Rush is a Band

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

Fri, Mar 29, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, Mar 11, 2011@12:19PM | comments removed/disabled

Rush's Time Machine Tour kicks off in less than 3 weeks on March 30th in Florida and Rush are busily rehearsing as we speak. In my last update I had assumed that they had already gotten together for group rehearsals, but that doesn't necessarily seem to be the case. Neil Peart drum tech Lorne Wheaton posted the following short message to his MySpace page Wednesday (thanks audiblesignals): 3 more days then off to YYZ. So it looks like the guys are probably still rehearsing individually (at least Neil is) this week but will get together next week in Toronto for band rehearsals. Lorne also posted this photo of Neil rehearsing in SoCal over the weekend (thanks Gornhay). I've been getting several questions regarding when people can expect to start receiving tickets that were ordered via the Music Today pre-sales. Music Today indicates upon purchase that all tickets are mailed out no later than 2 weeks prior to the show and they generally stick to this promise, so tickets should begin going out for the earlier shows this upcoming week. Indeed, I've already heard from a few folks who recently received notice that their tickets are being shipped. There have also been several questions regarding the VIP ticket packages and when those would get sent out. Those should start going out in the next few weeks but judging by the last tour it's really anybody's guess. If anyone has received their tickets or their VIP package already, please let us know.

A new Alex Lifeson interview with the UK's Express & Star was posted earlier this week. Alex touched on all the usual subjects including the upcoming tour and album. He also recalled the first time Rush ever played the UK and discussed the huge impact that all the great British bands of the 60s had on himself and Rush, particularly The Who and Pete Townsend. He didn't reveal much in the way of new information regarding the tour and upcoming Clockwork Angels album, but when asked if the experience of taking a couple of their new songs out on the road for this past tour changed how the album will turn out, Alex had the following to say:

... I think once we get into recording we'll see. I mean we record every concert and we reference those recording every week or every second week, just to see where we're going, to see where we're maybe slowing down or speeding up, those sort of things. It's a very analytical listen. But I have to say that those two songs sound really good and they sound a little more vibrant, that's to be expected I think. I wish we could do that with the whole record, write the whole record and then just go out and play it for a month or two and then record it. But it's just impossible to find the time to do something like that. But I think it would be a great benefit in how the songs develop. ...

You can read the entire interview at this link.

Mojo Magazine has a short, one-page Rush article in the March, 2011 issue of the magazine for their Mojo Working feature. It's titled The High Priests of Conceptual Metal Go Steampunk for LP 19! and focuses on the band's upcoming Clockwork Angels album. It features a couple of interesting interview snippets with Geddy Lee including this one:

"Rush fans want those 20-minute songs, and a couple of tracks are pretty promising in terms of their scope - they're quite long and complex. We haven't hit 20 minutes yet, but it'll be interesting to see where it ends up."

Geddy also describes the Steampunk theme of the album:

"It's a utopian vision of the future yet trapped in a Victorian past. We were inspired by the visual aesthetic, and this concept lent itself to creating a story. So," he laughs, "I guess you could say it's a concept album!"

And talks a little about producer Nick Raskulinecz, including some quotes from Nick that were taken from a November, 2010 interview he gave to MusicRadar.com:

I told them, 'Give me Rush from back in the day.' Killer riffs, solos, pounding drums and Geddy singing up high the way he should - that, to me, is the sound of Rush.

The article also mentions some information that we already knew. Namely the fact that they plan to finish up writing for the album before the 2011 tour but won't get into the studio until the Fall, giving the album a likely release date of early 2012. You can check out a scan of the article here or by clicking on the thumbnail above.

Early last month we learned that the Rush documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage had been nominated for a Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the US Grammy Awards) for Music DVD of the Year. We learned yesterday that Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee will be presenting at the ceremony which takes place Sunday, March 27th at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. From JAM! Showbiz:

Bryan Adams, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Daniel Lanois, Robbie Robertson, and Rush's Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee are among the first group of presenters announced for the March 27 Juno Awards to be broadcast from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. They will be joined by Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley, deadmau5, K'Naan, Shad, Tokyo Police Club, Barenaked Ladies (the hosts of CTV's first Juno broadcast in 2002) and the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages, the Honorourable James Moore. Juno organizers have also announced the awards will air in a special two-and-a-half-hour broadcast for the first time in honour of the show's 40th anniversary.

Rush previously won a Juno award for Music DVD of the Year back in 2004 for Rush in Rio. The documentary had also been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Long Form Music Video category but ended up losing to The Doors documentary.

Earlier this week Amazon.com began listing the Blu-ray version of the Moving Pictures 5.1 surround sound remix with a release date of May 3rd rather than April 5th, and sent out notices to those who have already pre-ordered the package. The DVD version is still listed as releasing on April 5th however. Rush.com posted some more information regarding the remix a couple of weeks ago including the following details:

... Both DVD & Blu-ray formats will boast the 5.1 surround sound and stereo audio in 96kHz/24-bit high-resolution audiophile playback which offers 256 times more resolution than CD audio, providing the listener with the closest experience you can have to what the artists hear in the studio. The DVD is playable on both DVD-Audio and DVD-Video players, the latter players will include Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and PCM stereo playback. Blu-ray discs will also feature DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound in addition to 96kHz/24-bit PCM 5.1 surround sound and stereo. ... Also included in the package is an extensive gallery with previously unreleased photos from the original recording sessions, new liner notes by renowned music journalist David Fricke and 30th anniversary artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme.

You can read all the details from Rush.com at this link and pre-order your copy of the remix at Amazon (CD+DVD, CD+Blu-ray).

Enter Music Publishing are publishers of drum and percussion magazines worldwide including DRUM! Magazine Their annual Drummies readers poll has been gaining in popularity year after year and in 2010 had over 6500 ballots cast. Voting for this year's Drummies is now open and you can place your vote until May 1st at this link. Neil Peart has won Drummer of the Year multiple times including the last four years running along with many other awards. This year Enter Music Publishing will have its 20th anniversary and in celebration launched a Drummies Hall Of Fame where Neil Peart along with 10 other famous drummers who have won 5 or more total Drummie awards were inducted. Hall of Fame members are no longer eligible to win in the category for which they were inducted, so Neil Peart can no longer win in the Drummer of the Year category. He can still win in any of the other categories though, so go vote for Neil!

Speaking of voting, there are a few other polls going on where Rush is in the running. The Herd with Colin Cowherd is one of the most listened to sports talk radio shows in the US. It's hosted by Colin Cowherd and broadcast on ESPN Radio weekdays from 10AM to 1PM EST. In celebration of March Madness they kicked off round 1 of their Herd Rock Band Bracket contest earlier this week to determine the greatest rock band of all time. Rush was the #5 seed in the Cleveland bracket and ended up handily defeating Styx to make it to round 2 which kicked off this morning. This next match is a bit tougher as they are up against heavy metal juggernaut Metallica and are losing so far. So go vote for Rush! Goldmine Magazine is running a poll on their home page (scroll down and it'll be on the right side) where they ask the question If the only available music was 1970s prog and you ONLY could pick one band's catalog (and had to listen to every album at least once) what would you choose? Rush is one of the options and thanks to RIAB readers is currently in the lead. To help keep them on top, go vote for Rush! Milwaukee Brewers closing pitcher John Axford posted a poll on his Facebook page a couple weeks ago to let fans choose his entrance music for 2011. Rush's Working Man was one of the selections and has made it to round 2 of the voting. So go vote for Rush!.

A new book from Russ DiBella was released earlier this month titled From the Inside. It's about the author's life of looking inside the world of live music, going backstage and collecting drumsticks over the past few decades. Rush is heavily covered in the book including detailed stories from the three most recent Rush tours. The author recounts a chance meeting with Alex, Geddy and Neil and also the experience of catching a soundcheck during the Snakes & Arrows tour. You can purchase a copy of the book at this link. Thanks to Power Windows for the heads up.

The new Foo Fighters single Rope has been garnering some comparisons to Rush since its release a few weeks ago. Alan Cross of ExploreMusic.com described the track as follows:

... So what does it sound like? In a word, Rush. The interplay between guitars, bass and drums could be an instrumental bit from A Farewell to Kings or bits of "La Villa Strangiato" from Hemispheres, complete with multi-park drum breaks and quick shifts in time signature. (YFI: Taylor Hawkins is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEE Rush fan. Dave is, too.) ...

Indeed they are. In an MTV interview yesterday Neil Peart's name came up a couple of times. The complete interview is not currently posted online but reader Kevin was able to watch it and gave me a brief report. Taylor Hawkins joked about the drum pattern in the chorus of the song saying that he would be splitting royalties with Neil because it has Neil's signature sound all over it. Taylor then went on to explain what a big influence Neil has been on him through the years.

Earlier this week, solid-state-logic.com posted a video interview with producer Kevin Caveman Shirley where he recounts the very interesting story of how he got the sound engineer gig with Rush on the Counterparts album. You can check out the interview at this link. Thanks to Power Windows for the heads up.

Longtime riab reader and blogger Jaybird recently conducted an interview with yours truly for his blog Jaybird's Jottings. Jay asks me about how I got into Rush, how rushisaband.com came about, my thoughts on Rush and the Rock Hall, and many other subjects. You can check out the interview at this link.

Rush gets a mention in an article from Jason Heller at The A.V. Club (thanks Ajax5) highlighting the author's favorite music year - 1977:

... Prog still had its holdouts, though, including Canada's Rush, whose A Farewell To Kings is one of the band's (and the genre's) best, and even yielded a fluke hit single, "Closer To The Heart."...

A couple of months ago I let you know that heavy metal band Benedictum's new album Dominion contains a cover of Rush's 2112: Overture/The Temples of Syrinx as a bonus track on the international release. The album was just released earlier this week and you can order a copy at this link. There's a short preview of the track at this link.

Reader rosmakloma let me know about yet another 2112 reference in a computer game. It's a new universal game app for iPods, iPhones, iPads from game designer Jeff Minter called Minotron: 2112. It's based on the classic 1982 Williams arcade game Robotron: 2084. This makes me wonder what year will game designers from the post-2112 world reference in their games? :)

Jesse Quin is the bassist/percussionist of British alt-rock band Keane and he has a blog called The Capricious Chronicle. Earlier this week he put up a post containing Rush's early Fly By Night video (thanks patti) with the following caption:

Neil Peart is the greatest drummer of all time and Rush are the greatest band of all time and if you do not agree, I will fight you in a Canadian mall parking lot, and I will win and then I will make you pay for me to have my mullet permed.

Ok. :)

Reader anologkid9 let me know about a very cool contest sponsored by Ontario radio station CanadasRock 95.1-100.7 where they are giving away a 5-day trip for 2 to Montreal to see Rush's April 20th show at the Bell Centre as the grand prize. There are also 10 secondary prizes for a pair of tickets to Rush's April 17th show in Detroit. For more information and to enter just go to this link.

Back in late January the 2008 comedy/drama Adventures of Power was released to DVD. Adventures of Power chronicles the adventures of air-drummer extraordinaire Power (played by filmmaker Ari Gold) and contains a cameo from Neil Peart along with a slew of Rush references including a Tom Sawyer air drum-off. It first hit the film festival circuit back in early 2008 and made its theatrical debut last fall. Back in 2009 Neil Peart and Ari Gold paid a visit to the Drum Channel studios to film an air drum-off video which you can check out here. The DVD contains over 60 minutes of bonus material including deleted scenes with Jane Lynch, a rare music video with Adrian Grenier, and the 25-minute Drum Channel interview and air drum-off with Neil Peart. Here's the film's official trailer. There's a charity auction currently underway supporting music education via VH1 Save the Music which runs through next Wednesday, March 16th. It features drums from Ringo Starr, Neil Peart, Lars Ulrich, Marky Ramone, Ween, Weezer, Judas Priest, Dresden Dolls, and many more. For more information and to bid on items visit PowerSavesTheMusic.com. Here's a video promoting the auction which features a few snippets of Neil Peart from the film and the DVD:

That's all for this week. Only 19 more days until Time Machine Tour 2011! Have a great weekend!

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

Share