UPDATE - 6/30@9:22AM: For everyone going tonight, have a blast! And for everyone else, go vote for Rush in this online poll if you get a chance (thanks ashpkt).
Date/Time: Monday, June 30th @ 7:30PM Show Number: 36 Venue:Riverbend Music Center Place: Cincinnati, OH
UPDATE - 7/3@10:28AM: John over at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the entire article at this link.
Thursday we learned that Rush was featured in the latest Rolling Stone magazine with a 4-page article/interview titled Rush Never Sleeps. The article has not been posted online yet, but thanks to reader RedSectorA you can view a scan of the article at this location or by clicking on the above thumbnails. It's a surprisingly well-done article that's more a historical retrospective of the band than anything else. It contains several interesting anecdotes and some great pictures. It's definitely worth checking out.
The tour is now in its final stretch; Rush heads east to play their last 16 shows beginning tonight with Summerfest in Milwaukee. Want to see photos from all the meet and greets on the tour? Just go to this link (thanks nposter). There are also a bunch of great fan photos in the tour gallery.
It was a somewhat quiet week for Rush news. The big news bullet dealt with Rolling Stone magazine printing an unprecedented 4-page, feature story on Rush in their latest issue. There were also reports of flying pigs and snowballs in hell. :)
In my last poll I asked everyone what they thought about Rush getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Most of you (about 44%) chose What a great achievement. It's really cool! and around 38% at least said I'm happy for them, but it's not a big deal. About 9% chose It's stupid. I hate Hollywood and the rest of you were either indifferent or couldn't care less. For this next poll I'll ask the same question but in regards to Rush's feature article in Rolling Stone magazine. So, what's your opinion? Take the poll and let us know.
Reader drummerboy let me know that the MuchMoreMusic series Listed featured a list of the top 20 Most Distinctive Voices In Music this week. Geddy Lee just squeaked in at #20.
Last week's online edition of Entertainment Weekly had a photo gallery in their Readers' Picks section titled 22 Rock Heroes You Just Don't Get. Rush was featured on the front page along with a classic picture of Alex and Geddy strutting onstage with their double-necks. Here's what the reader said:
Pink Floyd is the big one, I never got them. But Rush is the one that gets me in most trouble. I'm Canadian, and Canadians are supposed to love Rush. Sorry, but I can't stand them.
I fortunately don't have the problem of not getting Rush. Thanks to PhillyMike for the link.
GraphJam.com is a site I recently discovered which takes pop culture references and turns them into humorous graphs. Reader Scott in Pittsburgh located this pie graph of Places to be Living which contains a Rush reference.
MTV.com has a behind-the-scenes video of Weezer up on their website and the video starts with Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson making an attempt at playing the drum fill in Tom Sawyer. He comes close... but not close enough. Check it out:
UPDATE - 6/29@9:19AM: A scanned version of the article is up online at this location (thanks RedSectorA).
UPDATE - 6/27@8:12AM: According to the Power Windows site the 4-page article is titled Rush Never Sleeps and includes photos of the band backstage from the current tour, as well as pictures of Geddy and Alex's recent appearance at the Foo Fighters' show in Toronto.
Last month I'd mentioned that Rolling Stone had dispatched a reporter to spend four days with Rush on the Canadian leg of their tour last month, interviewing all 3 members for an article to be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine. Apparently this feature article is part of the most recent Rolling Stone (with Barack Obama on the cover) out on newsstands now. At this point all I know about it is that it's a very positive 4-page article with plenty of great photos. In other news, hell freezes over. :) More information as I get it. Thanks to sndtatro for the heads up.
There's a new video up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush Video section. In this installment, Snakes & Arrows tour production manager Craig Blaizer (aka CB) talks about border crossings, illegal contraband and rubber gloves. Thanks to Toronto Writer for the heads up.
UPDATE - 6/28@9:53AM: Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.
Rush picks up the tour again this evening with the rescheduled show at Red Rocks. They then will head east to play the remaining 16 dates on the tour. The venue has a webcam so if you are so-inclined you can watch the show tonight via this link albeit with crappy quality and no sound (thanks coolphantom190).
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 25th @ 8:00PM Show Number: 33 Venue:Red Rocks Amphitheatre Place: Morrison, CO
Late last year I mentioned that Neil Peart would be featured in a celebrity exhibit at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington Ohio (just outside Columbus, OH). The exhibit is called MotoStars: Celebrities + Motorcycles and will feature bikes and memorabilia provided by notable celebrities including Neil Peart, who donated one of his BMW GS motorcycles, a full drum kit and other memorabilia. The exhibit opens at the end of this month with a VIP gala and dedication ceremony to be held June 27-28 on the grounds of the Museum. For details visit the Museum's website. Thanks to Power Windows for reminding me about this.
On the tour front, the band is on hiatus until the rescheduled Red Rocks show on June 25th. They'll then hit the Midwest and points East for the last 16 dates of the tour. On Wednesday the official Billboard Boxscore attendance and sales figures for 5 more dates were released. The Moline, St. Paul, George, Ridgefield and Boise shows reported numbers which you can check out in this post.
Speaking of tours, in my last poll I asked everyone how many times they have seen Rush live. It seems that the vast majority (about 60%) of us have seen Rush between 6 and 30 times. Around 28% of us have seen them 5 times or less; 7% have seen them between 31 and 50 times; a little over 4% have seen them between 51-100 times; and one lucky individual reports having seen them over 100 times! You can check out the complete results here. For my next poll I thought I'd ask you all what you think about Rush getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So take the poll and let us know.
I received a ton of emails about this next news item. Yahoo! Music's List of the Day Blog from Rob O'Connor featured a list of The 25 Best Heavy Metal Bands yesterday. In at #14 was Rush. Here's what they said:
Rush took a severe beating at the hands of critics for being a tad humorless about their high concepts. But they never whimpered and headed home. Nope. They had too many kids waiting for them in the stadiums who liked their high seriousness and looked forward to living in a future they would never actually live to see. 2112 is still a long ways away...They did it with guitars and they did it with synthesizers and they did it with a drummer who owned way too many drums. But to be fair, he uses all those drums. They're not just for show, like with some people.
Many thanks to the 500 or so readers who sent me this link. ;)
Reader Rushman204 alerted me to a recent blog post from Rush's current sound engineer Richard Chycki where Rich checks in regarding some current Rush-related projects:
Back in the land we call Rush, the double CD of Snakes & Arrows Live has been completed and released with the DVD audio of the same currently in production. As well, I've also completed a live mix of Limelight for a cameo appearance Rush is making in an upcoming film production.
It's good to hear progress is being made on the DVD. Neil Peart also mentioned that he recently watched a finished edit of the video for the DVD in his recent News Update. I believe the movie Rich is talking about is I Love You Man which I'd mentioned a couple weeks ago.
Speaking of movies and Rush, RUSHHEAD666 over at The Rush Forum reports a Rush reference in the recently-released poker movie The Grand. Apparently in one scene Woody Harrelson's character goes into a deep philosophical speech about his intellectual approach to playing poker and the guy next to him (played by David Cross) simply says, Is that Rush?.
Reader, drummer and doctor Asif Khan wanted me to let everyone know that he's an occasional contributing writer for Modern Drummer magazine. As of late he's been writing a column for the magazine titled The Doc Is In where readers send in drum-related health questions and Asif answers them. You can see some examples of the column at this link. So if you are a drummer and have any interesting drumming-related health issues to report, feel free to shoot Asif an email at asif70@gmail.com. To learn more about Asif you can check out his website and his MySpace Page.
I've mentioned severaltimesin the past about Alex Lifeson's friendship with professional golfer Rocco Mediate. Rocco was all over the news last week because of his dramatic playoff with Tiger Woods at the US Open last week. He ended up losing but it was still a great accomplishment.
I'd forgotten to mention a couple weeks ago that Rolling Stone magazine actually published an obituary for the late John Rutsey who died last month in issue #1054. Here it is:
John Rutsey, 1953-2008 Rush's original drummer, John Rutsey, 55, who played on their first hit, 'Working Man,' before being replaced by Neil Peart died on May 11th in Toronto from complications related to diabetes. Rutsey played with the prog trio from 1968-1974, leaving because of his struggles with diabetes and his dislike of touring. 'Our memories of Rush when John was in the band are very fond to us,' Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson said in a statement. 'Those years spent in our teens, dreaming of one day doing what we continue to do decades later, are special.'
Thanks to Kelly D for the reminder.
The Lux Blog - companion to Pittsburgh's Lux Magazine - has been running a series of posts focusing on Rush over the past couple of months, leading up to the band's July 2nd show in Pittsburgh. They're an interesting read and you can check them all out at this link.
And before I go, I think every drummer (or wannabe drummer) will want one of these for their car (thanks John at Cygnus-X1.net).
As expected, Neil Peart has taken advantage of the band's last extended break on the 2008 tour to compose another News Update to his website. Neil spends a lot of time describing his motorcycle travels across the Northwest, through snow and wind and winding, rock-strewn roads. He adds this little tidbit regarding the upcoming live DVD of the Rotterdam shows, due out this fall:
... During that day I watched the finished edit for our live DVD from last October in Rotterdam. It looked really good, and we had played well, so it was enjoyable to view, but I could not get over how composed I looked. Such a contrast to how it feels, mentally and physically-brain frantically trying to keep everything "under control," and body pounding away at full strength all the time. It doesn't seem fair that it should look so easy. But as I learned a long time ago, "Ain't no why, ain't no fair." ...
... unfortunately the show we were on our way to-Red Rocks, near Denver-had been cancelled due to impending bad weather. The same front that delivered us a blizzard brought thunderstorms to Denver, and tornadoes to Kansas. Our equipment trucks and crew buses had already been on-site at Red Rocks that morning when the decision was made to cancel, but we'll be making it up at the beginning of the next run.
Knowing the weather was threatening that show, I checked my cell phone at the park and saw I had a message, but there was no cell service until an hour later, back in Gunnison. I led Brian into a roadside spray-wash (a rare and valuable shelter for a motorcyclist on a rainy day-more roadcraft), and called tour manager Liam to discuss alternatives for the make-up date, and bus driver Dave to plan our logistics. I arranged to meet Dave and Michael in the parking lot of an arena in downtown Denver, where I did a quick oil change, then we loaded the bikes in the trailer and climbed on the bus. Dropping Brian at his hotel, Dave drove Michael and me to a truck stop in western Kansas. The following day we would enjoy a pleasant ride on the back roads of the Great Plains, without snow, rain, cold, police, or traffic. ...
So it sounds like the band and crew were already at Red Rocks the morning of the show when the decision to cancel was made. He continues describing his travels, moving across the Mississippi to points east - and closes with some thoughts regarding future projects including the upcoming Buddy Rich Memorial Concert and possibly another book:
... People often ask, "What's next for the band?", but we learned long ago that when you're in the middle of a big job, you don't need to talk about another one. So, in the middle of a tour, we never talk about making another album, and in the middle of recording, we never talk about another tour. One job at a time, even in your own head, is easier to deal with-you don't need another burden if you can keep it "in storage" for a while.
For fifteen years people have been saying to me, "I hear this is your last tour" (I've been saying it myself since 1989), but subjects like that don't even get raised among the three of us. Certainly after the last two summers of heavy touring, which will eventually add up to well over a hundred shows, there will be no more of that for a while.
(I adopted my current motto, "What cannot be altered, must be endured," around New Year's, and actually found it useful in such occasions as, say, flight delays. Only much later did I realize that the reverse was equally true, in a less passive way: "What cannot be endured, must be altered.")
Some fresh challenges await me, no doubt. Later this year, I have agreed to take part in another big-band project, a Buddy Rich tribute concert in October, and that will be a huge occasion to try to rise to. I'm thinking a lot about that these days.
While I ride the open roads, from time to time I have given a little thought to trying to write another book. It seems to me that the stories I've been writing for this Web site are laying a good foundation for another challenge I might like to undertake: a book called ROADCRAFT: How to Work the World. If I could draw together all I've learned about traveling, in the literal sense and in a larger, metaphorical way, it might be worthwhile. It wouldn't be just for motorcyclists, of course, or even just for travelers-but I would love to make the particular elements of roadcraft apply to the larger journey: life.
The gas can, the oil changes, the rain gear, the maps and signs.
How to make the most of the road you're on; what to do when the road gets tough; what to do when the road ends.
That would be a tale worth telling.
(Hint: In reference to the question, "what to do when the road ends," the correct response is not, "Pout.")
Thanks to Ripsin2 for the heads up.
Rush to receive star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
UPDATE - 6/19@10:24AM: According to Donna Halper the ceremony will not be happening in 2009. They are shooting to do the ceremony sometime in 2010. More details as I learn them.
About a month ago I alerted you to a campaign that was underway to get Rush a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The campaign is spearheaded by long-time Rush friend Donna Halper - the woman who is credited with discovering Rush while working at WMMS-FM in Cleveland back in 1974 - and Rush fans extraordinaire Keith and Kevin Purdy. Well, it looks like their efforts have paid off. According to an Associated Press news release from this morning, Rush will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year! More details as they become available. Thanks to unique43 for the heads up.
The official Billboard Boxscore attendance and sales figures for 5 more dates were released yesterday. The Moline, St. Paul, George, Ridgefield and Boise shows have reported numbers. Keep in mind that the capacity figures reported do not correspond to the actual physical capacity of the venue; it reflects the number of tickets that were made available to be sold. The new least-attended show for the tour is now the Boise date with only 5,568 tickets sold; and the new least-grossing date is the Moline show with $298,153 in sales. With the new numbers, the average attendance for reported dates has been 7,681 tickets sold out of 9,680 available and the average gross sales has been $515,733. Many thanks to Mark S for providing the numbers. I've added the figures to the tour section, each individual show's open thread and also repeated them here.
Tue, May, 20: i wireless Center - Moline, IL Attendance / Capacity: 5,789 / 6,526 Gross Ticket Sales: $298,153
Thu, May, 22: Xcel Energy Center - St. Paul, MN Attendance / Capacity: 7,901 / 12,440 Gross Ticket Sales: $494,340
Sat, May, 31: Gorge Amphitheatre - George, WA Attendance / Capacity: 10,450 / 14,482 Gross Ticket Sales: $638,211
Sun, Jun, 1: The Amphitheater at Clark County - Ridgefield, WA Attendance / Capacity: 8,157 / 10,790 Gross Ticket Sales: $449,155
Tue, Jun, 3: Idaho Center - Boise, ID Attendance / Capacity: 5,568 / 6,160 Gross Ticket Sales: $330,479
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Rock Band: Moving Pictures to be made available for download
As most Rush fans know already, the popular video game Rock Bandincluded Tom Sawyer as one of its featured tracks, with Limelight and Working Man later released for download. Harmonix Music Systems released a software update in March for the game which included an in-game music store. Since then they've made 3 full albums available for download in the store, the latest being the Pixies' Doolittle. The latest issue of Game Informer magazine (July 2008) reports in their Loose Talk section that the next album slated for release will be Rush's Moving Pictures! The big question then is whether these will be the master tracks or cover versions; all the Rush tracks released thus far have been covers. Thanks to Doug B for the heads up.
Donna Halper is a highly respected radio consultant, media historian, author and - most importantly to readers of this site - the woman who is credited with discovering Rush while working as a program director at WMMS in Cleveland back in 1974. Donna recently attended the show in Boston and was inspired to write an article at OpEdNews.com titled With a Little Help From My Friends. The article focuses on the topic of friendship and how it relates to politics. She uses her long-running friendship with Rush to illustrate her point. Here's an excerpt:
... Last night, I went to see Rush (the rock group, not the right-wing talk show host), and as I was driving home from the concert, some thoughts about the value of friendship kept running through my mind. Back in 1974, when I was a disc jockey and music director at WMMS-FM in Cleveland, I was fortunate to receive a copy of a self-published album by a Canadian band I'd never heard of; from the moment I played the track "Working Man," I knew that Rush had immense potential. So I helped them to get a U.S. recording contract (the story how it all came about is posted to a number of fan websites, so I won't repeat it here) and we became friends. Since those early days when I first met Alex, Geddy and Neil, we've kept in touch sporadically; they've become as successful as I knew they'd be, and I've gotten a few accomplishments of my own. But the bottom line is we're all pretty busy. And yet, 34 years later, we still keep in touch. ...
... As I'd said, when I first discovered the band, I had no expectations of getting anything in return. So, when they dedicated their first two albums to me, and when I was given the opportunity to be the MC at one of their live shows in Cleveland, that was more recognition than I had usually received; as a music director for more than 13 years, I had helped a number of bands, and had seldom gotten so much as a thank you. I didn't take it personally. I understood that's how things often went in the music industry, and when Rush and their management acknowledged my efforts on their behalf, it was a pleasant surprise. But I certainly never expected that more than three decades later, the band would continue to remember what I did for them during those first few years. When I tell people that the members of Rush are the same kind, down-to-earth guys I met in 1974, some folks are skeptical, given what they've heard about rock stars. But the fact remains: success hasn't spoiled them. When I see them backstage, when we hug and chat about whatever, it's amazing to me that here we are, each of us with a lot more achievements than we had in 1974, but there's no ego, and no pretence. They're courteous (there's that word again) and while they have definite opinions about politics, the way they express them doesn't demean anyone. And even though our lives and our circumstances may have changed, we still care about each other. ...
Well said. These are the kinds of sentiments I hear and read time and time again about Rush, and one of the many reasons they have been my favorite band for over 25 years. Thanks to Hans for the heads up.
Last week Chris posted a great article at Sabian.com chronicling the entire experience along with a bunch of great pictures. The article is in 2 parts; part 1 here and part 2 here. It's a really fun read; the photos are especially worth checking out. Many thanks to windycitygirl for the heads up.
UPDATE - 7/25@2:06PM: Mike Hsu, the afternoon DJ from WAAF in Boston, has some cool backstage pictures (and funny commentary) posted at this link (thanks Spike).
UPDATE - 6/17@10:17AM: Here's a lukewarm review from the Boston Globe where the reviewer complains about the lack of setlist changes from the first leg. Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.
UPDATE - 6/15@10:09AM: Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.
Reader Kalman wanted me to let everyone know about some planned pre-show activities. Folks will start to gather at Moriarty's Pub at around 2PM and then onto the AT&T Pavilion at the Wachovia Center at 5-5:30PM. Have a blast everybody!
Date/Time: Saturday, June 14th @ 7:30PM Show Number: 31 Venue:Wachovia Center Place: Philadelphia, PA
There's another new video up at Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush Video section. This one is pretty interesting and illustrates some of the bizarre issues that road crews sometimes have to contend with on the road. This video was shot before the show at the Cynthia Woods Pavilion (aka The Spiderdome) back on April 19th. I won't spoil the surprise - just check it out... you won't be disappointed. :) Thanks to coolphantom190 for the heads up.
The band will hit Philadelphia and Boston over the weekend before taking a 10-day break. They'll kickoff the last third of the tour on June 25th for the rescheduled show at Red Rocks. Other than the tour there's not much going on in Rush-land this week so this will be a short update; just a few bits of Rush randomness to report.
Here's a little preview article for the Boston show from the Boston Phoenix which includes a mini-interview with Geddy Lee.
There's a wikipedia-born rumor floating around regarding the producer of Rush's next studio album. The wikipedia entry for producer Bob Rock states the following:
Rock was asked directly and interviewed with Canadian rock trio Rush to produce their eighteenth studio album Snakes & Arrows, because Rock had prior obligations he was unable to produce the record but directed the band to Foo Fighters and Velvet Revolver producer Nick Raskulinecz for the gig. Bob Rock attended the Rush concert at the Los Angeles Nokia Live on May 8, 2008 where he discussed with band members about Rush's next record. He also was unavailable to produce Rush's 2002 album Vapor Trails, due to obligations with Metallica.
And under his production credits is listed 2009 - Rush - untitled 20th studio album. The information is not sourced so I'm a bit skeptical. From all the band interviews conducted over the past year it sounds like Rush would prefer to work with Nick Raskulinecz again. I'm trying to find out more about this and will report back when I do.
Back in February I'd put up a post about an independent film which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival called Adventures of Power. The film is chock full of Rush references and most notably includes a cameo from Neil Peart; his first speaking role in a live-action film. The movie recently won the Audience Award at the Vail Film Festival and there are several screenings coming up. This Saturday, June 14th at 7PM the film will be shown in Toronto, ON at the NXNE Festival at the Royal Cinema (608 College St.). It will also be screened in Provincetown, MA at the Provincetown International Film Festival on Friday and Saturday, June 20-21 at 9:30PM at the Provincetown Theater; and also in San Antonio, TX on Saturday June 21st at 8PM (not clear on the exact location). It will also make its European premier at the Karlovy-Vary International Film Festival on Thursday, July 10 at 7:30PM and Friday, July 11 at 4PM at the Kino Cas/Espace Dorleans. And there will be an air drum competition in San Francisco in August to coincide with a week of screenings there as well. For more information on the film you can visit the website, the mySpace page or the Facebook page.
Early last month I told you about Rush fan and RIAB reader Stephen's (aka ReGorLaTroy) Great Rush Fan Challenge. He was inspired by Rush's recent donation to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in New Orleans to put forth a challenge to Rush fans to donate to the New Orleans Area Habitat For Humanity. To donate simply go to their website donation page and write Great Rush Fan Challenge in the comment field. From anecdotal evidence Stephen estimates that Rush fans have already contributed close to $2500! Way to go!
Here's an interesting little article on the recently released Moog Guitar in which Geddy Lee is mentioned. Rush made use of the Moog synthesizer on several of their 70s-era recordings.
And since not much else is going on, here's a video of the unreleased early-era Rush track Garden Road synched up with some vintage bootleg video (thanks zenarcade2003); and here's a well-made fan video for The Pass that I recently came across.
UPDATE - 6/15@10:08AM: Here's a review from The Gazette (thanks primemover_3). Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section. Also, reader primemover_3 had some very extra-special access at the show and posted some great pics to the gallery.
Date/Time: Thursday, June 12th @ 7:30PM Show Number: 30 Venue:Bell Centre Place: Montreal, QC
UPDATE - 6/12@9:17PM: Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.
UPDATE - 6/12@12:05PM: I had a great time at the show and met a bunch of great folks. Thanks to everybody who stopped by the 5th row and said hey. Here's a review from GoAndDoMichigan.com (thanks MJ).
I'll be at the show tonight - 5th row center. Stop by and say hey if you are able. I should be easy to spot with my RIAB t-shirt. Rush on!
Date/Time: Tuesday, June 10th @ 7:30PM Show Number: 29 Venue:Joe Louis Arena Place: Detroit, MI
Mother Nature played the role of spoiler last night, causing the postponement of Rush's scheduled show at Red Rocks. We just learned earlier today that the show has been rescheduled for Wednesday, June 25th - not the 22nd as was previously rumored. The problem is that there's already a show scheduled on that date in Noblesville! Sheesh... what a mess. I'll try to sort this all out and get back to you. In the meantime I've updated the tour page and moved the Red Rocks show to that 25th date. So the tour now heads east for the remaining 22 dates, playing Kansas City this weekend and then Chicago and Detroit early next week.
In my last poll I asked everyone what concerts (other than Rush) they plan on attending this summer. The clear winner (other than None of the above) was Yes with 13.6% of the vote. Coming in a close second was Iron Maiden with 10.3%. Unfortunately Yes just announced earlier this week that they would be canceling their summer tour due to singer Jon Anderson's ill health. For the complete results, go here. For this week's poll I thought I'd ask you how many times you've seen Rush live in your lifetime. So take the poll and let us know.
There have been some reports of people sitting on stage (not close to the stage, but actually on the stage) at several stops on the tour. Here's the explanation; apparently a few radio stations have been running promo contests to upgrade your seats to the stage. Both WLUP in Chicago and WRIF in Detroit are running such contests for the upcoming shows next week. Just a heads up for those of you going to those shows to look out for these contests.
There was a short article in Digital Arts magazine online Tuesday on the new intermission video that's been shown on the 2008 leg of the tour. You can check it out here.
There's a new video up at Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush Video section. It's a short video and features a few fans being interviewed during intermission at the Oklahoma City show.
There's a new movie coming out next year sometime titled I Love You Man which will star Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Jaime Pressly and Rashida Jones. The movie is about a newly engaged guy who sets out to find the perfect Best Man for his wedding. Apparently Paul Rudd's character is a Rush fan who plays bass, and plays some Rush in the movie. There's also a scene shot on location at a Rush show. Rudd got to meet the guys and interview them too. He was recently interviewed by IESB.net and had a few things to say about Rush:
IESB: It looks like you can really play the bass guitar.
Paul Rudd: I can't, I can play a couple of those songs though, I tried to learn "Limelight" on bass and "Tom Sawyer", and I figured out the very basic ... I tried to get that "Limelight", it's not a really kind of generic way of playing, I could do enough to get the calluses going anyway.
IESB: Are you a fan of "Rush"?
Rudd: I do like "Rush", yeah, when I was a kid they scared me a little bit because I saw the video of "Tom Sawyer" and Geddy Lee just had his hair hanging down, there were certain guys like Rick Nielson of "Cheap Trick" also that I was just kind of freaked out by them. ... Yeah, there were those musicians that really rattled me, and then "Tom Sawyer", I was like "Why is it called "Tom Sawyer, it just sounds so dark and evil," and then I got a little older and then I kind of went through this phase where I bought "Moving Pictures", that record, and then I was like "Red Barchetta", that's where it's at, and I went through a little "Rush" phase and then I got totally of course kind of into them years ago, and kind of like "The Spirit of the Radio" I would play it in my car really loud, so I was really nervous to meet them anyway.
IESB: Did you have scenes against them, or are they just playing on stage?
Rudd: No, they're in the movie and we didn't have any scenes where I engaged with them, I was just a fan dancing in the show, but I got to meet them, and Jason and I actually interviewed them and I was nervous and like, "How do you interview "Rush"?" They seem also to be really a band that has shied away, they've really lived the words of "Limelight", living in the limelight, it's surreal and they can't pretend that a stranger is a long waited friend, I just kept thinking that when I was trying to buddy up to them, but they were very funny and very friendly, and big fans of "Team America".
IESB: I was going to say, did you see their "Trailer Park Boys" episode where they kidnapped them?
Rudd: No.
IESB: It's a Canadian show.
Rudd: Yeah, I know that show.
IESB: They kidnap one of the guitar players, it's pretty funny, I just watched it the other day.
Rudd: They're really funny guys like they were very nice and yeah, they were really cool, and I don't know how the topic of "South Park" and "Team America" came up, "Team America" and they all went crazy and started talking, and quoting it, and it was just really weird to be exchanging "Team America" quotes with Neil Peart.
Cool. Thanks to The Trinity over at Counterparts for the heads up.
You may be aware that at one time the Rush Backstage Club was selling a 2GB Rush flash drive (USB stick). They've been out of stock for a while but are now selling them at shows on the tour. However, reader rushisgreat let me know that the ones they are selling at shows are not the same as the old sticks. These new ones are 4GB instead of 2GB and are preloaded with the R30 version of Red Sector A (which was not included on the R30 DVD) in multistream Quicktime format. The stick cost $40 CDN. Cool. Hopefully they'll be selling these at the Rush Backstage Club soon too.
Here's an interesting little article from the Seattle Weekly's Nicolae White titled Black Rushin' which chronicles the experiences of a being the member of an ethnic minority and also a Rush fan. Thanks to germanwill for the link.
The latest issue of our favorite music magazine Rolling Stone includes a feature on the The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time. Guess What!? Rush isn't on the list. This glaring error was called out in a recent article on this listat Idolator.com. They state, Please get over your tiresome institutional bias and pay the noted Canadian progressive rock/objectivist power trio the respect it is due in future iterations of your dreadfully dull rockist lists. Well said.
... playing has helped me get back into shape. I've gone back to what I used to do in high school. I really got back into Rush and King Crimson and Yes - all the prog stuff to get the brain fired up again. I did that for about a month and then we jumped into rehearsals.
The band is touring this summer.
And finally in Presidential election news, presumptive Democratic nominee for President Barack Obama passed a very important threshold in the delegate count Tuesday night as exhibited by this photo. Thanks to Drew over at Counterparts for the image. :)
UPDATE - 6/6@9:37PM: Oops. The Indy show has been postponed to JULY 24th ... not June 24th. Will the madness never end!! :) Thanks to Bob A for the heads up.
UPDATE - 6/6@4:11PM: I'm now hearing that the Indy show has been moved up one day to the 24th but I haven't received any official confirmation yet.
UPDATE - 6/6@3:23PM: I just realized that the rescheduled date conflicts with the show in Noblesville that was already scheduled for that date. I'll try to find out what's going on.
UPDATE - 6/5@11:34AM: Here's a posting on the Red Rocks website announcing the postponement and here's the official word from LiveNation (thanks johnvinson). By the way, tonight's postponement decision was initated by LiveNation and not the band.
I've been hearing rumblings about this all morning, but it's now been confirmed by the venue that tonight's show at Red Rocks is being postponed due to inclement weather. There's been no official announcement of when the show will be rescheduled but I keep hearing Sunday, June 22nd. The venue's website and Rush.com still don't have any announcement posted as of right now, but if you call the venue at 720-865-2494 you can get confirmation for yourself. More as I learn it. Thanks to johnvinson and Power Windows for the info.
It's no secret to Rush fans that Geddy Lee is a huge baseball fanatic. Last year Geddy paid a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and was so impressed by it that he recently donated about 200 baseballs from his collection to the Museum. All the balls are autographed by former Negro Leagues baseball players or backers such as Cool Papa Bell, Hank Aaron and Lionel Hampton. From the Kansas City Star:
Close to 200 baseballs, all autographed by former Negro Leagues baseball players or backers, have been donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum by a somewhat surprising fan ... Rush singer/bassist Geddy Lee ...
... Lee, whose band performs Saturday at Starlight (see Page 39), dropped by the museum last year unannounced, Kendrick said.
"I wasn't here, but another employee walked him through the museum, and apparently he fell in love with the place," Kendrick said. "He already had a huge respect for the Negro Leagues, as the collection shows, and this brought it home to him."
Kendrick said the museum still needs to figure out how to display the baseballs, but just having Lee make the donation is a big plus for the museum.
"It opens us up to another audience that may not have thought about the Negro Leagues prior," he said. "And again it shows the wide range of folks who have been struck by this story."
Yet another random act of kindness from our favorite frontman. Many thanks to John at Cygnus-x1.net for the heads up.
Last week we learned that Rush donated $100,000 from their recent show in Winnipeg to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In addition to this, the band announced that they'd be selling museum t-shirts at all of their remaining Canadian stops on the tour and donating all of the proceeds from those sales to the museum's $105-million private sector fund-raising campaign. These t-shirts can now also be purchased at the Rush Backstage Club. The shirts say This t-shirt fights for human rights! on the front. And on the back along with the Snakes & Arrows logo it states My pals RUSH and I support the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Thanks to nposter for the heads up.
UPDATE - 6/29@9:19AM: A scanned version of the article is up online at 
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