RUSH IS A BAND

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Rush 2010 tour update: a few rumored dates/venues

UPDATE - 3/13@10:42PM: I'm now hearing that the Casino Rama show won't be happening. There may have been discussions at some point, but as of right now it doesn't look likely. I'm crossing that one off the list. But to replace it, I'm adding the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. I've heard from a source at the venue that Rush will is tentatively scheduled to play there on July 19th.

UPDATE - 3/12@1:03PM: I have another one that I'm pretty sure of now: August 5th at the USANA Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City, UT. I added it below too.

UPDATE - 3/10@9:53PM: The PNC date is not correct. It's a mixup from the 2008 tour (they played there on the '08 leg on July 12th).

UPDATE - 3/10@8:36PM: Not so sure about that PNC date right now. I'll keep it, but with a question mark. Earlier I mentioned that they'd be starting in the Southwest. I'm starting to narrow that down and it looks like it'll be Albuquerque, NM. Not sure of the venue but I assume it's The Pavilion.

UPDATE - 3/10@4:27PM: According to rushdude38 who cites a venue source, there will be a show at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ on July 12th. I've added it below.

UPDATE - 3/10@10:57AM: It looks like the Atlanta opening in early June is unlikely to happen. I was a little hesitant about that information to begin with and now I'm hearing conflicting reports putting the opening date more towards mid-late June in the Southwest rather than the Southeast. The good news is that the rest of my information regarding Milwaukee, St. Louis, San Francisco and the Casino Rama seems to be pretty solid. They'll still probably hit Atlanta at some point but it looks like it'll be more towards the end of the tour. And for anyone worried about the Casino Rama date meaning that they won't play Toronto, don't be; I've heard that they are confirmed to play the Molson Amphitheatre but I'm not sure of the date yet. Speculating on the tour announcement; I don't expect any kind of tour announcement this week, but I think next week is a good bet - likely early in the week. I would anticipate an initial announcement that the tour is happening - probably with some general information (number of dates, duration, opening city, etc.). Then a week or so after that we'd get the full list.

UPDATE - 3/8@6:46PM: It looks like the major concert announcement from 103.5 The Arrow for tomorrow will be regarding Sting - not Rush.

And this just in! ... (added down below as well)

Aug 22nd: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis - Maryland Heights, MO (outside St. Louis)

* This comes from a source at the venue (thanks lifesonfan). This is around the same time they played this venue on the 2007 tour. So it's starting to look like the tour route will be very similar to the '07 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour.

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UPDATE - 3/8@2:22PM: This may be a bit of a stretch, but reader hermy noticed that the Xcel Energy Center had the date of July 5th grayed out on their calendar which means that the date is on hold. He confirmed this with the venue but they would not give any details as to who may be scheduled. Rush played the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN on both the 2007 and 2008 legs of the Snakes & Arrows tour and - assuming the July 3rd Summerfest date is confirmed - they'll be close by in Milwaukee just 2 days prior. Interesting...

In other news, Jason R let me know that Utah classic rock station 103.5 The Arrow is advertising a major concert announcement for tomorrow morning at 9AM EST. This of course could have nothing to do with Rush, but it's worth keeping an eye on I suppose.

----- snip -----

UPDATE - 3/8@11:28AM: Reader robertkincaid96 noticed that the Gwinnett Center Arena now has a show booked on June 6th (June 3rd and June 5th too) so if the opening show is at the Gwinnett Center it won't by on June 6th. Nothing is officially scheduled at Encore Park for June yet.

I've been gathering a few scraps of information regarding Rush's expected 2010 tour since my update on Friday. I'll first repeat what I'd mentioned on Friday; that I continue to hear from multiple reliable sources that the tour is happening, and have not heard any news to the contrary. The general consensus is that the North American portion of the tour will kick off in early-mid June and run through September - much like the 2007 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour. Dates are still being finalized which is why we haven't had an announcement yet. There are also several side rumors that I'm less sure of including whether South America and/or Atlantic Canada will be included, whether the rumored European leg in 2011 will happen, whether the tour will contain some kind of nod/celebration to the 30th anniversary of Permanent Waves and whether the tour will kick off in the Southeast US (more on this below). Those are all rumors I've heard but have not been able to corroborate. Remember, these rumors did not materialize out of nowhere; Alex Lifeson kicked off the tour rumors back in September when he said hopefully by next summer, [Rush would] be ready to tour in this NoiseCreep.com interview. Since then, both Geddy Lee and Neil Peart have chimed in with similar statements. And let's not forget that back in December several major radio stations across the country ran contests to promote the release of the Working Men live compilation and gave away chances to win tickets to Rush's next tour. And at the end of January 105.7 WAPL out of Appleton, WI announced on the air that Rush would be playing Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 3rd. They even had a page up on their website promoting the event that has since been taken down. Radio stations do not do this kind of thing unless they have been given some kind of assurance that a band will be touring. I know and understand that everyone is getting a little antsy for an announcement, but to put things in perspective - the dates for the 2007 Snakes & Arrows tour were not announced until March 26th with tickets going on sale the following day. The only official mention of a tour prior to that occurred on February 14, 2007 with the official announcement of the Snakes & Arrows album - and all they said at that time was on tour this summer. details coming soon. So we still may be waiting a couple weeks before we get any official tour dates, although I'm hoping to get some leaked dates prior to that. Speaking of which, here a few of the scraps of information I spoke of earlier:

June ?? (mid-late June): tour kick-off in Albuquerque, NM - The Pavilion? (unsure of the venue)

June 6th: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park - Alpharetta, GA OR Gwinnett Arena - Duluth, GA

UPDATE - 3/10@10:57AM: It looks like the Atlanta opening in early June is unlikely to happen. I was a little hesitant about that information to begin with and now I'm hearing conflicting reports putting the opening date more towards mid-late June in the Southwest rather than the Southeast. They'll still probably hit Atlanta at some point but it looks like it'll be more towards the end of the tour.

UPDATE - 3/8@11:28AM: Reader robertkincaid96 noticed that the Gwinnett Center Arena now has a show booked on June 6th (June 3rd and June 5th too) so if the opening show is at the Gwinnett Center it won't by on June 6th. Nothing is officially scheduled at Encore Park for June yet.

* It looks like they are/were attempting to book the Alpharetta show as the opening date on the tour but ran into potential scheduling conflicts. So the Gwinnett Arena was one alternative venue they were looking at. If the conflicts could not be worked out, it's likely they would still kick-off the tour somewhere in the Southeast US at some other venue, but this may still end up being the opening date.

July 3rd: Summerfest - Milwaukee, WI

* As I'd mentioned above, at the end of January 105.7 WAPL out of Appleton, WI announced on the air that Rush would be playing Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 3rd. They prematurely announced the show and even had a page up on their website promoting the event for a short time. I was informed by sources at the venue that this date has indeed been confirmed, although there has still been no official announcement.

July 19th: Mohegan Sun Arena - Uncasville, CT

*I've heard from a source at the venue that Rush will is tentatively scheduled.

July ??: 2 shows at the Casino Rama - Rama, Ontario (60 miles north of Toronto)

* This is an interesting one! I received word that Rush is booked to play two shows in July at the Casino Rama about 60 miles north of Toronto. The venue seats about 5000 and KISS played 2 back-to-back shows there last summer (July 20,21), so it's certainly plausible. The dates have not been announced yet but I assume they'd be back-to-back shows sometime in mid-late July. If true, it would seem to suggest that Rush plans to hit several more Canadian dates than on the 2007/08 tour - including Atlantic Canada hopefully.

Aug ??: Shoreline Amphitheater - Mountain View, CA
Aug ??: Sleep Train Pavillion - Concord, CA

* The word is that Rush has been confirmed for both of these venues sometime in early August. I'm not sure of the exact dates yet.

Aug 5th: USANA Amphitheatre - Salt Lake City, UT

Aug 22nd: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis - Maryland Heights, MO (outside St. Louis)

* This comes from a source at the venue (thanks lifesonfan). This is around the same time they played this venue on the 2007 tour. So it's starting to look like the tour route will be very similar to the '07 leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour.

Date Unknown: Molson Amphitheatre - Toronto, ON

Remember that until Rush confirms any of this information, it's not official. If anyone has any industry connections or contacts at the various concert venues, find out what you can and let us know. I'll continue updating the site as I receive more information.

Related Posts:
[Rush 2010 tour update]
[Neil Peart: new Rush project may not be a full-length album]
[Rush 2010 tour and album update]
[Radio stations giving away Rush 2010 tour tickets?]
[Geddy Lee: Rush in the studio soon, Summer 2010 tour possible]
[Neil Peart news update: Rush to discuss future plans this month]
[Alex Lifeson: new Rush album, tour possible in 2010]