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, Feb 6, 2009@10:00AM | comments removed/disabled

This past week we were treated to a neat interview with Alex Lifeson at MusicRadar.com where Alex revealed what he thought were his three best guitar solos; Freewill, Kid Gloves and Limelight. Last night the Cut to the Drummer charity art show and drumming event took place at the Steam Whistle Gallery in Toronto. It featured 50 portraits of 50 drummers by 50 artists including a portrait of Neil Peart by Toronto artist Greg Mably. Earlier this week MusicInTheAbstract - owner and operator of the MitA's Rush Oddities site - offered up several new Rush audio nuggets for us. You can check them all out in this post.

Since Alex Lifeson let us know what he thought were his three best solos, I thought that for my next poll I'd ask you all which of the 3 solos he mentioned is your favorite. Take the Poll and let us know. In my last poll I listed 12 bands other than Rush that are often talked about as neglected Rock Hall induction candidates and asked you which one you thought was most deserving of the honor. Unsurprisingly, prog-rock giants Yes and Genesis topped the list with 28% and 19% of the vote respectively. Also making a respectable showing were Kiss (12%), Deep Purple (11%), Iron Maiden (8%) and Alice Cooper (7%). All the other choices received less than 5%; complete results here

The 51st Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Rush's Hope: Live for the Art of Peace off of Songs For Tibet: The Art of Peace has been nominated in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category. This is Rush's 6th nomination in this category although they have never won. The winner will be announced Sunday afternoon during the awards pre-telecast ceremony. This USA Today article talks about bands that are long overdue for a Grammy. Rush is one of the bands discussed and here's what they said:

Why they're overdue: While not a favorite of critics, the Canadian power trio impressed legions of fans and peers with its virtuosic musicianship and heady prog-rock arrangements. With little radio support, Rush racked up tall sales and handsome box-office receipts.

Win or lose? "I wouldn't bet against Metallica," Grein says, noting that Nine Inch Nails, who twice won in metal, is a lesser threat, along with Dweezil Zappa, whose dad collected two trophies. "That dooms Rush. I don't see how the band can beat those three."

Overlooked:Tom Sawyer from 1981's Moving Pictures, remains inescapable on classic rock radio. Freewill is the highlight of 1980's colossus Permanent Waves. And 1982's adventurous Signals found the band moving from sci-fi to the scarier themes of real life.

Rush definitely has some stiff competition this time around and is a long-shot to win - but there's always Hope... get it? :)

The long-anticipated Kyle Newman film Fanboys comes out today in limited release. It will be shown in select theaters in the cities of Austin, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. The film follows a group of Star Wars-loving geeks in 1998 who travel cross country so that their dying friend's dream of watching Star Wars: The Phantom Menace at Skywalker Ranch before its release can come true (trailer here). The film is reported to be chock full of Rush references and include several Rush songs on the soundtrack. One of the main characters - Hutch - is a huge Rush fan and spends most of the film in a Rush t-shirt as depicted in this photo.

In its tenth week of release the Snakes & Arrows DVD has finally dropped out of the top 10 on the Billboard Top Music Video chart - down from its #7 position last week. John over at Cygnus-x1.net has scanned all the images from the DVD and posted them up on his website at this location. Thanks John! You also may remember that earlier last month I reported an unconfirmed rumor that the Australian version of the DVD would not include the Atlanta bonus disc. Australian reader binks just bought the DVD and I'm happy to say that this rumor has been debunked; it includes the bonus DVD. And reader Tim A pointed me to this BlogCritics article which lists the top 10 DVDs of 2008. Snakes & Arrows Live came in at #2:

Oh brother, not another Rush DVD you say? Well, I say BRING IT ON! Rush followed up their two-year Snakes & Arrows tour with their finest concert DVD to date. Production-wise, they finally get everything right. Incredible sound, perfect video, and some awesome camera work put you right in the middle of the show. And for three guys who are all pushing 60 years of age, Rush can still churn out a live performance to make all of the young punks bury their heads in shame. With over three hours of jaw-dropping live performances, Snakes & Arrows Live is easily one of the best concert DVDs of the year.

It's less than one month until the release of Rush's Retrospective 3 greatest hits package on March 3rd. Last week I let you know that the Rush Backstage Club was running a promotion where they'd throw in a free 4GB USB stick custom made for the Snakes & Arrows tour and loaded with the video of Red Sector A from R30. Unfortunately it looks they've already sold out of their supply of 500 USB sticks! However Rush.com's pre-order promotion is still available. If you pre-order from the Rush.com pre-order site you will receive a limited edition lithograph highlighting Rush's past albums.

Many of you may already be aware of the fact that several rushisaband members have been making plans for an East Coast Rush gathering/convention called RatCon. The name comes from one clever member of the site who called all obsessed Rush fans rats. The organizers now have a date and a location with more details forthcoming. There's also a website, a Facebook group and a Facebook event listing too. So at this point we know that the event will take place the weekend of June 12th-14th in Severna Park, MD just outside of Baltimore. Stay tuned for details.

Between Sun and Moon is an online handmade jewelry store owned and operated by fellow Rush fan Katy. All of Katy's pieces are inspired by Rush and named from their lyrics. Valentine's day is almost upon us and even if your significant other isn't a fan, they will love a Valentine's Day gift from Between Sun and Moon. I've given my wife (definitely not a Rush fan!) a few of Katy's pieces and she absolutely loves them. Your order will come gift wrapped for free along with your personal gift card message. Katy is offering RushIsABand.com readers Free Standard Mail shipping with any purchase (use code: riab) or Free Priority Mail with any $30 purchase (use code: rushisaband). Order by Wednesday, February 11th to ensure delivery by Valentine's Day next Saturday. Thanks Katy!

Rush is mentioned in this episode of the Retro Minute over at Hulu.com. The video covers major events which occurred on May 26th, 1975. One of the featured events is Rush opening for Kiss at the Paramount Northwest Theater in Portland, Oregon. They mention that by the end of the year both bands would be selling out stadiums. Thanks to JL for the heads up.

Reader SU2112 let me know that Wolfgang's Vault (great site) recently featured a 1989 Geddy Lee audio interview along with a live recording of a Rush performance at the Montreal Forum from March 27th, 1981. This is some very cool stuff; be sure to check them out if you get a chance.

Mr. Wiggles pointed me to this YouTube video of guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert (Racer X, Mr. Big) discussing and demonstrating a game that the guys from Mr. Big used to play on the tour bus called Is it or is it not a Rush song?.

And I leave you with this video (thanks axe) of a guy playing By-tor and the Snow Dog on a ukulele.

That's all folks! Have a great weekend!

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