UPDATE - 11/5@1:34PM: Here's some video from the award presentation taken by John DeNobile (thanks Toronto Writer for the heads up). There's this 4-minute segment where CNN's John Roberts introduces the band. Then there's this video which includes a lead in segment taken from selected portions of Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, then Alex is presented with the award and gives a little speech:

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Rush was the recipient of the Legend of Live award at the 7th annual Billboard Touring Awards in New York City last night. The award honors groups or individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to live music and the touring business, and acknowledges the recipients' commitment to the art of performing live and reaching fans through the concert experience. Rush manager Ray Danniels and Alex Lifeson were in attendance to accept the award on behalf of the band. You can check out a few photos of Alex hamming it up for the press at this link.

Rush will be receiving yet another award next week as well. The band will be presented the Living Legend award at this year's Classic Rock Awards. The ceremony will take place at The Roundhouse in London this coming Wednesday, November 10th and be hosted by Alice Cooper, although it is not open to the public. Geddy Lee will travel to the UK to accept the award on behalf of the band and he'll also be making an appearance at a screening of the Rush documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage 2 days prior to the awards ceremony at the Cineworld Haymarket in London on Monday, November 8th at 6PM. Geddy along with filmmakers Scot Mcfadyen and Sam Dunn will be conducting a Q&A after the film.

MusicRadar.com recently conducted an interview with Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz where Nick talks about his road to becoming a Grammy-winning record producer, the current state of the music industry, and the various bands he's worked with including Rush. He describes how he landed the gig to produce Rush's Snakes & Arrows album and when asked about his work with Rush on their upcoming Clockwork Angels album he had this to say:

... There's going to be a lot of cool stuff. We've got six other songs ready to record, and they're probably going to want to write some more when they finish this tour. We'll sit down and figure out how to record everything else. I can already tell you that the title track is going to be one of the coolest things they've ever done. It's going to be epic.

I told them, 'Don't try to write a single. Don't try to do anything conventional. Give me Rush from back in the day.' They don't need to write something for the sake of radio play. They're Rush! [laughs] So I think the record is going to be a little more bare bones, a little less produced. It's going to be more direct, with killer riffs, solos, pounding drums and Geddy singing up high the way he should. That, to me, is the sound of Rush. ...

This is certainly encouraging news although it sounds like not even Nick knows exactly when the guys will be doing some more recording. You can read the entire interview at this link.

Neil Peart updated the News page on his website with some more stories from the road last night. The update is titled The Power of Magical Thinking and Neil describes his motorcycling adventures from the South American leg of the Time Machine Tour. Neil and the NeilPeart.net staff (Neil, Greg Russell and Brutus) were so deeply moved by the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners last month that they are making an appeal to readers to consider contributing to the Chilean Red Cross. Before getting to the story, readers are presented with a message asking you to donate $1, $5 or $10. You can make your donation and read the entire update at this link.

Earlier this week Rush's Subdivisions was made available for download for the Rock Band video game. Rock Band 3 was just released last week and adds the ability to play keyboards along with guitars, drums and vocals. So the keyboard-heavy Subdivisions is an ideal fit for the game. The track is the original master recording and is now available for download for the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3. You can check out a trailer featuring the track at this link.

This past Tuesday I was a guest on Used Bin Radio - a weekly internet radio talk show geared towards Classic, Modern and Progressive Rock. It was my 4th appearance on the program and I had a blast as usual. Hosts Joe and Brad are longtime Rush fans as well as RIAB readers so we always have a lot to chat about. RIAB's own PetieLee called in after my appearance and spoke at length with the guys about her multiple Time Machine Tour stops, her Geddy infatuation and meet-n-greet experience, and planning for RatCon 2011. RIAB'ers hermy and RushFanForever also called in. You can listen to the podcast at this link. My part begins at around the 1-hour mark.

Rush and the Time Machine Tour are featured in the October, 2010 issue of PLSN (Projection, Light and Staging News). Rush lighting director Howard Ungerleider is interviewed and discusses the Time Machine Tour stage show in detail including the steampunk design, the video features and the custom spider truss. You can read the interview at this link.

There's a new contest at the Rush Backstage Club where you could win a rare, one-of-a-kind Rush baseball cap. The hat is the same swoosh style hat that was sold on the Time Machine Tour but with red embroidery instead of cream. The contest runs through November 17th and you can enter at this link. Thanks to Jediyyz for the heads up.

Back in September VH1 Classic premiered the 2112/Moving Pictures Classic Albums special during their Rush Hashanah celebration. The documentary covered the making of these 2 classic rock albums and included commentary from all three members of Rush along with producer Terry Brown, Taylor Hawkins of The Foo Fighters, Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke and many others. The special was released to DVD/Blu-ray a few weeks ago and you can order your copy on both DVD and Blu-ray, along with a special DVD/Blu-ray combo package that also includes both the 2112 and Moving Pictures CDs (4 discs total). The DVD has a total running time of 112 minutes including 50 minutes of bonus footage not included in the VH1 Classic broadcast. You can check out a couple of preview videos in this post. The DVD/Blu-ray continues to get great reviews in the press including this one from Guitar International.

Queensryche frontman Geoff Tate was recently interviewed by Noisecreep magazine regarding the band's 20th anniversary re-release of their 1990 classic Empire. Geoff talks a bit about the making of the album and includes a story involving Rush's Alex Lifeson:

... We were mixing the record in Lake Geneva, Wis. in a place called Royal Recorders and Rush was in town. Peter had worked quite a bit with Rush over the years and was friends with them. And Peter invited Alex Lifeson down to the studio, and he ended up spending the whole day and evening with us. We had a funny moment. Back then, you always had meals catered into the studio. So we had dinner brought in and they set it up in the big room of the studio because it had the most room for all of us. There was a big table set up with linens. And it was a soundproof room, so it's super quiet. You can hear everyone chewing their food, and the clink of the sound of the cutlery hitting the plate was deafening.

We were all getting kind of freaked out. And Alex was geeking on the sound because it was so quiet. So we had one of the assistants bring in some speakers and turn music on so there would be some ambient noise in the room so we could finish eating. ...

Anthrax singer Joey Belladona was interviewed for The Oklahoma Daily (thanks habanero65) and makes mention of Rush as being one of his favorite bands.

In the latest installment of his music discovery podcast and blog Bands Like Rush, Ben Sommer talks to 3 members of Philadelphia-based The Tea Club about their new album Rabbit. To find out more about the band check out their website at this link. You can listen to the podcast or read a transcription at this link.

Reason TV interviewed some attendees of last week's Rally for Sanity in Washington D.C. including one guy who was wearing a Good Rush, Bad Rush t-shirt. The interviewer asks the guy about the shirt which spawns a discussion of Rush's supposed political beliefs - which they both seem fairly clueless about. You can check out the video at this link around the 2-minute mark. Thanks to Michael P for the heads up.

Classic Rock Magazine recently ran an article on the 70's British rock band Money as part of their Cult Heroes series. Back in the late 70's the band had been billed as the UK's answer to Rush but then faded into oblivion after a series of unfortunate events. One being an opportunity to open for Rush on the band's European tour that never materialized because their record company refused to pay the buy-on fee. From the article:

... "[Gerry Bron] told us that he was putting together a 30+ date European tour for a major Canadian band," continues to Phillips. "I was thinking to myself, 'I know of only one band who fitted that description, and that was Rush. Surely it can't be them!'. So, I asked Gerry who the band were...It was Rush. Basically, the tour was ours if we want it. I think they themselves asked for us, although I can't be certain if that was the case. All the band's management wanted was a £7,500 buy-on (a 'buy-on' was, and is, normal practise in the music business, whereby support bands paid the headliners a fee for the tour). We thought it was a done deal. And what an opportunity. The chance to tour with one of the biggest bands in the world just as our album was about to released in the UK and Europe. And, musically, we knew we'd fit with the Rush audience..."

The tour was due to kick off in Newcastle on April 23, 1979 and would feature 20 UK shows, before another batch in Europe, ending on June 2.

So, imagine the shockwaves sent coursing through the Money spine when Gull refused to pay the fee (usually, it is record labels who are responsible for funding such 'buy-ons', as it gives a potentially massive promotional boost to a band's record).

"They wouldn't do it," says Phillps. "And, to this day, we don't know why. It seemed like a such an obvious thing to do."

In the end, Canadians Max Webster landed that tour support slot. ...

Thanks to Mike S for the heads up.

Early last month longtime RIAB member and contributor Gary Ortiz (aka gloritz) sadly passed away after a battle with cancer. His wife Helen wanted me to let everyone know that there will be a memorial service for Gary at Westhaven Baptist Church in Port Huron, MI tomorrow. You can get all the details and read Gary's obituary at this link.

Back in September internationally recognized wine expert Mark Oldman released his new book Oldman's Brave New World of Wine. The book features Alex Lifeson along with dozens of other celebrity wine lovers discussing their favorite wines and wine-based experiences. Earlier this week Oldman posted a short video to his website where he interviews Alex Lifeson in Lerxst's wine cellar and learns about the Lifeson Ledge:

Mark Oldman takes off to the Great White North to visit with Rush's Alex Lifeson, the legendary rock guitarist and one of the wine-passionate "Bravehearts" featured in Oldman's Brave New World of Wine. We learn how Alex's wife accidentally swipes one of his cherished bottles and how the musician devises a solution to prevent further incursions -- an ingenious idea Mark dubs a "Lifeson Ledge". This is cautionary tale for all drinkers interested in discouraging the unauthorized removal of their favorite vino.

You can watch the video below or at this link.

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

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