RUSH IS A BAND

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Rush to tour South America in late 2009?

UPDATE - 12/30@2:20PM: Many thanks to everyone who sent in a translation. Here's one from reader GeddyJr who happens to be a professional Spanish translator:

Rush is packing its bags for Chile

As with Queen, the station (Canal 13) got together with local producers and came to an agreement to bring the trio here in 2009. It's one of the most anticipated performances in recent memory.

Almost like Radiohead or Madonna, for years the arrival of the Canadian trio Rush has been one of the greatest unfulfilled promises of local megaevents and the confessed dream of an enormous community of devoted fans that grew up in the rock-and-roll virtuosity of the 70's.

Despite often the multitude of rumors (a while back it was said that they would come in May), the negotiations now offer solid evidence of progress. Eventos 13, the concert production office of Canal 13, met with two local producers almost a month ago and closed a financial deal for the group's debut in Santiago.

Initially, the plan was to bring the group here in March, but problems with the group's schedule and the abundance of events during that month precluded that possibility. The last date that was agreed upon is during the last few months of next year. [Translator's note: Keep in mind that the seasons are reversed in South America, so this will be a summer tour in late 2009.] The venue hasn't been decided yet, but industry sources are sure that the Canadians' elevated price tag and strong drawing power in Chile will demand an arena capacity of more than 15,000.

Even the National Stadium has been considered. Chile's last game in World Cup qualifying is during the first week of October, and the stadium's availability and capacity both make it the best choice for the event. Other options would be the Pista Atlética (Sports Stadium) or the Club Hípico (Horse Track), which will host Iron Maiden on March 22. Furthermore, managers of Calle Blanco Encalada have organized a meeting in the next few days with executives of UC-TV - the same people that agreed to participate in Queen's recent show in November, produced by DG Medios.

Rush's tour through Latin America, which will also include Brazil and Argentina, would be an incredible realignment of effort. The band closed its "Snakes & Arrows" tour on July 24 in Indianapolis and has said that they will rest in 2009. This could be a real treat for their South American fans, the greatest Rush fans in the world. Many Chileans traveled to Brazil in 2002 and appear in the DVD that the group recorded in that country.

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Chilean newspapper El Mercurio is reporting that Rush is in negotiations to tour South America sometime late next year. The article is in Spanish but from what I can glean from it, the band would potential play several dates at larger arenas (15000+) in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. If anyone is willing to translate the article, I'd really appreciate it; my Spanish is mediocre at best. The article talks about how originally the band was supposed to tour South America last May, as I'd reported on this site. It also mentions how this would be an unprecedented move since the band closed out the Snakes & Arrows tour back in July and have stated that they'd be taking most of 2009 off. Here's the original article in Spanish and here is the loose Google translation. If true, this is great news for all the South American fans. More as I learn it and I'll try to get a better translation of the article. Thanks to Hugo F for the heads up.