Rush wrapped up their 2-show stint at Montreal's Centre Bell last weekend and have been enjoying a week-long break in the meantime. They'll pick things back up tomorrow night in Boston, and then head on to Cleveland later this coming week. While in Cleveland the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in partnership with RushCon will be celebrating the return of Rush to the city that broke the band in the US with a 4-day fan event. Rush the Rock Hall will take place during Rush's 2-show run at Cleveland's Rocket Arena from next Thursday, September 17th through Sunday, September 20th. The event will include special appearances by Rush album artist Hugh Syme, and author Kevin J. Anderson, along with special panel discussions From Working Man to the Spirit of Radio: Rush, Radio, and Industry on Friday, and Rush Nerds Rush the Rock Hall Panel on Saturday. The Saturday panel will include yours truly (Ed Stenger), Jillian Maryonovich (RUSHCON), Matt Wardlaw (Ultimate Classic Rock), Annie Zaleski (author) and Rush superfan/archivist/historian Ray Wawrzyniak. Fans will need to purchase Rock Hall admission tickets to get the full experience, and then each panel is an additional $10. If you plan to attend more than one day, then it makes more sense to just purchase a year-long Rock Hall membership, which will get you in all 4 days (and beyond). The Hugh Syme panel is sold out, but tickets for the other 3 panels are still available. For all the details and to purchase tickets, visit rockhall.org. RushCon have also launched a RushCon Discord, a new place for the Rush fan community to connect. Talk Rush, meet other fans, plan meet-ups, share photos and memorabilia, exchange ticket info, talk Fifty Something tour and more. If you are interested in joining up, visit this link.
A new documentary on the late Neil Peart titled No One's Disciple will be premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this coming Wednesday, September 16th and both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will be in attendance:
... Rush's surviving members, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, are set to honour their late bandmate Neil Peart in the new documentary titled Neil Peart: No One's Disciple. Directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the film will make its world premiere at TIFF, tracing the legendary drummer's decades-spanning career through interviews with Lee and Lifeson and other musicians influenced by his work. It will also revisit some of Rush's greatest songs, with Peart's place behind the kit taken by The Police's Stewart Copeland, Tool's Danny Carey, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith and Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree and King Crimson. ...
After the world premiere it will air the following week on September 23rd at 8PM on CBC Gem as part of the documentary series The Passionate Eye. RushCon will be hosting a watch party on their newly-minted RushCon Discord, and you can join the watch party at this link. The film was developed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen - the same filmmakers who brought you Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, and Sam Dunn was recently interviewed about the film for a CTV News story which you can watch here. Fellow Canadians The Tragically Hip are also in the film, as seen in this clip. A new trailer for the film was released last week and you can check that out below or on YouTube.
Longtime Rush friend and collaborator Ben Mink was recently interviewed for a feature in Guitar World and talks a bit about his work with Rush over the years:
... I was playing in a progressive rock band called FM. Rush liked our band and asked us to open some shows and we all became friends. I was playing modified hybrid instruments - a five-string electric violin and a five-string solidbody mandolin, complete with whammy bar. It was essentially a high-pitched electric guitar tuned in fifths. A few months later, Rush asked me to guest on Losing It. ... They sent me a rough cassette of the track, and I shaped some ideas and headed to Morin Heights Studio near Montreal. The session itself was like a Three Stooges episode... maybe Four Stooges actually! A lot of espresso, Canadian Club whisky and debauchery! Extracurricular activities included creating a faux wedding band (the "Ziv" Orchestra) with Alex Lifeson on fiddle and myself on guitar, and jamming Tom Sawyer for about an hour with Alex shredding on the violin while Geddy Lee recorded his vocals. Just insane! ...
Rush and Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs have an extensive Rush reissue series in the works, where they will be releasing audiophile versions of Rush's Mercury-era catalog over the next few years. The first batch of titles will include Rush's debut album (Hybrid SACD, 2 LP), Fly by Night (Hybrid SACD, 2 LP) and A Farewell to Kings (Hybrid SACD, 2 LP). The 2 titles currently available are the Fly by Night vinyl edition and the Rush debut vinyl edition, which began shipping this past week and can be purchased at this location. The other titles have not yet been released, but are all currently available for pre-order. Rush plans to release a total of 11 albums over the next 2 years or so beginning this summer; the first time that the band's complete Mercury catalog has been issued as dedicated standalone audiophile editions. All titles will be available as hybrid SACDs and on vinyl, with many of the latter available in their UltraDisc One-Step format or as double LP sets. Following the first 3 titles, the remaining albums, beginning with 1975's Caress of Steel and concluding with 1985's Power Windows will arrive in 2027 and 2028.
Rush's Test for Echo album celebrated the 30th anniversary of its September 10, 1996 release this past week. To mark the occasion, Ultimate-Guitar.com posted a retrospective piece on the album, Rush's last before tragedy struck Neil Peart and the band took a 6-year hiatus before releasing Vapor Trails in 2002:
... Lifeson had just completed Victor, a project on which he had handled much of the engineering and mixing himself. Suddenly, he was back in Rush's three-way democracy. Lee, meanwhile, said he was feeling particularly laid-back and enthusiastic about writing. Eventually, he and Lifeson spent considerable time talking before Peart became more involved. That communication proved to be the turning point. "Before we know it, boom - we were back to writing," Lee recalled. "Ideas were just coming, and everything was fresh and exciting." Rather than forcing the album into a predetermined shape, Rush decided to let the material dictate its own direction. One conscious decision, however, was to minimize keyboards and focus primarily on guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. The result was an album that immediately showcased that approach. The opening title track hits with a muscular guitar riff, while "Driven" became another standout, built around Lee's prominent bass work. "Resist," "Virtuality," and "Time and Motion" further demonstrated the band's desire to emphasize its three-piece identity. ...
The Rickenbacker4002 YouTube channel recently tracked down Dave Glover for an interview; Dave played the outcast high schooler in Rush's iconic music video for Subdivisions. Dave breaks down the entire experience of how he got the gig and the video shoot itself, along with his thoughts on Rush and their Fifty Something tour. You can listen to the interview below or on YouTube (thanks Brian E).
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
