peart presented us all with yet another great news update during the tour break. If you haven't read it yet, check it out. Neil also added the Bobby Standridge-produced video for Malignant Narcissism to the Xtras page on his site (thanks Nettie).

A portion of the Eddie Trunk interview with Geddy and Alex from a few months ago was finally released by Atlantic on Wednesday ... unfortunately it looks like they have since taken it down. Hopefully it'll reappear in some form in the future.

If you haven't yet be sure to go and vote for Rush in the Classic Rock Magazine 2007 Roll of Honour.

Alex Lifeson will be celebrating his 54th birthday this coming Monday, August 27th. In honor of this joyous occasion I thought I'd put up a Lerxst-related poll as I'd mentioned in my last updates post. So where would you place Alex Lifeson on the list of the best all-time rock guitarists? Take the poll and let us know. Thanks to reader sbkp for the poll suggestion.

In the previous poll I asked everyone what their favorite song off of Rush's debut album was. With over 400 total votes, Working Man was the clear favorite, picking up nearly one-third of the votes. Rounding out the top 5 were Finding My Way (17%), Before and After (13%), What You're Doing (12%) and Here Again (9%).

The soundtrack to the Rob Zombie remake of the 1978 classic horror flick Halloween was released this past Tuesday. As I reported last month the soundtrack includes Rush's Tom Sawyer along with several other classic rock tracks. The movie will be released August 31st. The trailer can be seen at this location.

Here's a bit of sad news. Max Roach - one of Neil Peart's influences and one of the greatest jazz drummers of all-time - passed away recently. Thanks to LosingIt for the heads up.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, Geddy Lee was apparently spotted chowing down on gravy fries and fried cheese at Steuben's in Denver. I'm assuming this was on the Rush off-day prior to the Red Rocks show.

It wouldn't be a random Rush update without mentioning Dream Theater. At their August 18th show in Toronto they began their encore with a small tribrute to Rush by performing the intro to Xanadu with a few bits of The Trees and YYZ thrown in. Thanks to Xhail for the news.

Paul Friswold of the St. Louis Riverfront Times recently wrote a series of 2 interesting/humorous Geddy-Lee-related posts on his Twelve Angry Fingers blog in the run-up to tonight's Rush show in St. Louis. Apparently Geddy Lee saved his life when he was a kid ... twice.

Internet entrepreneur (CEO/co-founder of both Raindance Communications and lijit.com) Todd Vernon is a huge Rush fan and attended the Red Rocks show 2 weeks ago. He had some great things to say about it in his blog. Thanks to Barney M for the heads up.

Reader Todd noted that there's an early 90s-era pic of Rush on the home page of Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock site. It's part of a montage image used as the background on the site. Cool.

Reader bp92 let me know that the Food Network program Feasting on Asphalt used Red Barchetta as the opening song of their show on August 11th. The song could be heard when rejoining the show after a commercial break. Feasting on Asphalt is a show where the host, Alton Brown, rides his motorcycle around the back roads of America visiting all the mom & pop diners looking for the real American cuisine and trying foods he never tasted before. Sounds like a show that Neil Peart would love. :)

Speaking of Pratt... I'm sure he'd get a kick out of this photo of a street sign taken by reader Jen S in Baltimore. :)

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Kansas City open thread

UPDATE - 10/27@11:04AM: Attendance: 8,104
Capacity: 12,500
Gross: $406,416

UPDATE - 8/24@9:21AM: Setlist #1; no substitution (thanks GedHed).

The Middle West leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour begins tonight at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Kansas City. For those of you going - have a great time!

Date/Time: Thursday, August 23rd @ 8:00PM (local time)
Show Number: 33
Venue: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Place: Bonner Springs, KS

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Eddie Trunk interview with Geddy and Alex now online

UPDATE - 8/23@5:19PM: As of right now it looks like the interview segments are no longer available. :(

UPDATE - 8/22@9:43AM: Through some clever url manipulation reader Ryan located part 2 of the interview at this location.

Way back in early April radio personality and VH1 Classic VJ Eddie Trunk put the following post on his blog:

4/5/07: Had the honor to once again spend the day with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush at the Atlantic Records office in NYC. I shot a 45 minute TV interview with the guys (shot in HD) for future use. ... the band and label hired me directly to film an interview that they own and will use to air in several places and ways to promote the new CD. Not sure yet where it will show up, but I'll let you know when they tell me. ...

Well it looks like that footage is finally starting to see the light of day (about time!). Atlantic just sent out an email with a link to the first portion of this interview to those folks who purchased the Snakes & Arrows MVI and registered online. You can check out the interview at this link. Unfortunatley the interview is now so old that it really doesn't shed any new light on anything and it's not anything we haven't already heard many times before. Either way, it's always fun to watch Eddie fawn over Geddy and Alex. Many thanks to everybody who emailed me about this.

NeilPeart.net news update

[NEWS, WEATHER, and SPORTS - August 20, 2007: Every Road Has Its Toll]

Neil Peart has once again updated the news page on his website. He's been very prolific lately considering the tour; every break he's made an update. In this batch of news Neil discusses all the various signs he's seen at shows and talks about what a great time he's having. He speaks particularly about how there haven't been any really magic shows but they've all been at a consistently higher level; he states ... that each of this tour's shows has been performed at a slightly higher level than ever before, and thus they've all had their bit of magic. ... He also remarks about how well Geddy's voice is sounding this tour; something I and many other fans have noticed. He then of course goes on to describe many delightful stories from the road, describing all the motorcycle adventures he and his riding partners have encountered. Including a sad yet humorous story about having to put a deer out of its misery. All in all another great bit of writing from The Professor. Be sure to read the whole thing.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Vote for Rush!

UPDATE - 8/22@1:00PM: After registering your vote (entering your email, etc.) you will be sent an activation email. You will then need to click on the link in this email to have your votes counted. Talk about jumping through hoops! Hopefully Rush will win and make it worth our effort.

The UK's Class Rock Magazine has opened up voting for its 2007 Roll of Honour. Rush is up for Band of the Year and Snakes & Arrows is up for Album of the Year. The Roll Of Honour ceremony will take place in London on November 5, 2007. Look out for the results and full coverage in the January '08 edition of Classic Rock, on sale December 12, 2007. To vote for Rush go to this link. Be sure to register your votes after choosing them or they won't be counted.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Updates and other random Rush stuff

It's break time for Rush once again. They'll crank the tour machine back up next Thursday in Kansas, playing 10 dates throughout the Middle West before heading back to the homeland for a few dates. I've been on a break myself over the last week and a half traveling from Cleveland to Louisiana and points in between (visiting in-laws). Fortunately, internet access is easy to come by these days so my site updates didn't undergo too much of an interruption. Anyways, I'm back and things should get back to normal now; I should have a new poll for next week and regular updates as usual. Since Alex Lifeson's birthday is coming up I figured that I'd post a Lerxst-related poll so if you have any suggestions please let me know.

I'm often critical of Rush.com and their lack of updates, but it looks like they've taken advantage of the tour break to add several features to the site. So props to them. They've added a few video interviews with tour staff in the multimedia section, Neil's house music list, and a Rush Mobile store over the last several days. So check out the site if you haven't recently.

Snakes & Arrows has finally dropped out of the Billboard top 200 album list. Far Cry has fallen off the Mediabase Mainstream Rock chart but The Larger Bowl has sneaked into the top 30 at #29. Far Cry is also off the Radio and Records Rock chart but The Larger Bowl has popped onto the chart at #27. So let's try to push The Larger Bowl up the charts; call your local radio stations and request it.

The October 2007 issue of Modern Drummer magazine is a special Prog Issue and contains a list of the top 50 All-time Prog Classics. 2112 is included on the list. Thanks to Andrew Olson for the heads up.

The August issue of extreme music mag Terrorizer (issue #161) is the first in a series of three issues dedicated to prog rock and features Geddy Lee on the cover:

... Over the next three issues we'll be delving in to the many worlds of progressive rock as we look in depth at its many bridges to the metal (and hardcore) world, talk to the legendary band most responsible for those bridges, our cover stars Rush, and much more besides, including reams of first-person accounts from the heady early days....

Thanks to cygnusxdave over at TNMS for the heads up.

Power Windows has added some more desktop wallpaper images at this location.

The Globe and Mail's Matt Hartley suggested last Monday that Geddy Lee should write an autobiography. I agree; Alex should write one too. Thanks to Patrick W for the link.

Several readers emailed me about ESPN using Red Barchetta for the opening of their coverage of the NASCAR Nextel Cup race last Sunday at Watkins Glen, NY. Very cool.

That's all for now. Have a great Sunday.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Rush.com mobile store now open

[Rush Mobile]

Rush.com just recently launched Rush Mobile; their online store for Rush content for mobile phones. It has mobile videos, ringtones, and wallpaper available for purchase. The 4 live videos available look to be from R30 and the 5 ringtones are Alex Lifeson live rants! :) Thanks to El Chico Analogo for the heads up.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Snakes & Arrows tour house music playlist

You asked for it ... and Rush.com has delivered. Since the start of the tour I've received several questions about the house music (compiled by Neil Peart) played prior to the show. I recognized many of the tunes but did not have a complete playlist ... until now. Rush.com just posted it. Here it is:

Tommy Overture - The Who
Mojo Pin - Jeff Buckley
Trains - Porcupine Tree
Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
Fear of a Blank Planet - Porcupine Tree
Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd
Eria Tarka - The Mars Volta
Roundabout - Yes
Looking for a Place to Happen - The Tragically Hip
Aqualung - Jethro Tull
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Baba O'Reilly - The Who
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
2112 Overture - String Ensemble
The Temples of Syrinx - String Ensemble
I Know What I Like - Genesis
The Prophet - Yes
Hallelujuah - Jeff Buckley
18 People Live in Harmony - Dredg
Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin
Bobcaygeon - The Tragically Hip
21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson
Inertiatic E. S. P. - The Mars Volta
The Sound of Muzak - Porcupine Tree
Echo - Vertical Horizon
Fifty Mission Cap - The Tragically Hip
So Real - Jeff Buckley
Time - Pink Floyd
Good Days, Bad Days - Richard Butler
No Opportunity Necessary - Yes
Anesthetize - Porcupine Tree
Say Hello 2 Heaven - Temple of the Dog
Babe I'm Gonna Leave you - Led Zeppelin
Open Car - Porcupine Tree
Evenflow - Pearl Jam
Hells Bells - AC/DC
Crosstown Traffic - Jimi Hendrix
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull
How Many More Times - Led Zeppelin
Us and Them - Pink Floyd

Hats off to Neil for compiling such a great list of artists/songs; I like just about all of these bands. Thanks to timbale for the heads up.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Rush.com Multimedia Updates

UPDATE - 8/20@10:55PM: The interview with Andy has been replaced by an interview with Brent talking about his job as monitor mixer.

I've received several emails about this; Rush.com has been updated with a few videos in their multimedia section (finally). Simply go to Rush.com and click on Multimedia. There's a video of the Darn That Dragon intermission video from the R30 tour (this has been already floating around YouTube for a while now and can also be seen here). There's also two short video interviews; one with Andy from SRO/Anthem backstage at the Irvine show, and another with Bucky the guitar tech from the same show. Both interviews are around 2 minutes long.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie featuring Neil Peart now on DVD

Back in April the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie was released to 877 theaters in the US. Made for around $750K, it grossed nearly 5.5 million dollars domestically. It featured the vocal talents of Neil Peart who played a miniature version of himself permanently attached to his lime green drumset - the Drums of Life. The film was just released to DVD as a two-disc set which comes with a full 80-minute alternate movie and a host of extra features. Thanks to Power Windows for the heads up.

If you've never seen it, Aqua Teen Hunger Force is on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim late-night programming block. The show's creators are big Rush fans and include several Rush references in the show, particularly in the episode titled Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Houston open thread

UPDATE - 8/24@9:23AM: Setlist #2; with the substitution (thanks realnoisy).

Date/Time: Tuesday, August 14th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 32
Venue: The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Place: The Woodlands, TX

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Monday, August 13, 2007

Snakes & Arrows special UK tour edition CD/DVD

It looks like those fans across the pond who have been asking whether the Snakes & Arrows MVI will get released in Europe have finally received their answer. Noble PR put out the following press release today:

To coincide with their forthcoming UK October arena tour dates, Canadian rock power trio, RUSH, today announced the Monday September 3rd 2007 release of their critically acclaimed "Snakes & Arrows" album as a "Special 2007 UK Tour Edition" comprising 2 discs (CD and DVD).

Comprised of Special Tour Edition packaging, including a stunning 28-page full colour booklet, Disc 1 (CD) will feature the original stereo mix of the studio album, while Disc 2 (DVD) will include tons of interactive features audio mixes in 96 kHz/24-bit hi-resolution stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound.

The DVD disc will also include "Rush: The Game of Snakes & Arrows", a unique 45-minute video documentary on the making of the album, MP3 files of every audio track, wallpapers, buddy icons, screensaver and a scrollable dialog written by Neil Peart that provides additional discovery into the creation of the songs.

The documentary gives fans direct access to the band and producer in the recording studio. The band members provide audio commentary and there's a segment on the documentary where Neil Peart records his drum parts. There's also footage of the band jamming on their instruments plus verbal commentary into the ideas and insights behind the song and lyrics. ...

So this release looks to be identical in content to the North American MVI release, but comprised as a CD and a DVD rather than one DVD album/MVI. The release date is September 3rd. Thanks to Adam and B-Man for the heads up.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Snakes & Arrows guitar tab edition released

Alfred publishing recently released the guitar tab edition of Snakes & Arrows and it is now available for preorder. From the Amazon product description:

Arranged For Guitar Tablature & Standard Notation With Lyrics, Chords & Chord Frames. Matching songbook to group's 2007 album. Includes 4 color art section. Contents: Far Cry Cry, Armor And Sword, Workin' Them Angels, The Larger Bowl, Spindrift, The Main Monkey Business, The Way The Wind Blows, Hope, Faithless, Bravest Face, Good News First, Malignant Narcissism, We Hold On.

Thanks to Power Windows for the heads up.

Selma open thread

UPDATE - 8/14@10:46PM: Setlist #1; no substitution.

Date/Time: Sunday, August 12th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 31
Venue: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Place: Selma, TX

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Dallas open thread

UPDATE - 8/28@1:12PM: Here's a review from the Dutch Progressive Rock Page (thanks mike).

UPDATE - 8/26@9:31AM: Here's a great slideshow of around 170 pics from the show courtesy Greg over at Counterparts.

UPDATE - 8/12@4:56PM: Here's a review from the Dallas Morning News.

UPDATE - 8/12@4:04PM: Setlist #2; with the substitution (thanks Justin).

Date/Time: Saturday, August 11th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 30
Venue: Smirnoff Music Centre
Place: Dallas, TX

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Friday, August 10, 2007

Updates and other random Rush stuff

I've been traveling the last couple of days and will be for the next week or so. So I'll be making this a relatively short/quick update and I'll be keeping the current poll up for another week or two. So if you haven't had a chance to take it yet, please let us know what you're favorite song off of Rush's debut album is. In my last update I mentioned that Rush was released sometime in August 1974 but the exact date was unknown. A couple of you pointed out that the Rush calendar has it listed as being released August 12th; so I guess we can go with that, although I've seen several other dates for it from various other reliable sources. I'd also mentioned the tribute to Rush's debut that will be released next month on Main Man Records entitled Lush. The cover art (see right) has been revealed along with the tracklist and performers:

1. Finding My Way - 3 Legged Rabbit
2. Need Some Love - Rutsey
3. Take A Friend - Snagglepuss
4. Here Again - Joe Harvard Band
5. What You're Doing - Ed Mundell
6. In The Mood - FourYearBeard
7. Before And After - Frankenstein 3000
8. Working Man - Murder 1
9. Not Fade Away - A Farewell To Bling
10. Can't Fight It - Worro Pilkinson

Thanks to Cygnus-X1.net for the news.

Snakes & Arrows continues its fall off of the top 200 Billboard album charts, coming in at #178 in its 14th week of release - down from #165 the previous week.

In its 20th week of release Far Cry has fallen out of the top 10 on the Mediabase Mainstream rock charts; it's now at lucky number 13. However, the good news is that The Larger Bowl is now on the chart at #29! It seems to be doing much better than the Spindrift single - which went nowhere fast.

As far as the tour goes, all is well; the sales figures for the Hollywood Bowl and Irvine shows recently came out and they're very impressive. The Hollywood Bowl show garnered $1,074,586 in sales and the attendance was 14,696 out of a capacity of 17,563. The Irvine show grossed $682,819 and the attendance was 10,347 out of a capacity of 11,563. Thanks to Scott_PA for the numbers.

Hector Saldaña and Ramiro Burr of the San Antonio Express-News recently wrote a great article on Rush in the run-up to the upcoming Texas shows. It's titled Early radio airplay won Rush its fans and you can read the whole thing here. Thanks to Metal Tim and jal2112 for the heads up.

There have been several details recently announced regarding RushCon 7. This year's slogan is RushCon 7: Feel the Current Flowing!. The tribute band will be LIMELIGHT and will play Friday night at the In the Mood Mixer which will take place at the Opera House. The show will also be open to the public for $12 CND and roundtrip transportation from the Days Inn hotel to the show will be provided via the RushCon School of Rock bus. The bus will also be available for transport to the Rush show Saturday night for $5 CND (seating is limited). For all the details be sure to check out the RushCon website. I'll be there!

In closing I leave you with this pic of a great special on parking in New York City (thanks Ami W).

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Permanent Waves Gold Ultradisc coming soon

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is slated to release a 24 KT Gold Ultradisc II version of the 1980 Rush classic Permanent Waves. The disc will be priced at $24.99 and is tentatively set to release this November. Details can be found at this location. Thanks to Oracle and snopcopter for the heads up.

Alex Lifeson Guitar Player video interviews online

[Guitar Player TV]

UPDATE - 4/28@1:05PM: Here's a link to the online version of the Alex Lifeson feature (thanks RushFanForever).

Last week I let you know that Alex Lifeson graces the cover of the September 2007 issue of Guitar Player Magazine. The magazine's website now has 3 videos of Lerxst up on their Guitar Player TV site. The first is a 4 and a half minute sit-down interview where Alex talks about his favorite Rush songs among other things. In the second video Alex introduces us to all the guitars he's brought on tour, and in the last video Lerxst shows off his stage rig. To view the videos just go to the Guitar Player TV site and look for the Alex Lifeson Channel to the left of the screen.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Red Rocks open thread

UPDATE - 8/30@12:00PM: This show SOLD OUT with a capacity of 8,753 and made $674,504 in ticket sales (thanks Scott_PA).

UPDATE - 8/14@11:06PM: Here's a review from MyFox Colorado.

UPDATE - 8/9@6:39AM: Setlist #1; no substitution... and it doesn't look like it was filmed (thanks Justin).

Date/Time: Wednesday, August 8th @ 8:00PM (local time)
Show Number: 29
Venue: Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Place: Morisson, CO

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

From all the reports I've been hearing this show is sold out and has been for a while. I had also heard whispers at one point that they may be filming this one - but I have no hard evidence of this. If they are filming one, this would be a good choice though; it's a beautiful venue and the weather's going to be perfect.

I've received several emails about the fact that Geddy was spotted last night at the Rockies vs. Brewers game. And as a matter of fact, user Rodney Kolterman was at the game and took a bunch of great photos of Geddy which you can check out in the gallery. Reader Keith C also had this to report:

At the end of the second inning of last night's Brewers-Rockies game, the Brewers telecast showed a shot of Geddy in the second row along the third base side. They played a little of Tom Sawyer as they showed him and went to commercial. After the commercial, they continued to show Geddy throughout the top of the third inning. Brian Anderson (the play-by-play announcer) was giving Bill Schroeder (the other announcer) some grief because Schroeder had no idea who Geddy Lee or Rush was. Anderson was able to rattle off a few song titles (Tom Sawyer and 2112) and knew that Geddy was a ruge baseball fan.

I should also remind those of you going to the show tonight that Jess of The Rush to Fight AIDs project will be on hand at the show with her full setup. They'll be in the North Parking Lot with a green pickup truck and a big S-CAP banner. So stop by and say hello and - better yet - donate too!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Alex Lifeson to guest on upcoming Tiles release

Tiles is a Detroit-based progressive rock band that has been around since 1993. The band has released 4 albums - the latest of which was produced by former Rush producer Terry Brown (2004's Window Dressing). The band is currently working on their 5th album, Fly Paper, and once again are working with Terry Brown. In a posting on the band's website earlier today it was announced that Alex Lifeson would be making a guest appearance on Fly Paper. Guitarist Chris Herin provides the details:

... Terry had approached Alex about making a guest appearance - and played him some of our new songs. Alex liked what he heard and said he would have a chance to do "something" before Rush began rehearsals for their 'Snakes and Arrows' tour. The window of opportunity arrived this past March - and Terry went to Alex' studio where the two proceeded to work their magic on "Sacred and Mundane." Listening to Alex' parts for the first time was amazing - and the amount of work he put into the song was beyond what we could have hoped for. He came up with a counter-riff that literally 'became' the song; he added acoustic guitars to the refrains; played an acoustic Celtic counter-melody in the bridge; came up with a cool backwards solo in the breakdown section; and added an assortment of guitar textures and effects from start to finish. Terry and Alex spent almost 12-hours recording (well..., they did stop for dinner - as Terry usually insists upon - and who knows how long that took!). Terry has come up with a 3½ minute single edit of "Sacred and Mundane" for which we're hoping to do a video. But now it's like I'm 15 years old all over again learning to play Alex Lifeson parts"

It's an amazing privilege to have Alex Lifeson lend his signature guitar style to a Tiles song... along with Alannah Myles' singing on "Back and Forth," Kim Mitchell's lead guitar on "Dragons, Dreams and Daring Deeds," Hugh Syme's keyboards on "Crowded Emptiness," and our friends Sonya Mastick on percussion & Matthew Parmenter on keyboards... plus a vocal cameo from Nate Mills of 'Run with the Kittens.'

That's a lot of noteworthy help - and a lot of liner notes to organize - but we did actually do some of our own playing too...

Many thanks to Tiles webmaster Michael O for the heads up.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Salt Lake City open thread

UPDATE - 8/7@10:18AM: ... and another review (thanks Mark S).

UPDATE - 8/7@9:28AM: Setlist #2; with the substitution. Here's a review from desertnews.com (thanks RushableKingdom). According to the review they played a song called Freewheel last night... must be a new one. They corrected the Freewheel error (thanks AFarCryfromFBN). :)

Date/Time: Monday, August 6th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 28
Venue: USANA Amphitheatre
Place: Salt Lake City, UT

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Marysville open thread

UPDATE - 8/15@10:02AM: Review: Music Review: Progressive rock dinosaurs Rush not dead yet (thanks RicScully).

UPDATE - 8/5@8:54AM: Set list #1; no substitution (thanks RicScully).

Date/Time: Saturday, August 4th @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 27
Venue: Sleep Train Pavilion
Place: Marysville, CA

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Neil Peart's The Drums of Snakes & Arrows article now online

[The Drums of Snakes & Arrows]

In an Updates post from back in June I'd mentioned that the August 2007 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine contains an article written by Neil Peart titled The Drums of Snakes & Arrows. Scans of the entire article are now posted online at the DW Drums site at this location. The article describes the making of the album from the drummer's point-of-view and includes a sidebar article where Neil goes through every song and describes the process for coming up with the drum parts. Thanks to Andrew Olson for the heads up.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Concord open thread

UPDATE - 8/30@11:59AM: Here are the sales figures (thanks Scott_PA).
Sales: $529,150
Attendance: 9,775
Capacity: 10,916

UPDATE - 8/5@1:43PM: Setlist #2; with the substitution (thanks alparrot).

Date/Time: Friday, August 3rd @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 26
Venue: Sleep Train Pavilion
Place: Concord, CA

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

Updates and other random Rush stuff

After playing 2 more California dates over the weekend, Rush will work the Snakes & Arrows tour machine eastward making stops in Utah, Colorado and Texas before taking another 9-day break. Keep checking the tour photo gallery regularly; fans are continually uploading great pics. I've also just updated the tour bootleg video archive up through the Vegas show. The latest issue of Billboard included the sales figures for the Saratoga Springs show; it grossed $525,626 and attendance was 10,847 out of a capacity of 25,240 (thanks Scott_PA).

For last week's poll I asked you what we should get Geddy for his birthday (Geddy turned 54 this past Sunday). The overwhelming majority of you (52%) said a meet-n-greet with all 2000+ Rush is a Band members. Coming in second was a case of Boone's Farm quality wine. For the full results
poll results go here.

Sometime in the month of August in 1974 (the exact date has been lost to history) Rush released their self-titled debut album. As I'd reported a couple of weeks ago, a tribute to this album will be released next month on Main Man Records entitled Lush. In light of all this I thought that for this week's poll I'd ask readers to choose their favorite song off of Rush. Take the poll and let us know.

Speaking of Rush's debut album - here's a neat bootleg from YouTube user thornybrush. It's a professionally-shot live bootleg of In the Mood from June 27, 1990 on the Presto tour. Members of opening band Mr. Big come on stage to perform with the band. You can check it out at this link.

Once again our 3 heroes grace the covers of various music magazines all at about the same time. Geddy Lee is on the cover of the August issue of Bass Player; Alex Lifeson is on the cover of the September issue of Guitar Player; and Neil Peart is on the cover of issue 4 of Drumhead magazine.

Power Windows let me know that the July issue of Denver's "5280" magazine (so named as there are 5280 feet in a mile, i.e. the elevation), there is a cover story about Red Rocks, its history, etc. The article uses a big 2-page picture of Rush playing there on the R30 tour as its lead photo. You can check out a scan here. Cool.

Speaking of Red Rocks, Jess of The Rush to Fight AIDs project will be on hand at the show next Wednesday with her full setup. They'll be in the North Parking Lot with a green pickup truck and a big S-CAP banner. So stop by and say hello and - better yet - donate too! Jess also recently teamed up with the folks at LaurasStore.com to help raise money and awareness. They have all sorts of things from CDs to magazine subscriptions, and from any purchase you make, $6.00 will go towards The Rush to Fight AIDS and the purchase of personal care items.

Issue #105 of metal mag Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles contains an interview feature with Alex Lifeson where Lerxst discusses the making of Snakes & Arrows. Nothing we haven't already heard but it's a well-done interview nonetheless. Thanks to Robert B for the heads up.

There's a charity eBay auction underway for a pair of front-row tickets and a meet-n-greet for the September 1st show in Cincinnati to benefit the HeartStone Foundation. Details here. It looks legit but - as with any online auction - proceed with caution. Thanks to Promark747 for the heads up.

MessNmagic noticed that the brand new Boeing 787 300 seat passenger jet unveiled this month has been dubbed the Dreamliner ... Fly by Night indeed!

In this satirical article from down under, Australian Senator Bob Brown is the butt of a joke in which the author claims the Senator has opened up an account at social-networking site Bebo in order to reach out to voters. In his fictional profile it claims that his favorite band is Rush and according to the the What are you doing? portion of the profile Brown has been working on a three-year plan to ban coal imports and listening to 2112.

Rush is included in this MSN feature titled Bands of the Living Dead. It's subtitled Veteran rockers and rappers who refuse to die. Here's what they say about Rush's Snakes & Arrows:

When you're a prog rock band with metal cred, there is quite a bit of flexibility to work with. On their latest release, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart earned good marks and strong sales with a moody rumination on life and loss. Credit must be given to the trio's inventiveness and musicianship, and to the strong health-care system in Canada.

AOS (Allegiance to Original Sound): 7/10
BSLF (Breaking the Spirit of Loyal Fans): 1/10
PMFLI (Percentage of Most Famous Lineup Intact): 100%

Thanks to Echo at Counterparts for the heads up.

Rush references are heavily utilized in this humorous article at Crawdaddy! which discusses the history of the mp3 format. Thanks to HeikoShriek at The Rush Forum for the link.

That's all for now. In case you haven't noticed already, I've added a members list to the site - as I've been threatening to do. This way you can look up fellow members and contact them (assuming they haven't blocked that feature). Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Alex Lifeson makes the cover of September Guitar Player

UPDATE - 4/28@1:04PM: Here's a link to the online version of the Alex Lifeson feature (thanks RushFanForever).

Alex Lifeson graces the cover of the September 2007 issue of Guitar Player Magazine. The tagline reads:

Alex Lifeson Re-engineered: How New Gear, New Tunings, and Old-School Passion Forged Rush's Biggest Guitar Sounds in Years!

Thanks to reader Jeff (aka RedSectorA at Counterparts) for the tip.

Geddy Lee Bass Player magazine interview online

[Northern Warrior]

A couple weeks ago I let you know that Geddy Lee graced the cover of the August 2007 issue of Bass Player magazine. The magazine had posted a few video interviews with Geddy on their Bass Player TV site, and now reader Shane T let me know that the print interview has been posted online at this location. Geddy talks about rehearsing for the tour and recording the new album among other topics. Included with the interview are a couple of sidebars; one discusses the various bass guitars Geddy's brought on tour this time around, and the other is a short interview with Snakes & Arrows producer extraordinaire Nick Raskulinecz.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Mountain View open thread

UPDATE - 9/4@4:34PM: Here are a bunch of great photos from this show (thanks Phil for the heads up).

UPDATE - 8/30@3:45PM: Here are the attendance figures (thanks Scott_PA).
Sales: $507,546
Attendance: 9,101
Capacity: 11,000

UPDATE - 8/2@5:00PM: Here's a great review from the Contra Costa Times (thanks RushableKingdom).

UPDATE - 8/2@7:12AM: Setlist #1; no substitution (thanks aubreyq).

Date/Time: Wednesday, August 1st @ 7:30PM (local time)
Show Number: 25
Venue: Shoreline Amphitheatre
Place: Mountain View, CA

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]