Rush is a Band

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

Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, May 6, 2011@12:39PM | comments removed/disabled

The 2nd leg of Rush's 2011 Time Machine Tour kicked off Wednesday night at the Hartwell Arena in Helsinki, Finland - the first of a series of 12 European dates the band will be playing throughout the month of May. This weekend they'll continue their trek across Europe where they'll play 2 shows in Sweden beginning with a date at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden tonight and then it's over to Malmo on Sunday. After that they'll be playing their first ever show in Ireland when they'll hit the O2 Arena in Dublin on Thursday.

Issue #16 of Classic Rock's Prog magazine hit newsstands a couple of weeks ago. The issue features Rush on the cover along with a 10-page spread on the band including an extensive interview with Neil Peart and interviews with Geddy Lee. The pair discuss Rush's upcoming 19th studio album Clockwork Angels among other subjects. Neil Peart is anxious to get the album done:

... "I feel a certain urgency, I really want to get that record made while I'm still able to," he says. "It was hard for me to set the album aside to tour, this really means a lot to me, I intend it to be my highest achievement lyrically and drumming wise, so I really want to get it done while we still can." ...

Geddy talks about the conceptual nature of the album:

... "We have about six songs finished and waiting to go into preproduction and then be recorded. ... "We're going in a conceptual direction on this record, for sure," says Lee. "We started with a 10-minute song idea that then turned into a concept and it's feeding off itself. ... We're spending so much time on this concept. It's been fun, because we haven't gone down that road in a while. Let's see if we can pull it off!" ... "It's not just the fans! We're hoping for another great Rush album ourselves!" ...

There's also a piece where Geddy talks about the Moving Pictures deluxe edition. You can check out all the excerpts from the article in this post.

While Rush was on their first break in the 2011 tour last week, Neil Peart took some time to update the News page on his website with a story titled Eastern Resurrection. In this latest installment Neil discusses his motorcycle travels throughout the Eastern US on the first leg of the 2011 Time Machine Tour. You can check out the update at this link. Speaking of Neil Peart, his new book Far and Away: A Prize Every Time received a very favorable review from Kirkus Reviews (thanks sean g). From the review:

... Perhaps the book’s best and moist poignant chapter is “The Best February Ever,” in which the author describes the bucolic setting surrounding his sanctuary in Quebec. His description of nights spent alone sipping Macallan before a roaring fire while losing himself in great books and days spent cross-country skiing over an unbroken winter landscape while focusing on simply appreciating the heart-breaking majesty of the world around him will instantly transport readers to a more relaxed state of mind—and quite possibly drive hordes of peace seekers northward. Not without potholes, but a ride well worth taking for those who seek the journey more than the destination.

Far and Away is Peart's 5th full-length book and was released earlier last month. You can find out more about the book and purchase your copy at this link.

Facebook is changing the way Facebook groups function and will soon be archiving the old Rush is a Band Facebook group. There's no way to transfer existing members to the new Facebook group format (gee... thanks Facebook) so rather than do that I've opted to start a brand new Rush is a Band Facebook page instead. So if you haven't already, please take a moment to Like Rush is a Band on Facebook. Thanks!

The May, 2011 issue of the UK's Classic Rock magazine is a special collector's edition featuring the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time as chosen by rock's greatest songwriters including Rush's Alex Lifeson. Lifeson's choice was The Who's Pete Townshend:

... "The Who were always a major influence on everything that Rush ever did, from the very start. While I'd never question the Beatles' right to be regarded as the greatest songwriters in history, nonetheless what Townshend did with the Who made more of a mark on us. What he's generated is an amazing body of work, with songs so diverse yet also connected by the fact that we're dealing with a man who wasn't ever afraid to give us a glimpse into his world, his thought process, [and] the way he dealt with his problems." ... "[He] made me aware that it was OK to for a great musician to prove he wasn't infallible. That's great quality we've never forgotten in Rush... It's so hard to choose just one song to represent what he's all about... The choice would come down to Pictures Of Lily, I Can't Explain, or Run, Run, Run. They're all so different, yet also have that unmistakable strand of Townshend running through them." ...

The Moving Pictures 5.1 surround sound 30th anniversary deluxe edition was officially released back on April 5th. However, while the CD+DVD version was made available via multiple retailers, the CD+Blu-ray was only sold exclusively through Best Buy until just this past Tuesday; other retailers such as Amazon.com now have the blu-ray edition available as well. You can order your copy of the CD+BD at Amazon at this link (here for the CD+DVD). In addition to the 5.1 remix, the deluxe edition contains 3 bonus music videos from the Le Studio sessions, an extensive gallery with previously unreleased photos from the original recording sessions, new liner notes by music journalist David Fricke and 30th anniversary artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme. You can check out the liner notes at this link and all the images here. After its release last month Moving Pictures re-entered the Billboard 200 after over 30 years at #137 for the week of April 9th before dropping off the charts for the following week of April 16th. It then was back on the charts for the week of April 23rd at #51, at #100 for the week of April 30th, #125 for the week of May 7th and is currently sitting at #159 for the week of May 14th. Reviews of the remix have been very positive so far; Big Picture, Big Sound gave it their highest rating of 4 stars: Outstanding, and Blu-ray.com gave it 4.5 out of 5 (thanks Mr. K). In both of these reviews the only negative things they had to say were regards to the extras - particularly the quality of the bonus videos.

We learned earlier this week that Geddy Lee makes a guest appearance on The Black Sea Station's new album Transylvania Avenue on Rounder Records. The album is a collection of traditional and original Klezmer and Rumanian music that was produced by longtime Rush friend and collaborator Ben Mink. Geddy Lee plays the electric bass on When I Close My Eyes and does the vocals on March of the Shikker. The album is now available for download on both iTunes and Amazon.com.

Open Court Publishing's latest installment in their Popular Culture and Philosophy book series - Rush and Philosophy - began shipping from Amazon.com and other retailers earlier this week despite having a listed release date of May 10th. Longtime Rush and philosophy author Durrell Bowman along with Jim Berti are the co-editors of the 305-page anthology which is divided into 4 sections containing 21 essays with a complete title of Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United. You can check out the table of contents here, read the book's intro at this link and order your copy at here.

The Geneva Centre for Autism is holding their annual gala and art auction - The Autists - on Tuesday, May 17th at Koerner Hall at the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto. In the lead-up to the event they are running an online silent auction which includes a 2011 Gibson Les Paul Studio Model guitar that was signed by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart at Rush's show in Hamilton, ON back on April 19th. The guitar includes a certificate of authenticity and is valued at $1,299. The center is accepting pre-bids on the guitar up until 3:30PM on May 16, 2011. As of this post the current bid was an appropriate $2,112. For more information and to place your bid go to this link.

The Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida features an on-board sound system which allows the rider to choose the song which is played during the ride. One of the secret bonus tracks is Rush's Temples of Syrinx. Check out this instructional video to see how to access the bonus tracks on the ride - the code for Temples of Syrinx is 101. Thanks to Power Windows for the heads up.

Reader steveg2112 let me know that crackberry.com used a screenshot of a blackberry playing The Spirit of Radio off of Rush in Rio for this article about an updated Pandora App for Blackberry.

Nick over at TNMS recently picked up the 2003 Jon Collins biography of British prog rock band Marillion - Separated Out - and transcribed a few passages related to Marillion's stints as an opening act for Rush back in the 80's. Here's one from a sidebar titled Rush Unplugged:

Marillion and Rush went out for a meal one evening. Halfway through
the meal, Fish whispered to his own band, 'I think Alex Lifeson has
had a plug job! Hang on, I'll ask him... Excuse me Alex, have you had
a plug job?" Indeed he had benefited from a hair transplant, and he
very kindly discussed it with Mark and Fish, both of whom were
becoming a little thin up top!"

You can check out all of the excerpts in this TNMS post. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.

Lead singer and founding member of Texas-based alternative rock band And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (or more succinctly Trail Of Dead") Conrad Keely was recently interviewed for the Baltimore Sun (thanks Power Windows) and spoke a little about Rush's influence:

... My mom got me into Rush. It's one of those relationships with a band that [I've] been listening to since I was a kid. I respect their longevity. But I also kind of relate to [drummer] Neil Peart, the way he had these literary aspirations with their music. I relate to that in a big way. ...

Reader RushFanForever recently picked up a copy of the 2001 book from Canadian bass player Greg Godovitz (Goddo, Fludd) titled Travels With My Amp. The book contains a few references to Rush and manager Ray Danniels including the following excerpt from the chapter Goddo 1981:

Lighve Tour June 10 - July 11

We opened for Rush at the Pacific Coliseum with no sound check. I was pissed off enough to give a great show and we earned an encore, with Geddy watching our entire set from the side of the stage.

And manager Ray Danniels is listed in the acknowledgements as Squatmate/sometime roadie but too proud to admit it/now manages Rush and Van Halen.

Reader Trip let me know of a Rush reference in Wednesday's edition of the webcomic ChannelATE. You can check it out at this link.

John Kadlecik (Furthur, Dark Star Orchestra) was recently interviewed for the Reston Patch and had this to say regarding Geddy Lee:

... A classically trained violinist, [Kadlecik] was a guitar-playing college freshman in 1987 when a friend introduced him to Grateful Dead recordings. "I had already taught myself hundreds of songs by then," Kadlecik said. "I had burned through the entire Rush and Pink Floyd catalogue. I saw Rush recently, and I see [lead singer] Geddy Lee as a bigger influence on my style than Jerry was." ...

Former Rheostatics drummer Dave Clark's current band The Woodshed Orchestra recently released their new self-titled album which includes a track called Geddy Lee. The goofy, 2-and-a-half minute song includes the lyric Geddy Lee is a Canadian National Treasure, playing the bass in the greatest rock band ever. You can purchase the album at this link and watch the video below or at this link.

That's it for this week but before I let you go, reader Mitch18ss pointed out to me that anyone who wants to conceive a child that will be born on 2/1/12 (February 1st, 2012) had better get busy asap! :) Have a great weekend everyone!

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