Rush is a Band http://www.rushisaband.com/ Rush Blog - Rush is a Band Blog: Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson Wed, 14 May 2008 12:41:29 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[New Rush.com video: Geddy Lee in the tuning room]]> A new video has been added to the Rush.com Multimedia: Rush Video section. This video features Geddy Lee backstage in the tuning room before the Austin show. Geddy talks about the tour and how much fun the band and crew are having. He's really enjoying the days off between shows and mentions how he went golfing and drinking with Alex in the day off prior to the Austin gig. Thanks to cincyrushgirl for the heads up.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1483 Wed, 14 May 2008 12:40:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1483 <![CDATA[John Rutsey passes away at age 55]]> UPDATE - 5/13@10:44PM: Some more details are starting to trickle in via Draco over at Counterparts. Apparently the cause of death was a heart attack brought on by complications from diabetes. His family will be making an announcement as to where to send a charitable donation in his memory within the next few days.

If you've been keeping up with the comments in the original blog post over at the Q107 Rock Report you may have noticed a few comments from some notable names in Rush history. Here's one from the woman credited with discovering Rush back in 1974 - Donna Halper:

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1482 Tue, 13 May 2008 07:39:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1482 <![CDATA[Rush Star Hollywood Walk of Fame Project]]> I wanted to take a few moments to alert everyone to a campaign that's currently underway to get Rush a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you are a Rush fan, it's very likely you have heard the name Donna Halper. Donna is credited with discovering Rush while working at WMMS-FM in my hometown of Cleveland back in 1974. She was also pivotal in getting them signed to a record contract, and they dedicated their first two albums to her. Donna along with Rush fans extraordinaire Keith and Kevin Purdy are spearheading this project and have already received the blessing of the band and their management. They could also use some help from us - the fans. Since the nominations are reviewed in June each year, they are soliciting testimonials from Rush fans across the world about how the band and their music has played a positive and meaningful role in their lives. There is no format per se - emails, letters, etc. are fine. They simply need to be well-written and come from the heart. If possible, please send your testimonials to kdpurdy@hotmail.com by Friday, May 23rd so they can be packaged up and sent to the Hollywood Walk of Fame committee.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1481 Mon, 12 May 2008 10:30:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1481 <![CDATA[Irvine open thread]]> Date/Time: Sunday, May 11th @ 7:30PM
Show Number: 17
Venue: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Place: Irvine, CA

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1480 Sun, 11 May 2008 11:20:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1480 <![CDATA[Las Vegas open thread]]> UPDATE - 5/12@8:54AM: Here's a review from the Las Vegas Sun.

Date/Time: Saturday, May 10th @ 8:00PM
Show Number: 16
Venue: Mandalay Bay Resort
Place: Las Vegas, NV

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1479 Sat, 10 May 2008 11:40:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1479 <![CDATA[Updates and other random Rush stuff]]> Rush played their 2nd of 2 shows at the Nokia in LA last night and will head to Vegas and Irvine over the weekend before taking a 9-day hiatus. If you have photos from any of the shows that you'd like to share, you can upload them in the tour section. To view fan photos, check out the tour photo gallery. The Rush.com website has also been very up-to-date with adding great quality photos from shows to their Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1472 Fri, 9 May 2008 13:39:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1472 <![CDATA[Los Angeles night #2 open thread]]> Date/Time: Thursday, May 8th @ 8:00PM
Show Number: 15
Venue: Nokia Theatre
Place: Los Angeles, CA

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1477 Thu, 8 May 2008 11:35:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1477 <![CDATA[Los Angeles night #1 open thread]]> UPDATE - 5/10@11:40AM: Ross Halfin has some photos from the show up on his website (thanks TorontoWriter).

UPDATE - 5/8@11:10AM: Here's a good review from the Orange County Register titled Rush still fierce in a smaller setting. It also includes a few snippets from an Alex Lifeson interview along with the review.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1476 Tue, 6 May 2008 11:30:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1476 <![CDATA[The Great Rush Fan Challenge]]> One of the many reasons I admire Rush so much is their tremendous generosity. They've used their fame to help out countless charitable organizations over the years, raising millions of dollars for those in need. So whenever I hear of a Rush-related charity or charity event I always try and give it some exposure on Rush is a Band. Rush fan and RIAB reader ReGorLaTroy was inspired by Rush's recent donation to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in New Orleans to put forth the following challenge to Rush fans.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1475 Mon, 5 May 2008 10:13:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1475 <![CDATA[Concord open thread]]> UPDATE - 5/11@7:14PM: Here's a really nice review of the show from Ground Control Magazine (thanks Mark Z).

UPDATE - 5/7@8:06AM: Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.

Date/Time: Sunday, May 4th @ 7:30PM
Show Number: 13
Venue: Sleep Train Pavilion
Place: Concord, CA

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1474 Sun, 4 May 2008 10:35:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1474 <![CDATA[Reno open thread]]> UPDATE - 5/8@1:39PM: Here's a nice review from the Reno Gazette-Journal (thanks Al C).

UPDATE - 5/7@8:05AM: Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.

Date/Time: Saturday, May 3rd @ 8:00PM
Show Number: 12
Venue: Reno Events Center
Place: Reno, NV

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1473 Sat, 3 May 2008 10:23:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1473 <![CDATA[Updates and other random Rush stuff]]> The tour rolls on; Rush will play Reno and Concord over the weekend, then 2 LA dates, Vegas and Irvine next week before taking a 9-day break. Here's a little preview article for the LA shows from The Press-Enterprise which includes a few snippets from an Alex Lifeson interview.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the release of Rush's 19th (18th if you don't count Feedback) studio album - Snakes & Arrows. Last year right around this time I asked everybody what their favorite song off the album was. The winner was The Main Monkey Business with Armor and Sword a close second. I thought it would be interesting to ask this same question now that we've had a year to let the songs sink in. So what's your favorite song off of Snakes & Arrows? Take the poll and let us know.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1466 Fri, 2 May 2008 17:16:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1466 <![CDATA[Phoenix open thread]]> UPDATE - 5/7@8:05AM: Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.

Rush heads to the Cricket Pavilion in Phoenix tonight before hitting dates in Nevada and California over the next week. Geddy was spotted at the Diamondbacks game last night (thanks to azbubba for the pic).

Date/Time: Thursday, May 1st @ 8:00PM
Show Number: 11
Venue: Cricket Wireless Pavilion
Place: Phoenix, AZ

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1471 Thu, 1 May 2008 13:00:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1471 <![CDATA[Reminder: Rush on Rockline tonight]]> UPDATE - 5/1@9:14PM: The interview is up on the Rockline website (thanks dwman). It should be noted that there are spoilers in the interview; they reveal the new additions to the setlist.

UPDATE - 5/1@10:18AM: I was not able to listen in last night, but from all the reports I've read there was not much new in this interview. The program should be posted up on the Rockline website in the next couple of days.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1470 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:19:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1470 <![CDATA[Snakes & Arrows Live falls to #110 on Billboard album chart]]> UPDATE - 5/2@12:36PM: The album fell to #59 on the Canadian charts in its 2nd week.

UPDATE - 4/30@3:23PM: Sean just let me know that the CD sold 4,012 copies according to Soundscan in its 2nd week compared to nearly 21,000 in its debut week.

Snakes & Arrows Live - after a strong debut at #18 last week - has begun it's downward spiral off the Billboard album charts. RollingStone.com is reporting (in its typical snarky manner) that in its 2nd week of release the album has plummeted out of the top 100 to settle at #110. This phenomenon is typical of Rush albums; we diehard fans tend to know exactly when the album is coming out and buy (or pre-order) our copies immediately - thereby front-loading the chart numbers. Personally I think this is reflective of the loyalty of Rush's fanbase and something to be proud of.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1469 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:47:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1469 <![CDATA[Backstage Secrets Rush road crew documentary update]]> UPDATE - 5/8@4:34PM: Reader sandman saw the first episode and reported the following:

The show focused on two main guys on the crew; that being the monitor tech and the sound engineer for the shows.

They showed how the lights and speaker cabinets were rigged up, some notable stats, one being that they have 160,000 watts of (sound) power at their disposal, of which they do not use all of. Each speaker cabinet is roughly 500 lbs and it's all rigged up in only a few hours.

Essentially they went through a typical concert day, the one on the show was at the ACC in Toronto last fall. Their day is usually about 16 hours long. They start at 9:00 am unloading all the gear and then it showed what they did from that time until show time. The guys in the documentary also said they program all of the monitors etc when the band is rehearsing prior to the tour. It looks like the crew has a great sense of humor, something that they all need due to the stress of the job.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1468 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:59:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1468 <![CDATA[Albuquerque open thread]]> UPDATE - 5/2@8:54AM: No setlist changes. Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.

Date/Time: Tuesday, April 29th @ 7:30PM
Show Number: 10
Venue: Journal Pavilion
Place: Albuquerque, NM

gallery: [view] [upload] [bootleg videos]
reviews: [reviews]

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1467 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:47:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1467 <![CDATA[Updates and other random Rush stuff]]> The tour is well underway now. Rush played their 9th show last night at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Anecdotal evidence points to the attendance levels at the last few shows being much better than the first few. Thanks to reader Mark S we have our first official Billboard attendance numbers; for opening night in Puerto Rico the attendance was 6,855 out of a capacity of 9,598 and the concert grossed $740,155 in ticket sales. Since I'm bound to get questions about it, I believe the capacity number just means that there were 9,598 tickets available for sale and 6,855 of those were purchased. It has nothing to do with the actual maximum capacity of the venue; the Coliseo can hold a lot more than 9500. I've also been informed that 600 tickets were released last week for the first show at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles which had been sold out; and that Live Nation is slashing ticket prices and offering special ticket packages at many of the outdoor venues. Check the specific venue(s) for details.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1455 Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:29:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1455 <![CDATA[Oklahoma City open thread]]> UPDATE - 4/27@10:02AM: No setlist changes. Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section. There's also this short but sweet review in The Oklahoman.

Rush will be playing Oklahoma City tonight for the first time since May 25, 1992 on the Roll the Bones tour. For those going, have a great time. I'll be posting my regular Updates and other random Rush stuff tomorrow.

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1465 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:36:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1465 <![CDATA[Dallas open thread]]> UPDATE - 4/26@11:26AM: Here's a great review from Pegasusnews.com.

UPDATE - 4/26@8:55AM: No setlist changes. Pics from the show are now up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section.

Rush finishes their Texas swing tonight playing the Superpages.com Center in Dallas. I'll have my regular weekly Updates and other random Rush stuff post up either tomorrow or Sunday. For everybody going tonight, have a blast!

... ]]> http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1464 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:54:00 -0500 http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1464