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, Sep 14, 2012@1:15PM | comments removed/disabled

Rush launched their long-anticipated tour in support of their Clockwork Angels album this past Friday, September 7th at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Manchester, NH. It's no surprise that the big topic of discussion over the past week has been the setlist, which - as always - some fans loved and some didn't. As the second show in Bristow approached, rumors surfaced regarding a possible B setlist when a photo of the setlist popped up online. These rumors ultimately turned out to be true as the band decided to swap out 5 songs for different ones at the Bristow show. Then Rush threw us another curveball for the third show in Pittsburgh where they introduced setlist A version 2.0! Yet another setlist photo surfaced after the concert showing new versions of both setlist A and setlist B, with the A setlist matching the songs from Pittsburgh. The version 2 B setlist then ended up matching the setlist from the fourth show in Indianapolis last night. Got all that!? A to B - different degrees... For my last poll I asked everyone which song off of Clockwork Angels they were most looking forward to seeing live. The results are in with The Garden narrowly edging out The Anarchist for the top spot along with Clockwork Angels and Headlong Flight rounding out the top 4. You can check out the complete results here. Now that some of us have had time to let the choice of setlist sink in, for my next poll I thought I'd ask everybody what non-Clockwork Angels song they think is the highlight of the setlist. Take the poll (*SPOILERS*) and let us know. Rush continues their trek through the Midwest this coming week where they'll be playing Detroit, Chicago, and Columbus. For complete coverage of the opening night madness, check out this post, and for complete tour coverage be sure to visit the tour page.

Outside of the setlist, the other topics of discussion were the band's new stage setup, the 8-member Clockwork Angels String Ensemble string section, and the new concert videos. You can see a gallery of behind-the-scenes photos from the filming of the new intermission video at this link. There's also a slew of videos from all 4 shows on YouTube, including this complete playlist of opening night. We got to learn a bit more about the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble when Adele Stein - one of the 2 cellists on tour - was interviewed for a piece in The Salina Journal yesterday. The article gives several new insights in regards to the string section:

... "It's really an incredible experience... We sit behind the band on a riser. People will be able to see us very clearly." ... "[Rush are] the sweetest men you can possibly imagine."

Stein first met the band after she arrived in Toronto on Aug. 26 for pre-tour rehearsals. She said the string players did a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Lifeson, whose birthday fell during the early days of rehearsals. Stein said she walked past Lifeson and wished him happy birthday, and he thanked her by name.

"Some people I've worked with who are famous, like, they don't take the time to get to know your name," she said. "They (Rush members) are so humble and do not act famous at all." ...

You can read the entire article here (*SPOILERS*). Rush also quietly added another show to the Clockwork Angels itinerary earlier this week. They'll be playing the Valley View Casino in San Diego, CA on Wednesday, November 21st. Tickets went on sale a short time ago at 10AM PST.

John over at Cygnus-X1.net scanned and transcribed the Clockwork Angels tourbook earlier this week and made it available online (*SPOILERS* images, transcription). Be warned that the tourbook contains several obvious tour spoilers. The images are a combination of photos from the Time Machine tour and Clockwork Angels recording sessions, with a few miscellaneous others sprinkled in. The text is comprised of the Neil Peart essay The Future As Seen From The Past that was made available online a few months ago at Rush.com (it has since been taken down but is also available at NeilPeart.net). There's also some tongue-in-cheek information on the band's gear. Alex Lifeson's piece includes some horrendously long website url to a stoopidrush.com domain that promises more information ... I won't spoil the surprise though. They also include a nice little tribute to the late Andrew MacNaughtan (who passed away earlier this year) along with some humorous joke portraits of the band:

A choice memory about working creatively with Andrew dates from 1992, when Rush was preparing for our Roll the Bones tour. My bandmates and I decided to have a little fun with the usual tourbook portraits - beginning a tradition that continued right up to the book for the Time Machine tour, in 2010-11.

All of us lived in Toronto in those days, so it was easy for us to get together with Andrew and plan our "surprises" (sometimes kept secret even from each other). We aimed for something that would show some humor, and also, perhaps, a little ... inner essence.

That first set of three portraits does not disappoint on those levels, I hope, but it is also noteworthy that even these "joke" settings were lighted and framed with artful care. They are light-hearted and silly, but photographed with a professional's craft and an artist's vision.

I once defined the highest possible plane of communication to be "art with jokes." That is a rarefied summit even to attempt, but once in a while, with Andrew, we made it.

You can check out the tourbook online at Cygnus-X1.net (images, transcription) and purchase a copy on tour or at the Rush Backstage Club.

A couple of weeks ago Rush's Clockwork Angels album won the Album of the Year award at the 1st annual Prog magazine Progressive Music Awards. From a BBC article covering the event:

... Canadian rock band Rush's latest concept album, Clockwork Angels, was named Album Of The Year. With its dystopian steampunk theme, the three-piece's 19th studio album has earned rapturous reviews, even in the mainstream press. Describing it as Rush's "most solid and compelling set of songs in years", The Guardian went on to say: "Those who worship at the temple of Rush will be in raptures; for those who remain agnostic, there may well be enough here to justify a leap of faith." ...

The band was unable to attend the ceremony but accepted the award remotely via video. The video was posted to YouTube earlier this week and can be seen at this location. The Clockwork Angels album inched its way back into the top 100 on the Billboard 200 album charts in its 13th week of release, coming in at #93. Geddy spoke about the album and the tour earlier this week with Scott Mervis of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via phone for an article/interview titled Twenty albums later, Rush is still thriving. You can check out the article at this location.

Last year Neil Peart released his third instructional DVD Taking Center Stage: A Lifetime of Live Performance. Today Hudson Music announced the release of a full-color retrospective/transcription book companion to the DVD written by Hudson Music Senior Drum Editor Joe Bergamini. Neil Peart wrote the book's foreword, supervised the project and provided additional editing. The book contains musical transcriptions, historical writing, instructional text, and a beautiful collection of photographs. You can check out a pdf sampler of the book here and a high-res version of the cover here. The book will be officially released on October 15th but is already available at merchandise counters on the Clockwork Angels tour. You can also pre-order it from Amazon at this location.

Speaking of Neil, he turned the big SIX-OH this past week and was featured in a piece for the Sunday New York Times on drumming and exercise. Neil spoke about how he gets in shape for a tour:

... Neil Peart ... said that in the three and a half weeks of rehearsals before his band, Rush, began its 2012 tour last week, he dropped at least 10 pounds. ... This year's pre-tour training regimen began in February. Three times a week, Mr. Peart would bike 20 minutes to his local Los Angeles Y.M.C.A., swap his helmet for a bandanna, and spend 30 minutes on the cross-trainer (keeping his heart rate near his recommended maximum), followed by calisthenics, yoga sun salutations (he held each pose for a count of 20 Mississippi) and the return bike ride home. (His favorite workout track? Silence. "The only activity I combine with music is driving," Mr. Peart said. "For me, exercise is an act of will.") ...

You can read the entire article at this location. Neil is also featured on the cover of the October, 2012 issue of DRUM! magazine. The cover tagline reads, Neil Peart: Rush Master Class - Clockwork Angels By The Numbers, and the table of contents says the following:

34 Neil Peart Master Class

The Rush technician lets us in on the process behind the inimitable rhythmic signature of Clockwork Angels. Be prepared, be very prepared.
By David E. Libman

DRUM! Magazine also posted a list of their top 5 best-selling issues of all time (thanks RushFanForever) recently and the July/August 2004 Special Progressive Rock Drumming Issue with Neil Peart on the cover took the top spot.

As they've done for the past few years, VH1 Classic will once again be ringing in the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah with a 24-hour Rush Hashanah marathon. This year's celebration will begin this Sunday, September 16th at 7PM and run through 7PM the following day. They'll be airing and re-airing a combination of Rush programming including Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Rush: Time Machine, and the Rush Retrospective 3 Box Set special. VH1 Classic first celebrated Rush Hashanah back in 2008, then again in 2010 where they premiered the Rush Classic Albums special, and also last year when they premiered the Rush: Time Machine concert video.

Alfred Music Publishing recently released the authentic guitar tablature book and bass tablature book for Rush's Clockwork Angels album. Guitar International reviewed the guitar book this past week and had nothing but great things to say about it calling it one of this year's strongest releases. Alfred Music Publishing also has several other Rush guitar, bass and drum transcription books available which you can check out here.

A couple of weeks ago the Celebrity Net Worth website listed Neil Peart as one of the 30 Richest Drummers in the World, having him at #26 with an estimated net worth of $22 million. As a follow-up this past week they listed the top richest lead singers and Geddy Lee came in at #59 with a net worth of $28 million.

Examiner.com profiled Rush as their Artist of the Week yesterday. And the Corpus Christi Caller-Times featured the band in today's Live Music section with a short blurb about how the band has come back stronger than ever since their late-90s hiatus:

... "I think it has a lot to do with the way we view playing now," Lifeson said in a late-August phone interview. "Every night, we go into it as if it's the last time we're going to play. I think we learned how fragile life can be and how quickly your life can change so dramatically and completely by some outside influence. "I think we actually play better because of it. We're less whiny. We're all about really playing the best that we can," he said. ...

Reader and guitarist David K recently made an impressive video of himself playing 50 of his favorite Alex Lifeson riffs all in one take. You can check it out on YouTube here.

Reader rushfanben let me know that Rush is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Dutch progressive rock magazine IO Pages.

Wolfgang's Vault posted their list of the top 10 greatest bass players in The Vault this past week and Geddy Lee's performance of La Villa Strangiato makes the cut at #9.

Reader chrxtopher wanted me to let everyone know about a charitable event where Chromey will be on display this weekend in Chicago to coincide with tomorrow's Rush concert there. Chromey is the 1974 chrome Slingerland drum kit once owned and played by Neil Peart. It was the first drum kit Neil used in the band, and it was played on his first four albums and five tours. Chromey will appear at Vic's Drum Shop (345 North Loomis Street) on Saturday, September 15th from 11AM to 5PM, just hours before Rush plays at the nearby United Center. Come see this amazing piece of rock history, and have your photograph taken behind it. Proceeds will go to benefit Richard "RC" McWilliams. RC is suffering with Invasive Skin Carcinoma (Skin cancer) and from deteriorating spinal discs. The expenses relating to treatment and surgeries have forced RC to sell everything he owns. RC was the drum tech for The Ides of March, from 1997 - 2006. RC was also an integral member of the Foghat crew but recently had to give up those duties. He is affectionately known by those close to him as "RC McFoghat." Fans coming to the United Center for that night's Rush concert will want to make a stop at Vic's Drum Shop first. Owner Victor Salazar has been gracious in hosting this great charitable event!!

Now for something completely different! Google now supports a "Bacon number" (as in Kevin Bacon) feature where you simply type in the words "bacon number" followed by a celebrity's name and press "Search". Google will then tell you how they're connected. Neil Peart wins the bacon number contest among Rush with a score of 2 - both Geddy and Alex score 3. :)

Neil Peart's Bacon number is 2 .Neil Peart and Michael McKean appeared in Adventures of Power. Michael McKean and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Thanks to everyone who has generously donated to the site over the past few weeks; every bit helps and I really appreciate it. If you'd like to make a donation yourself, you can do so at this link. Any donation of 3 bucks or more will get you a free RUSH IS A BAND bumper sticker. Other ways to help out are to simply spread the word about this site to your Rush fan friends, follow RIAB on Facebook and Twitter, purchase items through my Amazon links, click on my site ads, or send me any Rush news tidbits you might come across. Thanks!!

Here's the video of Rush accepting the aforementioned Album of the Year award for Clockwork Angels at the 1st annual Prog magazine Progressive Music Awards show back on September 5th. The band was unable to attend the ceremony but accepted the award remotely via video:

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

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