UPDATE - 4/27@4:55PM: It now looks like Ticketmaster is offering Official Platinum Seats for the Rush 2012 tour. These are a good alternative to the VIP pre-sales since you know exactly what seats you are purchasing. These are made available at the same time general tickets go on sale. More information in my ticket sales and pre-sales guide.
The first round of pre-sales for Rush's 2012 Clockwork Angels are now over, with general ticket sales kicking off today and tomorrow. The first round included 10 dates: Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Anaheim and LA. General ticket sales for Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn and Boston began earlier this morning - Anaheim and LA begin shortly at 10AM PST, and Chicago, Detroit, and Buffalo kick-off tomorrow at 10AM. As of this post VIP ticket packages for Detroit, Brooklyn, and Boston are still open with the other 7 having sold out already. With the benefit of hindsight we now have a better picture of how the various pre-sales work this go-around. The Music Today fan pre-sales operated much as they have in the past with the one exception being that registration with the fan community on the Music Today website is no longer required. The big difference this year was with the VIP pre-sales, which are now conducted by VIPNation.com rather than Ticketmaster. With VIP Nation, you still get a guaranteed seat in the first 15 rows but you don't know the exact location of your ticket until you pick them up at the venue - which has many fans understandably up in arms (there's also this petition). The CITI, Live Nation and other pre-sales work much as they have in the past and typically require a password. The Live Nation password this time around is melody. For any other passwords, just periodically check out the tour page, and for more details on how all the pre-sales work check out my ticket sales and pre-sales guide. Looking ahead to next week, it looks we'll have pre-sales for Bristow, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Bridgeport, San Jose, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Not all of these are currently listed at Ticketmaster as going on sale next week, but the Citi Private Pass site is listing them all as going on CITI pre-sale next Tuesday, May 1st - which means all the other pre-sales will also occur next week. And although they haven't been officially announced yet, we can be fairly certain that both the Music Today and VIP pre-sales for these dates will kick-off next Monday at 12PM. I'll be updating the tour page with all of this information as the official word rolls in. The Citi Private Pass site lists the remaining US dates (except for Cleveland and Atlanta) as going on sale the week after next. I don't yet have any information regarding ticket sales for any Canadian dates, but that should be coming out in the next couple of weeks as well. I've been getting a lot of questions about the chances of Rush adding any further dates to the tour. Although I doubt that they will add any new cities, it's very possible they will add 2nd shows in either Toronto and/or Los Angeles since they left a 4-day gap after each of these shows. They've done exactly this in the past, so it stands to reason that they may do the same again this time. This mostly depends on how ticket sales for the first shows are doing. I also haven't heard anything regarding extending the tour into 2013, but judging by Rush's past 2 tours this seems highly likely. On Wednesday Rush updated their official mobile app with a new Clockwork Angels theme and Clockwork Angels tour information. You can get the app for the iPhone, the iPad and for Android. They have also updated their Facebook page and added all the tour dates using the Bands in Town Facebook app. The Rush Petition website was just revamped this week in preparation for the upcoming 2012 tour, although since nothing has really changed in terms of song choices since its last update before the second leg of the Time Machine tour, the votes from the last tour have been left in place. So if you haven't already voted for your song choices, you can do so at the revamped website.
The full 7:20-minute album version of Headlong Flight was released for purchase as a download worldwide earlier this week via multiple channels including Amazon, iTunes and Spotify. It briefly made its way onto the iTunes top 100 songs chart at #91, but has since dropped off - and it's been sitting at #1 on Amazon's top downloaded rock songs chart since its release on Tuesday. The track was officially released to radio last Thursday and has been starting to get some steady rotation on rock radio stations everywhere. It's currently sitting at #14 and moving up on the Medibase Rock Chart. Last week Rush.com posted the official video for Headlong Flight to YouTube. It's titled as the Official Lyric Video and has a number of visuals that display the lyrics to the song interspersed with old performance video of Rush along with some other steampunk visuals. The song is also now up on SoundCloud.
Things have been so focused on the tour and the Headlong Flight single lately, I thought I'd take a moment to review where things stand with the actual Clockwork Angels album release. The album will release in the US and Canada on June 12th (a little earlier in parts of Europe) and will be available on CD, vinyl and as a special edition fanpack. It will also of course be available as a download and can now be pre-ordered as such via iTunes. The album will be exclusively released in the UK on June 11th as a special Classic Rock fanpack edition, with the regular UK release on July 2nd. The fanpack will include the album plus a 132-page magazine with extensive and exclusive interviews with all 3 band members, along with a full track-by-track rundown by the band, an interview with producer Nick Raskulinecz, long time cover artist Hugh Syme and more. For more details and to order the fanpack, go to this link. Yesterday a shake-up of sorts at Rush's new Roadrunner record label was announced, although it sounds as if this shouldn't have any immediate affect on Rush or the release of the album. It's possible that it may affect any kind of marketing/advertising campaigns for the album however, but it's probably too early to tell. From Billboard.biz (thanks Mark):
In a changing of the guard at Roadrunner Records, founder/CEO Cees Wessels is leaving the label 17 months after the completion of its sale to the Warner Music Group... the label is being realigned so that it will utilize the Warner Music Group for back-office and other support capabilities while retaining frontline label functions like A&R, marketing, promotion and publicity. In the U.S., Roadrunner will continue to operate as a standalone frontline label, although 16 staffers in the States are losing their jobs. Internationally, Roadrunner's staff will continue to carry out some label functions, such as marketing, promo and publicity. Other responsibilities, principally support functions, will be carried out by Warner Music teams, which means that 20 staffers will lose their jobs. Roadrunner, which continues to be a strong brand in rock music, will continue to have personnel in every territory it does currently, with the exception of the Netherlands office ...
In the first of what I'm sure will be a long series of band interviews to be released in the coming weeks/months, Alex Lifeson sat down with High Times magazine for an interview in their June, 2012 edition. He mostly spoke about his feelings regarding marijuana on both a personal and political level, but also chimed in a little regarding the Clockwork Angels album, expanding a bit on the inclusion of strings on the album:
All of our records are thematic, but this one is a little more of an old-fashioned concept album in the tradition of 2112 and Hemispheres. We just recorded a string section yesterday for five of the songs-we still have to sit down and see what we'll use from that, but it sounded fantastic. Rush hasn't used strings in a while, and it's really added a lot of emotional impact to the songs.
The fact that as many as 5 tracks on the album may include strings tends to lend some weight to the rumor that the band may be touring with a string section in some capacity. You can read the entire interview online here.
The folks at RushCon announced the location and dates for this year's convention earlier this week. The 12th annual RushCon will be held in Toronto on October 12-14, 2012, to coincide with the Rush concert on October 14th. From the RushCon newsletter:
... we are excited to tell you that our 12th annual RushCon will be held in Toronto on October 12-14, 2012, to coincide with the Rush concert on October 14th. It's a very exciting time to be a Rush fan! Celebrate with three days of games, events, guest speakers, our memorabilia charity auction and much more, wrapped up with seeing Rush live in their home town! Rush concert pre-sale tickets go on sale soon, so now is the time to plan your pilgrimage to Toronto. See Rush in YYZ, meet some awesome fans, and be surrounded by those who share your love of this magical band. We really hope to see you there! We will be posting event details and registration details over the next couple weeks. Stay tuned!
Be sure to follow RushCon on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest RushCon news.
Last month MIDIpedals.com posted part 1 of an extensive interview they conducted with longtime Rush roadie Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret). In the interview Tony talks about the early days with Rush, connecting the non-MIDI Taurus Pedals to Geddy's Oberheim synths, and about the redundant MIDI and sampling setup when they are touring. The now have what they are calling part 1.5 of the interview posted as well. Here's the explanation from the website:
A couple of weeks after posting Part 1, Tony called me and hoped to finish up the interview. When he called I was not prepared to record the call, and let him know I would need to call him back. I am assuming Rush has started tour rehearsals, so he has been busy and we haven't been able to do Part 2 because we haven't been able to schedule a second interview. Here are a few questions I emailed to him and his answers. I call it Part 1.5 in hopes we can do Part 2 soon.
You can read part 1.5 of the interview and also listen to part 1 at this link.
Back in early March Rush was announced as the recipient of a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. There will be a Gala held next Saturday, May 5th at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa where the band will be presented with the award. It's still not known whether any members of Rush will attend. Here are Neil Peart's reactions to the award from the Cape Breton Post:
... "We are especially appreciative for the presentation of this lifetime achievement award now - while we are still active (Too active, our families might say!)" said Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in an emailed statement, noting that the band was putting the finishing touches on its 20th studio album, "Clockwork Angels," with a fall tour planned. "Since our performance 'lifetimes' aren't quite over yet, this high honour is not just a reward; it is an inspiration. We will continue to try to earn it." ...
Just a couple of weeks ago Rush was awarded a Revolver Golden God Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Sonic Elements Rush tribute XYZ: A Tribute To Rush was released this past Sunday, April 21st and can now be purchased via esoundz.com as a digital download or a physical CD. The 5 tracks on the album are Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, YYZ, Limelight and a bonus track titled Trifecta. Performers include John Wesley (Porcupine Tree), Billy Sherwood (Yes), Dave Kerzner, Rik Emmett (Triumph), Randy McStine, Matt Dorsey and Neil Peart Drums by Sonic Reality. Trifecta is an original track written by Billy Sherwood and Dave Kerzner that uses the drum track from YYZ. You can listen to samples from the project on SoundCloud, and check out all the track details at the esoundz website listing. For anyone who ordered the CD, the shipping is apparently a little delayed and the CDs are expected to ship in early May. As a consolation, they are offering up the download version for free. Here's a message that reader Kelly M received:
Thank you for purchasing the pre-order of the limited edition XYZ - A Tribute To Rush CD! While we are still waiting for the CDs to arrive we wanted to treat you to the download version in mp3 and full CD quality wave format while you wait. So visit your download area on esoundz to access it on 4-21-12. Expected shipping on the CD version which you will still get is early May. We will inform you when it has been shipped. If you have any questions feel free to contact us! Enjoy!
Eric at Power Windows reported a Rush 2112 reference on last Friday night's episode of Fox's sci-fi TV show Fringe. During the episode Letters In Transit (season 4, episode 19), guest star Henry Ian Cusick uses the password 092112# written on a piece of paper to get into the old (alternate universe's) Massive Dynamic building. This is the second Rush reference on the show: two years ago during the episode The Man from the Other Side (season 2, episode 19), Tom Sawyer was heard on a car radio in the opening scene.
Jammit! has added Closer to the Heart to the list of Rush tracks already available for the Jammit! app which includes Tom Sawyer, 2112, Limelight and YYZ. The app is now also available for Mac desktops and will soon be available on Windows too. For more information and to listen to some demo tracks, visit the Rush page at the Jammit website. The Jammit app is available for both the iPhone and iPad, as well as Mac Desktops.
Current Guns 'N Roses guitarist Richard Fortus was recently interviewed for Glide Magazine and talks about meeting Alex Lifeson when he was 12:
Leslie West used to hang out at my house and was friends with my dad. I remember meeting Alex Lifeson of Rush, which at the time was a big deal to me. I have a great picture of me that I just found recently. Check this out, he's playing a double-neck acoustic guitar, one of my father's guitars, and I'm playing the top neck and he's playing the bottom. But the awesome thing about it is I'm like eleven years old or twelve years old in the picture and he has a huge canker sore on his lip (laughs). It's so Spinal Tap, just perfect.
Canadian producer Billy Bryans passed away earlier this week. Bryans was the first producer to record Rush back in the Fall of 1972 at Sound Horn Studio. He produced some two track songs that were never released and the tapes of these recording sessions were later lost. Thanks to Skip D for the heads up.
Rob Higgins is a Toronto music scene institution who also happens to be Geddy Lee's nephew. His current band is Dearly Beloved who he formed back in 2006. They recently announced a new album and cross-Canada tour with fellow Canadians Die Mannequin. You can listen to a sample of their new music and read about the project/tour on SoundCloud at this link (thanks entrenous).
Former Montreal Expos manager Jim Fanning recently celebrated becoming a Canadian citizen at age 84 with a big bash at the Eastside Bar & Grill in London, ON. Fanning's children Cynthia and Frank gave speeches and read emails from well wishers including Geddy Lee.
Here's the Live Nation promotional 30-second commercial spot for the Clockwork Angels tour:
That's it for this week. Onto round 2 of pre-sales next week, so rest up this weekend!
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