Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, May 25, 2007@4:33PM | comments removed/disabled

It's time for an update before us Americans go off to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. The poll results are in and with 300 responses over 95% of readers gave Snakes & Arrows an above average rating (no surprise really). Nearly 17% say it's a masterpiece (10, 5 stars, A); 38% say it's excellent (9, 4.5 stars, A-); 30% say it's very good (8, 4 stars, B+); 11% say it's above or slightly above average; just over 2% said it was average and the rest gave it a less than average rating. Only one person said it was very poor (2, 1 star, D) and nobody said it was either awful (1, 0.5 stars, D-) or horrendous (0, 0 stars, F). Since the tour kicks off soon I thought I'd ask a tour-related question this week. How many times will you be seeing Rush on the Snakes & Arrows tour? Let us know here.

It's been another fairly quiet week in Rushdom. The big news I suppose was the rumor that some limited indoor venue tour dates for November will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. We may also hear about South American and possible Asian dates as well.

I also pointed you to scans of Neil Peart's DRUM! Magazine interview and of his Motorcyclist Magazine article; several new YouTube bootlegs, and the video of Geddy Lee's appearance on the Bob & Doug McKenzie 24th anniversary special.

I came across another classic Rush video on YouTube that I know you'll want to see. Back in 1985 a charity single called Tears Are Not Enough was recorded by a supergroup of Canadian artists with the moniker Northern Lights, to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Included in this supergroup was our favorite bass player Geddy Lee. The video along with an interview with Geddy are now up on YouTube. You can check it out here.

Those who ordered the Snakes & Arrows MVI through Amazon have been receiving emails telling them that the release date has been delayed until June 19th. The last that we heard from the Rush Backstage Club was that it was delayed until June 12th. So whether the June 19th date applies only to Amazon or is now the official release date is unknown to me at this time. As of right now, the Rush Backstage Club still has it listed as June 12th.

El Norte alerted me to an MSNBC poll where they list the top CDs being downloaded on the internet and ask the reader to indicate which is their favorite. Snakes & Arrows is on the list and it's currently tied with Michael Buble for the top spot. Go help out and vote for Rush.

MitA wanted me to let everyone know that his site is now FireFox-friendly. FireFox users had been having trouble viewing his site in the past. As an avid FireFox user, I appreciate this - thanks MitA!

Brian B let me know that Alex Lifeson's April 4th interview on KDKB-FM has been posted online at this location.

Snakes & Arrows continued to slide off the Billboard charts; it was #35 in its 3rd week of release. Here are a few more reviews. The first is an audio review from Chicago public radio station WBEZ that reader a911driver alerted me to. You can listen to the interview at this location. One of the reviewers liked it, one didn't.

John C pointed me to this review at SFGate.com. And 1-2-bucklemyshoe sent me this review from about.com. Both reviewers seem to like the album if not too enthusiastically.

Billboard recently spoke with Rush's LiveNation tour agent Adam Kornfeld and had this to say about the upcoming Snakes & Arrows tour:

Prognosis: Rush at outdoor venues is destined to be one of the top 25 tours of 2007. Produced by Live Nation through its TNA division, the band has been a consistent draw every time it hits the road, without relying on a multi-act package to move tickets.

"Rush has been together over 33 years, and their fan base is not only not eroding, but it seems that it may be growing," the band's agent Adam Kornfeld says. "Rush is another testament to what happens when great songwriting and musicianship come together. People recognize it."

Rush toured quite successfully in 2002 and 2004, but its box-office muscle in 2007 could very well eclipse those efforts. With new album "Snakes & Arrows" released May 1, Rush may be the sleeper tour of the year.

Live Nation North American music president Jason Garner says Rush "came roaring out of the box" on initial on-sales.

"Having Rush back after some off time is very exciting for us," Garner says. "We think it will be one of the blockbuster tours of the summer."

Thanks to reader Julia C for the heads up.

And I'll end on a humorous note. World of Warcraft fans will enjoy this video that Eric at Power Windows alerted me to.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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