Rush is a Band

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

Tue, Mar 19, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, Oct 26, 2012@11:23AM | comments removed/disabled

UPDATE - 10/26@4:05PM: The Tiles giveaway contest is now closed. Thanks for playing everybody!

Rush's Clockwork Angels tour made its way up the Eastern coast of the US this past week, playing Newark, Brooklyn and Boston. They continue to alternate their Night A and Night B setlists from show to show, but made one small adjustment to the Night B set for Wednesday's performance in Boston, swapping out one of the Clockwork Angels tracks with another from that album that has been a regular part of the Night A setlist. It's not clear whether this was just a one-off change or a permanent one. This weekend they will work their way westward to play Buffalo tonight and Cleveland on Sunday, then head south to round out the 2nd leg of the 2012 tour in Charlotte, Atlanta and Tampa. Debra Ross is a publisher at KidsOutandAbout.com and also a big Rush fan. She's taking her 2 daughters to the Buffalo show tonight and published an article declaring that today is Take Your Daughter to Rush Day in Buffalo, NY! The latest 2013 tour rumors have the band adding another 30 or so date stretch of North American dates in July-September of next year, with a possible South American leg thrown in at some point, likely in the Fall. As of right now the only official 2013 dates are their 10-show stretch of European dates that will run from late May into early June. There should be some kind of official announcement before the Holidays I would imagine. For complete tour information along with an interactive tour map be sure to check out the tour section.

In the lead up to Sunday's Rush show at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Alex Lifeson spoke with the Cleveland Plain Dealer's John Petkovic about Rush's recent Rock Hall nomination, his friendship with his bandmates and Rush's longevity. Alex reiterates some of his other recent comments regarding the band's nomination:

... "We're happy for the fans that supported us over the years," Lifeson said during a phone interview before a show in Philadelphia. "But honestly, it's never really mattered to us." ... "I like to think that we're normal guys who never got caught up in the trapping of the record industry," Lifeson said. "I married my first girlfriend, I do the dishes at home and we're all still buddies. "That's why the whole Rock Hall nomination isn't that big of a deal," he added. "We've always been under the radar and just done what we wanted." ...

You can read the entire interview at this location. On a related note, earlier this week the Plain Dealer ran an article attempting to explain Rush's zealous fanbase by profiling a typical Rush superfan; Cleveland-based journalist Peter Chakerian (aka The Analog Dad on RIAB). Peter lists off some of his qualifications as a fanatical Rush junkie including this shout-out to rushisaband.com:

"I belong to several Rush online blog/message boards, including Rush Is a Band, which is owned-operated by Cleveland-based web developer Ed Stenger. Even if you're even a casual fan, if you're not a member of RIAB, you're really missing everything Rush-related."

Peter also shares his thought's on the band's Rock Hall nomination and how fans have differing opinions on the matter:

... [it] has splintered the usually united fans quite a bit. I'm not part of the militant camp of fans who 'won't step foot in the Rock Hall' unless Rush is in there. That's sorta silly to me. And I'm not part of the fan group saying 'they're too good' for the hall, telling Geddy, Alex and Neil to boycott the induction like Axl Rose and tell officials to pound salt. "I'm the party of the third part: They belong there, they deserve to be there. If induction hinges on longevity, influence and creativity, they have more than fulfilled the criteria. They'll be the upstanding guys that they are, accept the honor on behalf of all the fans, perform to skewed faces at the ceremony (just like Iggy Pop did) and all will be right in the world." ...

You can read the entire article here. Last summer I had posted photos of Peter and his son's Rush concert setup in Legos in a Friday updates post. For the first time ever the Rock Hall is offering the public a chance to participate in the induction process in a small way by creating an online fan poll that will count as one fan ballot towards the official vote on the ultimate list of inductees. As of this post, Rush still has a very comfortable lead in that poll with about 24.5% of the vote; Deep Purple is next with 17%. Voting ends on December 3rd when the fan ballot along with ballots from 600 or so rock historians, music industry insiders and past inductees will be counted up to determine the 5 or 6 inductees for inclusion in the 2013 class; the final announcement should be made shortly thereafter.

MusicTap.net reported on Tuesday that Mercury Records will reissue a Super Deluxe CD/BD version of Rush's classic 2112 album this coming December 18th. No further details were given, but a tweet from Rush sound engineer Rich Chycki on Wednesday confirmed that it would include a 5.1 surround sound remix of the album:

Yep, words out. I've been working on the surround remix of #Rush #2112 for months. Queue rear waterfall. #holygrail

2112 was included as part of the Sector 1 box set release last year, but no 5.1 release of the album was included.

The Clockwork Angels album gained 4 spots on the Billboard 200 album charts in its 19th week of release, up to #163 from its #167 showing last week. The latest single from the album - The Wreckers - continues to hold steady in the top 10 on the Mainstream Rock Chart where it currently sits at #7. Speaking of Clockwork Angels, voting for the 2012 Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards ends next week and Rush is up for Band of the Year and Album of the Year for Clockwork Angels. So if you haven't voted yet, you can cast your ballot for Rush at this location. Rush was presented with the Classic Rock Living Legend award back in 2010. This year that honor will go to ZZ Top.

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. The official press release came out earlier this week and included a SoundCloud link to their version of 2112: Overture which you can listen to here. Here are some more details from the press release:

... Nearly sixty musicians and thirty vocalists transform nine of RUSH's greatest hits into even more intricate, soaring orchestral works. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra covers the best-known classics, from "Working Man", the self-titled debut album track that launched RUSH's career in the U.S. to "Subdivisions" from "Signals", the album that proved electronic rock could reside in the top ten. The band's most successful record, "Moving Pictures", is represented by rousing versions of "Tom Sawyer" and "Red Barchetta". Special guest guitarists include Steve Rothery of MARILLION on "Working Man" and Adrian Smith of IRON MAIDEN on "Red Barchetta". The Windrush Choir provides backing vocals and solos. ... The orchestra was recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, conducted by BAFTA Award-winning musician and composer Richard Harvey. ... The album was produced by James Graydon and Richard Cottle, who also arranged all the music ...

For a complete track list and to pre-order your copy go here.

Rush's 1982 classic Signals album will be the subject of an hour-long In The Studio with Redbeard rockumentary radio show which will air the week of November 12th celebrating the 30th anniversary of the September 9, 1982 release of the album. The show will feature interview segments with Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson where they discuss the album, presumably from past In The Studio interviews. You can listen to a short, 1:30-minute preview of the show at the In The Studio website.

Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart's Clockwork Angels: The Novel debuted at #18 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list several weeks ago and has been generally well-received by Rush fans and book reviewers alike. Another great review of the book surfaced over the last week from Science-Fiction World which you can check out at this link (thanks Kevin H), and there's also this one from the Toronto Star. You can order the audiobook version of Clockwork Angels (narrated by Neil Peart) at this location, and the hardcover edition here.

Reader thomas let me know about this bit of news from late this past summer that had fallen under the radar. This past August Rhythm Magazine published a special 100 Drum Heroes issue. Neil Peart is featured on pages 52-3 of the magazine. Here's an accompanying photo gallery that was posted at MusicRadar.com and their entry for Neil Peart at #3:

After almost 40 years with Rush, prog drumming legend Neil Peart is still one of rock's most phenomenal and revered players. Since he joined the world's foremost power trio back in 1975, Neil has been the poster boy for prog - disciplined, metronomic and powerful. Neil's first role model for drumming excellence was Gene Krupa, and at 13 Neil convinced his parents to let him take lessons.Today, Rush are still pushing themselves and breaking new ground.

The fall issue of Professional Lighting and Production includes an interview with Rush lighting director Howard Ungerleider on page 23 titled 15 Years of Illumination and Light. The entire issue of the magazine is available online at this location (thanks RushFanForever).

Drummer and emusic.com contributor A.E. Paterra recently wrote an article titled In Defense of Rush where he describes why he is such a big Rush fan (thanks cerebus). He also counts down his list of Five Rush Albums You've Always Wanted to Know About But Were Afraid to Ask.

I was excited when I was asked to write about five of my favorite albums. Instead, though, what I decided to do was focus on five albums most people would rank at the bottom of the barrel. True fans love these albums (then again, we love them all). Among less fanatic fans, most will talk about Moving Pictures, Hemisphere or 2112, but you won't get too many people saying, "Dude, man, 'Open Secrets' off Hold Your Fire is sooo tight!" But I will say that. In fact, I think I may have said that exact thing at some point. Hell, I love that song. And now, in sequential order, the Five Rush Albums You've Always Wanted to Know About But Were Afraid to Ask. ...

Reader Will C let me know that the A.V. Club recently interviewed comedian Lisa Lampanelli. Apparently she used to be a reporter for Rolling Stone and Hit Parader and she mentions how she was able to interview Rush a few times:

... AVC: You were tasked with covering a lot of the hair metal bands back then, right?

LL: Oh yeah. I don't like to brag, but I interviewed Billy Squier and Cinderella. You know, all the good ones.

AVC: Is that what you were into? Were you a headbanger back then?

LL: No, not in the least. But, because Hit Parader also covered Rush, Jethro Tull, and Yes, and that real faggy progressive-rock stuff I was into, I took advantage of that and got to interview Rush three times instead of .38 Special. ...

Canton, OH high school student Zachary Aufderheide was recently suspended from school for violating his school's dress code. The student has been growing his hair to donate it to Locks of Love. The local Fox news station covered the story in a recent newscast and Zachary is wearing a Rush t-shirt throughout the interview. You can check it out online at this location (thanks Peter C).

This coming Monday, October 29th marks the anniversary of the release of 3 Rush albums; Hemispheres in 1978; Exit ... Stage Left in 1981; and Power Windows in 1985.

Last week I posted the first installment of Peter Brocklehurst's The Legends of Brocklehurst blog. Peter has updated the blog with Chapter 2 of his Neil Peart diary which you can check out here. Peter is a roadie, driver, small-time criminal, and - among other things - a friend of Neil Peart. They first met in London back in the early 70s. This time of Neil's life is chronicled in his book Traveling Music and Peter is mentioned (although not by name). They remained friends and Peter ended up being Neil's driver and personal assistant during the European leg of the Hold Your Fire tour.

Pittsburgh-based Rush tribute band Distant Signals will be performing a special show at the 21 Lounge in Cleveland Saturday night - the night before Rush's Sunday show at Quicken Loans Arena. They will be playing over 3 hours of Rush music with their 2nd set specifically designed and tailored to Cleveland Rush fans. The show will be shot in HD video and audio, professionally mixed and mastered, and compiled to a DVD. For all the details check out the event's Facebook page.

Detroit-based prog rockers Tiles are celebrating their upcoming 20th anniversary with a new live release titled Off the Floor. Tiles has a number of connections to Rush; their last 2 albums (Window Dressing and Fly Paper) were produced by former Rush producer Terry Brown, Rush album artist Hugh Syme does all the album artwork for Tiles (he also played piano and keyboard on a few tracks), and Alex Lifeson performed on one of the tracks from the band's last studio album. In celebration of the anniversary and album's release, I'm giving away 3 copies of Off the Floor to the first 3 people who can email me with the name of track that Alex plays on. Just include the words Tiles giveaway, your answer and your mailing address in the email body.

It's hard to believe, but this past Tuesday, October 23rd marked the 7th anniversary of my first official post on rushisaband.com. I started the site because I noticed that despite the rich online Rush community, there weren't any sites at the time (there are now though of course) which provided an unfiltered Rush news feed/blog. I had the ability and the means, so I decided to take on the endeavor myself and was amazed at where it took me. I just want to take a moment to thank all of the Rush fans who have visited my site over the years and have helped me out by offering words of encouragement, contributing links, posting comments and sending me Rush-related news and information. A special thank you to everyone who has clicked on an ad, purchased products through my Amazon links or made a donation to the site. I wouldn't be able to keep the site up and running without your help. Thanks!

Since Rush played Boston's TD Garden Wednesday night, I thought I'd close out this week's post with this bootleg video of Alex Lifeson's Still No Guitar rant during La Villa Strangiato from their Boston show on the Time Machine tour back in September of 2010. You can check it out below or at this link (thanks Kelly D):

I hope everyone is enjoying my annual RIAB Halloween theme. I have to thank the talented Eric from the Power Windows site for providing the Rush Starman pumpkin image. Several other readers provided some of the Halloween-themed Rush pics in the image rotator including Kurt K, hermy and lamb saag. Have a great weekend everybody!

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