Friday, December 21, 2012

Happy International Rush Day!

UPDATE - 12/21@11:11AM: Chicago-based rock duo Local H are ringing in the Holidays and celebrating Rush Day by releasing their cover of Rush's 2112:

Attention all planets of the solar federation! In honor of the Winter Solstice, the end of the world according to the Mayans, and, uh, Christmas, Local H humbly offers you this gift of song," Local H frontman Scott Lucas says. "The band has been playing this opus live since last New Year's Eve and decided to record it properly this fall. With the help of producer Andy Gerber at Million Yen, they've gotten it together just in time for 21/12. Rush on over to click play below to hear it. And in the words of Tiny Tim: 'A Merry Christmas to us all; and Neil Peart bless us, every one!'

You can download the track at Localh.com and also listen in on SoundCloud. Local H will ring in the new year with two nights of shows at Chicago's Beat Kitchen.

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UPDATE - 12/21@9:18AM: USA Today has picked up on the Rush Day craze (thanks Road Map of Jupiter):

A Facebook-fueled campaign for followers of the band to wear Rush concert T-shirts at work and at play Friday is timed to the day's date, written as 21-12-12 in some parts of the world, a nod to the band's landmark album 2112, released in 1976.

Geddy will be calling in to Planet Rock in about 15 minutes!

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Today is the 21st day of the 12th month of the year 2012; 21/12/12 or 12/21/12 depending on what part of the world you live in. It's the Winter Solstice and the occasion has also become a sort of unofficial Rush holiday in recent years. The fact that 2012 also happens to be the 2112 pre-centennial along with Rush's recent Rock Hall induction announcement makes the occasion extra special this year. What better excuse do you need to listen to Rush all day long, watch Rush DVDs, wear Rush paraphernalia, and otherwise celebrate Rush fandom? This year even Rush themselves are getting in on the action. They scheduled the release of the 2112 Deluxe Edition earlier this week to coincide with the holiday and posted the following to their Facebook page last week:

We've heard rumblings that some fans are championing a Fan Friday on Friday, Dec 21/12 whereby fans around the world will proudly wear their Rush shirt to work/play that day.

We just wanted to say we support that and look forward to seeing you snap photos of yourself in such a state! In fact, send them to us at rushfan@rush.com

They've indicated that they'll be posting these photos to a gallery on the official Rush Facebook page.

Geddy Lee will be a guest of Darren Redick of UK digital radio station Planet Rock just a couple of hours from now between 2-3PM (9-10AM EST) to celebrate Rush Day. They'll be chatting about the band's recent Rock Hall induction announcement, the 2112 Deluxe Edition and more. You can listen live to Planet Rock online at PlanetRock.com. Alex Lifeson will also be getting in on the action this evening when Friday Night Rocks on Q104.3 in New York City will be featuring its first ever The Holiday Rush with Eddie Trunk live. Eddie will be dedicating the entire 3-hour show to Rush, including an all new interview with Alex. And a group of Rush fans have launched a new Rush Day YouTube channel which features tribute covers of various Rush songs. You can subscribe to the Rush Day YouTube channel here. Happy Rush Day everbody!!