RUSH IS A BAND

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Rush documentary update

UPDATE - 2/18@8:27PM: TNMS member Oz who gave the report below also mentions that they are discussing a September-ish DVD release date and that this info came straight from filmmaker Scot McFadyen. Knowing how these things work, September-ish probably really means November-ish. :) It's a good sign though and this jibes with earlier reports I had heard that the DVD would be released towards the end of this year.

Late last month I reported that the long-anticipated Rush documentary had been completed and would likely premier sometime this Spring. A few days later this information was confirmed via a post to the official Banger Films Facebook page:

... the Rush Doc is done and dusted. Look for some announcements and possibly a premiere in the Spring!! January 31 at 4:23pm

Shortly after this confirmation, an article feature on Rush for the March 2010 issue of The Walrus magazine was posted online which discussed the documentary at length. It included several quotes from filmmaker Sam Dunn and also confirmed what I'd mentioned in my late January post; that the movie would contain footage of the Canadian Bandstand gig that Rush played at Laura Secord High School in St. Catharines, ON in 1974 with original drummer John Rutsey on drums.

The National Midday Sun user Oz was lucky enough to get a screening of the film and revealed several details in this post from yesterday:

Was lucky enough to see this last week & have to say I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't the final mixed down version.
Trying to cram 30+ years into 1hr 42 mins, means that invariably the film makers haven't gone into depth over every album, but have focused on what the band perceive to be breakthroughs & turning points. Pleasingly there's a good chunk of the film dedicated to the early days, including previously unseen photo's of Ged & Al as kids & teenagers, interviews with parents, plus footage of the earliest filmed gig with [John Rutsey] at [Laura Secord] High School. Anecdotes & reverence from Gene Simmons,Sebastien Bach, Jack Black, Mike Portnoy, Kim Mitchell, Billy Corgan and more. Interviews with Ray Daniels, Terry Brown, Rupert Hine, Pter Collins, Howard Ungerleider & Liam Birt as well as interviews with Ged & Al & Neil (obviously) with Neil in particular being more open than I'd anticipated. The friendship between the 3 is what resonated the strongest for me. ... Due to Premier at Tribecca Film Festival (New York) ...

So he says it was 1 hour, 42 minutes long although this was not necessarily the final version that he saw. He also mentions that it's due to premier at the Tribecca Film Festival in New York which runs from April 21 through May 2, although this has not been confirmed. I should also add that he later edited his post adding this bit of information regarding the tour:

The other news to come out was the band will be going on the road later this year, however Europe is not included.

We already knew they were touring but this is the first I'd heard that Europe would not be included, although I suspected as much. None of this is official of course. I'm still hearing that the official tour announcement will come before the end of this month.

Related Posts:
[Rush featured in the latest issue of The Walrus]
[Rush documentary reportedly finished]
[Rush: The Documentary sneak peek shown at Windsor film festival]
[Behind-the-scenes Rush documentary pics]
[Rush: The Documentary update]
[Rush: The Documentary working cover, planned 2009 release]
[Rush: The Documentary update]
[Sam Dunn on the upcoming Rush documentary]
[Rush: The Documentary]
[RushCon report]