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, Dec 19, 2008@11:40AM | comments removed/disabled

A new Alex Lifeson interview and another news update from Neil Peart were the highlights of the past week in Rush news. Alex Lifeson spoke with Greg Prato of UGO.com's Music Blog last week and once again raised the topic of a B-sides Rush tour. He also reminisced about touring with Kiss in the early days, TV shows he's been watching lately and the band's future plans, echoing what he's been saying in recent interviews; that the band will be taking a break for most of the next year and possibly begin writing again in the fall. Alex also recently spoke with Artisan News Service about the popularity of video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero and how he believes these games are ultimately a good thing for Rush and for music in general. In his most recent News update at NeilPeart.net, Neil describes his recent 3-day motorcycle trip he took to Death Valley on his new BMW R1200 GS. We also learned earlier in the week that Neil Peart has donated some items to a charity auction for Little Kids Rock. The auction runs through December 24th and Neil Peart has 2 signed Pro-Mark drumsticks, 2 signed DW snare drums and 2 signed Sabian cymbals up for bidding. You can place your bid here.

Rush will be making a cameo in an upcoming film starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel called I Love You Man, set to release on March 20th. The first movie trailer for the film was recently released and it unfortunately doesn't show any part of Rush's cameo. However, there is a scene at about the 2-minute mark depicting the co-stars playing in a band and a picture of the 2112 album cover can be seen in the background. A couple of high quality screengrabs are also available over at IMDB.com (thumbnails above). The first is a more detailed image of the scene from the trailer I'd mentioned. In this image you can also see a King's Skull poster, a Caress of Steel album cover and an Exit...Stage Left album cover. The second image is of the main characters at a Rush concert.

Some Rush fans might remember Jason Segel from his role as Nick on the short-lived NBC show Freaks and Geeks, which contained many Rush references including Segel's character in this scene. Jason Segel also stars as Marshall Eriksen on CBS's How I Met Your Mother. Reader nevetsrush let me know of a small Rush reference in this past week's episode titled Little Minnesota (#75 - Season 4, Episode 11). Towards the end of the episode Marshall and Ryan goes to the Hoser Hut, a Canadian bar in New York City. If you look closely you can see a picture of Geddy on the wall, just to the right of a picture of Paul Schaffer. You can watch the entire episode online at this link.

In its third week of release the Snakes & Arrows DVD has dropped to #5 on the Billboard Top Music Video chart - down from its #2 position last week. Brian B pointed me to this 4-star review of the DVD from Jeff Miers of the Buffalo News. Here's an excerpt:

... this live collection, documenting the band’s recent “Snakes & Arrows” tour, is stunning, a treat for both the ears and the eyes, unsurprisingly. What might surprise some is the wry, sometimes absurd humor that the band members trade in. There is a short film feature included here featuring all three members in a Mike Meyers-like parody that is side-splittingly hilarious. The set list is fantastic, too, drawing as it does from the band’s entire career. A must-have for fans. ...

Then there's this 6 out of 6 review from Norwegian online webzine Panorama. It's in Norwegian, but reader John lets me know that the reviewer writes that the picture and sound quality on the DVD is among the best he has ever seen and heard. He also praises the Snakes & Arrows album and says it was one of the last year's true highlights.

Reader Chris noticed a Rush reference in this New Yorker article about indicted former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. At a recent fundraiser for his legal defense, there was a slide show tribute of officers fallen in the World Trade Center terrorist attack. The slideshow was introduced with the words Suddenly you were gone from all the lives you left your mark upon from Rush's Afterimage.

Reader rushmixtape5 let me know that on Late Night with Conan O'Brien last night there was an unflattering Rush reference. Conan was listing the cast for his True Life made-for-TV movie of the Rod Blagojevich scandal. Their cast list features Webster (Emmanuel Lewis) as President-elect Barack Obama, Stewie from The Family Guy as Rahm Emanuel, a lego man as Governor Rod Blagojevich, and ... Geddy Lee as Illinois State Attorney General, Lisa Madigan. Conan then declares don't cut to me I don't want to be associated with that!. Here's the video.

Reader State of Grace let me know that The Drum Channel is currently offering free registration! Neil Peart is heavily involved with The Drum Channel which broadcast the recent Buddy Rich Memorial Concert back on October 18th.

Eric Meyer pointed me to this 57-page, post-apocalyptic, Rock Band-inspired webcomic called My Name Is Might Have Been. I won't try to describe it - it's beyond description, but suffice it to say that the bass player character in the strip essentially worships Geddy Lee and makes several references to Saint Geddy. :) Give it a read if you're looking to kill some time.

Award-winning sportscaster Rich Morrata recently published a Best Of list on his blog in which Geddy Lee gets the nod for Best Love It or Hate It Voice. Thanks to nevetsrush for the heads up.

Back in May, I told you about a survey that long-time Rush fan, musician, musicologist and RIAB reader Chris McDonald had put together for a book he was writing on Rush. The book will be an academic (musicological) study of the group published by the Indiana University Press. The survey really helped him out and now he's asking if any RIAB readers can provide him with photos that he can use for the book. If you are interested and have any photos you can contact Chris at rush_survey@hotmail.com. Chris also wrote the article from the July 2008 issue of the academic journal Popular Music & Society that I'd told you about in an update a couple of weeks back. The article is titled Open Secrets: Individualism and Middle-Class Identity in the Songs of Rush. Here's the abstract for that article:

This article examines how the songs of the progressive rock group Rush can be understood as a manifestation of North American middle-class identity, and considers how individualism and escapism play integral roles in the formation of a largely male, middle-class, suburban world view. The article contextualizes and critiques the individualistic nature of middle-class identity, as it is presented by Rush in songs such as Subdivisions and Tom Sawyer.

I have a feeling things might be a little quiet for the next couple of weeks because of the Holidays. Happy Holidays to everybody and may you have a very merry Rush-mas! :)

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