UPDATE - 7/1@2:38PM: No setlist changes and from what I've been hearing, another great show and a huge crowd. Here's a glowing review from the Times Union (thanks HoldYourFire). There are several pics now uploaded to the tour gallery, and many great fan reviews.
Outside of the tour, the big news this past week was the release of the Snakes & Arrows MVI. For details and fan reviews, check out this post.
For last week's poll I asked you what the highlight of the setlist was (excluding S&A songs). For the results click here (*** SPOILER ***). Since the MVI release was this week I'd thought that for this week's poll I'd ask you what you think makes the MVI worth buying (or not worth buying). Take the poll and let us know what you think.
Snakes & Arrows remains in the top 100 albums in the US; it fell from #78 last week to #93 this week on the Billboard Album Charts in the US. However, last week's chart does not include any of the MVI sales. My sources tell me that the MVI numbers are expected to push the album back into the top 20 on the US charts next week - which is about what I'd expected.
Promising to be Drumhead's biggest issue to date, Issue 4 with Rush's Neil Peart debuting his new drumkit is currently being printed. Look for copies in Barnes & Noble, Borders, Guitar Center, Sam Ash and independent retailers at the end of July. Issue 4 contains an in-depth 14 page interview with Neil Peart, including pages of photos detailing the intracacies of his new drum kit. ...
Reader rosmakloma let me know that Sabian and Neil Peart have teamed up once again and added the Diamondback Chinese Cymbal to the Paragon Series. From the press release:
The 20" Paragon Diamondback Chinese is the latest collaboration between legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart and award-winning cymbal maker SABIAN. The thin, highly responsive model features a wide-flanged circumference punctuated by industrial cotter pins holding a total of four jingles that vibrate when the cymbal is struck. To increase the sound, the jingles are positioned in the shallow of the flange so they vibrate on both the bow and the edge, while a single rivet is positioned between each of the four jingle placements. ...
For the recording of Snakes & Arrows Neil Peart used the Diamondback prominently in such songs as The Larger Bowl and The Main Monkey Business.
Donna Halper, the Cleveland radio DJ that helped to get Rush their start back in 1974, wrote a gushing letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in response to their positive review of the show Monday night. Here's the letter:
I very much enjoyed Scott Mervis' article about Rush (Snakes and Arrows finds the Canadian trio vital after nearly 40 years, June 21). I'm the woman who discovered them, and I am always pleased to see positive reviews, not just because they are my friends even after all these years, but because I think they are talented and dedicated musicians.
For years, all too many critics had contempt for them -- a factor, I believe that keeps them out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So thanks for taking their side, and I really appreciated your assessment of their work.
Now if only we who love and admire them could figure out a way to get the critics who are keeping them out of the Rock Hall to have a change of heart.
Megadeth founder and frontman Dave Mustaine was featured on the front of the iTunes music section under Celebrity Playlists this week. Prominent on his list is Rush's 2112. Thanks to Blabbermouth.net for the heads up.
The Rush Bootleg Video Archive has a bunch of Snakes & Arrows world tour bumper sticker artwork available on their website at this location. There are currently 15 quality high-res images available.
Ben D alerted me to this little Rush reference at Engadget.com:
We know how annoying it is when you're trying to bounce all of your old Rush LPs to FLAC (you know, so you can jam to Moving Pictures on the go), and your files are filled with ugly surface noise. Well, ELP (the company, not Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) feels your pain -- and it wants to help. For the low, low price of $2500 you can supposedly rid your music of pops and clicks (but not hiss, strangely) with the turn of a knob. Of course, there are much cheaper software options for this sort of thing, and you can't use it on 78s, but you probably won't be worried about that once you hear how good Tom Sawyer sounds.
Remember all those custom Rush legos that were up for sale on eBay a while back? The creator of these legos has made updated versions which include Neil's red Snakes & Arrows kit and recently listed them on eBay. This time you can get all three band members together. The auction ends later today; you can check it out and make your bid at this link.
UPDATE - 6/29@7:15AM: I finally was able to get some information regarding attendance/sellouts. The official attendance for the Mansfield show was listed at 19,902. That is one of the biggest attended shows in the U.S. for a Rush show ever and is a confirmed sellout along with Mohegan Sun, Red Rocks, and the first Toronto show.
The tour rolls on. Nine dates down, over 50 left to go. The setlist has remained constant from show to show and from all the anecdotal evidence attendance has been great. Pollstar.com currently lists the tour at #3 on their top 50 list. People are constantly uploading their photos to the tour gallery so go check it out if you have a chance - there are some great photos in there. I'm also adding bootlegs to the tour bootleg videos page as I come across them. If you come across any on YouTube or have your own, let me know. The Digital Rush Experience (DRE) is continually updating their database of bootlegs from the Snakes & Arrows tour; there are currently 10 boots cataloged. And if you're wondering how you can get your hands on one of these bootlegs please check out this blog post at the DRE.
John over at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the Snakes & Arrows tourbook. This includes the Neil Peart essay The Game of Snakes & Arrows and a few words from each of the band members; Alex interviews himself, Neil Peart discusses his new kit and Geddy Lee talks about his stage gear. Also included are a few scans of images with more to come later. Thanks John!
Don't forget to enter the Rush.net contest to win front row tickets or a meet-and-greet. Several great pics from the meet-and-greets are posted at this link.
The folks over at the Rush Tour Forum have created a banner that they've taken to every show so far. You can check out pictures of fans holding the banner from all 9 shows at this link.
Reader Bob B posted a great story over at The Rush Forum about how he got to play roadie for a day at the Bristow show. I just uploaded several backstage pics that he sent me over in the Bristow tour gallery too.
And there was a cool Rush tour-related sighting on the Late Show with David Letterman a couple nights ago. During the show some kind of siren went off and Dave took a call (or pretended to). A guy comes on the line and identifies himself as Josh from New Jersey. Dave then asks him for the phrase that pays and Josh says The Late Show is the place to be for hot summer fun. Dave then congratulated him and said, You've just won two tickets for Rush at Jones Beach on July 2!. Thanks to Senor Hubo from Rush Tour for the heads up. :)
UPDATE - 6/28@9:49AM: A few readers have informed me that the apparent glitch in the CD and iTunes version of We Hold On at 1:21 has been corrected for the MVI version. I still can't hear the glitch, but there you have it. :)
UPDATE - 6/27@12:29PM: ... and now it's been pulled from YouTube. That was fast. :)
UPDATE - 6/27@9:36AM:The whole documentary from the MVI is now up on YouTube. You can check it out here.
UPDATE - 6/26@10:13PM: Reader questrider sent me several great screenshots from the 45-minute documentary that is included on the MVI. He also compiled some useful details regarding the MVI and particularly the PC interface that I'll share with you.
SONGS Plays the songs from 192kbps MP3s. The "Save" and "Save All" puts the MP3s on your computer.
LYRICS Self explanatory.
EXTRAS Video: The Game of Snakes and Arrows 41-minute making-of documentary we've all heard about.
Photo Gallery The same six or seven photos we've seen on the Rush.com website.
Bio: The Game of Snakes and Arrows The same essay by Neil Peart that we've read from the Rush.com website. The "Save" makes a copy from the DVD as a PDF file to your computer. The "Large View" makes it "full screen" on your monitor, just like it would using fullscreen in Adobe Acrobat.
Credits The credits from the CD booklet.
Booklet The booklet for the MVI. The "Save" makes a copy from the DVD as a PDF file to your computer. The "Large View" makes it "full screen" on your monitor, just like it would using fullscreen in Adobe Acrobat.
Wallpaper Clicking on a thumbnail will copy from the DVD the wallpaper in a 1024x768 Bitmap format to your computer. The "Save All" will save all of them at once.
IM Icons Clicking on a thumbnail will copy from the DVD the IM icon in a 48x48 2-frame animated GIF format to your computer. The "Save All" will save all of them at once.
RINGTONES The Ringtones open up a new window where you can edit songs into :20 sec samples, but then you have to purchase them for your phone.
POSTER This is a feature that is accessed once you register the MVI (and the only one for registering it seems). It simply downloads a 147MB PDF file of the S&A front cover with the words "Rush Snakes & Arrows" underneath it. It's not very practical because unless you have the right equipment and materials to do this, you can't really print out a poster. Registering also puts you in a drawing for a Geddy Lee bass.
----- snip -----
Finally! After numerous delays the Snakes & Arrows MVI is here. It was originally scheduled to be released on May 15th but continuous production delays kept pushing the release date back. It finally began to ship from various vendors last week and many fans already have it in hand. Today is the official release date. Here is the description of the MVI from the Rush Backstage Club:
Rush has recorded Snakes & Arrows on a new format called "MVI" (Music Video Interactive disc). Another name for this is the "DVD-Album". With a higher storage capacity than a standard CD, the MVI is loaded with exciting new features. Superior sound quality plus a wide range of video features and interactive digital content combine to bring you closer to the artists and their music. It plays in all standard DVD players, computers and game consoles with DVD drives. The MVI includes the full album in 96kHz/24 bit hi-resolution stereo audio and a 5.1 surround mix, plus bonus video and digital content. Although the MVI disc will not play in your CD player, the audio tracks are pre-encoded for easy transfer to your computer, portable music player, or recordable CD. Digital music files are compatible with all MP3 devices. Please note that this MVI will not play in CD players.
The Rush "SNAKES & ARROWS" MVI comes in a deluxe box, and includes these 13 new songs in hi-resolution audio, the entire album in 5.1 surround sound, a video documentary on the making of the album, and more
For screenshots of the MVI you can go to this link. If you've already received your copy and have a review, please share it in the comments.
Andrew Olson runs one of the best Neil Peart fansites out there. He recently posted the Neil Peart Snakes & Arrows tourbook picture of his new drumset along with Neil's writeup. As an added bonus he also included the infographic from the DRUM! Magazine article which shows the entire layout of the new kit. You can check it out at this link.
Earlier this month I informed you that the 2008 Rush wall was available for order. John over at Cygnus-X1.net got his hands on a copy and scanned it. The scans are available at this link. Thanks John!
UPDATE - 6/24@1:20PM:Here's a review of the show along with a great pic of Alex. Thanks to glortiz for the link.
UPDATE - 6/22@11:00PM: Reader Justin just texted me to let me know that the setlist was unchanged once again. He also added that it was a MAGIC show. :)
Time for some updates before the weekend shows in Virginia Beach and Bristow. If you haven't checked it out yet, there are a ton of great pics from the first 5 shows in the tour gallery now. Thanks to everybody who has uploaded their photos. I've also added a listing of YouTube bootleg videos to each tourdate. There are a lot of bootleg videos out there by now and more keep popping up. I also found this gallery of pics at filmmagic.com, this gallery at getty images and this one from LFI (thanks to Blabbermouth.net for the heads up).
Speaking of bootlegs, there are now 5 audio bootlegs from the Snakes & Arrows tour cataloged over at The Digital Rush Experience; 2 from opening night and 3 from Tampa Bay. If you've heard these boots, take a minute and visit the Digital Rush Experience to give your review. These boots are floating around the net at sites such as dimeadozen. And I'll also remind you that the DRE recently launched a Logo Store at Cafe Press with proceeds from the store going to the Epilepsy Foundation. So you can buy some cool merchandise and help out a good cause at the same time.
It's time for another poll. Last week I asked you what you thought of the setlist. 36% of you said that you loved it; 27% said they like it; 30% said it was just ok for one reason or another; 3.5% said they don't like it and another 3.5% hadn't seen it yet. This week's poll contains setlist spoilers so don't take it if you don't want to see the setlist. I'm asking everyone what they think the highlight of the setlist is excluding the Snakes & Arrows songs. So let us know what you think and take the poll (*** SPOILER ***).
I'm happy to report that the Snakes & Arrows MVI is finally shipping! It's been confirmed that folks who ordered it through the Rush Backstage Club, Barnes & Noble and Best Buy have had their orders shipped. Not sure about Amazon or other vendors yet. I've also not received any word from anyone who has actually received it yet. As soon as I do I'll report all the details.
Snakes & Arrows fell one spot from #77 last week to #78 this week on the Billboard Album Charts in the US. I'm curious to see how the MVI numbers will affect its charting in the next week or two. Michael P alerted me to this short but positive review of Snakes & Arrows from the Washington Post.
Now for some fun stuff. George alerted me to this June 13th entry in rock photographer Ross Halfin's online diary. He mentions drinking with Alex Lifeson in his younger days.
And Power Windows alerts us to this humorous video from the Windsor, Essex County & Pelee Island Convention & Visitors Bureau. It depicts a carload of friends crossing the border into Windsor and talking about their favorite Canadian song, one of which is Tom Sawyer.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone count themselves among the many friends of Rush. In their 1997 film Orgazmo there was a brief Rush reference. The scene was recentlyl uploaded to YouTube and you can check it out here.
Reader Brian T let me know that there was a Rush reference in yesterday's edition of the online comic strip Questionable Content. You can check it out here.
That's it for now. On to Virginia Beach for show #6!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Rush feature in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Weekend Magazine
Several folks have pointed this out to me so I thought I'd give it a mention. Billboard.com has a little feature up on their site on the Greatest Trios of All Time. Included is a poll where they ask readers for their opinion. This is a no-brainer for us Rush fans ... and surprisingly enough Rush is actually on the ballot. They are currently in 2nd place and losing to the Bee Gees by a large margin. Let's see if we can help them out. Go vote for Rush at this link.
New contest at Rush.net; win front row tix or a Meet & Greet
The official Rush Contest Page & Mailing List site, Rush.net, has finally been updated with a new contest. You can win either front row tickets or a Meet & Greet with the band by playing a simple little matching game. Here are the details posted at Rush.com:
June 20, 2007
So, you think you know the new Snakes & Arrows songs by heart? Then click here to find out! If you can match the song titles, you will be entered in a drawing to win either Front Row tickets or a Meet & Greet with the band. The most important point in this contest is that if you win a Meet & Greet, you *must* already have tickets to the venue you indicate on the contest submission form. Concert tickets *will not* be provided to Meet & Greet winners. In addition, winners are responsible for his/her travel and hotel accommodations.
So get matching and win!
The matching game is fairly simple; you need to match the song titles with their corresponding album art. Thanks to MalNar for the heads up.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***Power Windows sent me a short panoramic video clip of the Snakes & Arrows stage setup that's up on YouTube. It's not clear to me which show it's from but it must have been one of the first 3. You can check it out here. There are also several new bootleg videos up on the live bootleg video page and new photos in the tour gallery.
As you probably know by now, Geddy Lee appeared on the CBC's The Hour last Thursday for an interview, which you can watch here. Another short video from the program recently surfaced on YouTube. The video is a little comedy skit with Geddy Lee and George Stroumboulopoulos backstage. It's pretty funny. You can check it out here. Thanks to reader tignish for the heads up.
Snakes & Arrows merchandise now available at Rush Backstage Club
Official Snakes & Arrows merchandise including t-shirts, keychains, the S&A tourbook and more is now available at the Rush Backstage Club. Thanks to readers nposter63 and Eric B for the heads up.
UPDATE - 6/23@12:11PM: There is a bootleg of this show now available. Information at this link.
UPDATE - 6/19@11:26AM:*** SPOILER UPDATE 1 *** I've heard from a few people that Rush has been playing a song not currently on the setlist during soundcheck. So far I've received word that this has occurred at both the Tampa Bay and Charlotte shows. Perhaps this means they'll perform this song at some point during the regular set? To find out the name of the song check below the fold.
UPDATE - 6/19@8:30AM: Once again, no setlist changes (thanks drums77).
Rush has wrapped up the first 3 shows of their 2007 Snakes & Arrows tour. They took a break for Father's Day yesterday and tonight will head north a bit to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte, NC for show #4. Everyone who's seen them thus far has had great things to say. Check out the tour section and the various threads over the past few days for details. There are also plenty of pics uploaded to the tour gallery (SPOILERS) and several YouTube vids in the live bootleg video section (SPOILERS).
I mentioned in my last update post that the vinyl edition of Snakes & Arrows shipped several days earlier than its June 19th release date. Indeed, several fans have already received their copies. I've also now received word that those who had ordered the Snakes & Arrows MVI through the Rush Backstage Club have gotten emails telling them that the MVI will also be shipping early - tomorrow in fact. Great news! No word on whether orders through other vendors such as Amazon or Best Buy will also be shipping early.
The August 2007 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine contains an article written by Neil Peart titled The Drums of Snakes & Arrows. The article describes the making of the album from the drummer's point-of-view and includes a sidebar article where Neil goes through every song and describes the process for coming up with the drum parts. Thanks to PuppetKing2112 over at The Rush Forum for the heads up.
Our favorite audio-wizard / Rush-fan MitA has another batch of Rush treats for us. As usual, this group includes several rare and unusual clips from Rush years past, some hidden parts on newer songs and a remix. You can listen to the clips by accessing the following links or using the player below.
It didn't take long for the first bootleg from the Snakes & Arrows tour - Overnight Delivery - to pop up on the inter-tubes. There's now a second boot titled Tastes Like Chicken up as well. It's also available on dimeadozen at this link. Digital Rush Experience also tells me that it turns out Overnight Delivery had Sector Bountry Errors (SBE) which basicly means that if you uncompress the lossless files and burn them to CD and play on a regular CD player, you will hear pops between tracks. This has been pointed out to the seeder and I believe he is planning on correcting and seeding a new version.
The UK's Classic Rock Magazine have released another special edition devoted to Progressive Rock. The issue features Rush on the cover and a 6 page article on the band, though no new interviews. The band's three decades of music are each discussed separately. Thanks to Reed Lover over at Counterparts for the heads up.
Reader Michael P Elliot Segal (Elliot in the Morning) on DC101 (WWDC-FM, Washington, DC) just announced that next week is Rush Week. Monday he will give away 5th row seats, Tuesday 4th row seats, etc., leading up to front row seats on Friday, the day before Rush's Saturday, June 23 show at the Nissan Pavillion. Elliot is also offering a $5000 bounty for getting Rush into his studio to play three songs, one of which must be Limelight. Good luck with that. Heck ... I'll up the ante a little - if anybody can get Rush to play at my daughter's 2nd birthday pary, I'll give you $6000! :)
Sho-Daddy pointed out that the Neil Peart R30 replica kit was on display at the opening night show in Atlanta over on the second stage close to the main entrance. They said there were six left (24 have been sold). The kit sells for $30,000.
A couple weeks back I pointed you to a humorous animated virtual music news program called the Matty & Tones SoundChaser Show. The creators are big Rush fans and featured a review of Snakes & Arrows in their first episode. Their 2nd episode is out and it features a review of the new Porcupine Tree album (which Alex Lifeson plays on). You can check out both episodes on their website here.
Reader and Red Sox fan deslock let me know that as of June 15th (Friday) the Boston Red Sox had both a home and away record of 21-12. :)
UPDATE - 6/18@7:01AM:Here's a review of the show from TBO.com (thanks nposter63).
UPDATE - 6/17@9:30AM: Once again - no setlist changes to report. There are a couple of great reviews along with many cool photos up at TampaBay.com here and here. Thanks to DEMON_CR for the heads up. To read user reviews of the show or to post your own go here.
The Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa Bay, Florida is where Rush will play tonight; stop #3 on the Snakes & Arrows tour. I will be using this thread to post any updates throughout the evening and after the show. If you're going to the show and anything notable happens - like a setlist substitution/addition - send me a text if you get a chance. As always, I will be sure to keep any and all spoiler information hidden. If you get any photos from tonight's show (or pre-show activities), please upload them here. To view photos from the show go here. Also, once the show commences, you'll notice that under the Tampa Bay show in the tour section a new comments thread under the discuss heading for show reviews will magically appear. If you're attending the show please post your opinions/experiences in that thread and/or in this thread when you get the chance.
For everyone going to the show tonight ... have fun and be safe! :)
UPDATE - 6/16@2:22PM: To read user reviews of the show or to post your own go here.
UPDATE - 6/16@12:51PM: The Palm Beach Post has an article up reviewing the show along with several photos. You can read the article at this link and check out the pro-shot photos here and here. Thanks to reader Molitor194 for the heads up.
UPDATE - 6/16@10:23AM: There are a bunch of photos up in the tour gallery.
UPDATE - 6/15@10:53PM: Reader Justin tells me that the show is over and the setlist was the same as opening night - no changes/additions.
It's time for stop #2 on the Snakes & Arrows tour; the Sound Advice Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida. I will be using this thread to post any updates throughout the evening although I doubt I'll have a lot to add since we already know the setlist and show details. Things I'll be looking for are setlist substitutions or something along those lines. So if you're going to the show and anything earth-shattering happens, send me a text if you get a chance. As always, I will be sure to keep any and all spoiler information hidden. If you get any photos from tonight's show (or pre-show activities), please upload them here. To view photos from the show go here. Also, once the show commences, you'll notice that under the West Palm Beach show in the tour section a new comments thread under the discuss heading for show reviews will magically appear. If you're attending the show please post your opinions/experiences in that thread and/or in this thread when you get the chance.
For everyone going to the show tonight ... have fun and be safe! :)
Whew! ... What a crazy couple of days it has been. The Summer of Rush has begun and it took its toll on the Rush is a Band server. I had to hire a few extra hamsters to spin the wheels and all seems to be running smoothly now. I'm sure there are still a few bugs lurking, so if you notice anything funky, let me know. The last 2 days were the most traffic this site has seen yet. I just want to say thanks for all the words of encouragement and wanted to apologize for the downtime. Now... moving on.
Of course, the big news this week was opening night of the Snakes & Arrows tour. Rather than go into everything here, just visit the Opening night open thread for all the details. I've been adding YouTube bootleg videos to the bootleg videos page as I come across them (there are currently 5 up there) and there are now several photos uploaded into the opening night photo gallery. Thanks to everyone who's uploaded photos, and if you have any of your own, upload them here.
Now that the setlist has been revealed to those who have chosen to peak at it, I thought that for this week's poll I'd ask the question What do you think of the S&A setlist? Let us know here. Last week I asked you what song from Snakes & Arrows you were most looking forward to seeing live and the resounding winner is The Main Monkey Business with nearly 33% of the vote. Rounding out the top 5 were The Way the Wind Blows (13.9%), Armor and Sword (9.9%), Far Cry (8.1%) and Workin' Them Angels (7.3%).
Speaking of the setlist being revealed, I closed down the setlist game as soon as the first rehearsal lists were leaked. Now we need to tally up the results and determine a winner. I don't have the time right now, but if anybody cares to pour over the many setlists that were posted and figure out who got the most songs right, please do so and let us know the results. We'll give some sort of prize to the winner.
I've received word from several folks who had ordered Snakes & Arrows on vinyl from the Rush Backstage Club that their orders had shipped already - about a week early. Great news. Hopefully the MVI will ship early too (doubtful).
Snakes & Arrows fell from #61 last week to #77 this week on the Billboard Album Charts in the US. Look for it to creep back up a bit as the tour gains steam and the MVI gets released. There's another great review of the album over at AntiMusic.com (thanks 1-2bucklemyshoe).
Tickets for the Madison Square Garden show in New York City on September 17th go on regular sale tomorrow at 10AM. See this post for details.
The Rush Bootleg Video Archive has moved to a new addres at this location. So update your bookmarks. If you're unfamiliar with the site it's a great place for fans to list and trade Rush bootleg videos.
Andy, the chair of the Relay for Life of Westminster, wanted me to remind everyone about the raffle they are putting on to win a Paul Reed Smith SE guitar signed by Alex Lifeson. Each $10 donation gets you an entry in the raffle with the drawing occurring after the June 23 show at the Nissan Pavilion. For all the details and to enter in the raffle go to this location.
Average scalped ticket price to date for the tour: $196.91
Most expensive single ticket:
July 9 Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Conn. Floor 2, Row E Online asking price: $2,223 Face value: $85
The popular trio who ruled the late '70s and early '80s still scores big with the last wave of baby boomers who were in high school at that time. Now in their 40s with money in their pockets, old fans are flocking back waving cash.
Former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul (now in Hellyeah was asked in a UK magazine interview (Kerrang) to name the songs that changed his life and he said this about Rush's 2112:
The first time I heard this, the fucking drumming just blew me away, just floored me. Neil Peart has always been one of my favourites. Everything the guy's ever done is great, the band is incredible musically, and I've just always had a lot of respect for them.
Thanks to madjock666 at Counterparts for the heads up.
That's it for now. Next up for Rush ... West Palm Beach, Florida.
On Tuesday I let you know that Geddy Lee was scheduled to appear on the CBC program The Hour last night. The interview is now online at the show's website. You can watch it here. Thanks to Mark for the heads up.
UPDATE - 6/16@2:20PM: Check out the user reviews of the show here.
UPDATE - 6/15@7:13AM: More YouTube bootleg vids here (SPOILER - includes opening video), here (SPOILER) and here (SPOILER).
UPDATE - 6/14@10:29PM: Reader Chris M found another bootleg video on YouTube. Watch it here (SPOILER). And the Digital Rush Experience has now cataloged the first available recording from the Snakes & Arrows tour, Overnight Delivery. This audience recording is now up on dimeadozen at this link. Also, a bunch of images are now uploaded in the tour gallery for the Atlanta show (yes- its' fixed now).
UPDATE - 6/14@5:44PM: I've been able to get most things up and running, but the one thing that will require some time is the tour photo upload feature. :( So for now I've had to take that down. Very sorry about that. I'll try and get it resolved asap.
UPDATE - 6/14@3:24PM:*** SPOILER UPDATE 6 ***Power Windows has a nice summary of the setlist and a list of several items of note over on his site. I've included them here below the fold as well.
UPDATE - 6/14@2:38PM: Readers Digital Rush Experience and Dave S let me know that an audience recording of the Atlanta show is now up on dimeadozen at this link.
UPDATE - 6/14@1:03PM: I've moved the site to a bigger/faster server and so far it seems to be working like a charm except for a few minor things (the calendar for instance). Hopefully this will prevent any future crashes. Thanks for all the words of encouragement.
If you saw the show, don't forget to post your review in the tour section (as well as in this post if you like). Also, if you have any photos, upload them here.
----- snip -----
UPDATE - 6/14@12:23PM: There are a bunch of pro-shot pics up at AccessAtlanta.com. Thanks profit of doom and gttim for the heads up.
UPDATE - 6/14@9:54AM: You've probably noticed that althought the site is up, it's still running slow. I'm going to try a few things to alleviate this. In the meantime I'll need to shutdown comments again. Hopefully it won't be for more than an hour or so.
UPDATE - 6/14@8:23AM: Thanks to reader gttim we now have our first bootleg video from last night's show. It's Far Cry and you can check it out here (SPOILER).
UPDATE - 6/14@6:20AM: I just added several more SPOILER updates below the fold; just miscellaneous observations from reader Justin about the show.
UPDATE - 6/14@5:25AM: Everything is back up for now (fingers crossed).
UPDATE - 6/13@11:07PM: Before I sign off for the evening I just wanted to give an update as to the status of the site. I'm going to leave this page up overnight and hopefully have the regular site up tomorrow morning. The amount of traffic I was pulling in totally took me by surprise and I apologize for the site being down. I'll do whatever it takes to get things back up and running. And finally, many thanks to reader Justin for texting me all the updates throughout the evening!
UPDATE - 6/13@10:57PM:*** SPOILER UPDATE 4 *** Updates regarding encore below the fold.
UPDATE - 6/13@10:36PM:*** SPOILER UPDATE 3 *** Updates up through end of regular set below the fold.
UPDATE - 6/13@10:23PM:*** SPOILER UPDATE 2 *** The setlist as revealed earlier today has been confirmed up through the drum solo in the second set. For more details on the setlist and the opening videos read below the fold.
UPDATE - 6/13@8:09PM:*** SPOILER UPDATE 1 *** Updates below the fold; first 3 songs plus other details.
UPDATE - 6/13@7:55PM: ATTENTION: I had to shut down comments temporarily to give my server a break... you guys are killing it! :) I will have them back up asap.
UPDATE - 6/13@7:36PM: There's now a pre-show picture of the stage setup in the gallery.
The time is now again - time for a Rush tour! Tonight is opening night for the Rush Snakes & Arrows tour at the HiFi Buys Amphitheatre in Atlanta, Georgia. For those of you who want to know, the entire rehearsal setlist has been posted to the net and can be seen in this post (SPOILER). I will be using this thread to post updates throughout the evening and will be sure to keep any and all spoiler information hidden. If you get any photos from tonight's show (or pre-show activities), please upload them here. To view photos from the show go here (there's nothing there yet as of this post). Also, once the show commences, you'll notice that under the Atlanta show in the tour section a new comments thread under the discuss heading for show reviews will magically appear. If you're attending the show please post your opinions/experiences in that thread when you get the chance.
A couple of other related items ...
Reader Mountaineerfan just called HiFI Buys amphitheater and was told that small digital cameras are allowed, just not professional cameras! You can call the venue at 404-443-5000 to check for yourself. Cool.
Jess of the Rush to Fight AIDS project made a last-minute decision to attend the show tonight and asked me to relay that, although she won't have her complete setup onhand, she'd love to meet up with folks from the site and also will take donations. Just check out the latest blog entry on the project's mySpace page for details.
With all the opening-night excitement I totally forgot that fan presales for the Madision Square Garden show on September 17th began yesterday at 10AM. The presale will run through noon tomorrow and regular sales begin this Saturday at 10AM. Details in this post.
For everyone going to the show tonight ... have fun and be safe! :)
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were recently interviewed for the CBC TV program The National and the story aired last night. The interview portions took place at Rush's secret rehearsal location outside Toronto (Hershey Center in Mississauga Ontario). It's a short interview (under 3 minutes) with no earthshattering news, but interesting to watch nonetheless. barney_rebel at Counterparts taped the show and uploaded it to YouTube although the audio is very choppy. You can watch it here. The CBC site also has the entire program posted to their site. It'll be up until 11PM this evening and you can watch it at this location. The Rush story begins about 43 minutes in.
Neil Peart's final mySpace bulletin before heading out on tour
Below is the last mySpace bulletin sent out from Neil Peart's mySpace page before he and Michael (SPQR) set off on tour. I'm assuming that the mysterious Editor is someone at the Anthem offices (Pegi perhaps?). But it sounds like we might get some periodic check-ins from the road. Cool.
A few days ago I revealed a partial setlist (SPOILER ALERT) from someone who had heard Rush rehearsing at the Hershey Center in Mississauga Ontario last week. Last night they were in Atlanta for opening night and rehearsed at the HiFi Buys Amphitheater. Speeding Wheels from the Mike Portnoy forum managed to sneak a listen and has revealed the entire (almost) rehearsal setlist. All the songs that I mentioned in my partial setlist post are included. Continue reading below to see the whole setlist. Thanks to Matthew V for the heads up.
Friday I mentioned that I'd heard reports from a couple of Canadian fans that Geddy Lee was scheduled to appear on the CBC program The Hour this coming Thursday. The appearance has finally showed up on their schedule here although they got the name of the album wrong:
Rush has a new album out, 'Snakes & Ladders,' and on June 13th they're kicking off their first full-scale world tour since 2004. So what's it like being in a rock band that's in its fourth decade?
George sits down to talk to Geddy Lee to find out. Watch it on The Hour on June 14th at 11pm on CBC Television.
Since Geddy will be out touring this Thursday I'm assuming the interview is pre-recorded.
Only one day left! I have a new site feature up just in time for the tour. But before I get to that I wanted to put out a request for Rush is a Band opening night spies (disguises optional). :) Anybody who is attending the show tomorrow in Atlanta and is willing to help me out, please drop me a line. My hope is to get realtime (or as close to it as possible) setlist updates as well as information about the stage setup, opening/intermission vids, etc., ... basically any and all information about the show. I'll have a post up (with spoiler alerts and all the spoiler info hidden of course) that I'll be updating throughout the evening.
I mentioned a few days ago that I would have a new feature up for the tour and, as promised, it's now ready to go. The new feature is a tour photo gallery. Here's how it'll work. If you're a registered user, I've added the ability for you to upload up to 20 (for now - this number might change) photos per tourdate to the site. The photos will be subject to approval and won't show up on the site until approved. The idea is for users to upload photos relevant to a specific tourdate. This could include a picture of you and your Rush friends decked out in your Rush regalia outside the venue; a photo of the venue itself; a photo of fans in the parking lot; and, of course, the band playing - as long as it's relevant to the tourdate and the quality isn't too crappy, I'll approve it and add it to the gallery. To add photos, simply find the tourdate in question on the homepage tour feature or in the tour section, and you'll see a gallery heading. Just click the view link to view the gallery and click the upload link to upload photos. I'll open up the photo upload option a day prior to any given show. So as of right now, only the Atlanta show is open for uploading photos. To upload photos for the Atlanta show click here. To view photos from the Atlanta show go here. Hopefully we'll get a lot of great pics uploaded.
The August 2007 issue of Guitar World Magazine contains an interview with both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. A couple of weeks ago I posted some scans of the article and a short preview clip of the cd-rom that came with the issue. The full cd-rom has video interviews with Geddy and Alex. The Geddy Lee portion was recently posted to Google Video and you can watch it here. The interview is over 18 minutes long and Geddy talks at length about all the various bass guitars he's used over the years, the influences on his own bass tone and bass playing in general. Thanks to Travisx2112 at Counterparts for the heads up.
It's the veritable calm before the storm in Rushland today; just 2 more days until the Rush Snakes & Arrows tour kicks off in Atlanta. We have some idea of what the setlist might contain (SPOILER alert) due to some fans spying in on Rush's rehearsals, but you never know what surprises the 3 travelers of Willow Dale might have in store for us; it's gonna be a fun week. I thought I'd take care of a few random updates in the interim.
First off, Neil Peart sent out a mySpace bulletin a few days ago that has sparked a lot of discussion on the various Rush boards. Here's the bulletin:
Jun 8, 2007 3:13 AM Subject This is a must see! Body: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9219647520615705963
I love it!
~SPQR~
Hmmmpfff.... Such a thankless job...
See you all on Tour!
Praetorian!
If you go and watch the video, you will be shocked and amazed... it's rather amusing. There are some really crazy people out there.
There's a new contest up at the Rush Backstage Club. The winner of the autographed Snakes & Arrows tourbook from the last contest was Dan Curia from North Carolina. This new contest is also for an autographed tourbook. Here are the new contest details from the site:
The winner of this contest will receive an autographed and personalized Snakes & Arrows tourbook. The book will be signed by Geddy, Alex, and Neil. The book has just been completed, and will be signed and delivered to the winner during the first two weeks of the upcoming world tour. This contest closes on June 15, 2007. Good Luck!
Thanks to rosmakloma for the tip.
Reader Bravest Face has a radio show on HAY-98 (many of you are already very familiar with it) and this coming Friday, June 15th at 9PM he will be playing all Rush with no commercials. His original plan was to play the setlist from opening night and then take requests for the remainder of however long he's on. However, since many people do not want to know the setlist he's considering doing something else. So basically he asked me to put it to an informal vote. So if you think he should play the selist or not play it, let us know in the comments or contact him directly via his personal contact form.
In our first week of sales DRE Logo gear, we've already raised over $100 (over $200 after matching funds) for the Epilepsy Foundation. We've had sales all over the world including US, Canada, UK, Germany and Brazil. Our best sellers so far have been the Mens White Value Tee which is just $11.99 and the Womens White Tank Top for just $14.99 (images attached). Most orders are printed and shipped out next business day. Shipping is only a flat $5 for up to 5 items. Plus, if you use the coupon code MOTIONFENCES at checkout, you can save $5 on a $50 order (code good until July 13th). [he also later sent me the code SRV155C which gives you $5 off $35].
With the tour immenent, Ticketmaster continues to release tickets and offer several various deals for tickets at different venues. Reader qzmhfl just let me know that for the June 25th show in Pittsburgh at the Post-Gazette Pavillion (which I'll be attending) they are offering a special 4-pack; 4 pavillion tickets for $25 each. There are also several contests for free tickets going on sponsored by various radio stations across the country. Reader Bill A let me know that 96 Rock is having a "Best Drummer" contest where the winner gets front-row seats and backstage passes to the Raleigh, NC show. Details at this link.
I always thought it would be cool to follow Rush for an entire tour, filming as I went and assembling a documentary just for and about Rush fans from around the world. What they do before a show, how far they've traveled, who they go with etc. However, this would be very expensive and time consuming and not a realistic goal for me at this stage of my life.
I have been thinking about it more as a new tour approaches and I came up with an idea.
"What if I could get people going to the shows to film themselves doing their own Rush concert rituals?"
I've been thinking about a way to do this and I'm fully confident that this could work and work well. I know not everyone is a Video Professional, but I can make up for a lot of that with technology and by giving a few simple instructions and requests of what I need from everyone that will make this thing flow and have a feel of continuity. I can also shoot and post some examples of the type of stuff I'll need. I look forward to working with all of you!
-Ray
This truly is a great idea. If you have a minute check out the site and help out if you can.
Consisting of 13 songs and just over an hour long, the new Rush album is amazing. I can be that blatant as it offers some of the most amazingly addictive verses, riffs, twists and themes.
Opener Far Cry demonstrates the Rush of old and oozes of the masterful musicianship that makes them such an influence to so many bands today. Geddy Lee's vocals are instantly soothing with their narrative and honest offerings and the hard rock guitars are enough to put any modern day prog rock band to shame.
Every song tells a story to get lost in and throws you in the ideals of a past era such as Amour & Sword, which offers a trip into King Arthur's realm. Tracks like Faithless, Workin' Them Angels and We Hold On have an enticing groove that over powers any of the reformed bands from the same period but the difference is Rush never lost it. 10/10
Agreed.
Bob Lefsetz is a music business insider and runs the LefsetzLetter Blog. He recently had a post where he analyzed several of the Billboard top 100 albums and had this to say about Snakes & Arrows:
61. Rush "Snakes & Arrows"
Sales this week: 9,619 Cume: 159,770
Either their fans have the loudest voices of all, or there aren't that many of them, or BOTH!
Rush has got a rabid fan base. They rave about the band constantly. But this is a piss poor number. Suddenly, it appears Rush is an oldies act, and fans only want the classics. Then again, should the band be scared on the road?
Whatever. Thanks to Tristar for the tip.
There was a recent Rush mention in a strange place: Family Circle Magazine. Reader pblaster let me know that in the July 2007 issue in the My Family Life section a celebrity is profiled each month. The magazine starts a sentence and the star finishes it. This month, the celebrity was Michael Chiklis from The Shield. When presented with the question My iPod is loaded with... he answers I have three of them, with 10,000 songs total - there's everything from Rush for working out to jazz and classical. Nice.
Toronto-based record store Sam the Record Man is set to close its doors. The store is a Toronto icon and was featured in the video for Subdivisions. Thanks to Jim M for the heads up.
The UK Air Guitar National Championships were recently held and a BBC news broadcast on the event contained a Rush reference. You can check out the news clip on the BBC website. One of the contestants is air-guitaring to Rush's Fly By Night. Thanks to Kagrenak for the tip.
And I'll close with this impressive fan-made music video for Sweet Miracle from Vapor Trails that Power Windows alerted me to. The star and creator of the video, Kimberly, based it on the scene described by Neil Peart on pages 338-339 of Ghost Rider. For details/background about the video visit Kimberly's MySpace page. It's very well-done; you can tell she put a lot of time and imagination into it.
Alex Lifeson was interviewed in the April 2007 issue of Metal Edge magazine. Reader Jeff H scanned the article and I've made it available here. Alex talks mostly about the album and echoes a lot of what's already been said in several other interviews. But he did have this interesting thing to say about Vapor Trails:
... Vapor Trails was so difficult. ... For me it's really a sonic issue: it was mastered much too hot; it's too loud and it eats away at us and we want to address that -- and maybe for no other reason than it would just make us sleep peacefully at night. ...
Yesterday I mentioned how I was surprised that no setlist had leaked yet. Guess what? I now have a partial setlist coming from someone who has heard the band rehearsing. I have no reason to doubt the source so this is legit as far as I know. That said, I'd still take it as a rumor for now. Now if you do not want to be spoiled ... DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. For those of you who do want to be spoiled, continue reading below. Again, this is only a partial list and in no particular order.
...
...
...
Do not continue reading if you don't want to ruin the surprise.
UPDATE - 6/8@3:57PM: Reader Damon H spotted another Rush tour billboard southbound on I-170 in St. Louis. And best of all he got a great picture of it. Thanks Damon!
It's the last Friday before the start of the tour! Only 5 days left until opening night and the excitement is really starting to build in Rushland. I should have a new feature up and running by opening night. I'm planning on attaching a tour photo gallery to each tour date in the tour section. Registered users (over 1500 now!) will be able to upload their tour photos for everyone to enjoy. I may not get this up by opening night but I'll try.
I also wanted to take a second to thank everybody who has donated to the site. I really appreciate it. And remember, if you donate at least $3 to the site, I'll send you a free RUSH IS A BAND bumper sticker. Reader Rushfn1 received his sticker and sent me a pic of it proudly displayed on his Mini Cooper. The sticker will look great on your bumper this summer while on your roadtrip(s) to see Rush on tour. :)
Speaking of the tour, the big news last week was the addition of the long-rumored show at Madison Square Garden in New York on September 17th. Tickets for the show go on sale next Saturday. For presale information see this post. Steve let me know that there was a full-page ad for the show in The Village Voice showing the desert highway pic with the New York City skyline on the horizon and billing the show as Rush's Final U.S. Performance ... I'm assuming they're talking about this tour and not for all time. :)
Also, if you don't have tickets for the tour yet, I've been receiving word from several folks that Ticketmaster has released more tickets for several of the shows. So you may still be able to grab some.
A few readers (primemover, Captwilb and others) have noticed that there is a billboard advertising the Snakes & Arrows tour show at the PNC Arts Center in New Jersey on July 8th on the New Jersey Turnpike Northbound just before exit 13A. Cool.
Surprisingly enough, there's not been any tour setlist leak yet. And on the subject of the setlist, I do plan on posting it once I have it (late Wednesday/early Thursday I presume). I will be sure and put up a spoiler alert and not display the selist directly in the post. I know a lot of you don't want to ruin the surprise, but just as many (more actually) want to be spoiled. :) Out of respect for those who don't want to see it, I ask everyone to put spoiler alerts in their comment posts as well when discussing the setlist. This is just a request - I'm not going to ban anyone over it or really police it at all. So be warned; if you really don't want to see the setlist you unfortunately may just need to stay out of the comments altogether for a while.
Last week we learned that the next single from Snakes & Arrows was Spindrift with plans to release The Larger Bowl later this summer. Indeed, Spindrift is beginning to get some airplay in certain markets according to MediaBase. In last week's poll I asked everyone their thoughts on what they thought the next single should have been. Workin' Them Angels was the clear winner with nearly 26% of the vote. Rounding out the top 5 were The Way the Wind Blows (16%), The Larger Bowl (12%), Armor and Sword (10%), We Hold On and Spindrift (tied with 8%). For this week's poll I ask the question what song from the album are you most looking forward to seeing live? Take the poll and let us know.
Reader Clemdiggity sent me the latest Snakes & Arrows review. It comes from Blender Magazine and is surprisingly good. Reviewer J.D. Considine gives the album 4.5 stars and has this to say:
After spending half of the '90s on hiatus, Rush made a tentative return with 2002's Vapour Trails, then found their feet with two live releases and a collection of covers (the '60s-themed Feedback). On Snakes & Arrows, Rush combine their strengths, offering plenty of the flash that made them guitar-magazine pinups in well-focused, hook-savvy tunes. So, though they may play more notes per song than some bands play on entire albums, Rush ensure those notes matter - from the churning, semi-orchestral swell of "Faithless" to the quiet intensity of the acoustic-guitar solo "Hope." Even better, there's an edge to the lyrics that makes bassist Geddy Lee's keening vocals seem unusually urgent (as when "Wind Blows" assails know-nothings "from the Middle East to the Middle West"). The result is their best album since Moving Pictures in 1981.
Several weeks ago Rush was scheduled to appear on the CBC program The Hour but it never panned out due to the NHL playoffs. I've heard from a couple readers (thanks Steve and ghost__rider) that Geddy Lee is now scheduled to appear on the program this coming Thursday. Since they'll be on tour at this time, I'm assuming it'll be pre-recorded but I don't know for sure. There's nothing about Geddy's appearance on their schedule on their website yet either.
The June 2007 issue of Bass Player magazine contains a transcription of Closer to the Heart. You can read the introduction at this link but you need to buy the magazine to see the transcription. Thanks to reader Rob B for the heads up.
Rush's The Spirit of Radio is included on a recently-released UK compilation album from UMTV called Classic School of Rock.
Reader Chris W alerted me to a series of programs that will run on the BBC called The Seven Ages of Rock. They have several preview clips up on the website and in one of them they speak with Dave Grohl (Nirvana, The Foo Fighters). In this clip Dave talks for over a minute about how Rush's album 2112 and Neil Peart inspired him to play the drums.
The latest Billboard chart information is out and Snakes & Arrows dropped a few more spots to #61 (from #51 last week) in its 5th week of release in the US. On the Canadian charts it's still hanging in there in the top 40 at #36, down from #29 last week. And reader JP tells me that it actually moved up a couple spots in Finland; it's #33 - up from #35 last week.
Neil Peart has posted a remastered, drums-only version of The Main Monkey Business on his official website. Just go to NeilPeart.net, enter the site and use the embedded player to listen. Thanks to reader RushFan19 for the heads up.
Click here to purchase pre-sale tickets through an exclusive RUSH fan pre-sale beginning Tuesday June 12th at 10am EST and ending on Thursday June 14th at Noon EST. You will need to register your email address with the website, so please ensure you do that before you attempt to order tickets.
RUSH AMERICAN EXPRESS FRONT OF THE LINE PRE-SALE American Express card holders may purchase pre-sale tickets between Monday June 11th beginning at Noon EST through Friday June 15th, ending at 10pm EST. Please visit www.ticketmaster.com in the next few days for more details.
Thanks to reader Spindrifter for the heads up. And Kevin C sent me this info which he received regarding the AMEX presale:
PREFERRED SEATING: Get tickets before the general public to see Rush, Snakes & Arrows Tour, live at Madison Square Garden! Sep 17 | New York, NY Madison Square Garden $79.50 & $129.50 Presale: Mon 6/11 at Noon though Fri 6/15 at 10pm 800-NOW-AMEX or ticketmaster.com
UPDATE - 6/7@11:43AM: Reader indyice8 has learned that the cards are $4.00, the calendar is $9.00 and the puzzle $15.00. They forward you to another party as NMR is just a wholesaler that you need to spend at least $150 with to place an order. Items will ship in July.
Rush mailed out their newsletter yesterday officially confirming the June 26th release of the Snakes & Arrows MVI as well as details on the vinyl lp release. They also includes links to get a free screensaver. For those of you who are not subscribed to the newsletter, here it is:
SNAKES & ARROWS MVI
Atlantic records would like to announce that Snakes & Arrows will soon be available in the new MVI format. After a handful of unfortunate yet unavoidable production delays, we can finally confirm that the MVI (Music Video Interactive) disc will be released June 26th in both the US and Canada. To learn more about the MVI format visit www.mvimusic.com
To show our gratitude for your patience regarding the MVI delays, here are free screensaver links for PC and Mac: PC: http://feature.atlrec.com/rush/screensavers/rush_screensaver_pc.zip Mac: http://feature.atlrec.com/rush/screensavers/rush_screensaver_mac.zip
SNAKES & ARROWS ON VINYL
We can also confirm that Snakes & Arrows will be available on vinyl as of June 19th in the US and June 26th in Canada. Only 5,000 copies of this 2LP set will be available, and all will be pressed on 180-gram HQ audiophile vinyl at RTI for the best possible sound.
As I'd mentioned in yesterday's updates post, Rush was on the cover of the May/June issue of Canadian Musician magazine. Inside the issue is a feature by Kevin Young titled In the Studio with Rush along with a little sidebar article where Alex Lifeson discusses various subjects. Thanks to reader king_daviaue I now have a complete scans of these. The feature article is mostly an interview with Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz although it also includes some quotes from engineer Rich Chycki and Alex Lifeson. Nick gives a lot of insight into the details surrounding the recording of Snakes & Arrows. The sidebar article is titled Rush Guitarist Alex Lifeson on Effects, Guitar Heroes, Tunings, Writing On the Acoustic, & Learning From Your Peers.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Madison Square Garden September 17th; tickets on sale June 16th
UPDATE - 6/4@11:02PM: Actually ... it does seem to be official. It was announced today on WDHA. Thanks to Jarad for the link. Looks like there'll be an AMEX presale on June 11th. Nothing about a fan presale yet though.
Back in April I'd reported that there would be an add-on show at Madison Square Garden in New York sometime in late September and that tickets would go on sale Saturday, June 16th (with a presale the week prior). I've just received confirmation from my source that this is still indeed the case and I now also have a solid date for the show; it'll take place on Monday, September 17th between the Montreal and Toronto shows. None of this has been made official yet so take it only as rumor for now - but I have no reason to doubt my source. We'll know for sure soon enough.
Rush is on the cover of the May/June issue of Canadian Musician. Inside is a feature by Kevin Young titled In The Studio With Rush which begins as follows:
Imagine spending five weeks producing one of the first bands you saw in concert. That's what Nick Raskulinecz experienced when he got the call to produce Snakes and Arrows, Rush's latest record. "Nick was very young the first time he saw us," says guitarist Alex Lifeson. ...
The article also contains an interview with Nick Raskulinecz and a few new pics. I'll try and get a scan if possible. Thanks to readers Matt and king_daviaue for the heads up.
Reader PhillyMike provided me with a scan of a little article in the June 2007 issue of Spin Magazine. The article is titled Time Out of Mind and reads as follows:
Three new albums offer visions of the future, but are any of them realistic? And how do they compare with the grandpappy of dystopian discs, Rush's 2112? The New York Times' futurist-in-residence - it is too a job! -- Michael Rogers weighs in.
New World Lerxst 2112 let me know of a couple of Rush mentions in the July issue of Guitar Player Magazine. In an article about Dream Theater's John Petrucci on page 102 they mention how one of his riffs is a mixture of Metallica's Master of Puppets and Rush's Natural Science. On page 132 there's a review of the new electric/acoustic hybrid guitar, the Ovation VXT. The very first few sentences of the review read:
Lots of us remember the images of Rush's Alex Lifeson playing an acoustic guitar supported by a stand for the pretty intro to "The Trees. After playing the the fingerpicked part, Lifeson would step away, and crush into the songs distorted power chords on his electric. It was cool, if somewhat complicated, way to cover both acoustic and electric textures in the same song without missing a beat. ...
Open source content management system, Joomla!, has dubbed their next software release Red Barchetta. From the website:
We've dubbed Beta-2 'Red Barchetta', in keeping with the spirit of freedom, power, simplicity and flexibility unknown in an Open Source framework. Besides Red Barchetta conjuring up triumph through coding revolution, this baby provides developers and designers with unequaled tools. This makes Joomla! 1.5 Beta-2 the ultimate enabler for your projects. Now is the time for you to take it for a serious drive to help our team refine the software for our release candidate goals. It's also probably the best time for you to start learning the nuances of the new system to enable you to migrate your extensions and templates to the next generation CMS.
Remember those limited edition Neil Peart R30 replica drum kits that were sold last fall for $30,000 each? Well - one of the folks who purchased one of these kits recently emailed Andrew Olson and recounted the experience and his reasons for the purchase along with some pics. Andrew put all this up on his Neil Peart replica kits page for all of us to enjoy. You can check it out here. You may also want to check out this other recent addition to Andrew's replica kits page too.
Due out in January, Fanboys is a film which follows a group of Star Wars-loving geeks in 1998 who travel cross country so that their dying friend's dream of watching The Phantom Menace at Skywalker Ranch before its release can come true. Reader Mike alerted me to several publicity photos of the cast from the film floating around the internet where the character Hutch (played by Dan Fogler) is wearing a Rush t-shirt. You can check out the photo here.
Comedian Adam Carolla has a radio show in Los Angeles and he recently had a Rush-themed contest on his show in order to win Rush tickets called Name that Nicaraguan Tune for Rush Tickets. Adam's personal friend, a Nicaraguan native named Oswaldo, would sing a Rush song in broken English and callers had to guess the name of the song. You can listen to the show here. Thanks to reader M@rio for the heads up.
*** minor tour SPOILER alert *** This photograph seems to have originated at DrumSmith.com and comes to us by way of Snaked over at Counterparts who found it on MikePortnoy.com. It's a picture of Neil Peart's drum tech Lorne Wheaton sitting down with Neil Peart's new Snakes & Arrows drum kit, originally described in this post. Just a few days ago we got to see a grainy picture of Neil's kit from a distance at Rush's rehearsal location. This new pic is much better; it's the full kit in all its high-res glory.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson Guitar World interview scans
Earlier this week I pointed you to a cd-rom preview clip of the August 2007 issue of Guitar World Magazine which features an interview with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. RedSectorA over at Counterparts recently received his copy of the issue and has provided some scans from it. The full cd-rom that comes with the issue contains a video interview with both Geddy and Alex along with Geddy playing some bass.
A few days ago the news came out that the next single from Snakes & Arrows was to be The Larger Bowl. I then received conflicting information from a program director that the single was not The Larger Bowl, but instead was Spindrift. Now my source who originally told me that The Larger Bowl was the next single has informed me that he made an error when he read the shipping sheet that came with the single. The picture on the sheet says "Snakes & Arrows featuring Far Cry, Spindrift, and The Larger Bowl". Then it reads "purging the country/ac/heritage" markets with The Larger Bowl this Summer. Underneath it ... "Get caught up in the Spindrift for the start of Hurricane Season". Hurricane season started June 1st. So The Larger Bowl will be released as a single later this summer, but the single that was released to radio yesterday is Spindrift. Indeed, I've received confirmation that Spindrift is already playing in markets in Texas, LA, and Boston. Here's what the shipping sheet says about the Spindrift single:
To coincide with the start of the 2007 Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season...Atlantic Records brings you the exciting new RUSH release that will leave you soaked and dizzy after one listen! "SPINDRIFT" from the band's # 3 Billboard debut record "Snakes & Arrows", rocks you like a hurricane on June 1! RUSH will hit the road June 13 in Atlanta and will continue a massive world tour through 2008!
A couple of days ago I reported that the next single from Snakes & Arrows was The Larger Bowl. It came from a trusted source and even inluded a list of stations that were sent the single (see this post for the list). Now it seems that it's not the only next single. A reader who is a program director at a rock station said he just received a radio single copy of Spindrift. It contains both the album version and a 3:42 radio edit. The station this reader works for was not on the list of stations that I'd received for stations that were sent The Larger Bowl. This leads me to believe that different stations were sent one single or the other depending on their format. Lighter formats (such as Adult Contemporary) received The Larger Bowl while heavier formats received Spindrift. This is just speculation though. If anybody has any insight or more information please share it with us. But from what I currently know it looks like there are two new singles from Snakes & Arrows currently being pushed to radio.
UPDATE - 6/1@1:08PM:PhillyMike noticed that if you go to the mvimusic site (mentioned below) you can see a few screenshots of the Snakes & Arrows MVI interface.
It's Friday and the Snakes & Arrows tour kicks off in Atanta in less than 2 weeks! In last week's poll we asked readers to let us know how many shows they'd be attending. Most folks - over 38% - are attending just one show; 27% are attending 2; and 14% are attending 3 (I count myself among this number). 13% of you are attending 4 or 5 shows; 2% are going to 6 or 7 shows; another 1.5% are going to 8-10 shows; 2% are attending 11-15 and 1 lucky person claims that they'll be seeing them over 16 times! Unfortunately, 3 of you will not be attending any shows. :( According to pollstar.com, the tour is still selling well and is currently listed at #6 on the Pollstar Top 50.
The big news for the week is that The Larger Bowl has been chosen as the next single from Snakes & Arrows. There are many varying opinions on whether this was a good choice or not. So if it was up to you, what would you have chosen for the next single? Take the poll and let us know. The first single, Far Cry, is finally starting to lose a little steam on the various rock charts. It's down to #4 at Mediabase, #5 at Radio and Records and is holding at #5 at MediaGuide. The video for Far Cry is also now available on iTunes (thanks to PhillyMike for the heads up).
The Snakes & Arrows MVI has been delayed again; it is now listed as being released June 26th. Rush.com has put up the following message regarding this:
After a handful of unfortunate yet unavoidable production delays, we can finally confirm that the MVI (Music Video Interactive) disc will be in stores June 26th. To learn more about the MVI format visit www.mvimusic.com, and to learn more about what will be featured on the Snakes & Arrows MVI release please see the May 9th post below.
The latest issue of the UK's Classic Rock Magazine contains a feature (a 4-page interview) on Rush. Thanks to captwilb for the heads up.
Alex Lifeson was recently interviewed for UK digital radio station Planet Rock and I'd posted the audio on Wednesday. In the interview, Alex stated that he would be attending the recent Porcupine Tree show in Toronto and possibly make an onstage appearance. According to a post on the Progressive Ears Forum (thanks to chutch15 for the heads up) he did attend the show but did not get on stage. However, a poster at Counterparts was also at the show and says they didn't see him.
Reader Steve O let me know that on this morning's Fox 25 out of Boston they paid a visit to SJC Drums on their regular Zip Trip segment. They spoke with with owner Scott Ciprari and assistant manager Mike Ciprari. During the interview they showed a prototype drumset made for the Buddy Rich drum company and mentioned that the particular set they were looking at was for Neil Peart. They then played Spirit of Radio in the background and showed a pic of Neil on the cover of DRUM! Magazine. You can watch the segment for yourself online at this location.
Crazyrunner at the Digital Rush Experience let me know that they've recently launched a Logo Store at Cafe Press as well as a blog. The logo is really cool; it's a mashup of the Rush starman logo and the Snakes & Arrows logo. Proceeds from the store will go to the Epilepsy Foundation. So in addition to getting some cool merchandise you'll be helping out a good cause. If you aren't already familiar with it, the Digital Rush Experience is a comprehensive source of information for Rush live recordings with reviews, scans, trader links and a forum.
A recent Q&A with Roadrunner Records featured Dream Theater's James LaBrie and Mike Portnoy. Both were asked what their favorite album was. Among LaBrie's favorites were Rush's 2112, Hemispherss and A Farewell to Kings. When asked what bands they'd like to tour with they both unsurprisingly said Rush.
In my last update post I pointed you to this humorous video on YouTube. It's 2 guys (Matty and Tones) hosting an animated virtual music news program called the Matty & Tones SoundChaser Show. Both guys are Rush fans and featured a review of Snakes & Arrows in the video. Matty contacted me to let us know that they have a website at this location and will be posting a new episode every month. Next month's featured review will be of the new Porcupine Tree album.
QFM 96 out of Columbus, OH has a yearly countdown of the Top 500 rock songs of all-time as voted on by the listeners. This year's list features 9 Rush tunes:
343 - Freewill 327 - 2112 (Overture/Temples) 267 - Closer to the Heart 215 - Red Barchetta 194 - Subdivisions 86 - The Spirit of Radio 55 - Limelight 46 - Working Man 13 - Tom Sawyer
Thanks to Out of the Shockwave over at Counterparts for the heads up.
Michael of 
Reader rosmakloma let me know that 
Remember all those custom Rush legos that were up for sale on eBay a while back? The creator of these legos has made updated versions which include Neil's red Snakes & Arrows kit and recently listed them on eBay. This time you can get all three band members together. The auction ends later today; you can check it out and make your bid at 
UPDATE - 6/29@3:29PM: Attendance figures are out for the first 4 shows. Via 
Earlier this month 
As you probably know by now, 
Official Snakes & Arrows merchandise including t-shirts, keychains, the S&A tourbook and more is now available at the 
The August 2007 issue of 
The UK's 
Rush is on the cover of the May/June issue of 
The latest issue of the UK's 
Crazyrunner at the 
