The New York Times published a new article (subscription required) last week on Rush's upcoming Fifty Something tour where they spoke with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson about Rush's reunion, the upcoming Fifty Something tour, how rehearsals are going, and new drummer Anika Nilles, who was also interviewed for the piece. The interviews took place in late March at Toronto's Barberian's steakhouse following one of the band's rehearsal sessions nearby. The interview ended up in the Sunday print edition of The Times, including a full-page spread with a photo of the entire band, including Anika Nilles and Loren Gold. You can read the piece online here (bypass the paywall here). Rush is currently hunkered down in preparation for their Fifty Something tour which kicks off in just 4 short weeks from Sunday on June 7th in LA. The article states that they have 38 songs so far that they're rehearsing, but is one of them Fly By Night - a song they haven't performed since the '70s? Men's Journal posted an article earlier this week on how Geddy Lee doesn't think very highly of the track:
... Rush hasn't performed "Fly by Night" since 1978. Lifeson wanted to reincorporate the track into the band's setlist for its R40 tour in 2015; however, as he told Rolling Stone, he thought that "Geddy felt that he'd really have a problem singing it." Lee opened up about the track in his 2023 memoir, My Effin' Life, and it's abundantly clear that it's not his favorite Rush song. "It sounds kinda dinky to me! ... To my taste, there was something too sugary, too corny about the chorus...it's never wrapped its arms around me."
Yesterday Alex Lifeson's Lerxst Amplification announced the release of the Analog Kid Chorus Pedal, a powerful and expressive modulation pedal designed to capture the unmistakable chorus textures that defined a generation of iconic recordings. Drawing inspiration from the lush tones heard across Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, and Signals, the Analog Kid delivers everything from shimmering cleans to expansive, swirling modulation, while opening the door to an entirely new sonic territory. The pedal is available now exclusively through the Reverb Lerxst store.
The Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) conference for the North American audio industry took place last month, and featured a blockbuster under-the-radar announcement from Mobile Fidelity regarding their plans for Rush's Mercury catalog. The YouTube channel Safe & Sound Texas Audio Excursion broke the news last month in this video following the conference after attending MOFI's panel with Jim Davis and Rob LoVerde. At one point in their presentation when discussing their plans for the near future, they showed a slide that simply said RUSH - 2026-2028, but did not elaborate, prompting the YouTuber to ask about it.
... I think we're doing almost everything in the Mercury catalog, so up through Grace Under Pressure. I think the only thing that we're not doing is the live album Exit ... Stage Left. So that would encompass the first album, Fly By Night - I don't know that we're doing Caress of Steel - but we're doing everything else but the live albums up until and including Grace Under Pressure (EDITOR NOTE: Power Windows and Hold Your Fire were also on Mercury). We're doing a combination of One-Steps, 2-LP 45s, and SACDs ...
So it sounds like these will be trickling out over the next 2 years. You can learn more in the video at about the 5-minute mark.
This year's RUSHfest Scotland will take place next weekend on May 15-17 at Drygate Brewery and the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow. Envy of None's Maiah Wynne will be the featured guest along with author Kevin J. Anderson, and tickets for the event are available to purchase here. They are also running a fundraiser raffle for the Funding Neuro cancer charity, where the winner receives two great tickets to Rush's tour kickoff in Los Angeles on June 7th. You can make a donation for your chance to win at justgiving.com. RUSHfest Scotland founder Steve Brown was recently interviewed for MetalTalk.net to discuss the event along with his thoughts on Rush's comeback tour, detailing his personal experience when he heard the news:
... "Our drummer, Jamie from St Andrews, had her finger on the pulse with Reddit. She heard rumblings the week before the announcement." "We were gigging a lot down South, so that particular week I had booked myself into a hotel in Kendal for three days. Over the weekend beforehand, Jamie had said, 'Look, there's something on Reddit. I think an announcement's coming.' I was like, okay, and then it was that Monday afternoon, 6th October, and the bomb dropped. It just fried my mind completely. "I was planning to do my VAT returns and shit like that. I was just going to get bogged down in a hotel life in Kendal. That was my Monday. So, I didn't have any insider knowledge as such." ...
You can read the entire interview with Steve here, and find out more about RUSHfest Scotland via rushfestscotland.co.uk. Pianist David Sanderson has also just released a new album for RUSHfest Scotland which features unique and fresh interpretations of Rush's music on piano. The album is available as a limited edtion vinyl LP with just 300 copies made, each including access to a full digital download of the album, which is also available for purchase separately. All profits from sales of the album go to Funding Neuro , and you can secure your copy via Bandcamp.
Vertical Horizon's Matt Scannell developed a close friendship with Rush's Neil Peart back in the early 2000s. Scannell was recently interviewed for Richard Marx's podcast and spoke at length about his Rush fandom and how his friendship with Neil came about:
... [Neil] was trading a car to a friend of mine who had this dealership in Texas and he and my friend in Texas needed pictures of Neil's car. So I went over to Neil's house to take pictures of Neil's car to send to my friend back in Texas. As I was trying to think of what to say, my hands are sweating. It's - oh my gosh - this is Neil Peart. Like what do you say to your favorite lyricist, your favorite drummer in your favorite band? What do I do? And he sort of reached down to me as he was shaking my hand and he said, "I'm a huge fan of your work." Wow. Which was also the most Neil Peart thing to do - instantly take the disparity between us and eliminate it. That's just so him. And that's what happened. And I was wearing a watch that he had purchased a similar model for himself earlier on in his journey. He was wearing a watch that I thought was great. So we're talking about our watches. We're talking about this car. Take the pictures. Whatever. Nice to meet you. But his wife Carrie had encouraged him because he was new to the LA area and maybe he didn't have a large social group. She said, "Well, what about that guy? He seemed cool. He seemed nice. Whatever." Eventually, we went out to dinner, all of us. and we just became friends. I mean he really became similar to like a big brother ...
You can listen to the Neil Peart discussion below or via YouTube at around the 1:24:20 mark (thanks Will C).
Rush's fellow Canadian power trio Triumph is currently on tour and front-man Rik Emmett was recently interviewed for Ultimate Classic Rock to discuss the band's comeback, what the future holds, and his Fat Bastard guitar:
Triumph fans have been happy to see and hear so many of the group's historic touchstones during its Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded tour dates this spring. And one of those is the white double-neck Gibson guitar Rik Emmett is brandishing -- as he did in the past -- for "Blinding Light Show." Emmett tells UCR he actually wasn't sure about bringing the heavyweight instrument on the road again but was inspired after touching base with his counterpart in another famous Canadian trio. "(Alex) Lifeson calls his double-neck 'the Fat Bastard,'" Emmett relates. "When (Rush) announced they were going back out and (Triumph) was going back out, I sent Alex a text -- 'Are you taking out your Fat Bastard?' He went, 'Hell yeah!' and I went, 'Oh, s---. I guess I'm gonna have to be shouldering mine as well, for at least one song.'" Believe me, that's all I wanted to do is one song. I'm happy to be able to take it off, but it`s a great guitar to get to play; the six-string neck of that may be one of the best-sounding electric guitars I've ever had." ...
25 years ago today on That 70s Show (Season 3, Episode 23 "Canadian Road Trip"), the crew takes a road trip to Canada and are questioned by two Mounties (played by Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty of SCTV, i.e. "Bob MacKenzie" and "Count Floyd"). When asked why they are in Canada, Eric, played by Topher Grace, responds, "We just came here to get the beer...and I love Rush. Fly By Night! OH!"
On this day back in 2015, Rush kicked off the R40 Live tour - their final tour with drummer Neil Peart - at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. And in just 4 short weeks they'll be back at it! That's all for this week. Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the Rush moms out there!
