Rush picked a good time to take a short break from the Clockwork Angels tour; they now have a few days to let the news sink in that they've FINALLY been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Early yesterday morning the Rock Hall announced the next crop of nominees via their website, their Facebook page and the news wire, and - unlike the previous 14 years - Rush was actually on the list! Also nominated were Deep Purple, Heart, Public Enemy and a dozen others including Rush. The complete list can be seen at this location. The 15 nominees will now be whittled down to a list of 5 or 6 inductees by a group of 600 or so past inductees, music historians, and other music industry insiders. And for the first time ever, the Rock Hall is offering the public a chance to participate in the process by creating an online fan poll that will count as one of the votes - so go vote for Rush if you haven't already. As of this post Rush is way out in front with close to 27% of the vote. The results will be announced sometime in December and the induction ceremony will take place on April 18th at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Here's Rush's official reaction to the announcement that was posted to their official Facebook page yesterday:
"We are honored to be among the nominees for this year's Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame. We are especially thrilled for the many, many dedicated RUSH fans to whom this nomination is so very important." - Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart
My personal feeling and the general consensus in the music press is that Rush is a shoo-in for induction. Do you agree? What do you think are Rush's chances of actually being inducted in 2013? Take the poll and let us know. Press coverage of the announcement was widespread and focused heavily on Rush's inclusion. Almost every story covering the subject so far contains Rush in the headline and leads off with some mention of the band and their history of being snubbed by The Hall. For complete coverage of the nomination announcement check out this post.
After playing a dozen shows across the Eastern US, the Midwest and Canada in the month of September, the first leg of Rush's 2012 Clockwork Angels tour came to a close this past Sunday in Edmonton. The band will pick things up again this coming Wednesday, October 10th at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT for the 2nd leg of the tour. This next leg will see the band continuing with a series of shows across the Eastern US and Canada before ending up down South in Tampa, FL. After another short break the band will head out West for the third and final leg of the 2012 tour. We know that the band will then hit the road again next May for a series of ten European dates, but there's still a question as to whether they'll be adding more North American dates in 2013. The early buzz is that they will but there's been no official word yet. It would make sense for them to do a series of dates before and/or after the European leg - much like they did for the 2011 leg of the Time Machine tour. This brings up the question whether - if inducted - Rush will be able to attend the April 18th Rock Hall induction ceremony in LA, or will they be busy with the tour? Hopefully some kind of official 2013 tour announcement will be forthcoming soon. This coming Tuesday, October 9th the Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn will be hosting a Rush Air Drumming contest where the winner will win tickets to the band's October 22nd show in Brooklyn. For all the details check out the event's Facebook page (thanks Matt S). Reader DawnRenee let me know that the October 11th issue of Rolling Stones magazine contains a short review of Rush's September 9th show in Bristow on page 63. You can read a scan of the full review here (*SPOILERS*).
The Clockwork Angels album has inched up one spot on the Billboard 200 album charts in its 16th week of release, increasing to #116 from its #117 showing last week. The latest single from the album - The Wreckers - continues its slow move up the Mainstream Rock Chart where it currently sits at #6.
Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart's Clockwork Angels: The Novel debuted at #18 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list 2 weeks ago. Last week it dropped to #27 and this week it's off the list altogether. The book was officially released in the first week of September and has been generally well-received by Rush fans and book reviewers alike. Author Kevin J. Anderson wrote an article for the Tor.com blog Wednesday where he discusses the novel and its steampunk theme. You can order the audiobook version of Clockwork Angels (narrated by Neil Peart) at this location, and the hardcover edition here.
Last month Hudson Music announced the release of a full-color retrospective/transcription book companion to Neil Peart's third instructional DVD Taking Center Stage: A Lifetime of Live Performance. The book is written by Hudson Music Senior Drum Editor Joe Bergamini with a foreword by Neil Peart. Although the official release date is given as October 15th, the book is already available for purchase via Amazon and other retailers. 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. In celebration of the book's release both Eric at Power Windows and John at Cygnus-X1.net have teamed up with Hudson Music and are running separate contests where you could win a variety of items autographed by Neil Peart including a Bubba's coffe mug, a copy of Far & Away, a Taking Center Stage dvd or an Anatomy of a Drum Solo poster. All you need to do is submit your entry and answer 3 trivia questions. For all the details and to enter the Cygnus-X1.net contest go here, and for the Power Windows contest go here. Make sure to enter both contests! The entry deadline is October 15th and the winners will be chosen on October 16th.
The world famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is set to release a brand new set of studio recordings celebrating the music of Rush this coming November 13th. The orchestra is conducted by BAFTA award winning musician and composer Richard Harvey, and is well-known for their symphonic interpretations of Queen, Pink Floyd, ABBA and other artists. The CD will include dramatic reinterpretations of 9 Rush classics including Tom Sawyer, The Spirit Of Radio, Red Barchetta, Limelight and more. For a complete track list and to pre-order your copy go here.
In celebration of Rush and the Clockwork Angels album release, Toronto-based chef Matt Kantor interpreted and deconstructed the music of Rush into a nine-course dinner that was held this past July at The Cookbook Store in Yorkville (Toronto). Fans who paid $150 a plate were treated to a gourmet meal that included a variety of Rush-themed dishes including a red bruschetta inspired by Rush's Red Barchetta, a lime-flavoured meringue inspired by Limelight, and the centerpiece of the meal - the La Villa Strangiato. All proceeds from the meal went towards the late Andrew McNaughtan's Art Gives Hope charity. Earlier this week Kantor released a Rush as Food cookbook based on the event. From the Rush as Food website:
... check out the evening in cookbook form, complete with photos, recipes, videos and interactive diagrams of some of the courses. Read about how the dinner was developed, and get perspective from diners. This amazing book was developed with help from documentary producer and photographer Brilynn Ferguson. You will not be disappointed!
The book is currently available for the iPad and will soon also be available for both the Kindle and Kobo eReaders.
Earlier this week the Andrew MacNaughtan Art Store website re-launched. The store will be selling some of MacNaughtan's remaining Rush prints to raise money for the late photographer's Art Gives Hope charity. Andrew MacNaughtan passed away earlier this year from a heart attack at age 47.
Roadrunner Records launched a contest earlier this week where they are giving away five Clockwork Angels lithographs signed by all three members of Rush. The lithographs are numbers 226 through 230 of a limited run of 500 and you can sign up to win one at this location. The contest runs through October 8th.
Roadrunner Records recently posted an audio interview with Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci that was conducted for the Wikimetal podcast when the band was on tour in Brazil. Petrucci and the interviewer talk a lot about the influence Rush has had on his playing and Dream Theater's music towards the beginning of the interview. You can listen to it at this location (thanks Sean).
Noisecreep.com included Rush in their photo gallery list of 10 Charitable musicians earlier this week. You can check out the complete photo gallery at this location.
The latest edition of Tool's online newsletter contains an interview with the band's longtime Lighting Director Mark Junior Jacobson. He tells the following tour story involving Alex Lifeson in the interview (thanks bob):
... One of my favorite [tour stories] was in 2001 when Tool played the Air Canada Center in Toronto. Howard Ungerleider (lighting designer for Rush since 1974) was at the show. He told me that Alex Lifeson was there, but was up in his box seats, and wanted to know if it was ok for him to watch from FOH (front of house: our lighting and sound control area in the middle of the crowd). Of course, I said yes. Howard brought him in and introduced him to us. At the time, the security team were using airport codes on the guest passes in order to signify the city. So there is Alex Lifeson with a pass on his jacket that said "YYZ". After the show we escorted him backstage. The band members did not know him yet, and did not know he was there, so they had quite a surprised look when they saw him in the hallway." ...
Guitar World has been conducting a bracket poll to determine The Greatest Guitarist of All Time, and Alex Lifeson made it into the Final 4 last week where he was matched up against Eddie Van Halen. Voting took place over the past week and closed this morning with Alex unfortunately losing.
Here's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's video announcement of the nominees for induction in 2013. Rush's piece comes in at about the 5:30 mark:
That's all for this week! Remember to vote for Rush, vote for Rush again, and vote for Rush here too. The tour returns next week. Have a great weekend!
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