Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, Aug 29, 2008@1:18PM | comments removed/disabled

We had a good chunk of Rush news to report this past week as we head into the Labor Day weekend here in the US. The final chapter (presumably) of the Alex Lifeson versus the Ritz Carlton case came to a close last weekwith the parties involved reaching a confidential settlement. We unearthed some old photos of Geddy and Alex in shorts from an 80s tennis charity event, causing a lot of excitement among many of the female RIAB members. There's yet another Rock Band-like video game called Rock Revolution soon to be released that will feature Rush's The Spirit of Radio as one of the tracks. Speaking of Rock Band, Tuesday's planned release of Rush's Moving Pictures for download for the game was delayed indefinitely as they iron out some technical difficulties. Earlier today I updated you on the upcoming Buddy Rich Memorial Concert and we learned that the event will be taped in High-def for DVD release in 2009 and also streamed live on the Drum Channel. And we got attendance numbers for one more show from the 2008 tour; Toronto's numbers are in and it was the most-attended and highest grossing show thus far with a sold-out 15,949 tickets sold and gross sales of $900,480.

It was also Alex Lifeson's 55th birthday this past Wednesday. All 3 members of the band are now 55 so I thought I'd ask you which of the three do you think has aged better - Geddy, Alex or Neil. Take the poll and let us know.

In light of the rumored Atlantic-era greatest hits package coming out next year, possibly marking the end of Rush's involvement with the label - I asked you in my last poll what was your favorite Atlantic-era Rush album. With nearly 48% of the vote, Snakes and Arrows blew away the competition. Rounding out the rest of the pack was Counterparts (15%), Presto (11%), Vapor Trails (11%), Roll the Bones (10%) and Test for Echo (5%). Feedback received only 1 lonely vote.

Speaking of the Atlantic rumor, Classic Rock Magazine weighed in with this blog post (thanks lilvictory for the link) last Saturday:

A spokesperson for Rush has contacted Classic Rock to deny web reports that the band are quitting Atlantic Records for the independent Canadian company Rounder. In fact, Rush are still contracted to Atlantic for one more album. Rounder – whose roster includes George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Alison Krauss, The Tragically Hip and Bruce Cockburn – will be issuing the trio's upcoming Snakes & Arrows Live DVD, but that’s as far as the arrangement goes.

I should point out that this really doesn't contradict anything I had previously reported. From what I'm hearing, that one last album will be an Atlantic-era greatest hits package - I'm still pretty certain of this piece of information. Whether they end up with Rounder Records, back with Atlantic or with someone else - only time will tell. It should be noted that the band already has a working relationship with Rounder so an extension of that relationship is certainly plausible. Rounder was involved with Rush in Rio, the R30 DVD, Neil Peart's Anatomy of a Drum Solo, his book Roadshow and will be issuing the upcoming Snakes & Arrows Live DVD.

Speaking of the Snakes & Arrows Live DVD, Rush sent out a newsletter the other day with the following teaser regarding the DVD:

The Snakes and Arrow Live DVD will be released in late fall 2008. Stay tuned to RUSH.COM for more details in the coming weeks!

The last we heard, the tentative working release date for the DVD was November 4th. I would not be at all surprised if this gets pushed out a few weeks. I'd venture to guess that it will definitely be out before Christmas though. I'm sure many a Rush fan will be receiving this in their stocking come the holidays.

The Rush.com site has been rather quiet of late, but they did manage to recently post one more gallery to the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section titled B Sides from Indy. Thanks to Snoscootr for the heads up.

In my last update I mentioned that I had recently added a Rush Tribute Bands section to my links page. Several folks sent in links to some of their favorite tribute bands and I've been slowly adding them. So if you are in, or are a fan of a Rush tribute band, send me a link so I can add them to the page. Steve Turnbull of UK-based tribute band Tom Sawyer alerted me to his band and even offered to give away 2 pairs of tickets to their upcoming September 13th gig at The Point in Cardiff to 2 lucky RIAB readers. If you are in the UK and are interested in checking them out, shoot me an email - first come, first serve.

Reader Brian alerted me to a segment on a recent broadcast of the Adam Carolla show called Weed Walking. In the segment one of Carolla's crew attended the LA show at the Nokia and asked Rush fans some trivia questions with some humorous results. You can listen to the segment at this link.

A recent article at Shacknews.com highlights how the popularity of video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band are helping to turn people on to new music that they wouldn't normally listen to. There's a minor Rush reference/slam:

... Rock Band, and the music games like it, have formed a direct connection between the gaming and music industries, an unprecedented synergy of entertainment. And though the corporations may be profiting the most, the consumers are also gaining something in the transaction.

It's the power to get your friend into Bowie. To get your mom singing Radiohead. To show your girlfriend why Rush really is cool.

On second thought, nothing may be that powerful.

Thanks to bassman4001 for the heads up.

In March I mentioned how Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrute of The Office) got to sit behind Neil Peart's kit while researching his role in the recently released film The Rocker. When asked about this in a new interview at EyeWeekly.com Rainn had this to say:

It's ridiculous. He [Neil Peart] is the greatest rock drummer of all time and he let me sit behind his kit. The guys in Rush are big Office fans, by the way. They were warming up for their show at the Hershey Centre, where we shot the big concert scene at the end of the film.

Thanks to ghost__rider for the heads up.

It's good to know that MegaDeth's Dave Mustaine has passed on some good musical tastes to his son. Via Blabbermouth.net:

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has posted the following message in the "Forums" section of the band's official web site:

"I am writing this while sitting in my studio, and Justis [Dave's 16-year-old son] and his friend from school, Ryan (a drummer) are in the lounge room blasting KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and now RUSH for songs for their band, and I have some rare 'extra time,' so I wanted to make a post about last week and what we are doing next week. ...

Thanks to B-Man for the heads up.

Reader bassman4001 sent me this highway sign which points to Rush City. Snoscootr wants me to see if you can find the Rush reference in this pic that his sister took at a train museum in Pennsylvania. And reader Mahogie got a surprise Rush sighting when he picked up his drycleaning recently (see if you can find the 2112).

Some of you may recall the Slowpoke comic strip from a couple of years back which featured an Eggplant shaped like Geddy Lee's head. Well, it looks like Veggie Lee has reared his ugly vegetable head once again. Thanks to JediSushiChef for the link.

It's good to know that hot chicks like Carmen Elektra (and all the female readers of RIAB of course) like Rush (thanks 1ouroboros).

Have a great weekend everyone!

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