The big news of this past week was the full concert blu-ray release of Rush's R30. The blu-ray version contains all 30 tracks in order from Rush's September 24, 2004 show in Frankfurt, Germany including the 8 tracks that were missing from the original DVD release; Bravado, YYZ, The Trees, One Little Victory, Secret Touch, Red Sector A, La Villa Strangiato and By-Tor and the Snow Dog. There was a bit of a hiccup with the blu-ray's packaging however; apparently some retailers (Amazon at least) shipped it with a promo sticker that states Extensive bonus materials include interviews and rare performance footage despite the fact that no bonus material is included.

Neil Peart was also very active in the news this past week. On Monday he recorded a new drum-centric version of The Hockey Theme for The Sports Network (TSN). You can watch a sneak peak of the recording session at this link. He recorded the song on a custom drum kit created for him by DW Drums that featured the logos of all 30 NHL teams. Speaking of DW Drums, over this past weekend the Drum Workshop YouTube channel posted video of a 20-minute discussion between DW's John Good and Neil Peart where they discussed the finer points of drum shell construction. You can watch it at this link. In the video, John discusses constructing a new kit for Neil. Perhaps they were talking about the NHL Logo Kit or maybe a new touring kit? Hmmm... Neil also updated the Bubba's Book Club section of his website earlier this week, reviewing 6 new books.

There's nothing new to report regarding a potential 2010 album/tour. But I will say that I've heard some anonymous reports that a couple members of the Rush road crew have been casually contacted regarding the possibility of going out on tour next year; yet another good sign. While we're all anxiously awaiting more news on this front I thought I'd open up discussion on who should produce Rush's next album. Scott14 over at Counterparts came up with a great list of potential producers and I borrowed it for my next poll. So what do you think? Take the Poll and let us know. In my last poll I asked everyone what their favorite song off of Presto was in celebration of the album's recent 20th anniversary. The resounding winner was The Pass with over 30% of the vote. Coming in a respectable 2nd with 18% of the vote was Available Light. You can check out the complete results at this link.

Back in September Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson launched an auction of rock memorabilia on eBay as part of their Grapes Under Pressure initiative in support of Grapes for Humanity, an organization that helps to raise funds to benefit humanitarian causes around the world with the assistance of the international wine community. Geddy Lee is a member of the board of directors for the organization. The actual Grapes Under Pressure fundraising event took place on Saturday, September 26th and wine critic Tony Aspler was in attendance. GedHed located this article at Aspler's site which includes a description of the event along with some pictures which I've included above.

One of the above photos from the Grapes Under Pressure event pictures Geddy with chef David Lee, who was the winner of the Gold Medal Plates event where Geddy was a guest judge. RushFanForever dug up this Flickr photo from the event which took place on Thursday, November 19th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The new Vertical Horizon album Burning The Days, which features Neil Peart on 3 songs, released a couple of months ago. Neil plays drums on the tracks Save Me From Myself, Even Now (which he also wrote the lyrics for) and Welcome to the Bottom. Vertical Horizon frontman and founder Matt Scannell was recently interviewed for this PopMatters article. The article talks about how Vertical Horizon's song Everything You Want helped inspire Neil Peart to get back into music after suffering the dual tragedies of the passing of both his daughter and his wife over 10 years ago:

If there is any one person that a Rush fan should thank for reuniting the prog-rock giants after the band took a long hiatus in 1997, it's Vertical Horizon's frontman Matt Scannell.

Wait. Who? And from what band was he?

After Rush's drummer, Neil Peart, saw both his daughter Selena and wife Jacqueline pass away within a matter of a year, the legendary rock icon took some much-needed and much-deserved time away from the Canadian trio. As questions arose concerning whether the band would ever manage to return, Peart-who took off on his motorcycle for a journey that lasted somewhere around 55,000 miles-found himself listening to pop radio more than usual. As fate would have it, he happened to fall in love with a song by Vertical Horizon called "Everything You Want," and-according to Scannell, who would later meet and become friends will Peart-the song inspired the drummer to get back into music.

It's true: one of Rush's biggest fans became one of Rush's biggest reasons to return to music.

"Rush is absolutely my favorite band of all time," Scannell said. "So when I met Neil for the first time, and he told me that story, it was the most amazing thing. He just seemed so genuine." ...

Kevin Murphy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax was recently interviewed for Ain't It Cool News and had the following to say when asked about their frequent references to prog rock bands on MST3K:

... Beaks: That's kind of a recurring theme on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER: making fun of prog rock bands.

Murphy: You know what it is, don't you? We all felt really guilty for liking the prog rock bands when they were popular. I mean, I saw Emerson, Lake and Palmer in concert. And I saw Yes in concert. But I never saw Rush - which I kind of regret because it turns out I like them more than any of the others.

Beaks: They have aged the best of those groups.

Murphy: That's for sure. They didn't become doughy Englishmen living in manor houses. They're actually working on the road. And it's the same guys, which is kind of cool. ...

MST3K was known for making extensive use of Rush references in their movie commentary voice-overs. Here's a complete list from the Power Windows site. Thanks to Al P for the heads up.

Between Sun & Moon is an online handcrafted jewelry store with Rush-inspired merchandise owned and operated by Rush fan and rushisaband reader Katy. Each uniquely handcrafted piece is named for and inspired by the lyrics of Rush. The Holidays are right around the corner and - as she has done several times in the past - Katy is offering an exclusive coupon for Rush is a Band readers! Even if that special lady in your life isn't a Rush fan she will be a fan of Rush inspired jewelry from Between Sun & Moon. I've given my wife (definitely not a Rush fan!) a couple of Katy's pieces and she absolutely loves them. Katy is offering Free US Priority Mail shipping with any $30 purchase to rushisaband readers; just use discount code rushisaband and order by December 17th for Christmas delivery. Thanks Katy!

I found a humorous 2112 typo sighting in this recent Belfast Telegraph article on Sarah Palin's likelihood of running for president in 2012. Apparently the author thinks she'll instead be running 100 years later in 2112:

... she is a domestic political goddess, their reflection and representative in the big game. This is why, albeit in a drastically weak ante post field, she is the clear favourite to head the ticket in 2112. ..

Personally, I think I'll be voting for the Solar Federation ticket in 2112. :)

Speaking of 2112, in the latest issue of Spin Magazine there's a feature on page 26 called Spin 20 - Ranking On Pop Culture Since 1998. One of the items reads:

2010 - Only 102 short years till Geddy Lee returns as the messiah.

Thanks to Jason B for the heads up.

Speaking of Geddy Lee, rare book store A Cappella Books recently celebrated its 20th year in business and was featured in this Access Atlanta article. Apparently Geddy is their best customer:

... Our biggest spending customer ... is probably Geddy Lee of Rush. He's an eclectic book collector. He likes Southern literature and Jewish authors, and he has a genuine appreciation for old books.

Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.

Rush's Something for Nothing gets quoted in this recent article at OhMyGov.com discussing a new proposed US House Bill:

Many years ago, back when people actually bought records, a wise man once sang the lyrics: "You don't get something for nothing, you can't have freedom for free." Now granted, that "wise man" might have been Geddy Lee of Rush... but do you really think Geddy Lee is any less wise than most of the people in Congress? ...

Here's a blast from the past. One thing from the 80s that you probably don't remember is the short-lived Capacitance Electronic Disc audio/video format. Rush's Exit Stage Left was released in this format and John at Cygnus-X1.net has a copy. He was kind enough to send me a few pics of this rarity. You can check them out by clicking on the thumbnails above.

Chad Bowar of About.com recently conducted an interview with vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn of San Francisco Bay area metal band Machinehead and Flynn had this to say:

I've been thinking about where to go with the new record, and the mindset. I was talking to [Metallica's] Lars [Ulrich] and James [Hetfield] about their mindset when they were writing "Master Of Puppets". Who were your rivals? Who did you have to be better than? What was driving you to write this insane music? There wasn't a template to follow. They had their influences, but what they did was take it and making it 10 times more extreme. I'm trying to put my headspace into what it would have been like for Slayer or Metallica or Rush or Black Sabbath, people who created a style of music out of something that wasn't there. That's the mindset that I want to get in. ...

Thanks to Blabbermouth.net for the news.

Kelly D located this massive cartoon drawing of famous Canadians by cartoonist Kate Beaton. See if you can locate our favorite Canadian power trio.

Reader Jon F alerted me to the fact that Rush friend and collaborator Ben Mink was responsible for the soundtrack to recently-aired SyFy mini-series Alice.

Yet another Rush friend and collaborator - Kim Mitchell - is shown in this video playing Rush's YYZ on Guitar Hero 2 for the XBox. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.

In celebration of the release of R30 on blu-ray I thought I'd share this video that Sean dug up. It's a 22-month old kid playing along with the R30 Overture from the R30 DVD on a drum pad.

My Time Stand Still Rush Calender is busted. I'm working on a fix but I may not be able to get to it for a couple of weeks.

That's all for this week. Have a wonderful weekend!

NOTE: Posts over 10 years old are partially archived. All comments, images and other embedded media have been removed.