UPDATE - 6/7@12:02PM:Caravan has debuted at #26 on the Mediabase Rock Chart. Please call your local rock stations and request the song so we can push it even higher.
UPDATE - 6/2@2:02PM:Caravan is currently the #3 downloaded rock song at the US iTunes store and #1 in Canada and Finland. Caravan and BU2B are #4 and #5 respectively at Amazon. These numbers change frequently so I won't be posting every update to the lists, but you can check out the links yourself to track the song's position. Very impressive.
UPDATE - 6/2@9:52AM:If you haven't purchased the tracks yet I highly suggest that you do, and do so legally to show support for the band. If you have doubts, you can listen to 40-second preview clips of both tracks at Amazon and other merchants, and several folks have uploaded the tracks to YouTube (Caravan, BU2B). These clips and the YouTube versions do not do the songs justice however. You really need to download the higher quality mp3s to get the full effect. Several readers have reported hearing the songs on the radio already. If you are willing and able, call your local rock radio stations and request the songs.
UPDATE - 6/1@10:49PM:Sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple of days. I was traveling and had only limited internet access. I'll be catching up with all the comments and emails the rest of this week. It looks like most everyone was able to successfully download the new tracks from the various digital music sellers out there. Thanks to everyone for all of their feedback, reviews and opinions (700+ comments!), and especially for keeping the discussion civil. The Rush.com website has revamped its look and feel with the new Caravan and BU2B graphics/music. The PDF booklet that comes with the Caravan bundle includes the graphics and liner notes along with the lyrics to both songs. I've only just had a chance to listen to the tracks myself about an hour ago and am blown away. Rush is back!
The Caravan single along with its B-side BU2B will be released digitally via iTunes, Amazon and other outlets tomorrow, June 1st. We've known about this for a couple of weeks now due to Amazon's early listing of the single, but the release was officially announced earlier last week along with the title of Rush's next album, which will include these 2 tracks. Rush's 20th studio album will be called Clockwork Angels and get released sometime in the first half of 2011. Use this thread to discuss the new tracks and give us your thoughts/opinions.
Since early this year I've been hearing reports that Rush would be including South American dates on their 2010 tour. My latest information had been saying about 5 dates in mid-October. Now Chilean newspaper La Tercera is reporting that the band has indeed been booked to play the National Stadium in Santiago, Chile sometime in mid-October. The exact date is still being finalized, and the article also mentions that the band will be playing a few shows in Brazil. The article also addresses all thefalse alarms in recent years regarding Rush playing South America, but seem more sure about things this time. You can read the entire article in Spanish at this link and see a Google translation at this link. If anyone can get me a better translation let me know. Thanks to remistofeles for the heads up.
... What's weird about it is that we change our logo almost every album. Most bands come up with some logo, and they beat it to death. Every tour, we come up with a different font, different lettering, different imagery to relate to whatever that particular album is. Despite that, we seem to have not alienated our fans. Certain albums have resonated with fans in a serious way, and those have over time turned into recognizable logos, like the Starman, the skull from Roll the Bones, and [the cover of] Farewell to Kings ... but it's not like we intentionally go out there now and use the Starman on every album - it only appears on 2112. Obviously we sell retro merchandise that still has those elements visible on them; fans do respond to that because it might be their favourite album. I think more than anything, the Starman has become synonymous with Rush. ...
You can check out the entire interview at this link. Thanks to cameron2112 for the heads up.
UPDATE - 5/29@10:48AM: Someone uploaded this clip to YouTube (possible SPOILER alert) claiming it is a demo of Caravan which includes only the guitar part playing along to a drum loop. I can't verify whether this is genuine or not, but there you have it. Thanks to Joe W from CT for the heads up.
In less than 4 days we'll be treated to the first new Rush music in over 3 years! The Caravan single along with its B-side BU2B will be released digitally via iTunes, Amazon and other outlets this coming Tuesday, June 1st. We've known about this for a couple of weeks now due to Amazon's early listing of the single, but the release was officially announced earlier this week along with the title of Rush's next album, which will include these 2 tracks. Rush's 20th studio album will be called Clockwork Angels and get released sometime in the first half of 2011. As if this news wasn't enough, the latest edition of Classic Rock presents Prog magazine contains a short article on Rush which reports that Rush's back catalog will be the subject of a major reissues campaign in 2011. Rush's back catalog was last reissued back in 1997, when all of their albums through A Show of Hands were re-released as the Atlantic Rush Remasters series. You can check out some scans of the article in this post.
Last Friday Neil Peart posted a news update to his website at NeilPeart.net. In this latest news, weather and sports update, Neil takes us on a journey through time. He introduces a few old photos of himself and gives us some background on each one. He then goes on to describe rehearsing for the new tour and coming up with his new drum solo, recording the 2 new songs at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, and the construction of his new drum kit. You can read the entire news update at this link.
Rush's Time Machine tour kicks off in less than 5 weeks and the band is busily rehearsing in Toronto as we speak. Inevitably there are a few rumored rehearsal setlists floating around the inter-tubes currently. While I can't confirm with 100% certainty that these setlists aren't genuine, that's exactly what my sources are telling me. If I do get my hands on a setlist that I can confirm as the real thing, then I'll be sure to post it along with appropriate spoiler warnings for those of you concerned about that kind of thing.
Speaking of the tour, I've been getting a lot of questions from readers regarding when they'll receive their tickets, their Rush VIP packages and/or their Music Today t-shirt and water bottle. Unfortunately I don't have any clear answers to those questions as I've been receiving a lot of conflicting information. Here's what Ticketmaster says regarding the VIP packages:
The ticket-portion the package must be picked up at will call on night of show only. Non-ticket elements will be shipped. Limited edition CD and Documentary DVD will be shipped upon release. VIP package details including shipping information will be emailed to customers shortly after purchase. You'll get an email within 14 - 21 business days with easy package redemption instructions.
This obviously isn't accurate since many folks first purchased tickets over a month ago and haven't received any information from Ticketmaster. From my own experience, the Music Today tickets should arrive at least 2 weeks prior to the show date, but I'm not quite clear on when the t-shirt/water bottle bundles will be sent out. Your best bet is to contact Ticketmaster and/or Music Today directly and ask them.
... I got to see my band for the price on the ticket and not the price of a three bedroom home in Stockton, California-which happens to be where I saw my very first Rush concert, thanks for asking. It was The Farewell to Kings tour. ... They played "Xanadu" and "Cygnus X-1" in their entirety. It cost $8.50. I'm not kidding. That is, of course, back when you could get arrested for breaking anti-trust laws, scalping laws, and probably a bunch of other laws I don't know about ... Live Nation and Ticketmaster are breaking anti-trust and scalping laws. Our government is apparently ok with it because Congressmen get in free anyway. As predicted by many people much smarter than I, the merger of the two companies, along with Ticketmaster's ability to sell tickets to itself and then resale them way above face value, has sent tickets prices right through the pleasure dome. ...
Amen brother!
Artisan News Service posted a news clip recently covering Rush's tour and spoke with Alex and Geddy about the challenge of playing Moving Pictures in its entirety. You can check out the clip at this link. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage will be released to theaters across North America and Europe the second week of June. The distributors continue to add cities/theaters due to high demand. A list of US cities/theaters can be seen here, a list of Canadian cities/theaters are at this location, and European release information can be found here. The documentary will be released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 29th in the US/Canada and July 5th in the UK. It will get its television premiere on VH1 and VH1 Classic on June 26th. You can check out all the coverage of the documentary's world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival including photos, videos, reviews, interviews and news articles in this post; for Canadian premiere coverage at Hot Docs see this post. To listen to Geddy and Alex discuss the documentary on the radio interview circuit check out this post, and go here for their CNN interview. The official trailer for the film can be viewed at this link along with these 2 preview clips.
... Join Hard Rock Cafe Denver for an amazing night celebrating the music and history of RUSH! On June 9th, Hard Rock Cafe Denver will be hosting a RUSH movie party to benefit Safe House Denver. Enjoy a specialty menu for $21.12, enter to win amazing Rush prizes including the new documentary DVD Rush-Beyond the Lighted Stage (*to be awarded June 29th) and bid on limited edition, one of a kind pieces of actual Rush memorabilia donated from the band including:
A pair of drum sticks used by Neil Peart
A limited edition Rush lithograph signed by the band
Rush-Beyond the Lighted stage movie posters
And much, much more!
All proceeds from the silent auction will benefit Safe House Denver (http://www.safehouse-denver.org/). As an added bonus, we will be showing exclusive footage from the new film! Drum City Guitar Land and Colorado Music Buzz Magazine will be on hand with giveaways as well. Be here to celebrate Rush's legendary career and support Safe House Denver! For more information, visit the Hard Rock Denver website, or call 303-266-0856.
Apparently Poison frontman and reality TV star Bret Michaels is a Rush fan. In this clip from MTV's new show When I Was 17 Michaels mentions Rush as one of the great rock-n-roll bands he listened to in high school. Thanks to Sean for the heads up.
Reader tonyp created this cool collage of Rush song titles which you can check out and download at this link.
... It is in fact "Geek Week." Whether or not you identify as a geek, we here at THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW believe there may be a geek inside you struggling to get out. The part of you that's more than you'd like to admit may be into fly fishing, into old cars, into cars that are really high off the ground or really low to the ground, into abstract expressionism, into music theory, into video games, into figuring out whether the lyrics to Rush songs are secretly libertarian. ...
Thanks to Jedi Sushi Chef for the heads up.
Reader barney_rebel pointed me to this National Post article discussing possible changes to Canada's copyright laws. The article focuses on Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement and how he has broken current copyright law whilst building his own personal digital music collection over the past several years. They took a peak at his iPod and among the first 10 songs that appeared when they shuffled his playlist was Rush's Lakeside Park. Clement is a known Rush fan and back in March posted the following to his Twitter account in regards to Rush's continued exclusion from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
I'm sick for one day and WT heck? ABBA in the R&R HofF?? And no Rush? This world is just so confusing...
... Penn is lamenting political labels and says "So, I'll go with 'libertarian.' It means I can be pro-porn and anti-government health care. It means I don't have to drive a Prius, or listen to Rush (Limbaugh, I do listen to Geddy Lee). ...
Gutfeld is a huge Rush fan and often quotes Rush lyrics on his Fox News show Red Eye.
Yours truly was recently interviewed by Jaleh Donaldson for an associated content article on blogging. You can check it out at this link.
The latest edition of Classic Rock presents Prog magazine contains a short article on Rush where they speak with Geddy Lee about the Rush documentary, the band's upcoming album and tour, and their future plans. The article mentions that Rush hopes to tour the UK in 2011 along with this very interesting bit of news:
... Rush's back catalogue will be the subject of a major reissues campaign in 2011 ...
Rush's back catalog was last reissued back in 1997, when all of their albums through A Show of Hands were re-released as The Rush Remasters series. It'll be interesting to see what this next major reissues campaign will entail. You can check out the entire article by clicking on the scans above. Thanks to Chris W for the heads up and the scans.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Moving Pictures, 2112 Classic Album DVD due September 28th
Anthem/Atlantic recording group Rush has announced the upcoming release of their eagerly anticipated new single. "Caravan" -- which will be featured on the legendary band's forthcoming album, "CLOCKWORK ANGELS" -- will be available at all DSPs on June 1st and serviced to radio simultaneously.
"Caravan" will be bundled with an additional new album track, entitled "BU2B." Both tracks were recorded earlier this year in Nashville with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, The Deftones), who previously collaborated with Rush on 2007's critically acclaimed "SNAKES & ARROWS." Rush will return to the studio to resume recording after the completion of the upcoming "Time Machine Tour," with plans to release their 20th studio album, "CLOCKWORK ANGELS," in 2011. ...
So as was expected, Caravan will be released to radio on June 1st as well. You can purchase Caravan and BU2Btogether or separately, and if purchased together a digital PDF booklet is included. A CD single version will be distributed with the Rush VIP pre-sale ticket packages being sold for the band's upcoming Time Machine Tour and will presumably also be made available for purchase on the tour and through the Rush Backstage Club. Thanks to John at Cygnus-X1.net for the heads up.
Neil Peart has once again updated the News page on his website. In this news, weather and sports update, Neil takes us on a journey through time. He introduces a few old photos of himself and gives us some background on each one. He then goes on to describe rehearsing for the new tour and coming up with his new drum solo, recording the 2 new songs at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, and the construction of his new drum kit. Included is a photo of him on his Snakes & Arrows kit in Nashville:
... This photo was taken at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, while I was being the "time machine"-recording drum parts for two new Rush songs. Alex, Geddy, and I had put them together over the winter and spring, mostly by long distance (Geddy e-mailing me from Toronto to report on his and Alex's progress in his home studio, and to request lyrical alterations), even as we were planning our "Time Machine" tour. We had never done anything like that before-write, arrange, record, and release just two songs, instead of a whole album-then go out on tour and play them, along with what we thought was an inventive selection of our older songs. But the real-time time machine-life-has brought many changes to what used to be called the "music business," and we thought, "Why not?"
I was using the Snakes and Arrows kit for that session, and now, rehearsing for the tour at Drum Channel, I was playing a mish-mash of a setup, based on the "Hockey Kit," that Gump had successfully assembled for me to work with-because just around the corner, at Drum Workshop, a spectacular new drumset was under construction, down to the final details of finishing and assembly. Sometimes Gump and I took a "field trip" over to the factory, to check on its progress.
As I played through the old songs the three of us had agreed to resurrect for the "Time Machine" tour, some of which I hadn't played live in ten years, twenty years, or ever, it occurred to me that the ultimate time machine might be a song. What else can immediately take you to a particular moment in time-an indelible memory that overwhelms you with its completeness? Smells are famously powerful memory stimulators, and-as we have seen-images of the past can have an intense effect of revitalizing the olden days. But when it comes to really taking you somewhere, there is nothing like a song.
And it doesn't have to be only about memory. It happens that the two songs we recorded that day in Nashville are detached from the past, rooted in the present, and pointed toward the future. Because they are the first two parts of what we envision as an extended album-length story, they truly are a work in progress, and thus a glimpse of our own future. Some sneer at the notion of "progressive" music, but I am pleased to note that I'm still progressing-several elements of my drum parts in those songs contain discoveries in technique and knowledge that I have only acquired in the past couple of years-studying with Peter Erskine, playing the Buddy Rich tribute concert, recording "The Hockey Theme," and just generally moving through time, as a drummer. ...
Neil also includes a beautiful picture of him and baby Olivia at the end of the article. Great reading as always. The thing that jumped out for me is Neil revealing that Rush will by a playing a song or songs that they have never played live. Anyone care to speculate? A great list of songs that Rush has never played live can be found at the Power Windows site (in the right sidebar). Thanks to Adam G for the heads up.
It's been an exciting week for Rush fans and we can look forward to June being a very exciting month! In less than 2 weeks Rush will be releasing 2 new studio tracks for digital download; Caravan and BU2B. On Wednesday Amazon.com started listing the two tracks with a release date of Tuesday, June 1st. Both tracks are described as single versions with Caravan's running time at 5:40 and BU2B's at 4:21. You can buy them together or separately, and if purchased together a digital PDF booklet is included. A CD single version will be distributed with the Rush VIP pre-sale ticket packages being sold for the band's upcoming Time Machine Tour. The word is that the CD single will also be made available for purchase on the tour and through the Rush Backstage Club, and that they are exploring other formats for distribution such as FLAC. I'm assuming that the Caravan single will also be released to radio around the same time as the digital release as Alex Lifeson indicated in a recent Q104.3 interview. A good portion of the lyrics to Caravan are visible in the background of the higher-res version of the single cover, and fans have been having a lot of fun deciphering the visible lyrics and trying to figure out what BU2B refers to. We'll know for sure a week from Tuesday - hopefully sooner. The new tracks were recorded last month in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz and are 2 out of the 6 that Rush has written so far for their upcoming album.
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage will be released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 29th in the US/Canada and will include a bonus disc with over an hour of extras. On Monday the tracklist of the bonus disc was revealed and a UK release date of July 5th was announced. For all the details check out this post. The film will get a limited theatrical release in North America and Europe the second week of June. A list of US cities/theaters can be seen here, a list of Canadian cities/theaters are at this location, and European release information can be found here. The documentary will get its television premiere on VH1 and VH1 Classic on June 26th. You can check out all the coverage of the documentary's world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival including photos, videos, reviews, interviews and news articles in this post; for Canadian premiere coverage at Hot Docs see this post. To listen to Geddy and Alex discuss the documentary on the radio interview circuit check out this post, and go here for their CNN interview. The official trailer for the film can be viewed at this link along with these 2 preview clips.
We are less than 6 weeks away from opening night of the Time Machine Tour and the band is busily rehearsing in Toronto as confirmed by Neil Peart drum tech Lorne Wheaton's latest MySpace status update:
Back in YYZ for rehearsals. Mood: happy Posted at 12:32 PM May 17
Since most Rush fans have by now obtained tickets for the tour, for my next poll I thought I'd ask everyone how they got their tickets. Take the Poll and let us know. You can check out the results of the last poll where I asked everyone how many shows they plan to attend on the Rush Time Machine Tour at this link. About two-thirds of you are only attending 1 or 2 shows with one person indicating they'll attend 16+ shows! I asked this same question for both the 2007 and 2008 legs of the Snakes & Arrows tours too. It's interesting to compare the results.
Speaking of the tour, VH1 Classic and Live Nation are teaming up to run an I'm With the Band sweepstakes through Facebook. They're giving away tickets, merchandise and backstage passes to different summer concerts including Rush's Time Machine Tour. If you're on Facebook, you can enter at this link. Thanks to The Professor for the heads up.
Last month I reported how Toronto casting agency Jigsaw Casting had posted a casting call to their Facebook group page calling for Rush band member look-a-likes ages 15-19 for a short mock-u-mentary film on the early days of Rush. It turns out that this film will be used as part of Rush's stage show on the upcoming Time Machine Tour. Auditions occurred in Toronto this past week. Reader Mark K's drummer son tried out for the role of a young Neil Peart on Monday and should hear back any time now as to whether he got the part.
Reader Big Rush Fan Mark wanted me to let Buffalo area Rush fans know about a petition that Buffalo's 97 Rock is circulating to try to get Rush to play somewhere in Western New York. It turns out that this petition may not be necessary as I've been hearing rumblings lately that Rush will be adding a show in Darien Lake, NY for sometime in September.
... Just last month Cherry Beach Sound hosted Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame members and rock legends, Rush who were in Toronto working on a project.
Geoff Reading of The Weekly Volcano wrote an article a couple of weeks ago for his Wednesday Reading column titled F**kin' Rush, dude!. The article kicks off with these paragraphs:
I found a 2112 cassette tape in my P.E. locker midway through seventh-grade. I got home and put it in my mom's shoebox-sized player recorder - the kind with the little toggle switch. Just play, stop and forward. The tape was already rewound to the beginning of side one.
"Overture/Temple of Syrinx" blew my little sevey head CLEAN OFF. It was the most stunning thing I had ever heard. It screamed at me, "ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?!! LIFE IS ALL AROUND US BEING LIVED!! DON'T SLACK! LIVE!!!!" ...
He goes on to describe his entire Rush story. It's a very entertaining article that I think a lot of Rush fans can identify with. Coincidentally, finding a beat-up 2112 cassette tape in 7th grade is exactly how I got into Rush too. :)
And the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth "Drugs to Help Us Live to 100 May Be Available From 2012"--headline, Daily Mail (London), May 14
Thanks to Will C for the heads up.
In the latest installment of his music discovery podcast and blog Bands Like Rush, Ben Sommer talks to guitarist Kevin Hufnagel of New York instrumental progressive metal band Dysrhythmia. While a much heavier sounding 3-piece than Rush, anyone who values complex and challenging song structures along with musical virtuosity may want to check out Dysrhythmia's music. To find out more about the band check out their website at this link. You can read the entire interview or listen to the podcast at this link.
Reader jay c let me know about a posting at NPR's All Songs Considered blog where they ask readers to take a quiz where they have to listen to 10 drum fills and identify the song/artist. One of the choices is a Rush song; I won't say which one though - you'll have to take the quiz.
Tea Party candidate Rand Paul (son of Congressman and former Presidential candidate Ron Paul) won the Republican Senatorial primary this past Tuesday, causing a lot of buzz in the press. Although he's not actually named after Ayn Rand (it's just short for Randall), Paul does happens to be a Rush fan and is known to play/quote Rush at his campaign rallies as I'd mentioned last year. In his victory party Tuesday night he arrived to Rush's The Spirit of Radio playing in the background. One supporter got to travel with Paul last summer and reported the following on his blog (thanks muskies-n-rush):
... I learned that Rand Paul is a fan of the best band ever: Rush. You heard it here first: Rand Paul loves Rush music. He said that sometimes in speeches he likes to highlight government corruption and the GOP's drift from its core values by quoting from the Rush song "Spirit of the Radio" which says "Glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity." He also likes "The Trees." ...
UPDATE - 5/19@8:21PM: A few readers have pointed out that a good portion of the lyrics to Caravan are visible in the background of the higher-res version of the single cover.
Rush has been working on new material for their next album over the past several months and has about 6 new songs written. They recently finished recording 2 of these songs in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz, and Geddy revealed in a recent Rolling Stone interview that one is titled Caravan. This title now seems to be official as Amazon has the Caravan single listed on their website as being available for digital download on June 1st. Along with Caravan they list a b-side song titled BU2B. Both tracks are listed as single versions. Caravan's running time is 5:40 and BU2B's is 4:21. You can buy them together or separately, and if purchased together a digital PDF booklet is included. It's not clear if/when a CD single version will be released for purchase, although a CD version will be included with the Rush VIP pre-sale ticket packages being sold for the band's upcoming Time Machine Tour. I'm assuming that the Caravan single will also be released to radio around the same time as the digital release as Alex Lifeson indicated in a recent Q104.3 interview. Thanks to jeffb2112 for the heads up.
We've known for a few weeks that Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage will be released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 29th in the US/Canada and that it would include over an hour of bonus footage. A press release from Universal Music Group and Banger Films was put out earlier today with UK release information, reporting that the film will be released across the pond on July 5th (thanks Mike L). The press release also includes a detailed tracklisting of the bonus DVD. From The Music Fix:
1. Being Bullied and The Search for The First Gig 2. Reflections on the album Hemispheres 3. Presto and Roll The Bones Rap 4. The RUSH Fashion 5. Hobbies on the Road 6. RUSH Trekkies 7. Pre Gig Warm-Up 8. "Best I Can" - (never-before-seen footage w/ original drummer, John Rutsey from 1974) 9. "Working Man" - (never-before-seen footage w/ original drummer, John Rutsey from 1974) 10. "La Villa Strangiato" - Live at Pinkpop Festival in Holland from 1979 (first time this epic song was captured on video) 11. "Between The Sun and Moon" - Hartford, CT (from the band's first show back after hiatus in 2002) 12. Dinner with RUSH at a Hunting Lodge 13. "Far Cry" live - from the 'Snakes & Arrows' DVD 14. "Entre Nous" live - from the 'Snakes & Arrows' DVD 15. "Bravado" - rare live version -- previously only available on the 'R30' Blu-ray version 16. "YYZ" - rare live version -- previously only available on the 'R30' Blu-ray version
I mentioned this as an update to my Friday post but thought it was significant enough to give it a post of its own. CNN ran a story last Thursday covering the Rush documentary titled No stopping rock's Rush. CNN's Andrea Mineo interviewed Alex and Geddy along with Rush documentary filmmakers Scott McFadyen and Sam Dunn. You can watch the 3-minute piece below or at this link.
UPDATE - 5/15@7:21AM: Rush were featured in a CNN news story a couple days ago where Andrea Mineo interviews Alex and Geddy. You can watch the 3-minute piece at this link (thanks RushFanForever).
It was another quiet week for Rush news as the band hunkers down for tour rehearsals, presumably at some undisclosed location in Toronto. If you remember from last week's update, Rush roadie/technician Jack Secret (aka Tony Geranios) sent out a MySpace bulletin last Friday stating that rehearsals for the tour started this week. Opening night is only a month and a half away!
The 10th annual RushCon Rush fan convention will take place this July 16-18 in Toronto, ON along with a one-day mini-con to occur on August 14th in Las Vegas. The RushCon website just opened up registration for the convention yesterday along with details regarding the schedule of events. The theme of this year's convention is RushCon/Force/Ten in celebration of RushCon's 10th anniversary, and the Las Vegas mini-con has cleverly been dubbed the Sister out in Vegas. The venue for the convention will be the Courtyard Marriott Toronto Downtown. On Friday night there will be a harbor boat cruise with guest speaker Jack Secret and a special performance by Jacob Moon. On Saturday Donna Halper will be the guest speaker, Neil Peart's Chromey drum kit will be on display and Rush will perform live at the Air Canada Center. On Sunday will be the RushCon charity auction, a tour of Anthem and a special screening of Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. There will also be plenty of games and prizes throughout the convention. For all the details check out the RushCon website and go to this link to view registration options. You can follow RushCon on both Twitter and Facebook.
We've known for a while now that Rush has been working on new material and has about 6 new songs written. We also know that they recently finished recording 2 of these songs in Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz, and Geddy revealed in a recent Rolling Stone interview that one is titled Caravan. These 2 songs will be released as a special limited-edition CD single included with the Rush VIP pre-sale ticket packages being sold for their upcoming Time Machine Tour. And from recent radio interviews we learned that the band plans to release one of the songs to radio later this month. The latest rumor I've heard is that they actually had finished recording three songs and that on May 1st the single (presumably Caravan) was played for some industry folk including representatives from Live Nation and Harmonix (makers of Rock Band). This may imply that the single will also be released for the Rock Band video game.
Reader hermy noticed that Neil Peart drum tech Lorne Wheaton updated his MySpace status recently. When last we heard from Lorne back in late April he was in California building Neil's new kit. Well, it seems that he's all finished and heading back to Toronto:
Done in CA, back to YYZ Friday. Mood: accomplished Posted 23 hours ago
This jibes with another rumor I'd heard that Neil was at the DW factory yesterday giving final approval to the tour kit shells.
PopEater.com recently ran an article where readers talk about naming their sons/daughters after pop-culture icons. One couple relayed the following story:
When Rush played in 2008, I thought I'd swing by the box office the day of the show to see if any killer seats opened up. My seats just weren't good enough. Fast forward a few hours later, when I offed my original pair of seats on a co-worker and escorted my very pregnant wife (a very casual Rush fan at best) down to the fourteenth row, right in front of vocalist and master bassist Geddy Lee. My wife and I had been playing with rock and roll names to begin with (Jagger? Too pouty. Cash? Too morbid. Lennon? Too pretentious) but had not yet settled on anything we loved. Plus, we didn't know the baby's gender.
From first few bars of 'Limelight,' our little one started to flat-out rock in mommy's tummy. During 'The Spirit of Radio'? Forget it -- the kid was on fire. Things didn't stop until the last thunderous chords of 'YYZ.' Then, and only then, did baby take a breather. "Boy or girl, it's got to be Geddy," my wife said to me. "It's strong. It just... rocks." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. And I wasn't asking twice. So weeks after that gig -- Geddy Davis, our second beautiful boy -- was born. So far, every time I break out my bass to practice, he takes it from me and won't let go. So my chops are suffering, but his aren't.
"Rounder Books will remain alive," Nowlin told PW. "Though inactive for now, there is the possibility that we might publish, depending on the book. If Neil Peart comes up with another book, we'd be pleased to publish that. In fact, we'd publish anything that we liked if we thought we could make money at it. So far, we only rarely have made money on individual titles-far from enough to cover the losses on the others. It's harder and harder to approach breakeven."
The RIAB/Quotidiana Vocabulary Contest that I'd first mentioned several weeks ago has now concluded. Congratulations to the winner Ian Mitnick. He wins a copy of Patrick Madden's book, Quotidiana, a rare 45 of New World Man with an unreleased Vital Signs on back, and a RIAB bumper sticker.
They aren't direct influences but definitely inspired us. I recently just met [Triumph singer/guitarist] Rik Emmett, and he's a really nice guy. I met [Rush guitarist] Alex Lifeson when I was in high school, and he was cool, too. The house I grew up in is in the video for "Subdivisions" by Rush.
As I'd mentioned above, Neil Peart's original Slingerland drum kit (which he used from Fly By Night through 2112) will be making an appearance at RushCon in Toronto on July 17th. In addition to that appearance it'll be at the Chicago Drum Show this weekend and the Rush documentary showing in Addison, IL on June 10th (not finalized yet). Thanks to Michael of NeilPeartDrumsticks.com for the heads up.
MusicRadar.com recently posted an A-Z of Prog Rock article and Rush is the featured artist for the letter R. Duh! :) Thanks to RushFanForever for the link.
Reader Mike S located this article at 11Points.com titled 11 Music Superstars Who are Technically One-Hit Wonders. The premise of the article is the idea that technically a one-hit wonder is an artist or band who only has one song make the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Rush certainly qualifies:
One hit: "New World Man", #21 in 1982
Even with the way they slapped the bass on "Tom Sawyer" it never got higher than #44. Meanwhile, Rush has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide -- that's "Bodyguard" soundtrack and Backstreet Boys "Millennium" territory right there, ya'll."
.... And this idea of the album release as an event is no longer in existence. ... this idea of making albums, the release date of an album, is no longer relevant. So the kind of event of an album release no longer exists. Even if you make an album, inevitably by the time it goes on sale, everybody's already heard it. ... you've got to have new materials to go play live. But certainly the idea of an album as a commercial event has gone. ... for a band like RUSH for example, here's a band who kind of made their name by using the album in a creative way as a kind of musical continuum, a musical journey. I can't think of an album like Moving Pictures without thinking about the running order and the track listing and the way side one is structured and the way side two is structured, etc. etc. ...
8 years ago today, Rush released their 17th studio album, Vapor Trails. It marked their comeback after a long hiatus brought on by the dual tragedies of the passing of both Neil Peart's daughter and his wife less than a year after. The album peaked at #6 on Billboard and has yet to reach gold status. In celebration of this momentous event, here's Earthshine from Rush in Rio:
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend everybody!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
RushCon 10 registration open, schedule of events released
The 10th annual RushCon Rush fan convention will take place this July 16-18 in Toronto, ON along with a one-day mini-con to occur on August 14th in Las Vegas. The RushCon website just opened up registration for the convention this afternoon along with details regarding the schedule of events. The theme of this year's convention is RushCon/Force/Ten in celebration of RushCon's 10th anniversary, and the Las Vegas mini-con has cleverly been dubbed the Sister out in Vegas. The venue for the convention will be the Courtyard Marriott Toronto Downtown. On Friday night there will be a harbor boat cruise with guest speaker Jack Secret and a special performance by Jacob Moon. On Saturday Donna Halper will be the guest speaker, Neil Peart's Chromey drum kit will be on display and Rush will perform live at the Air Canada Center. On Sunday will be the RushCon charity auction, a tour of Anthem and a special screening of Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. There will also be plenty of games and prizes throughout the convention. For all the details check out the RushCon website and go to this link to view registration options. You can follow RushCon on both Twitter and Facebook.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage theater release update
UPDATE - 5/13@2:22PM: According to Quick Fingers at the TNMS messageboard, for the UK screening on June 7th the documentary will be shown at Odeon Cinemas in the following cities with tickets going on sale tomorrow:
Basingstoke Cardiff Colchester Covent Garden Coventry Greenwich Kilmarnock Liverpool One Manchester Printworks Metrocentre Gateshead Newcastle Silverlink Southampton Trafford
UPDATE - 5/11@1:54PM: To purchase tickets for the documentary at all Marcus Theatre locations (6 theaters across IL, WI, NE and OH) go to this link (thanks CureCF).
UPDATE - 5/11@12:56PM: Dallas-based theater company Rave Motion Pictures has a list of theaters/showtimes and ticketing links on their website for the documentary at all the theaters for which they own; 19 different theaters across 13 states. You can check out the complete list at this link (thanks Thousand_Mile_Stair).
The second part of Alex Lifeson's Gibson interview was posted online yesterday. You can read part 1 at this link and part 2 here. The interview was conducted at the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville and Alex revealed several details regarding the 2 new songs they just recorded including the Nashville studio they used. He also had this to say regarding their new material:
... it's in-your-face guitar stuff. It's awesome, great. In fact, I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out. Everybody's playing really well. There's great energy and there's great rhythmic funk-ability going on there and some really cool stuff and I am really, really pleased with it ...
Speaking of Lerxst, Power Windows recently reported that Alex may be making a switch to Bogner amplifiers for the upcoming tour. A translation of this site says that two Bogner amps have been sent to Alex Lifeson to take on the road this summer. Alex has been using Hughes & Kettner amps for the past few years.
Rush roadie/technician Jack Secret (aka Tony Geranios) sent out a MySpace bulletin last Friday stating that rehearsals for the tour start in the 2nd week of May - which means next week! Thanks to Joeykun for the heads up.
Former Rush roadie Skip Gildersleeve sent me these scans of a program from a Rush gig at Hamilton Place Great Hall in Hamilton, ON on February 9, 1976. This is the earliest known show on the 2112 tour. Very cool.
While on the subject of Rush roadies, Backstage Secrets is a 5-part documentary from WhistleStop Productions which aired on HD TV in Canada back in 2008. The documentary follows various members of the Rush road crew during a typical day out on the road with the band. It was shot in High Definition and Dolby 5.1 surround audio during the Canadian leg of the 2007 Snakes and Arrows tour. A 2-disc DVD set of the series distributed by Longtail was made available for purchase last year. As I'd mentioned on Wednesday, Longtail just recently replicated the series onto better quality DVD-5 media and will no longer be selling the series on the original DVD-R media. For those of you who have already purchased a copy on the old format and would like one of the DVD-5 copies, Longtail is offering a deal where you can get the DVD-5 version for $6 plus shipping. For all the details check out this link at the Longtail website.
Speaking of live Rush dvds, reader RushonBlu-Ray reports that a DJ for 102.5 The Bone in Tampa announced on the air that Rush would be filming the Tampa show for their next live DVD. Whether this is true or not I haven't been able to verify. It's probably safe to say that they will be filming somewhere though - since that's been their modus operandi on recent tours. Whether it's Tampa or somewhere else remains to be seen.
Bubba's Bar -n- Grillmanager - the infamous Brutus - has opened up a beta-test version of the Bubba's Bar -n- Grill forum at NeilPeart.net. It's a place to share your favorite recipes, cooking techniques, restaurants and to listen to Brutus rant. You can check it out at this link. Thanks to Nettie for the heads up.
I just don't get these guys at all. More than any artist on this list, Rush does nothing for me. It might have something to do with Geddy Lee's voice and his semi-intelligible lyrics. I understand that these guys are to prog-rock what Sabbath is to metal. But that and a token will get me on the subway.
Neil Peart is pretty amazing. I love seeing his solos on YouTube, with his four thousand piece drum set. I've also read quite a bit about Rush and how they came to record the music that has made them legends. Rush is one of those bands that the hardcore music snobs that I know seem to universally embrace. In fact, some of these people would give me a harder time about not liking Rush than not liking the Beatles. But nothing about Rush inspires me. Maybe it's the profligate use of laser-like sound effects (like rocking out to a video game), or maybe it's simply the whole Canadian thing. I just don't get it.
Instead I like: Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Dead Confederate
Reader, Rush fan, and composer/performer Ben Sommer has a music discovery podcast and blog called Bands Like Rush where bands that have some kind of connection or similarity to Rush are interviewed. In his latest installment Ben talks to another Ben - Ben Averch. Ben Averch is a one-man progressive rock band from Seattle, WA and also happens to be an avid RIAB reader. Ben speaks at length about his music, Rush, and Rush's influence on his music and his life. It's a great interview and Ben's music is definitely worth a listen for any Rush fan. To find out more about Ben Averch and to listen/purchase some of his tunes, check out his website at this link. You can read the entire interview or listen to the podcast at this link.
... We are using Blackbird Studios - great studio. Really, really good studio. Our producer, Nick Raskulinecz, lives here. He moved here from Los Angeles last year and, unfortunately, in Toronto there are no good drum rooms. Most of the great studios that used to be there are gone. There are a couple still left, but it was a question of where we would record drums more than anything else. We thought about doing it in L.A. Neil lives there. It would be nice for him to be home while we were working, but those studios weren't available either and Blackbird was, and Nick had had some experience there and used it quite a bit, actually. And it's a great place. ...
... it's in-your-face guitar stuff. It's awesome, great. In fact, I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out. Everybody's playing really well. There's great energy and there's great rhythmic funk-ability going on there and some really cool stuff and I am really, really pleased with it ...
At the time of the interview they were still recording, so it must have taken place prior to the Tribeca Rush documentary premiere since Rush indicated in interviews after the premiere that they had finished recording.
On a side note, many readers have asked me whether the recent flooding in Nashville impacted the recording at all, and the answer to that is no since they were done before the flooding occurred. Even so, from what I understand Blackbird Studios is not in the area of the city affected by the floods.
Backstage Secrets is a 5-part documentary from WhistleStop Productions which aired on HD TV in Canada back in 2008. The documentary follows various members of the Rush road crew during a typical day out on the road with the band. It was shot in High Definition and Dolby 5.1 surround audio during the Canadian leg of the 2007 Snakes and Arrows tour. A 2-disc DVD set of the series distributed by Longtail was made available for purchase last year. As I'd mentioned briefly on Friday, Longtail just recently replicated the series onto better quality DVD-5 media and will no longer be selling the series on the original DVD-R media. For those of you who have already purchased a copy on the old format and would like one of the DVD-5 copies, Longtail is offering the following deal:
... For those of you who were disappointed in the technical quality of the original release, for a limited period of time, we are making the newly released version available at our cost of $6.00 plus shipping. This is for all five episodes on two discs.
If you originally purchased the DVD from Amazon.com or Filmbaby, please send a copy of your purchase receipt or any other reasonable documentation validating your purchased to support@longtailnet.com. We will then provide you with a password for the special page on our website built to accommodate this replacement pricing.
If you originally purchased the DVD from the Longtail Distribution Network you do not need to provide a receipt. To validate your purchase we need to know the email address of the person who originally ordered the DVD or the address to where it was shipped. It would be helpful to also provide the approximate date of purchase. Simply write to us at support@longtailnet.com with that information and we will then provide you with a password for the special page on our website built to accommodate this replacement pricing.
If you cannot validate your purchase we are very sorry, but we will not fulfill your order. If you place an order on our password protected page without our pre-approval your purchase will be refunded and the product will not be shipped.
Rush's most recent live concert video - Snakes & Arrows Live - was released back on November 24th, 2008 and was Rush's first to be released on Blu-ray as well as standard DVD. 2 of the discs in the 3-disc set were recorded at Ahoy' Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands on October 16th and 17th during the European leg of the 2007 Snakes & Arrows tour. The 3rd disc contained 4 additional tracks recorded at Encore Park in Atlanta, Georgia on July 24th, 2008. Just a couple of weeks ago on April 20th the RIAA quietly certified the DVD Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum. For videos, 50,000 units = Gold and 100,000 units = Platinum. Each disc in a package counts as 1 unit - so that's 3 units per package for Snakes & Arrows Live which actually sold 76,013 according to the most recent information. The video was nominated for a Music DVD of the Year Juno earlier this year but ironically ended up losing to Rush documentary filmmakers Sam Dunn and Scott McFadyen for their Iron Maiden: Flight 666 DVD. Thanks to glortiz for the heads up, and thank to Power Windows for the certification explanation.
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage US theater release details
Addison, IL new! Chicago, IL new! Fairfax, VA new! Gurnee, IL new! Menomonee Falls, WI new! Milwaukee, WI new! New Berlin, WI new! Portland, OR new! Shreveport, LA new! St. Louis, MO new!
UPDATE - 5/7@3:44PM: Rumor has it that the documentary will be shown at the Regent Theater in Arlington, MA on Sunday, June 6th and that the event will be MC'd by the one and only Donna Halper (thanks Kelly D).
Buena Park, CA new! Coral Springs, FL new! Denver, CO new! Huntsville, AL new! Las Cruces, NM new! Manchester, CT new! Milford, CT new! Nashville, TN new! Redlands, CA new! Redmond, WA new! Richmond, VA new! Riverside, CA new! San Antonio, TX new! San Jose, CA new! Tempe, AZ new! Vista, CA new! Voorhees, NJ new!
The Rush documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage will be coming to theaters across the US and Canada on Thursday, June 10th. The film will be distributed in the US by D&E Entertainment who just launched a special website for the documentary at www.rushbeyondthelightedstagemovie.com. The website gives a list of 33 US cities where the film will be shown with promises of more cities and details coming soon. Here's the list of cities so far:
Apple Valley, CA Baton Rouge, LA Birmingham, AL Boston, MA Chattanooga, TN Cleveland, OH Columbus, OH Dallas, TX Dayton, OH Detroit, MI Evansville, IN Hartford, CT Houston, TX Indianapolis, IN Kansas City, MO Kalamazoo, MI Little Rock, AR Los Angeles, CA Louisville, KY Las Vegas, NV Minneapolis, MN New Haven, CT Oklahoma City, OK Omaha, NE Pensacola, FL Philadelphia, PA Phoenix, AZ Pittsburgh, PA San Diego, CA Toledo, OH Tulsa, OK Tuscon, AZ Virginia Beach, VA
UPDATE - 5/4@11:48AM: Reader hermy managed to locate the link for the Tulsa Rush VIP pre-sale. It's hidden for some reason and not linked from anywhere obvious (there's a tiny link on the CITI pre-sale page that only shows up after you enter the CITI password). Anyways, go to this link for some great VIP tickets for Tulsa.
UPDATE - 5/4@11:13AM: As of right now, other than the Music Today pre-sale it looks like only the CITI pre-sale is available for the Tulsa show. It's not clear whether the Rush VIP pre-sale will be offered or not.
According to the latest email from the Rush.com email list, the 4th and presumably final round of the Rush Time Machine TourMusic Today pre-sales begins tomorrow morning at 10AM for both the Sept. 21st Tulsa show and the Sept. 23rd San Antonio show, although at the time of this posting these dates are not yet listed at the Rush Music Today website. They should be there sometime tomorrow morning though - hopefully before the pre-sale actually begins. According to Live Nation both shows will also have Rush VIP and CITI pre-sales kicking off tomorrow along with the various Live Nation, venue and radio pre-sales beginning later in the week. Ticket sales for the San Antonio show will be handled by Ticketmaster while Tickets.com will distribute tickets for the Tulsa show. Information at both these sites for the respective dates seems to be incomplete at the present time but should be updated by tomorrow morning. For information on the different types of pre-sales see this Rush ticket sales and pre-sales guide that I put together. And for all the details regarding the times of the various pre-sales and any password information, stay tuned to the tour page. Remember - all times given are local to the respective venue. Use the comments to post your own experiences purchasing tickets and let us know how everything goes. I'll be posting updates to this post as I learn any new information.
If you haven't purchased the tracks yet I highly suggest that you do, and do so legally to show support for the band. If you have doubts, you can listen to 40-second preview clips of both tracks at Amazon and other merchants, and several folks have uploaded the tracks to YouTube (Caravan, BU2B). These clips and the YouTube versions do not do the songs justice however. You really need to download the higher quality mp3s to get the full effect. Several readers have reported hearing the songs on the radio already. If you are willing and able, call your local rock radio stations and request the songs.
Sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple of days. I was traveling and had only limited internet access. I'll be catching up with all the comments and emails the rest of this week. It looks like most everyone was able to successfully download the new tracks from the various digital music sellers out there. Thanks to everyone for all of their feedback, reviews and opinions (700+ comments!), and especially for keeping the discussion civil. The Rush.com website has revamped its look and feel with the new Caravan and BU2B graphics/music. The PDF booklet that comes with the Caravan bundle includes the graphics and liner notes along with the lyrics to both songs. I've only just had a chance to listen to the tracks myself about an hour ago and am blown away. Rush is back!
Since 
