A mysterious new project called The Great Lakes Suite spearheaded by the Rheostatics' Dave Bidini and involving Rush's Alex Lifeson will be seeing the light of day this coming November. Bidini announced earlier this week that the project will be performing LIVE on Saturday, November 22nd at TD Music Hall in Toronto. They held a listening party back in May at Toronto's Noble Street Studios, and Bidini recently teased that news was immenent. The project was first introduced via an Instagram post back in early March teasing something called The Great Lakes Suite, and depicting an image of the Great Lakes region with some ethereal backing music, and a list of the people involved; Dave Bidini, Dave Clark, Hugh Marsh, and Martin Tielli of the Rheostatics, along with BNL's Kevin Hearn (also a member of the Rheostatics), Don Kerr and Alex Lifeson. Bidini clarified some more details regarding the show in a subsequent social media post on Wednesday:
Hey everyone-- Dave here. Here's info on our Nov 22nd show. Tickets on sale this Thursday at Massey Hall site. This is the whole band minus Martin, who actually suggested we contact Alex, which we did before we did anything. Once he said yes, it all fell into place. We're still all very tight with each other as friends and we'll miss our buddy, but we are really excited about this recorded project, which is largely improvised and instrumental, built around voices like poets Anne Carson, Chief Stacey Laforme and Liz Howard as well as stories by Gord Downie and singing by Tanya Tagaq. Laurie Anderson also appears on the album. The show will reproduce some of this, but the idea is to largely create in the moment, set to cinematics by Nic De Pencier and Jenn Baichwall, who did our Group of 7 stuff. Very excited for people to join us on this next phase. Art is about moving ahead, not looking back, and that's what we've tried to do.
Tickets for the performance went on sale yesterday and can be purchased here. Alex had spoken a little about the project in a few of his interviews promoting Envy of None's Stygian Wavz back in March/April, describing it as a sort of musical documentary:
... I'm still working on a documentary on the Great Lakes with a bunch of people - some guys from Barenaked Ladies, from the Rheostatics. We've been working on this for a while. It's an interesting project, because we get together and we jam, and then we start pulling stuff out of those jams and then building from those. And a lot of the jams, as we progress, get better and better and better, and stand alone as parts." ...
Back in late 2023, Geddy Lee wrote a book of baseball stories titled 72 Stories from the Collection of Geddy Lee that he included as part of a package given to the winning bidders in a baseball auction that included much of Ged's extensive collection. He then announced via Instagram back in October of last year that he would be releasing the book for wide distribution sometime in 2025. A special, limited-edition version of the book was briefly made available around Christmas at the Rush Backstage Club. That edition is autographed, and comes encased in a red cloth-bound slipcase which includes an exclusive, custom-made Geddy Lee baseball, created specifically for this project. The standard version of the book will be available next month, with a slated release date of September 30th (just in time for the MLB playoffs) and pre-orders are available here. And if you missed out on the special edition last year, it's been made available again, and you can order one at this location. John at Cygnus-X1.net has posted an excerpt from the book's Introduction and made it available online here.
Speaking of Geddy's "72 Stories", Geddy turned 72 Years old earlier this week. Alex was a little late with his annual birthday message for his pal, so he had his friend Mr. Big Chunk, birzday massager person post this belated one for him:
Collectionzz is commemorating Rush's 50th anniversary with a new, officially-licensed, limited-edition poster screenprint from illustrator Tim Baron. This piece is full of Rush history, referencing the different albums, songs, art and themes from Rush's storied, 50-year career. The 18"x24" print is available in 4 different varieties, including a Yellow Edition of 25, Rainbow Foil Edition of 50, Metallic Gold Edition of 50; and a beautiful Acrylic Panel Edition of 50. As of this post, the Yellow Edition has SOLD OUT, but the others are still available. In addition to the new 50th anniversary print, they've just added 2 new "slipmats" to their line of Rush merch. The 2 slipmats use Collectionzz' previous Moving Pictures 40th anniversary print design, and their Fly By Night 45th anniversary print design. These pro-grade felt slipmats are double-sided and 12 inches in diameter. You can check out all the details on both the 50th anniversary print and the slipmats, and view their entire line of Rush prints here.
Rush has released a new, official 2026 wall calendar celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of 1996's Test for Echo. The calendar was produced by Poster Foundry and can currently be ordered via Amazon and other online retailers. The 12"x18" calendar features a dozen photos from Rush's Test for Echo era as seen here:
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rush's iconic Power Windows album with this officially licensed calendar. Featuring all 1985 dates from the unforgettable Power Windows tour and other important anniversaries in Rush's legendary career, this calendar is a must-have for every fan. Don't miss out on commemorating this milestone with the ultimate Rush calendar for 2025!
It also includes a four-month (September-December) 2025 planner page. You can purchase your calendar today at this location.
The 2025 Prog for Peart 2-day music festival took place 2 weekends ago at Abingdon United Football Club in Oxfordshire, and the event was a resounding success, as outlined in this article recapping the pre-show and 1st day events. Headliners for their 2026 event have already been announced as Mostly Autumn and Magenta, with more details at progforpeart.com.
The BBC's Classical-Music.com took on the difficult task of ranking all 19 of Rush's studio albums this past week. They ended up putting Signals, 2112 and Moving Pictures as the top 3. Here's what they had to say about Rush's 1981 masterpiece:
The ultimate Rush album. Every track is essential. A perfect synthesis of prog, power, and accessibility.
Moving Pictures is widely regarded as Rush's greatest album because it strikes a near-perfect balance between progressive complexity and mainstream appeal. Every track feels purposeful, polished, and creatively inspired-from the thunderous precision of 'Tom Sawyer' to the cinematic sweep of 'YYZ' and the atmospheric storytelling of 'Red Barchetta'. The band streamlined their songwriting without sacrificing musicianship, delivering intricate rhythms, thought-provoking lyrics, and iconic riffs in a more accessible format. Geddy Lee's synth work, Alex Lifeson's guitar tones, and Neil Peart's drumming are at their peak, working in seamless harmony. It's an album that defines Rush's ability to evolve while staying true to their spirit-and one that continues to resonate with fans across generations. Moving Pictures is timeless, dynamic, and quintessentially Rush.
Key track: 'Tom Sawyer' captures Rush's essence-sharp lyrics, powerful riffs, and rhythmic complexity-making it their most iconic and enduring anthem.
Loudwire created a list of The Most Collected Albums By 11 Big Prog Rock Bands this past week, using Discogs as a reference, and one of the bands profiled was Rush:
1. Moving Pictures (1981), 115, 222 copies collected
2. 2112 (1976), 93,642 copies
3. Permanent Waves (1980), 64,801 copies
4. A Farewell to Kings (1977), 62,397 copies
5. Hemispheres (1978), 60,022 copies
Today is a bittersweet day in Rush history, as it marks the 10th anniversary of Rush's final show at the Forum in Los Angeles on their R40 Live tour, and their final live show EVER. To mark the occasion, the inaugural RUSHfest Canada event will be taking place THIS WEEKEND in Toronto. The Friday night showcase event takes place at Massey Hall, the legendary venue where Rush recorded their first live album All The World's A Stage 50 years ago in 1975. Special guests include former Rush producer Terry Brown and album artist Hugh Syme, along with Jonathan Dinklage, Jacob Moon, Nina DiGregorio & Brody Dolynuik (from Femmes of Rock, endorsed by Alex Lifeson himself), Chris Herin (Tiles), David Barrett, Adi Berk, Moving Pictures (UK tribute band), and author Kevin J. Anderson. The Saturday event takes place at TD Music Hall and will include performances from Rush tribute bands 2112 and Permanent Waves, along with The RUSHfest Canada Allstars Band (international lineup of handpicked musicians), Jacob Moon, David Barrett, and DiGregorio & Dolynuik. You can all the details and purchase tickets at rushfestcanada.ca. Here's video of the final song from Rush's final show:
Train 48 was a Canadian improvised soap opera that broadcast daily in Canada from 2003-05, and was recorded the same day it broadcast. It took place in a railway car of a GO Train on Lakeshore West line returning from Toronto to the suburb of Burlington. On the day of the SARS benefit show 22 years ago this past Wednesday, the show worked the concert into the script. Two passengers (Johnny and Liz) were sitting across from eachother, and Johnny tells Liz how upset he was because he was not able to go to the concert, kicking off a discussion about the artists playing, including Rush. The conversation continues in another scene where Johnny quizzes Liz on song lyrics, including Rush's Tom Sawyer, as seen in this clip:
Fox's Family Guy wrapped up its 23rd season last week, and there was a Rush reference in an earlier episode in the season that we had missed. At the beginning of episode 8 of Season 23 (Hard Times at Adam West High - aired April 6, 2025), Chris recounts having to deliver an oral book report on "Tom Sawyer", albeit with an erection large enough to keep him trapped in his desk. His report consisted of him singing the lyrics to Rush's "Tom Sawyer", and his teacher calls him out on it, "That is a song by Rush". Chris says, "I don't know man. I Googled it and that's what came up." You can check out the clip below or on YouTube (thanks John at Cygnus-X1.net):
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!!
