UPDATE - 5/3@1:21PM: Bristow, Dallas and Houston VIP pre-sales are now sold out along with Las Vegas and St. Louis.
UPDATE - 5/2@2:33PM: Showlist DC is running a contest where you could win a pair of tickets to Rush's September 9th show in Bristow. The contest runs through tomorrow at 5PM and you can enter at this link.
UPDATE - 5/2@1:18PM: Atlanta VIP pre-sale is underway and the St. Louis VIP pre-sale is now sold out (Las Vegas is too).
UPDATE - 5/2@11:12AM: Although the KQRS-FM website indicates that their pre-sale password is CLOCKS, it seems like they changed it to just CLOCK. You can also just use the Live Nation password of drumline.
UPDATE - 5/2@10:51AM: The Live Nation password is drumline!
UPDATE - 5/2@10:06AM: It looks like the Live Nation password for this round of pre-sales is notmelody (thanks Bob). If anyone knows what it is, please let us know. It's drumline.
UPDATE - 5/1@5:13PM: VIP pre-sale for Atlanta begins tomorrow at 12PM with the password headlong (thanks DigitalRushExperience).
UPDATE - 5/1@4:46PM: Rush's Clockwork Angels tour has jumped into the Top Events Rankings for TicketNews at #6. KQRS-FM in Minnesota will be sponsoring a pre-sale starting tomorrow at 10AM using the password clocks (thanks balance). VIP pre-sales now no longer require a password and Music Today fan pre-sales for all 12 dates will run through tomorrow at 5PM. Live Nation pre-sales for most of the shows will kick-off tomorrow at 10AM using a password of drumline.
UPDATE - 5/1@9:39AM: The VIP pre-sale for Las Vegas is sold out. CITI card pre-sales for all 12 dates except Atlanta kick off at 10AM local venue time.
UPDATE - 4/30@3:00PM: VIP and Music Today fan pre-sales for Phoenix, San Jose and Las Vegas are now underway!
UPDATE - 4/30@1:04PM: VIP and Music Today fan pre-sales for St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are now underway!
UPDATE - 4/30@12:14PM: Note that it doesn't look like VIP tickets are available for Atlanta today (at least not yet), despite what the newsletter said - possibly Houston as well (we'll know at 12PM CST). There are Music Today pre-sales for both of these cities though.
UPDATE - 4/30@11:35AM: All 12 shows are now listed at the Rush Music Today website for the fan pre-sale. Remember you do not need a password for the fan pre-sale. You will need a password for the VIP pre-sale (password is headlong) - and right now all the shows except Atlanta and Houston are listed at the VIP Nation website with a message indicating that pre-sales begin at Noon local time. I'm not sure what's going on with Atlanta and Houston, but the newsletter seemed to indicate that VIP pre-sales would be available for those shows today. Assuming that's the case, then both the VIP and fan pre-sales for Bristow, Pittsburgh, Bridgeport, and Atlanta will be kicking off in less than a half hour at 12PM EST; St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston kick off at 12PM CST; Phoenix at 12PM MST; and San Jose and Las Vegas at 12PM PST.
Tomorrow morning at 7AM there will be an announcement for the second round of markets to go on-sale for the Clockwork Angels North American Tour.
But we wanted to let you know now that the pre-sales for these specific shows begin THIS MONDAY APRIL 30 at NOON LOCAL TIME for Washington, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Minneapolis, Bridgeport, Atlanta, San Jose, Las Vegas, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Phoenix.
For the pre-sales, you have the option of:
1 - Tour Package pre-sale starts Monday 4/30 at noon local time and is exclusive to Rush fan members with password "headlong" (lower case, case sensitive) for the first 24 hours. For details visit http://vipnation.com/programs/rush
2 - Rush Fan Club pre-sale starts Monday 4/30 at noon local time and closes Wednesday 5/2 at 5pm local time. For details visit http://rush.musictoday.com
3 - CitiCard Holders pre-sale starts Tuesday 5/1 at 10 am local time and closes Thursday 5/3 at 3pm local time. For details http://www.citiprivatepass.com
As of this posting only the Bridgeport show is listed as going on pre-sale at VIP Nation tomorrow but the rest of the dates should be showing up between now and the morning. They will once again be using a password of headlong for the first 24 hours. All of the shows are now listed at the Music Today site as well except for Atlanta (I assume there will still be one for Atlanta though). Most of these dates are currently listed at Ticketmaster for the CITI pre-sales that begin Tuesday, but not all of them (Atlanta will not have one). I already have the tour page updated with all the information. With the benefit of hindsight we now have a better picture of how the various pre-sales work this go-around. The Music Today fan pre-sales operate much as they have in the past with the one exception being that registration with the fan community on the Music Today website is no longer required. The big difference this year is with the VIP pre-sales, which are now conducted by VIPNation.com rather than Ticketmaster. With VIP Nation, you still get a guaranteed seat in the first 15 rows but you don't know the exact location of your ticket until you pick them up at the venue - which has many fans understandably up in arms (there's also this petition). The CITI pre-sales simply require that you use a CITI credit card and use the first six digits as the password. Various Live Nation, radio and venue pre-sales should also be available later in the week. The Live Nation password this time around is melody unknown. For any other passwords, just periodically check out the tour page, and for more details on how all the pre-sales work check out my ticket sales and pre-sales guide. We also learned over the weekend that Ticketmaster is offering Official Platinum Seats for some of the dates on the Rush 2012 tour. These are a good alternative to the VIP pre-sales since you know exactly what seats you are purchasing - although the prices are significantly higher than the regular ticket prices. These are made available at the same time general tickets go on sale. More information in my ticket sales and pre-sales guide.
UPDATE - 5/8@9:33AM: The entire article has been transcribed by John at Cygnus-X1.net and posted here. It's essentially a short biography of the band and doesn't contain any new interviews or information on the new album.
Rush is the subject of an 8-page feature story in the June, 2012 issue of Mojo magazine. The cover tagline reads, RUSH. Alienation. Weed. Epic Insanity! From the Mojo websitein this issue description:
RUSH: How the highbrow Canuck proggers fed on Tolkien, Ayn Rand, weed and whiskey, survived critics and personal tragedies to become "the biggest cult band in the world."
UPDATE - 4/27@4:55PM: It now looks like Ticketmaster is offering Official Platinum Seats for the Rush 2012 tour. These are a good alternative to the VIP pre-sales since you know exactly what seats you are purchasing. These are made available at the same time general tickets go on sale. More information in my ticket sales and pre-sales guide.
The first round of pre-sales for Rush's 2012 Clockwork Angels are now over, with general ticket sales kicking off today and tomorrow. The first round included 10 dates: Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Anaheim and LA. General ticket sales for Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn and Boston began earlier this morning - Anaheim and LA begin shortly at 10AM PST, and Chicago, Detroit, and Buffalo kick-off tomorrow at 10AM. As of this post VIP ticket packages for Detroit, Brooklyn, and Boston are still open with the other 7 having sold out already. With the benefit of hindsight we now have a better picture of how the various pre-sales work this go-around. The Music Today fan pre-sales operated much as they have in the past with the one exception being that registration with the fan community on the Music Today website is no longer required. The big difference this year was with the VIP pre-sales, which are now conducted by VIPNation.com rather than Ticketmaster. With VIP Nation, you still get a guaranteed seat in the first 15 rows but you don't know the exact location of your ticket until you pick them up at the venue - which has many fans understandably up in arms (there's also this petition). The CITI, Live Nation and other pre-sales work much as they have in the past and typically require a password. The Live Nation password this time around is melody. For any other passwords, just periodically check out the tour page, and for more details on how all the pre-sales work check out my ticket sales and pre-sales guide. Looking ahead to next week, it looks we'll have pre-sales for Bristow, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Bridgeport, San Jose, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Not all of these are currently listed at Ticketmaster as going on sale next week, but the Citi Private Pass site is listing them all as going on CITI pre-sale next Tuesday, May 1st - which means all the other pre-sales will also occur next week. And although they haven't been officially announced yet, we can be fairly certain that both the Music Today and VIP pre-sales for these dates will kick-off next Monday at 12PM. I'll be updating the tour page with all of this information as the official word rolls in. The Citi Private Pass site lists the remaining US dates (except for Cleveland and Atlanta) as going on sale the week after next. I don't yet have any information regarding ticket sales for any Canadian dates, but that should be coming out in the next couple of weeks as well. I've been getting a lot of questions about the chances of Rush adding any further dates to the tour. Although I doubt that they will add any new cities, it's very possible they will add 2nd shows in either Toronto and/or Los Angeles since they left a 4-day gap after each of these shows. They've done exactly this in the past, so it stands to reason that they may do the same again this time. This mostly depends on how ticket sales for the first shows are doing. I also haven't heard anything regarding extending the tour into 2013, but judging by Rush's past 2 tours this seems highly likely. On Wednesday Rush updated their official mobile app with a new Clockwork Angels theme and Clockwork Angels tour information. You can get the app for the iPhone, the iPad and for Android. They have also updated their Facebook page and added all the tour dates using the Bands in Town Facebook app. The Rush Petition website was just revamped this week in preparation for the upcoming 2012 tour, although since nothing has really changed in terms of song choices since its last update before the second leg of the Time Machine tour, the votes from the last tour have been left in place. So if you haven't already voted for your song choices, you can do so at the revamped website.
The full 7:20-minute album version of Headlong Flight was released for purchase as a download worldwide earlier this week via multiple channels including Amazon, iTunes and Spotify. It briefly made its way onto the iTunes top 100 songs chart at #91, but has since dropped off - and it's been sitting at #1 on Amazon's top downloaded rock songs chart since its release on Tuesday. The track was officially released to radio last Thursday and has been starting to get some steady rotation on rock radio stations everywhere. It's currently sitting at #14 and moving up on the Medibase Rock Chart. Last week Rush.com posted the official video for Headlong Flight to YouTube. It's titled as the Official Lyric Video and has a number of visuals that display the lyrics to the song interspersed with old performance video of Rush along with some other steampunk visuals. The song is also now up on SoundCloud.
Things have been so focused on the tour and the Headlong Flight single lately, I thought I'd take a moment to review where things stand with the actual Clockwork Angels album release. The album will release in the US and Canada on June 12th (a little earlier in parts of Europe) and will be available on CD, vinyl and as a special edition fanpack. It will also of course be available as a download and can now be pre-ordered as such via iTunes. The album will be exclusively released in the UK on June 11th as a special Classic Rock fanpack edition, with the regular UK release on July 2nd. The fanpack will include the album plus a 132-page magazine with extensive and exclusive interviews with all 3 band members, along with a full track-by-track rundown by the band, an interview with producer Nick Raskulinecz, long time cover artist Hugh Syme and more. For more details and to order the fanpack, go to this link. Yesterday a shake-up of sorts at Rush's new Roadrunner record label was announced, although it sounds as if this shouldn't have any immediate affect on Rush or the release of the album. It's possible that it may affect any kind of marketing/advertising campaigns for the album however, but it's probably too early to tell. From Billboard.biz (thanks Mark):
In a changing of the guard at Roadrunner Records, founder/CEO Cees Wessels is leaving the label 17 months after the completion of its sale to the Warner Music Group... the label is being realigned so that it will utilize the Warner Music Group for back-office and other support capabilities while retaining frontline label functions like A&R, marketing, promotion and publicity. In the U.S., Roadrunner will continue to operate as a standalone frontline label, although 16 staffers in the States are losing their jobs. Internationally, Roadrunner's staff will continue to carry out some label functions, such as marketing, promo and publicity. Other responsibilities, principally support functions, will be carried out by Warner Music teams, which means that 20 staffers will lose their jobs. Roadrunner, which continues to be a strong brand in rock music, will continue to have personnel in every territory it does currently, with the exception of the Netherlands office ...
In the first of what I'm sure will be a long series of band interviews to be released in the coming weeks/months, Alex Lifeson sat down with High Times magazine for an interview in their June, 2012 edition. He mostly spoke about his feelings regarding marijuana on both a personal and political level, but also chimed in a little regarding the Clockwork Angels album, expanding a bit on the inclusion of strings on the album:
All of our records are thematic, but this one is a little more of an old-fashioned concept album in the tradition of 2112 and Hemispheres. We just recorded a string section yesterday for five of the songs-we still have to sit down and see what we'll use from that, but it sounded fantastic. Rush hasn't used strings in a while, and it's really added a lot of emotional impact to the songs.
The fact that as many as 5 tracks on the album may include strings tends to lend some weight to the rumor that the band may be touring with a string section in some capacity. You can read the entire interview online here.
... we are excited to tell you that our 12th annual RushCon will be held in Toronto on October 12-14, 2012, to coincide with the Rush concert on October 14th. It's a very exciting time to be a Rush fan! Celebrate with three days of games, events, guest speakers, our memorabilia charity auction and much more, wrapped up with seeing Rush live in their home town! Rush concert pre-sale tickets go on sale soon, so now is the time to plan your pilgrimage to Toronto. See Rush in YYZ, meet some awesome fans, and be surrounded by those who share your love of this magical band. We really hope to see you there! We will be posting event details and registration details over the next couple weeks. Stay tuned!
Be sure to follow RushCon on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest RushCon news.
Last month MIDIpedals.com posted part 1 of an extensive interview they conducted with longtime Rush roadie Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret). In the interview Tony talks about the early days with Rush, connecting the non-MIDI Taurus Pedals to Geddy's Oberheim synths, and about the redundant MIDI and sampling setup when they are touring. The now have what they are calling part 1.5 of the interview posted as well. Here's the explanation from the website:
A couple of weeks after posting Part 1, Tony called me and hoped to finish up the interview. When he called I was not prepared to record the call, and let him know I would need to call him back. I am assuming Rush has started tour rehearsals, so he has been busy and we haven't been able to do Part 2 because we haven't been able to schedule a second interview. Here are a few questions I emailed to him and his answers. I call it Part 1.5 in hopes we can do Part 2 soon.
You can read part 1.5 of the interview and also listen to part 1 at this link.
... "We are especially appreciative for the presentation of this lifetime achievement award now - while we are still active (Too active, our families might say!)" said Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in an emailed statement, noting that the band was putting the finishing touches on its 20th studio album, "Clockwork Angels," with a fall tour planned. "Since our performance 'lifetimes' aren't quite over yet, this high honour is not just a reward; it is an inspiration. We will continue to try to earn it." ...
The Sonic Elements Rush tribute XYZ: A Tribute To Rush was released this past Sunday, April 21st and can now be purchased via esoundz.com as a digital download or a physical CD. The 5 tracks on the album are Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, YYZ, Limelight and a bonus track titled Trifecta. Performers include John Wesley (Porcupine Tree), Billy Sherwood (Yes), Dave Kerzner, Rik Emmett (Triumph), Randy McStine, Matt Dorsey and Neil Peart Drums by Sonic Reality. Trifecta is an original track written by Billy Sherwood and Dave Kerzner that uses the drum track from YYZ. You can listen to samples from the project on SoundCloud, and check out all the track details at the esoundz website listing. For anyone who ordered the CD, the shipping is apparently a little delayed and the CDs are expected to ship in early May. As a consolation, they are offering up the download version for free. Here's a message that reader Kelly M received:
Thank you for purchasing the pre-order of the limited edition XYZ - A Tribute To Rush CD! While we are still waiting for the CDs to arrive we wanted to treat you to the download version in mp3 and full CD quality wave format while you wait. So visit your download area on esoundz to access it on 4-21-12. Expected shipping on the CD version which you will still get is early May. We will inform you when it has been shipped. If you have any questions feel free to contact us! Enjoy!
Eric at Power Windows reported a Rush 2112 reference on last Friday night's episode of Fox's sci-fi TV show Fringe. During the episode Letters In Transit (season 4, episode 19), guest star Henry Ian Cusick uses the password 092112# written on a piece of paper to get into the old (alternate universe's) Massive Dynamic building. This is the second Rush reference on the show: two years ago during the episode The Man from the Other Side (season 2, episode 19), Tom Sawyer was heard on a car radio in the opening scene.
Jammit! has added Closer to the Heart to the list of Rush tracks already available for the Jammit! app which includes Tom Sawyer, 2112, Limelight and YYZ. The app is now also available for Mac desktops and will soon be available on Windows too. For more information and to listen to some demo tracks, visit the Rush page at the Jammit website. The Jammit app is available for both the iPhone and iPad, as well as Mac Desktops.
Leslie West used to hang out at my house and was friends with my dad. I remember meeting Alex Lifeson of Rush, which at the time was a big deal to me. I have a great picture of me that I just found recently. Check this out, he's playing a double-neck acoustic guitar, one of my father's guitars, and I'm playing the top neck and he's playing the bottom. But the awesome thing about it is I'm like eleven years old or twelve years old in the picture and he has a huge canker sore on his lip (laughs). It's so Spinal Tap, just perfect.
Canadian producer Billy Bryans passed away earlier this week. Bryans was the first producer to record Rush back in the Fall of 1972 at Sound Horn Studio. He produced some two track songs that were never released and the tapes of these recording sessions were later lost. Thanks to Skip D for the heads up.
Rob Higgins is a Toronto music scene institution who also happens to be Geddy Lee's nephew. His current band is Dearly Beloved who he formed back in 2006. They recently announced a new album and cross-Canada tour with fellow Canadians Die Mannequin. You can listen to a sample of their new music and read about the project/tour on SoundCloud at this link (thanks entrenous).
Former Montreal Expos manager Jim Fanning recently celebrated becoming a Canadian citizen at age 84 with a big bash at the Eastside Bar & Grill in London, ON. Fanning's children Cynthia and Frank gave speeches and read emails from well wishers including Geddy Lee.
UPDATE - 4/27@9:49AM: General ticket sales for Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn and Boston begin at 10AM EST - Anaheim and LA begin at 10AM PST. Add Anaheim to the list of sold out VIP pre-sales; ticket packages still remain for Detroit, Brooklyn and Boston.
The first round of pre-sales for Rush's 2012 Clockwork Angels tour are beginning to wind down, with general ticket sales kicking off tomorrow and Saturday. The first round included 10 dates: Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Anaheim and LA. Music Today fan pre-sales for all 10 of these dates closed yesterday at 5PM. As of this post VIP pre-sales for Detroit, Brooklyn, Boston and Anaheim are still open with the rest having sold out already. Various Live Nation, radio and venue pre-sales are still ongoing for most of the dates through this afternoon. General ticket sales for Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Anaheim and LA begin tomorrow at 10AM (local venue time) with Chicago, Detroit, and Buffalo going on sale Saturday at 10AM. With the benefit of hindsight we now have a better picture of how the various pre-sales work this go-around. The Music Today fan pre-sales operated much as they have in the past with the one exception being that registration with the fan community on the Music Today website is no longer required. The big difference this year was with the VIP pre-sales, which are now conducted by VIPNation.com rather than Ticketmaster. With VIP Nation, you still get a guaranteed seat in the first 15 rows but you don't know the exact location of your ticket until you pick them up at the venue. The CITI, Live Nation and other pre-sales work much as they have in the past and typically require a password. The Live Nation password this time around is melody. For any other passwords, just check out the tour page, and for more details on how all the pre-sales work check out my ticket sales and pre-sales guide.
Looking ahead to next week, it looks we'll have pre-sales for Bristow, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Bridgeport, San Jose, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Not all of these are currently listed at Ticketmaster as going on sale next week, but the Citi Private Pass site is listing them all as going on CITI pre-sale next Tuesday, May 1st - which means all the other pre-sales will also occur next week (thanks DawgTrappedInIndy). And although they haven't been officially announced yet, we can be fairly confident that both the Music Today and VIP pre-sales for these dates will kick-off next Monday at 12PM. I'll be updating the tour page with all of this information as the official word rolls in. The Citi Private Pass site lists the remaining US dates as going on sale the week after next. I don't yet have any information regarding ticket sales for any Canadian dates, but that should be coming out in the next couple of weeks as well. I've been getting a lot of questions about the chances of Rush adding any further dates to the tour. I doubt they will add any new cities, but it's very possible they will add 2nd shows in either Toronto and/or Los Angeles since they left a 4-day gap after each of these shows. They've done exactly this in the past, so it stands to reason that they may do the same again this time. It mostly depends on how ticket sales for the first shows are doing. I also haven't heard anything regarding extending the tour into 2013, but judging by Rush's past 2 tours this seems highly likely.
And last but not least, the Rush Petition website was just revamped this week in preparation for the upcoming 2012 tour. The site was the brainchild of BOS Music co-founder, Rush fan and RIAB reader Skip Daly and his partner-in-crime Al Horta. The two created the site as a means for Rush fans to voice their opinion on which Rush songs they wanted to hear live. It was first launched prior to the Vapor Trails tour back in 2001 and has been re-launched prior to every tour since then. The band has admitted in interviews that they are familiar with the site and have taken it into consideration when building out their setlists. From the revamped website:
With the "Clockwork Angels" tour confirmed for this fall, here we go again. In the interest of encouraging the band to pull some choice rarities out of the vault, the song list (below) is limited to songs that Rush has not played live since the Presto tour (1990). We are also following our tradition of not including songs from the new/forthcoming studio album (we're sure the band will cover that ground just fine!). As in the past, each person gets to select FIVE songs from the list below and submit their votes, with each individual being allowed to cast one "ballot". No guarantees, of course, but with any luck the band will keep an eye on the results and take the results into some degree of consideration. (We'll certainly be letting Anthem/SRO know the site is up and running again).
Please help spread the word about this page, and let's get some votes going. Also, please follow/like us on Facebook
Last month MIDIpedals.com posted part 1 of an extensive interview they conducted with longtime Rush roadie Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret). In the interview Tony talks about the early days with Rush, connecting the non-MIDI Taurus Pedals to Geddy's Oberheim synths, and about the redundant MIDI and sampling setup when they are touring. They now also have what they are calling part 1.5 of the interview posted. Here's the explanation from the website:
A couple of weeks after posting Part 1, Tony called me and hoped to finish up the interview. When he called I was not prepared to record the call, and let him know I would need to call him back. I am assuming Rush has started tour rehearsals, so he has been busy and we haven't been able to do Part 2 because we haven't been able to schedule a second interview. Here are a few questions I emailed to him and his answers. I call it Part 1.5 in hopes we can do Part 2 soon.
You can read part 1.5 of the interview and also listen to part 1 at this link. Thanks to Terry at MidiPedals.com for the info and John at Cygnus-X1.net for the heads up.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Rush Headlong Flight single now available for download via iTunes, Amazon
The Headlong Flight single was officially released to radio last Thursday and has been starting to get some steady rotation on rock radio stations everywhere. A day before that RollingStone.com had posted the full 7:20-minute version of the song for streaming online. That full version of Headlong Flight is now also available as a download purchase in the US. You can purchase it either on Amazon at this link, or on iTunes at this link. It's also now available in Canada, the UK and other parts of Europe as well. Last week Rush.com posted the official video for Headlong Flight to YouTube. It's titled as the Official Lyric Video and has a number of visuals that display the lyrics to the song interspersed with old performance video of Rush along with some other steampunk visuals. Here it is:
The folks at RushCon have just announced the location and dates for this year's convention. The 12th annual RushCon will be held in Toronto on October 12-14, 2012, to coincide with the Rush concert on October 14th. From the RushCon newsletter:
AT LAST! The Clockwork Angels tour dates have been officially announced!
Now that's done, we are excited to tell you that our 12th annual RushCon will be held in Toronto on October 12-14, 2012, to coincide with the Rush concert on October 14th.
It's a very exciting time to be a Rush fan! Celebrate with three days of games, events, guest speakers, our memorabilia charity auction and much more, wrapped up with seeing Rush live in their home town!
Rush concert pre-sale tickets go on sale soon, so now is the time to plan your pilgrimage to Toronto. See Rush in YYZ, meet some awesome fans, and be surrounded by those who share your love of this magical band. We really hope to see you there!
We will be posting event details and registration details over the next couple weeks. Stay tuned!
Be sure to follow RushCon on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest RushCon news.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Rush 2012 Clockwork Angels tour official pre-sale details
UPDATE - 4/26@8:36AM: VIP pre-sales for Buffalo and Newark are now sold out along with Chicago, Manchester, Philadelphia and LA.
UPDATE - 4/25@5:21PM: The KLOS radio pre-sale for the LA show is using a password of klos. Music Today fan pre-sales for all of the East Coast dates are now over and Chicago is sold out, but they continue for Anaheim and LA until 5PM PST.
UPDATE - 4/25@12:27PM: VIP pre-sales for Manchester and Philadelphia are now sold out along with Chicago and LA.
UPDATE - 4/25@11:42AM: The venue pre-sale for the Boston show at the TD Garden is using a password of angel (thanks Craig M).
UPDATE - 4/25@9:58AM: There's a venue pre-sale for Chicago starting at 10AM (CST) with password CLOCKWORK (thanks Dean S and Ellen V).
UPDATE - 4/25@8:39AM: The VIP pre-sale for LA is now sold out in addition to Chicago. There are still packages available for the other 8 dates for the time being though, and passwords are no longer required. Fan pre-sales for all 10 dates are still available until today at 5PM. Several Live Nation, radio and venue pre-sales kick-off this morning at 10AM. The Live Nation pre-sales seem to all be using a password of melody.
UPDATE - 4/24@1:04PM: It looks like the VIP pre-sale for Chicago is now sold out. It looks like there are still packages available for the other 9 dates for the time being though. Passwords are no longer required for these except for Anaheim and LA (until 12PM PST). Also, it looks like all of the various Live Nation pre-sales will be using a password of melody (thanks Scott G and Gerard kK).
UPDATE - 4/23@3:19PM: Fan and VIP pre-sales for Anaheim and LA are up and running!
UPDATE - 4/23@1:06PM: Fan and VIP pre-sales for Chicago are up and running! Anaheim and LA begin in 2 hours.
UPDATE - 4/23@12:07PM: Fan and VIP pre-sales for Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Buffalo and Detroit are up and running! Chicago begins in 1 hour, Anaheim and LA in 3 hours.
UPDATE - 4/23@11:16AM: A note on the Music Today fan pre-sales. It looks like you may not don't have to sign-up for the fan community beforehand to purchase tickets this go-around. But it's probably a good idea to do so anyways just to make the checkout process go more quickly - better safe than sorry. You can sign-up here and login with an existing account here.
UPDATE - 4/22@9:20PM: Some more VERY IMPORTANT information regarding the VIP ticket pre-sales. You must signup for an account at this link in order to purchase tickets. There's also an asterisk next to where it states that the package includes One reserved ticket within the first 15 rows of the stage*. The asterisk reads:
*Exact seat location available at show. Ticket is allocated based on time & date of purchase
This seems to indicate that you won't have any idea exactly where your seats are until you pick up your tickets at the will-call. This was not the case on the last tour and really sucks if true. :(
----- snip -----
UPDATE - 4/22@9:04PM: The VIP Nation website has been updated with details regarding the VIP ticket package pre-sales. These pre-sales will indeed begin tomorrow at Noon as we had predicted. For the first 24 hours you will need to use a password; the password is headlong. After that no password will be required. You can see listings for all 10 of the dates at this link. The packages will cost between $275 and $350 depending on the venue. They are also offering an exclusive Clockwork Angels hoodie for $50 with any VIP ticket purchase.
The Rush.com newsletter sent out some more details this afternoon regarding next week's pre-sales for the 2012 Clockwork Angels tour. The newsletter provides a lot of good information, but also still leaves a few questions unanswered. From the newsletter:
CLOCKWORK ANGELS TOUR PRE-SALE DETAILS FOR THIS MONDAY! The Clockwork Angels North American 2012 Tour itinerary of 33 shows has been announced! For a full list of shows and general ticket information, visit http://www.rush.com/clockworkangelstour.php
The first round of Clockwork Angels Tour pre-sales start this Monday, April 23rd for Manchester, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Buffalo, Chicago & Detroit.
Whereas this is good to know, they don't mention which pre-sales specifically start on Monday nor what time they begin. The only one that we know for sure will start on Monday is the Music Today fan pre-sale. The Music Today website now lists all 10 dates mentioned above along with a message saying that these pre-sales will begin at 12PM (local venue time) on Monday, April 23rd. The newsletter then goes on to discuss the VIP tour packages:
RUSH CLOCKWORK ANGELS TOUR PACKAGE Packages will be exclusive to Rush fan members for the first 24 hrs! Passcode: headlong (lower case, case sensitive) Package Includes:
* One reserved ticket located within the first 15 rows of the stage * Exclusive Rush Tour Shirt * Collectible Tour Poster (numbered, limited) * Official Tour Program * Specially Designed Tote Bag * Set of Official Guitar Picks * Commemorative Concert Ticket * Commemorative Tour Laminate
We will also be offering an exclusive Clockwork Angels Tour hoodie, only available via this offer upon check-out.
To purchase your Tour Package, please visit http://vipnation.com/programs/rush/
So it looks like the VIP ticket packages will work a little differently than on the last tour. On the Time Machine tour, VIP ticket packages were handled via the Ticketmaster website through the same interface that regular tickets were sold, and no password was required. Now it looks like the packages will be sold through the VIPNation.com website and will require a password of headlong for the first 24 hours. Currently only the package details are listed on the VIPNation.com website along with a coming soon message. These pre-sales are called out as VIP pre-sales in the Rush is a Band tour section. One very important piece of information that they left out was when these pre-sales begin, and when they end. On the last tour, the VIP package pre-sales always coincided with the Music Today fan pre-sales, so I'll go with that assumption until we get some more solid information. Speaking of which, here's what they say about the Music Today fan club pre-sales:
RUSH FAN CLUB PRE-SALES The Fan Club tickets are only available during the PRE-SALE. Reserve the best seats in the house through our special Rush fan pre-sales. These presales only last three days, and only certain cities/dates are currently available with more presales being added each week. Check back soon if you don't see your date. At the end of your ticket purchase, you will have the opportunity to pre-order Exclusive Rush.com Tour Merchandise.
The Fan Club Presale Merchandise includes a BRAND NEW Clockwork Angels T-Shirt design.
In addition, when you order Fan Club Tickets and the Exclusive Merchandise you will be automatically entered to win a meet and greet with members of the band at your show (one winner plus guest per city). To purchase Presale Tickets and Presale Merchandise please visit http://rush.musictoday.com
So the fan club pre-sales sound like they will be run similarly to how they've been run in the past. As I'd mentioned above, the Music Today website now lists all 10 dates going on sale next week along with a message saying that these pre-sales will begin at 12PM (local venue time) on Monday, April 23rd. So if they will last 3 days, then they'll end on Thursday, April 26th at 12PM. Note that if they run out of the allotted number of tickets for the pre-sale then they may end early (this has happened in the past). Calling these fan club pre-sales is a little bit misleading since there isn't any official Rush fan club. To participate in these pre-sales you simply need to sign up at the Rush Music Today website; it is free to sign up, and there are no pre-sale passwords. Although the link is currently hidden, to sign up for (or login with your account from previous tours) the Music Today Rush Fan Community just go to this link. When you are logged into the Rush Music Today site and a pre-sale is open, you will see a link to buy tickets on the Rush Music Today schedule. From that point things play out like most ticketing websites; you choose the level and number of seats (usually there is a max of 4 or 8) you want, they find tickets for you, you choose to either take the tickets or try again. If you decide to move forward with the purchase then you are asked to enter your payment information. Ticket prices are face value although the fees might make the final cost slightly different from Ticketmaster, but not significantly so. When you purchase tickets, you will be given the option to pre-order some exclusive merchandise - which will be a Clockwork Angels t-shirt according to the newsletter. By purchasing tickets along with the merchandise, you will be automatically entered into a contest where one winner from each tour stop will be selected for a meet-and-greet with Rush. These pre-sales are called out as Fan pre-sales in the Rush is a Band tour section. Note that the fan pre-sales for any given date will occur the week leading up to the general on-sale date. So only shows where the general on-sale date will occur next weekend will have fan pre-sales this upcoming week; fan pre-sales for the rest of the dates will occur in the coming weeks. The newsletter then says a little about CITI card pre-sales:
Just a reminder that those fans that are CITI card members will have access to pre-sale tickets through Citi's Private Pass Program beginning April 23rd in select markets. For complete presale details visit http://www.citiprivatepass.com
So far all of the CITI pre-sales I've seen listed at Ticketmaster are set to begin on April 24th at 10AM - not April 23rd like they state in the newsletter. These pre-sales are sponsored by Citi Bank and are open to anyone with access to a valid Citi consumer or business credit card. These tickets are purchased via Live Nation/Ticketmaster just like you would buy any other ticket through these outlets. When prompted to enter your Passcode or Member Code on the billing information page you simply enter the first six (6) digits of your credit card account number (no dashes) located on the front of your Citi card. You will then need to use a Citi credit card to complete your ticket purchase. These pre-sales are called out with a code of CITI in the Rush is a Band tour section.
I now have all 33 of the shows loaded into the RIAB tour page, and will be continually updating these listings along with my ticket sales and pre-sales guide with pre-sale/on-sale information as it comes in - so check back regularly. I also have the interactive tour map up and running again on the tour page, and will be using the attention all planets... news rotator on the home page to alert folks to the various pre-sales as they happen. So dust off your piggy banks, and limber up your mouse-clicking fingers - it's time for the pre-sale frenzy to begin!!! :)
Here's the Clockwork Angels 30-second spot that LiveNation.com is running:
UPDATE - 4/21@5:08PM:The Rush Music Today site now lists all 10 of the dates that are going on sale this week; Manchester, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Buffalo, Anaheim and LA. Although the link is currently hidden, to sign up for (or login with your account from previous tours) the Music Today Rush Fan Community just go to this link. I now have all 33 of the shows loaded into the RIAB tour page, and will be continually updating the listings with pre-sale/on-sale information as it comes in - so check back regularly. I also have the interactive tour map up and running again on the tour page.
UPDATE - 4/20@9:32PM: New poll! In the last poll I asked everyone what they thought of the 30-second Headlong Flight preview clip and about 85% of you said you loved it (full results). Now that we've had a few days to digest it, what do you think of the full version of the song? Take the poll and let us know.
UPDATE - 4/20@1:39PM: John over at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the entire Alex Lifeson High Times interview and made it available online here! Alex speaks very frankly about his feelings regarding marijuana on both a personal and political level:
I do [support legalization]. In fact, the Liberal Party in Canada just endorsed legalization, and I think that's a very smart move on their part. Meanwhile, the current Conservative government wants to bring back more stringent laws and rules against pot. Personally, I just think, at the end of the day, who cares if people want to smoke some pot? More trouble happens with alcohol than with pot, so we have to start viewing the issue more sensibly. ... I don't want to get political, but our whole drug policy is out of whack. Billions of dollars are spent on it - and, really, the only people who profit from it are the underworld, for lack of a better term. So why not put that money into controlling the quality and putting more money into the coffers for our social programs, for people who need health care, who are starving ...
He also expands on the inclusion of strings on Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album:
All of our records are thematic, but this one is a little more of an old-fashioned concept album in the tradition of 2112 and Hemispheres. We just recorded a string section yesterday for five of the songs-we still have to sit down and see what we'll use from that, but it sounded fantastic. Rush hasn't used strings in a while, and it's really added a lot of emotional impact to the songs.
Thanks John!!
----- snip -----
Whew! What an exciting week for Rush fans! On Wednesday Rush made available the full 7:20-minute version of Headlong Flight for streaming online via RollingStone.com. Then in the wee hours of yesterday morning they posted the official 2012 Clockwork Angels tour announcement along with dates and pre-sale/on-sale information. As an added bonus, they also posted the official video for Headlong Flight to YouTube. Yesterday was also the official radio release of Headlong Flight and fans reported hearing the tune on a number of stations - both the 4:50-minute radio edit and the full 7:20-minute version. The tour will kick off on September 7th at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH and run through December 2nd at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX. There will be 3 legs to the tour consisting of 12, 12, and 9 dates respectively, making a total of 33 dates. You can view the entire itinerary in this post or at Rush.com, and both LiveNation and Ticketmaster now have most of the dates listed on their sites as well. Pre-sales for several of the shows will begin this coming Monday and Tuesday with regular on-sales kicking off next Friday, April 27th and Saturday, April 28th. There will be a fan pre-sale that should be officially announced via the Rush.com newsletter within the next few days, along with Citi Card pre-sales and VIP packages (package details here). So if you haven't signed up for the newsletter yet, you can do so at Rush.com. Currently no information regarding the timing of the VIP pre-sales is given on the Ticketmaster or Live Nation websites, but judging by past experience, these will kick-off on Monday or Tuesday morning; I'll be going with that assumption until we learn otherwise. The fan pre-sale will once again be handled by Music Today, who just updated their website this morning with some Clockwork Angels tour branding and the first batch of pre-sales. So far they have the pre-sales for Manchester, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark, Boston, Buffalo and Anaheim listed, all of which will kick-off beginning Monday at 12PM (local venue time). For a guide to all the different pre-sales, check out my pre-sales guide. The information contained in the guide pertains to the 2011 tour, but it should also be applicable to the 2012 tour for the most part. I'll be updating the guide as we get more updated information. I've also begun loading all of the dates along with all the pre-sale/on-sale information into the tour section. They should all be in there by the end of the weekend.
In celebration of the tour announcement, the Rush Backstage Club is now selling an official Clockwork Angels t-shirt. There also will be a vinyl version of the album available which you can pre-order here. Here's the official PR Newswire press release for the tour. It contains these comments from Neil Peart regarding Headlong Flight:
... "In late 2011, my drum teacher Freddie Gruber, towards the end of his long and adventurous 84 years, was reminiscing among friends and former students. Often he would shake his head and say, 'I had quite a ride. I wish I could do it all again.' That is not a feeling I have ever shared about the past -- I remain glad that I don't have to do it all again. While working on the lyrics for 'Headlong Flight,' the last song written for Clockwork Angels, I tried to summarize my character's life and adventures. My own ambivalence colored the verses, while Freddie's words inspired the chorus 'I wish that I could live it all again.'" ...
Neil Peart had also touched on this in his latest news update at NeilPeart.net this past January. On a related note, Neil Peart fansite operator Andrew Olson posted a video over the weekend of Neil Peart's speech from Freddie Gruber's memorial this past November (thanks Paul N). Apparently the video was taken by a student of Freddie's from the 1970s on November 13, 2011 at the Sportsman's Lodge in Sherman Oaks, California where the memorial was held. You can watch the video on YouTube at this link.
High Times Interview with Rush Guitarist Alex Lifeson A rock legend recalls high times on and off the road, including the time our first issue inspired the creation of a legendary pot song. By David Bienenstock
Last weekend Guns N' Roses was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Former Guns drummers Steven Adler and Matt Sorum spoke with Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt after the induction and talked about their surprise and remorse that some of their rock heroes such as KISS, Rush and Deep Purple have yet to be inducted. Here are Adler's comments:
... "It's such an honor to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame, but then I found out that KISS isn't in here, and then I found out the other day that RUSH isn't in there," says Adler. "They've got to be inducted. If it wasn't for those bands and a couple other ones, there wouldn't be a Guns N' Roses." ...
You can watch video of their interview at this link. Just last month, Guns guitarist Slash made similar comments in a Toronto Globe and Mail interview leading up to the induction. And on a related topic, Donna Halper was interviewed by Jim Richards of Toronto's News Talk 1010 this past Monday, April 16th. In the interview Donna talks about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions and why she believes Rush has not been nominated yet. You can get the podcast at this link - just scroll down to the April 16 2012 Podcast. Thanks to Eric at Power Windows for the heads up.
... The unmistakeable sonic boom synthesizer intro of 'Tom Sawyer' launches side one of 1981's landmark 'Moving Pictures.' ... From the band's perspective, every single second of 'Tom Sawyer' would be hard fought for in the studio as they worked to get things exactly right. ... Fortunately their efforts paid off and 'Tom Sawyer' was quite well received, to put it mildly. The positive reception however, came as a complete shock to the band. Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee recalls that "when we wrote it, we had no idea that it would touch such a nerve with people." ...
On this past Saturday's episode of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show there was a Rush question during the Stump the Trunk segment. One audience member asked Eddie the following question:
Rush have a 4-part song called Fear. It was the subtitle on 4 other songs. What are those songs and what part of Fear were they?
Eddie had no clue and ended up getting a little testy with the contestant. He mentioned being gone for that period of Rush (1980s and beyond). You can watch the entire episode online at this link; the Rush question comes in at about the 32:30 mark. Thanks to Sean for the heads up.
Readers of my books and blogs know that I'm an obsessive Rush fan. I mean, restraining orders. While I'll be there in Las Vegas for the November 23rd show, one just doesn't cut it. My current speaking schedule has me missing Rush by a few days or weeks in several places.
So, here's the deal: I'll come to your organization or conference to do a one-hour talk about whatever you like. I'll waive my normal fee. I'll only ask that you do the following:
* buy a decent number of copies of The Age of the Platform (discounted) * cover my travel expenses (flight, hotel, parking, a bit of food) * buy my Rush ticket (usually about $120 USD)
Clever plan. If you feel like taking Phil up on his offer, you can contact him through his website. Phil Simon is a sought-after speaker, author of four management books, and a recognized technology expert who consults companies on how to optimize their use of technology. He also loves to stick a bunch of Rush references in all of his books. :)
The Broadcast Newsroom website posted a short article Wednesday highlighting the fact that Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album was mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood. The article also includes a photo of Geddy and Alex with mastering engineer Brian "Big Bass" Gardner.
Before playing "La Villa Strangiato" from side 2 of the Rush LP Hemispheres, On a Higher Note's Philip O'Hanlon advised me to go get my record cleaned by the Audio Deske Vinyl Cleaner. I told him, "I just did!" ... this same experience happened to me at least five different times during the New York hifi show. Maybe it is because my records actually are filthy, or maybe it is because that Audio Deske Vinyl Cleaner ($3895), really just is that awesome and easy to use that everyone had to sell it to me.
Last summer I reported that Boston-based heavy metal band Steel Assassin would include a cover of Rush's Red Sector A on their forthcoming album WWII: Metal Of Honor which is due out on May 15th. The band recently posted the Red Sector A cover to YouTube at this link. In a recent interview with Mathias Madder from High Roller, guitarist Mike Mooney comments:
I actually made a demo of the song about five years ago basically for my own purposes. I've always loved the way Geddy (Lee) sings that song, there's a hopelessness and longing in his voice that is brilliant, but there's also a quality of urgency that I thought would translate well to metal, so I basically changed up the tempos and really kept everything else the same. I call Rush my 'desert island' band, meaning if I were ever stranded on desert island and could only listen to one artist, it would be Rush. Kevin and I are both huge fans all the way back to their earliest days. Their writing in a lot of ways is very metal, but they are so much more diverse than just that. 'Red Sector A' also ties in rather neatly with the military concept of our record. We were at my house combing through some demos for the new record, when I came across my old version of it, and all at once it struck me, this would be an awesome addition to the World War II theme. I began the campaign right then to have this song on the album, Kevin instantly agreed and the rest would follow. Lyrically and musically it's a perfect compliment to this record and the whole band is really excited about it.
Thanks to Metal Tim at BW&BK for the heads up and above quote.
As I'd mentioned above, the Headlong Flight single was officially released to radio yesterday and has been starting to get some steady rotation on rock radio stations everywhere. The Rolling Stone article with the exclusive online premiere of the track from this past Wednesday contains some background on the song's genesis:
"Headlong Flight," the first single from Rush's 20th studio album Clockwork Angels, is one of the trio's most hard-charging numbers in recent years. "'Headlong Flight' was one of those songs that was a joy to write and record from beginning to end," says frontman Geddy Lee. "Alex [Lifeson] and I had blast jamming in my home studio one day before the second leg of the Time Machine tour, and I did not revisit that jam until a year later. Alex and I assembled the song to be an instrumental and its original title was 'Take That Lampshade Off Yo Head!," but once we saw the lyrics Neil [Peart] had written, I knew that the spirit of the lyrics matched the instrumental perfectly and it was just a matter of making them fit and writing the melodies."
The full 7:20-version of Headlong Flight will be available for purchase as a download next Tuesday, April 24th in the US/Canada; April 22nd in the UK; and some parts of Europe should have it as early as today. The video for Headlong Flight that Rush.com posted yesterday is titled as the Official Lyric Video. It has a number of visuals that display the lyrics to the song interspersed with old performance video of Rush and some other steampunk visuals. Here it is:
What a crazy week it has been! Next week it'll get even crazier with the first batch of pre-sales. Have a great weekend and start saving up your cash for Rush tickets. :)
Steel Assassin cover of Rush's Red Sector A now online
Last summer I reported that Boston-based heavy metal band Steel Assassin would include a cover of Rush's Red Sector A on their forthcoming album WWII: Metal Of Honor which is due out on May 15th. The band recently posted the Red Sector A cover to YouTube at this link. It's an up-tempo, very heavy version of the track without any keyboards. In a recent interview with Mathias Madder from High Roller, guitarist Mike Mooney comments:
I actually made a demo of the song about five years ago basically for my own purposes. I've always loved the way Geddy (Lee) sings that song, there's a hopelessness and longing in his voice that is brilliant, but there's also a quality of urgency that I thought would translate well to metal, so I basically changed up the tempos and really kept everything else the same. I call Rush my 'desert island' band, meaning if I were ever stranded on desert island and could only listen to one artist, it would be Rush. Kevin and I are both huge fans all the way back to their earliest days. Their writing in a lot of ways is very metal, but they are so much more diverse than just that. 'Red Sector A' also ties in rather neatly with the military concept of our record. We were at my house combing through some demos for the new record, when I came across my old version of it, and all at once it struck me, this would be an awesome addition to the World War II theme. I began the campaign right then to have this song on the album, Kevin instantly agreed and the rest would follow. Lyrically and musically it's a perfect compliment to this record and the whole band is really excited about it.
Thanks to Metal Tim at BW&BK for the heads up and above quote.
Alex Lifeson interview in June, 2012 issue of High Times
UPDATE - 4/20@1:39PM: John over at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the entire interview and made it available online here! Alex speaks very frankly about his feelings regarding marijuana on both a personal and political level:
I do [support legalization]. In fact, the Liberal Party in Canada just endorsed legalization, and I think that's a very smart move on their part. Meanwhile, the current Conservative government wants to bring back more stringent laws and rules against pot. Personally, I just think, at the end of the day, who cares if people want to smoke some pot? More trouble happens with alcohol than with pot, so we have to start viewing the issue more sensibly. ... I don't want to get political, but our whole drug policy is out of whack. Billions of dollars are spent on it - and, really, the only people who profit from it are the underworld, for lack of a better term. So why not put that money into controlling the quality and putting more money into the coffers for our social programs, for people who need health care, who are starving ...
He also expands on the inclusion of strings on Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album:
All of our records are thematic, but this one is a little more of an old-fashioned concept album in the tradition of 2112 and Hemispheres. We just recorded a string section yesterday for five of the songs-we still have to sit down and see what we'll use from that, but it sounded fantastic. Rush hasn't used strings in a while, and it's really added a lot of emotional impact to the songs.
High Times Interview with Rush Guitarist Alex Lifeson A rock legend recalls high times on and off the road, including the time our first issue inspired the creation of a legendary pot song. By David Bienenstock
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Official Rush 2012 Clockwork Angels tour announcement and dates!
UPDATE - 4/21@5:08PM:The Rush Music Today site now lists all 10 of the dates that are going on sale this week; Manchester, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Buffalo, Anaheim and LA. Although the link is currently hidden, to sign up for (or login with your account from previous tours) the Music Today Rush Fan Community just go to this link. I now have all 33 of the shows loaded into the RIAB tour page, and will be continually updating the listings with pre-sale/on-sale information as it comes in - so check back regularly. I also have the interactive tour map up and running again on the tour page.
UPDATE - 4/20@12:05PM: Pre-sales for several of the shows will begin this coming Monday and Tuesday with regular on-sales kicking off next Friday, April 27th and Saturday, April 28th. There will be a fan pre-sale that should be officially announced via the Rush.com newsletter within the next few days, along with Citi Card pre-sales and VIP packages (package details here). So if you haven't signed up for the newsletter yet, you can do so at Rush.com. Currently no information regarding the timing of the VIP pre-sales is given on the Ticketmaster or Live Nation websites, but judging by past experience, these will kick-off on Monday or Tuesday morning; I'll be going with that assumption until we learn otherwise. The fan pre-sale will once again be handled by Music Today, who just updated their website this morning with some Clockwork Angels tour branding and the first batch of pre-sales. So far they have the pre-sales for Manchester, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark, Boston, Buffalo and Anaheim listed, all of which will kick-off beginning Monday at 12PM (local venue time). For a guide to all the different pre-sales, check out my pre-sales guide. The information contained in the guide pertains to the 2011 tour, but it should also be applicable to the 2012 tour for the most part. I'll be updating the guide as we get more updated information. I've also begun loading all of the dates along with all the pre-sale/on-sale information into the tour section. They should all be in there by the end of the weekend.
UPDATE - 4/19@12:38PM: Here's the official press release. It contains these comments from Neil Peart regarding Headlong Flight:
... "In late 2011, my drum teacher Freddie Gruber, towards the end of his long and adventurous 84 years, was reminiscing among friends and former students. Often he would shake his head and say, 'I had quite a ride. I wish I could do it all again.' That is not a feeling I have ever shared about the past -- I remain glad that I don't have to do it all again. While working on the lyrics for 'Headlong Flight,' the last song written for Clockwork Angels, I tried to summarize my character's life and adventures. My own ambivalence colored the verses, while Freddie's words inspired the chorus 'I wish that I could live it all again.'" ...
----- snip -----
UPDATE - 4/19@10:04AM: The dates (most of them at least) are now listed at LiveNation and Ticketmaster. Pre-sales will begin next Tuesday, April 24th. I'll have more information on pre-sales in the upcoming days, and I'll also be loading everything onto my tour page.
CLOCKWORK ANGELS TOUR PACKAGE * One reserved ticket located within the first 15 rows of the stage * Exclusive Rush tour shirt * Collectible tour poster (numbered, limited) * Official tour program * Specially designed tote bag * Set of official guitar picks * Commemoritive concert ticket * Commemorative tour laminate
As expected, sometime last night Rush.com posted the official Clockwork Angels tour dates. What was unexpected was that they also included an official video for Headlong Flight which you can check out at the bottom of this post or on YouTube! It turns out the original 33 dates that were leaked 2 days ago were spot-on except for the fact that the Indianapolis show will indeed take place indoors at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse rather than the Klipsch Center as reported last week. So the 2012 Clockwork Angels tour will consist of 3 legs of 12, 12 and 9 respectively, making a total of 33 dates. Some of the dates will be going on sale as soon as next Friday! Here's the tour itinerary from Rush.com:
Sept 7: Manchester, NH - Verizon Wireless Arena (on sale Fri. April 27th) Sept 9: Washington, DC - Jiffy Lube Live Sept 11: Pittsburgh, PA - CONSOL Energy Center Sept 13: Indianapolis, IN - Bankers Life Fieldhouse Sept 15: Chicago, IL - United Center (on sale Sat. April 28th) Sept 18: Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills (on sale Sat. April 28th) Sept 20: Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena Sept 22: St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center Sept 24: Minneapolis, MN - Target Center Sept 26: Winnipeg, MB - MTS Center Sept 28: Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Center Sept 30: Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place Oct 10: Bridgeport, CT - Webster Bank Arena Oct 12: Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center (on sale Fri. April 27th) Oct 14: Toronto, ON - Air Canada Center Oct 18: Montreal, QC - Bell Centre Oct 20: Newark, NJ - Prudential Center (on sale Fri. April 27th) Oct 22: Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center (on sale Fri. April 27th) Oct 24: Boston, MA - TD Garden (on sale Fri. April 27th) Oct 26: Buffalo, NY - First Niagra Center (on sale Sat. April 28th) Oct 28: Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena Oct 30: Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena Nov 1: Atlanta, GA - Verizon Wireless Ampitheater Nov 3: Tampa, FL - 1-800-ASK-GARY Ampitheater Nov 13: Seattle, WA - Key Arena Nov 15: San Jose, CA - HP Pavillion Nov 17: Anaheim, CA - Honda Center (on sale Fri. April 27th) Nov 19: Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Ampitheater (on sale Fri. April 27th) Nov 23: Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Nov 25: Phoeniz, AZ - US Airways Center Nov 28: Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center Nov 30: San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center Dec 2: Houston, TX - Toyota Center
Not much other information regarding the tour was given at this time but they promised more details would be coming. They also announced that there would be a fan pre-sale that would be announced via the Rush newsletter, along with Citi Card pre-sales and VIP packages. So if you haven't signed up for the newsletter yet, you can do so at Rush.com. I'll also be posting all the pertinent information as I learn it. The video for Headlong Flight that they posted is titled as the Official Lyric Video. It has a number of visuals that display the lyrics to the song interspersed with old performance video of Rush and some other steampunk visuals. Here it is:
UPDATE - 4/19@9:20AM: There are several reports of radio stations already playing the radio edit of the track, and a few the full version. So much for Planet Rock's world premiere I guess.
UPDATE - 4/19@6:21AM: Sometime last night Rush posted the official tour dates as expected, but they also included an official video for Headlong Flight! The video is titled as the Official Lyric Video. It has a number of visuals that display the lyrics to the song interspersed with old performance video of Rush and some other steampunk visuals. Here it is:
----- snip -----
UPDATE - 4/18@7:51PM: Here's a much more entertaining, non-static YouTube video of the track courtesy hermy.
UPDATE - 4/18@3:28PM: The song is up on YouTube now too; you can listen to it here.
UPDATE - 4/18@3:17PM: John over at Cygnus-X1.net has posted the unconfirmed Headlong Flight lyrics based on listenings from the general Rush-fan collective. You can check them out at this link. Here's the chorus:
I stoke the fire on the big steel wheels Steer the airship right across the stars I learned to fight, I learned to love, I learned to feel I wish that I could live it all again
"Headlong Flight," the first single from Rush's 20th studio album Clockwork Angels, is one of the trio's most hard-charging numbers in recent years. "'Headlong Flight' was one of those songs that was a joy to write and record from beginning to end," says frontman Geddy Lee. "Alex [Lifeson] and I had blast jamming in my home studio one day before the second leg of the Time Machine tour, and I did not revisit that jam until a year later. Alex and I assembled the song to be an instrumental and its original title was 'Take That Lampshade Off Yo Head!," but once we saw the lyrics Neil [Peart] had written, I knew that the spirit of the lyrics matched the instrumental perfectly and it was just a matter of making them fit and writing the melodies."
----- snip -----
The full 7:20-minute version of Headlong Flight is now available for streaming online at RollingStone.com! This comes as a surprise since we had been under the impression that the track wouldn't be released until tomorrow. In fact, UK digital radio station Planet Rock put out a press release this morning announcing that they'd be playing a world exclusive premiere of the track tomorrow at 2:12PM (9:12 AM EST). Perhaps that just refers to the radio premiere. The full 7:20-version will be available for purchase as a download next Tuesday, April 24th in the US/Canada; April 22nd in the UK; and Friday, April 20th in parts of Europe. You can listen to the track on RollingStone.com at this link.
I've been reporting for the past couple of weeks that Rush will be making their official 2012 Clockwork Angels tour announcement this coming Thursday, April 19th to coincide with the radio release of the Headlong Flight single. It now looks like this will definitely happen; tour date information has been steadily leaking onto the internet since late this afternoon. The main source of the information is this thread posted by Godeater2112 over at The Rush Forum, but I've also been able to back these up from other sources too. Here's what we have so far:
Sept 7: Manchester, NH - Verizon Wireless Arena Sept 9: Washington, DC - Jiffy Lube Live Sept 11: Pittsburgh, PA - CONSOL Energy Center Sept 13: Indianapolis, IN - Klipsch Music Center Sept 15: Chicago, IL - United Center Sept 18: Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills Sept 20: Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena Sept 22: St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center Sept 24: Minneapolis, MN - Target Center Sept 26: Winnipeg, MB - MTS Center Sept 28: Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Center Sept 30: Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place Oct 10: Bridgeport, CT - Webster Bank Arena Oct 12: Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center Oct 14: Toronto, ON - Air Canada Center Oct 18: Montreal, QC - Bell Centre Oct 20: Newark, NJ - Prudential Center Oct 22: Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center Oct 24: Boston, MA - TD Garden Oct 26: Buffalo, NY - First Niagra Center Oct 28: Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena Oct 30: Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena Nov 1: Atlanta, GA - Verizon Wireless Ampitheater Nov 3: Tampa, FL - 1-800-ASK-GARY Ampitheater Nov 13: Seattle, WA - Key Arena Nov 15: San Jose, CA - HP Pavillion Nov 17: Anaheim, CA - Honda Center Nov 18: Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Ampitheater Nov 23: Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Nov 25: Phoeniz, AZ - US Airways Center Nov 28: Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center Nov 30: San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center Dec 2: Houston, TX - Toyota Center
So - if accurate - these seem to squelch any rumors regarding indoor dates only. We can probably expect the official announcement with more tour details early Thursday morning.
This past weekend Guns N' Roses was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Former Guns drummers Steven Adler and Matt Sorum spoke with Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt after the induction and talked about their surprise and remorse that some of their rock heroes such as KISS, Rush and Deep Purple have yet to be inducted. Here are Adler's comments:
... "It's such an honor to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame, but then I found out that KISS isn't in here, and then I found out the other day that RUSH isn't in there," says Adler. "They've got to be inducted. If it wasn't for those bands and a couple other ones, there wouldn't be a Guns N' Roses." ...
UPDATE - 4/25@12:09PM: For those of you who ordered the CD, the shipping is a little delayed although they are offering up the download version while you wait. Here's a message that reader Kelly M received:
Thank you for purchasing the pre-order of the limited edition XYZ - A Tribute To Rush CD! While we are still waiting for the CDs to arrive we wanted to treat you to the download version in mp3 and full CD quality wave format while you wait. So visit your download area on esoundz to access it on 4-21-12. Expected shipping on the CD version which you will still get is early May. We will inform you when it has been shipped. If you have any questions feel free to contact us! Enjoy!
UPDATE - 4/18@8:53PM: Note that the digital release will occur as early as April 20th in parts of Europe along with an April 22nd UK release.
UPDATE - 4/18@9:51AM:An official press release was released early this morning by Planet Rock announcing their world exclusive first play of Headlong Flight tomorrow:
Planet Rock - World Exclusive Rush first play 'Headlong Flight' Darren Redick - 2:12pm Thursday 19th April
Planet Rock will have a World Exclusive of Rush's new single 'Headlong Flight' during Darren Redick's show, Thursday 19th at 2:12pm (UK time).
The song, 'Headlong Flight', is the first single to be lifted from the band's forthcoming twentieth studio album, 'Clockwork Angels'.
Released on 9th July through Roadrunner Records, the album is their first in five years and sees them reuniting with 'Snakes & Arrows' co-producer Nic Raskulinecz.
The digital version of the single will be available for download from the 22nd of April.
You can listen in online tomorrow at PlanetRock.com at 2:12PM (9:12 AM EST). Note the UK release date for the digital single is April 22nd - a couple of days earlier than in the US/Canada. Several European countries will have it available as early as this Friday, April 20th.
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UPDATE - 4/16@8:39PM: FMQB now has a page up promoting the Headlong Flight single here. It has the single artwork along with this text:
Get ready to take the Headlong Flight!!!! First single from Rush's new album Clockwork Angels "Headlong Flight" available Thursday April 19
Then they have the 30-second snippet embedded on the page with Real Player, and also downloadable as an mp3 - just click on the download link.
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UPDATE - 4/16@11:59AM: Reader ianian65 mentions in the comments that Darren Redick from UK digital radio station Planet Rock has just announced on air that he will be playing the world's first exclusive hearing of Headlong Flight at approximately 2:12PM (9:12AM EST) on April 19th.
Last week Rush released a short, 30-second preview clip of the Headlong Flight single from the upcoming Clockwork Angels album online. We were also treated to the Clockwork Angels cover art, complete track list, and a new band publicity photo, along with an updated release date of June 12th. In addition to all that, we received confirmation that the Headlong Flight single will release to radio next Thursday, April 19th as I'd reported a couple of weeks ago. And now we have confirmation via Amazon.com that the digital release will indeed take place the following Tuesday, April 24th as I had also reported. Better yet, it looks like the full, 7:20 version of the song will be available and they also posted the cover art. The listing gives the track's original release date as April 20th - which I assume is just referencing the radio release (although it's not clear why it doesn't read April 19th). But it states that the song won't actually be available to download until Tuesday, April 24th. Thanks to Dave H for the heads up.
... The unmistakeable sonic boom synthesizer intro of 'Tom Sawyer' launches side one of 1981's landmark 'Moving Pictures.' ... From the band's perspective, every single second of 'Tom Sawyer' would be hard fought for in the studio as they worked to get things exactly right. ... Fortunately their efforts paid off and 'Tom Sawyer' was quite well received, to put it mildly. The positive reception however, came as a complete shock to the band. Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee recalls that "when we wrote it, we had no idea that it would touch such a nerve with people." ...
UPDATE - 4/13@10:02PM: It looks like Geddy is back in Toronto. He attended tonight's Toronto Blue Jays game. Thanks july141789 for the heads up and Scott N for the screenshot.
After nearly 2 years of waiting, we finally got a small taste of some new Rush music this week when a short, 30-second preview clip of the Headlong Flight single from the upcoming Clockwork Angels album was released online. The last time we heard any new Rush music was when the Caravan/BU2B single was released back on June 1st, 2010. In addition to the preview clip, we also got treated to the album's cover art, complete track list, and a new band publicity photo, along with an updated release date of June 12th. We also received confirmation from Rush.com that the Headlong Flight single will release to radio next Thursday, April 19th as I'd reported a couple of weeks ago. The digital release will reportedly take place the following Tuesday, April 24th, although this still hasn't been officially announced. Rush.com updated its website with a new Clockwork Angels-oriented theme as well, and Eric over at Power Windows has already created some cool desktop backgrounds from the artwork. They also posted a news blurb with some new details about the album's recording, and the upcoming tour:
... Work on "CLOCKWORK ANGELS" resumed in the fall of 2011 at Revolution Recording in Toronto after the [Time Machine] tour's finale, with additional strings (arranged by David Campbell) recorded at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios earlier this year. Lyrically, "CLOCKWORK ANGELS" chronicles a young man's quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life. ... Details of a full-scale North American tour to support the new album will be announced shortly.
The part about additional strings having been recorded earlier this year with David Campbell is what's really interesting. This tends to lend some weight to the rumor that they may be touring with an orchestra in some capacity. Although they don't indicate exactly when the official tour announcement will occur, I've been hearing all week that it will coincide with the April 19th radio release.
The album will be exclusively released in the UK on June 11th as a special Classic Rock fanpack edition, with the regular UK release on July 2nd. The fanpack will include the album plus a 132-page magazine with extensive and exclusive interviews with all 3 band members, along with a full track-by-track rundown by the band, an interview with producer Nick Raskulinecz, long time cover artist Hugh Syme and more. The special fanpack edition can be ordered from anywhere in the world, although shipping is higher outside of the UK. From the website:
Pre-order before 12:00pm (BST) on 8th May and you'll receive an additional special edition poster. The special edition artwork will incorporate the names of everyone who pre-orders the Fan Pack before this date. *
If you want to pre-order the fan pack but do not want your name to be included on the poster you must email contact@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk before 12pm on the 8th May to tell them that you do not want your name to be included in the Classic Rock Presents Rush: "Clockwork Angels" Fan Pack poster.
* If you order after this date you will receive the poster, but your name will not be included. Any posters bought as a gift will include the recipients name.
Here's a Prog Magazine article on the release, which includes some interesting anecdotes about the album and its recording:
... Peart became fascinated with ancient traditions, which also had an impact on the album. "I learned about an entire set of runic hieroglyphs for elements and processes," says Peart. "As the lyrical 'chapters' came together, I chose one symbol to represent each of them." You can see these symbols in the clockface on the album cover, which has been painted by Hugh Syme. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson worked on the music in a basement studio, with Lifeson sometimes giving Peart two demos for specific tunes. One of these would feature a drum machine to outline certain rhythmic ideas, while the other had just a click track. And on one song, The Wreckers, Lee and Lifeson swapped over instruments during the writing sessions....
1. Caravan(5:40) 2. BU2B(5:10) 3. Clockwork Angels(7:31) 4. The Anarchist(6:52) 5. Carnies(4:52) 6. Halo Effect(3:14) 7. Seven Cities Of Gold(6:32) 8. The Wreckers(5:01) 9. Headlong Flight(7:20) 10. BU2B2(1:28) 11. Wish Them Well(5:25) 12. The Garden(6:59)
Notice that the album version of BU2B is longer than the single version (4:21) so they either re-recorded it or at the very least re-edited it. We also learned via a tweet from Jeremy Rosen - the Director of Digital Platforms & Emerging Tech for Roadrunner Records - that the album will be available in audiophile quality 96kHz/24-bit formats. John at Cygnus-X1.net later learned that these will be made available on HDTracks.com. Moving Pictures is already available there, and all the Sectors releases are also supposed to be available at some future date. This hopefully means that the CD version will contain a 5.1 DVD as well - which makes sense given the price (currently $19.61 on Amazon). In honor of the 30-second Headlong Flight preview clip I've posted a new site poll. So what do you think of the clip? Take the poll and let us know. You can view results of past site polls at this link.
The fourth annual hard rock and heavy metal award show the Revolver Golden Gods took place Wednesday night at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles, and Rush was presented with the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award. Neil Peart was on hand to receive the award on behalf of the band; Geddy Lee was vacationing in Japan and Alex Lifeson was back home in Toronto. The award was presented by Kyle Gass and Jack Black of Tenacious D. From UltimateClassicRock.com:
... Although known for his challenging and wordy lyrics, Peart was uncharacteristically brief and direct in his acceptance speech. He simply wanted to "express our gratitude. Our lifetimes aren't over, our achievements aren't over, so this is like 'So far, so good,' and we'll keep trying to get better. Thank you." The band filmed a brief video thanking Revolver and their fans for the award. ...
A bootleg video of Neil accepting the award is available on YouTube here. In addition to the Golden Gods Awards ceremony, Revolver and the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live debuted their new exhibit Golden Gods: The History of Heavy Metal Wednesday. Reader Paul C managed to catch a glimpse of the exhibit set-up earlier in the week and reports seeing a vintage Signals t-shirt on display.
Fender recently posted a new promotional video to their YouTube page for their new 2012 American Standard series of guitars and basses. The video features a number of well-known Fender-users including Geddy Lee. At about the 1:25 mark of the video Geddy says the following:
It had this great warmth in the bottom end yet I could tweak the top end and get all the kind of ripping, searing top end that I liked to get.
... A writer in his own right, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based musician has a varied range of favourite lyricists. "I think growing up, the one lyricist to my age group that probably rocked all of our worlds was Neil Peart (drummer)," he discloses. "Rush suddenly became this band that was not only musically progressive and really spoke to our musical sensibilities, but his lyrics added a whole other dimension and also a whole other intellectual dimension to Rush's music. ...
You can purchase a copy of Unsung through Blurb.com at this link.
Eric at Power Windows recently discovered a Rush reference in Clutch's 2005 album Robot Hive Exodus. In the lyrics for the song 10001110101 - whose title is similar to the lyric from Rush's The Body Electric - there is a reference to Rush's 2112 at about the 1:45 mark:
Man alive the jive and lyrics, radioactive, don't come near it Temple of Syrinx having the bake sale of the year.
You can listen to the track on YouTube at this link.
Reader ptaylor2112 noticed a 2112 reference in this Reuters article on a recent patent sale between AOL and Microsoft:
... If the deal falls through, Microsoft may pay AOL a termination fee of $211.2 million, AOL said in a regulatory filing.
Coincidence? Or is one of AOL's lawyers a Rush fan? :)
This coming Sunday, April 15th is the 1-year anniversary of Rush's show at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH where they filmed the concert for their Time Machine DVD/Blu-ray. The video was released late last year and Blu-ray.com finally got around to posting their review for the Blu-ray earlier this week, giving it an excellent 4.5 out of 5 rating (thanks rosmakloma).
...Rush's virtuoso guitarist, Alex Lifeson, was spotted tucking into dinner at Malena on Avenue, oh not-so-long ago. ...
The Washington DC Metro is beefing up their rush hour service with something they call RUSH plus. In this article from TBD.com (thanks JayBird) they show previews of the signs they'll be using - which read Rush Only. So it looks like it will either be a dedicated transportation service for members of Rush, or riders will only be able to listen to Rush music while riding. :)
Artist Mark Tumber recently finished drawing a photo-realistic rendering of Geddy Lee which he is selling 8x10 acid-free prints of for $35 each plus shipping ($45 total for Canadian orders, $55 for US orders). If you are interested you can contact mark through his website at marktumber.com.
...If he wins, he plans on making a documentary, recording the process leading up to the flight. Smith says the documentary could inspire youth to become involved in space exploration. The avid Rush fan says, if allowed, he would bring music with him into space. "It would be really cool to listen to Cygnus X1 in space." The Rush track is a psychedelic blend of rock, ambient sound effects and metal. Smith says he would also love to bring his beloved Conky, the ventriloquist puppet, with him for the trip. "Some friends and family have been telling me I'm nuts to get into a space vehicle. They have opinions about if it's a good idea to shoot yourself into space," says Smith, who's more than excited at the prospect of space travel.
Thanks to Andrew G and Jon P for the heads up.
I wanted to take a moment to apologize for any site downtime that may have occurred recently. Traffic to the site has skyrocketed in recent weeks with all of the breaking Rush news, and especially after Wednesday's release of the Headlong Flight clip the site started experiencing periodic outages. I have since upgraded my server and it now seems to be handling the increased traffic without incident. You also may have noticed that I've modified the comments to add some pagination features, which will hopefully make it easier to navigate through the comments now. I'll be making some more updates as time allows in the coming weeks/months. Thanks to everyone who has generously donated to the site in recent weeks; every bit helps and I really appreciate it. If you'd like to make a donation yourself, you can do so at this link. Any donation of 3 bucks or more will get you a free RUSH IS A BAND bumper sticker. Other ways to help out are to simply spread the word about this site to your Rush fan friends, follow RIAB on Facebook and Twitter, purchase items through my Amazon links, click on my site ads, or send me any Rush news tidbits you might come across.
Fender recently posted a new promotional video to their YouTube page for their new 2012 American Standard series of guitars and basses. The video features a number of well-known Fender-users including Geddy Lee. At about the 1:25 mark of the video Geddy says the following:
It had this great warmth in the bottom end yet I could tweak the top end and get all the kind of ripping, searing top end that I liked to get.
You can watch the video below or at this link (thanks Sean).
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Rush receives Revolver Golden Gods Lifetime Achievement Award
UPDATE - 4/12@9:36AM:And here's another image of Neil from Yahoo! (thanks hermy).
UPDATE - 4/12@9:29AM:Here's a photo of Neil receiving the award from Kyle Gass (thanks double-agent).
The fourth annual hard rock and heavy metal award show the Revolver Golden Gods took place last night at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles, and Rush was presented with the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award. Neil Peart was on hand to receive the award on behalf of the band. From UltimateClassicRock.com:
... Tenacious D presented the band in their typical style, with Kyle Gass and Jack Black trading lines of praise about the band. "For almost 40 years, this band has been blowing our minds and expanding everyone's definition of rock," Gass said.
"Can anyone imagine a world without 'Tom Sawyer?'" Black continued as the duo proceeded to name other Rush classics. "These songs and many others have become part of our collective DNA. They either inspired you enough to pick up an instrument and practice like hell"
To which Gass replied, "Or, let's be honest, discouraged you from even trying to approach their technical prowess."
Drummer Neil Peart was the only member of the band on hand to accept the award. Bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee was in Japan, and guitarist Alex Lifeson, who Peart claimed is "the funniest man in the world," was in Toronto.
Although known for his challenging and wordy lyrics, Peart was uncharacteristically brief and direct in his acceptance speech. He simply wanted to "express our gratitude. Our lifetimes aren't over, our achievements aren't over, so this is like 'So far, so good,' and we'll keep trying to get better. Thank you."
The band filmed a brief video thanking Revolver and their fans for the award. ...
Thanks to robertkincaid96 for the heads up.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Rush Clockwork Angels official announcement, video trailer with Headlong Flight preview, cover art and track list!
UPDATE - 4/11@1:18PM: Here's a Prog Magazine article on the release, which includes some interesting anecdotes about the album and its recording:
... Peart became fascinated with ancient traditions, which also had an impact on the album. "I learned about an entire set of runic hieroglyphs for elements and processes," says Peart. "As the lyrical 'chapters' came together, I chose one symbol to represent each of them." You can see these symbols in the clockface on the album cover, which has been painted by Hugh Syme. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson worked on the music in a basement studio, with Lifeson sometimes giving Peart two demos for specific tunes. One of these would feature a drum machine to outline certain rhythmic ideas, while the other had just a click track. And on one song, The Wreckers, Lee and Lifeson swapped over instruments during the writing sessions....
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UPDATE - 4/11@12:54PM: I thought the release of the 30-second Headlong Flight preview clip called for a new poll. So what do you think of the clip? Take the poll and let us know.
UPDATE - 4/11@12:38PM: Note that the special fanpack edition can be ordered from anywhere in the world, although shipping is higher outside of the UK. From the website:
Pre-order before 12:00pm (BST) on 8th May and you'll receive an additional special edition poster. The special edition artwork will incorporate the names of everyone who pre-orders the Fan Pack before this date. *
If you want to pre-order the fan pack but do not want your name to be included on the poster you must email contact@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk before 12pm on the 8th May to tell them that you do not want your name to be included in the Classic Rock Presents Rush: "Clockwork Angels" Fan Pack poster.
* If you order after this date you will receive the poster, but your name will not be included. Any posters bought as a gift will include the recipients name.
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UPDATE - 4/11@10:22AM:Rush.com has been updated with a new Clockwork Angels theme along with a news blurb about the album:
... The recording of "CLOCKWORK ANGELS" began in April 2010 with Grammy Award winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones) - who also collaborated with the band on their last studio album, 2007's "SNAKES & ARROWS." Rush co-produced both records. The first two songs, "Caravan" and "BU2B," were completed during that first session at Nashville's Blackbird studios and performed nightly during the wildly successful Time Machine Tour, which ran from June 2010 to June 2011. Work on "CLOCKWORK ANGELS" resumed in the fall of 2011 at Revolution Recording in Toronto after the tour's finale, with additional strings (arranged by David Campbell) recorded at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios earlier this year. Lyrically, "CLOCKWORK ANGELS" chronicles a young man's quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life. The novelization of "CLOCKWORK ANGELS" is being written by science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson in collaboration with Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. ...
Notice the part about how they mention that additional strings were recorded at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios earlier this year. This tends to lend some weight to the rumor that they may be touring with an orchestra in some capacity. They also confirm the April 19th radio release with a tour announcement coming soon, and the album is also now available for pre-order.
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UPDATE - 4/11@10:17AM: According to this Classic Rock article, the album will only be available exclusively as a special fan pack in the UK on June 11th - with a general release on July 2nd.
On sale a full three weeks before the regular UK album release date, Classic Rock Presents Rush - Clockwork Angels (fanpack edition) features the new album in full plus a 132 page magazine that forms the 'ultimate sleevenotes' to the new record, with extensive and exclusive interviews with Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.
Inside is everything you need to know about Clockwork Angels: full track-by-track rundown by the band, an interview with producer Nic Raskulinecz, long time cover artist Hugh Syme and more - all with exclusive unseen shots.
Other features include: Gene Simmons on Rush in the '70s, Rush's live rig and set-up, plus the band's full back catalogue reappraised by former producer Terry Brown, Manic Street Preacher and superfan Nicky Wire, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and more.
You can pre-order the fanpack edition in the UK at this link.
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Wow! Looks like the rumors of some kind of special Headlong Flight preview occurring today was true. This preview is in the form of a short, 30-second, video trailer that was posted at Billboard.com earlier this morning. The Billboard article also contains the official Clockwork Angels cover art and track list, along with a new release date of June 12th. Here's the track list:
Clockwork Angels track list:
1. Caravan 2. BU2B 3. Clockwork Angels 4. The Anarchist 5. Carnies 6. Halo Effect 7. Seven Cities Of Gold 8. The Wreckers 9. Headlong Flight 10. BU2B2 11. Wish Them Well 12. The Garden
UPDATE - 4/11@5:52PM: In today's official Clockwork Angels announcement at Rush.com, they mention that additional strings were recorded at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios earlier this year. This tends to lend some weight to the rumor that they may be touring with an orchestra in some capacity. They also confirm the April 19th radio release and say the following regarding the tour:
... Details of a full-scale North American tour to support the new album will be announced shortly.
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Last week we learned that the Headlong Flight single from Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album will be released digitally on Tuesday, April 24th, along with a radio release beginning Thursday, April 19th. There are also rumors of some kind of limited pre-release preview to occur tomorrow, April 11th, but details regarding this are still sketchy at the moment. I've also heard that we'll be getting an official tour announcement to coincide with the April 19th radio release. On that note, the latest rumor regarding the tour is that the band has moved all of their outdoor late summer and early fall tour dates from outdoor venues to indoor venues. I've been reporting for some time now that Rush would be playing a September 13th date at the Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville, IN, but that no longer seems to be the case. Reader Doug F has season tickets at the venue and was recently informed by their sales staff that Rush would instead be playing at Bankers Life Fieldhouse due to them moving all of their outdoor shows to indoor venues. The rumored reasoning behind this decision is that they will be playing with a symphony!? I had also been hearing of a September 9th date in Bristow, VA at Jiffy Lube which I presume has also been moved. There was also a planned date at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA on September 11th which presumably would still be in place. And I just recently received information that they'd be playing at the United Center in Chicago on September 15th. The move from outdoor to indoor seems reasonable and makes sense since no summer dates are planned, so the big question mark here is the rumor regarding Rush playing with a symphony. Whereas this sounds fairly far-fetched on the surface, both Geddy Lee and Neil Peart have expressed interest in doing exactly this in recent interviews. In a June, 2010 interview with Jeff Woods Geddy had the following to say:
.. I'd like to do a series of concerts with an orchestra. I think that would be a really good experience for our band, and I think our music is made for it. That's something we keep talking about and then gets pushed aside. I think sooner than later I'd like to make that happen...
Neil Peart had also mentioned performing with an orchestra in a November, 2009 NeilPeart.net news update. If anyone has any further insight/info regarding the symphony rumor, please let us know.
Megadeth bass player David Ellefson was recently interviewed by Metal Forces magazine to discuss his self-published book Unsung: Words & Images. The book contains some of Ellefson's unpublished lyrics and images, and he touches on Neil Peart's influence as a lyricist in one part of the interview:
... A writer in his own right, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based musician has a varied range of favourite lyricists. "I think growing up, the one lyricist to my age group that probably rocked all of our worlds was Neil Peart (drummer)," he discloses. "Rush suddenly became this band that was not only musically progressive and really spoke to our musical sensibilities, but his lyrics added a whole other dimension and also a whole other intellectual dimension to Rush's music. ...
You can purchase a copy of Unsung through Blurb.com at this link. Thanks to Victor L for the heads up.
UPDATE - 4/6@2:50PM: The William Shatner singing Tom Sawyer video from the Juno Awards finally made it to YouTube here (thanks irvinm) at about the 1:45 mark.
This past week we received some more details on the release of the first single from Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album, and also got a sneak peak at what might be the cover art. The Headlong Flight single will begin getting released to radio on Thursday, April 19th with an apparent very limited preview release of some kind next Wednesday, April 11th. I'm still trying to get more details on what the preview is all about, but it sounds like it might be a one-off spin of sorts - perhaps exclusive to just a couple of stations - or possibly the release of a sample clip online. Then on Tuesday, April 24th the single will be released digitally to iTunes and other formats. The radio-edit single itself has been paired down to 4:50 in length (the original radio cut was 5:20), where the album version clocks in at 7:20. It sounds like only the radio-edit will be available for digital purchase until the album itself is released. Roadrunner began shopping the single out to various folks in the radio industry last Wednesday, setting the Twittersphere abuzz with reactions - all very positive. The track has been described as epic by those who have heard it along with some comparisons to By-tor and the Snow Dog and mid-70s Rush. You can read all the reactions in this post. On Tuesday we got our first glimpse of what might be the cover art for the album, along with the possible tourbook cover. I was later asked by Rush's management to take down the artwork, but they still seem to be available for viewing on some other websites. The album cover itself depicts the now familiar Clockwork Angels clock of alchemical symbols over a swirling red cloud. The tourbook cover shows a cracked exterior wall along a sidewalk, with the crack revealing some steampunk gears beneath. On the wall written in a graffiti-style are rush, CLOCKWORK ANGELS, a CA logo of sorts and a red fire hydrant. The real intriguing part is that a Dalmatian is sitting in front of the fire hydrant on the sidewalk. This is unmistakably a reference to Rush's 1982 Signals album, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of its release this coming September 9th. Knowing that Rush played Moving Pictures in its entirety on the last tour to celebrate that album's 30th anniversary, one can't help but speculate that this tourbook cover image may indirectly imply that Rush will be doing the same thing with their Signals album on the upcoming Clockwork Angels tour. Earlier this morning I posted that we may be getting an official tour announcement of sorts on April 19th to coincide with the Headlong Flight radio release, so hopefully we'll get more details at that time. Generally speaking, I've been hearing for some time now that the band will be hitting dates in the Midwest and Eastern Canada in September-October, and the Southeastern US in October-November. So far I've only heard of 3 firm dates though; one in Bristow, VA on Sunday, September 9th, one planned date at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA on Tuesday, September 11th, and another at the Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville, IN planned for Thursday, September 13th. Remember that none of this is official of course until Rush announces it.
Rush's Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland DVD ended up losing out to Feist in the Music DVD of the Year category at the Juno Awards pre-telecast Gala awards dinner last Saturday night. Rush had won a Juno award in this category for Rush in Rio back in 2004 and last year for Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. The actual Juno Awards televised ceremony took place Sunday night at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, ON with William Shatner hosting. Shatner opened the ceremony with a spoken-word performance medley of Canadian rock classics including Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild, Bryan Adams' Summer of '69, BTO's Takin' Care of Business, Trooper's Raise A Little Hell and Rush's Tom Sawyer. There's a YouTube video of the performance here but unfortunately it cuts off before the Tom Sawyer portion. CTV has the entire show up online here although it looks to be geographically restricted to Canadian residents. You can watch Shatner singing Tom Sawyer from about 9:08 to 9:34 on the clip.
Also out and about this past Thursday was Geddy Lee, who participated as a celebrity judge for RAW! The Great Toronto Tartare-Off at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York. The event was sponsored by Grapes for Humanity where Geddy Lee is a member of the board. Toronto Life magazine was at the event and posted a write-up along with a photo gallery on Friday, including a couple of photos of Geddy. Proceeds from the event go towards a child's education by constructing a needed school in Guatemala and $0.95 of every dollar raised will be donated to the project. Other judges included Corey Mintz, Josh Josephson and Amy Rosen of The National Post.
This coming Wednesday, April 11th Rush will be receiving the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth annual hard rock and heavy metal award show the Revolver Golden Gods. Here are Neil Peart's comments regarding the award from the Revolver magazine website:
... "We are honored and delighted to receive this honor - especially because it will be presented by Jack and Kyle. Our 'lifetimes' are not over yet, and we dearly hope our 'achievements' are not either, so I suppose you could say that to us this is the 'So Far, So Good' award." ...
Jack Black will be presenting Rush the award although it's not clear which members of the band (if any) will be in attendance. The sold-out event will take place at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles and will be broadcast live in its entirety on XBOX LIVE, as well as on the XBOX and Revolver Facebook pages at 9PM EDT (6 PM PDT).
The double vinyl edition of Rush's live WMMS radio broadcast of their August 26th, 1974 show at the Cleveland Agora was released in the UK last month and is now available in the US as an import. It seems to out of stock on Amazon US right now, but it may be available through other retailers. The CD version had been released in the UK via Left Field Media on October 24th of last year and on November 1st as an import in the US. The vinyl edition is titled The First American Broadcast: ABC 1974 and is 180-gram double black vinyl with gatefold packaging.
Cold Clear Morning is a story of new beginnings. And while Lesley Choyce hasn't technically started over, he has revised his novel of a broken man's anything-but-triumphant return to his Eastern Shore hometown after forging a musical career in California. The novel was originally published a decade ago by a publisher on the West Coast that has since gone out of business. "That happens in publishing, ... but I kind of had a love for this story, and the original edition had left out three or four chapters, so I thought I could put these chapters (back) in," Choyce said. He regained the rights to the book. And around that time, a filmmaker optioned the movie rights for the novel and drummer Neil Peart, from Canadian rock icons Rush, sent him a complimentary letter about the original book. "I thought, 'OK, I'm getting some signals from the stars,' so I got it back out there," he said. ...
As you probably already know, Major League Baseball season kicked off this past week, and Rush's Geddy Lee is one of the more famous rock star baseball fans. But I bet you didn't know he was also a witch doctor! Minnesota Twins fan site TwinkieTown recently posted their annual Minnesota Twins Season In Review where they take a look back at the 2012 season, sixth months in advance. For the July entry they mention witch doctor Geddy Lee:
JULY ... as Justin Morneau, dealing with a sore elbow, is seen soaking his arm in gravy and cheese, a remedy he claims to have learned from noted Canadian witch-doctor Geddy Lee. ...
Canadian witch doctor?! :) And in keeping with the baseball theme, reader mitch18ss let me know of a 2112 sighting in this Yahoo! Sports article from Jeff Passan that makes some predictions about the upcoming season. In a slam to Pittsburgh Pirates fans everywhere, Passan predicts that the Pirates won't get to their 82nd win until 09/18/12, I mean 2112. And Geddy's Blue Jays emerged triumphant over my Cleveland Indians in a 16-inning marathon last night for the season opener - the longest opening game in MLB history. :(
Reader 3RUSH1 let me know that the Rush documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage is discussed in the latest episode of the Geek Shall Inherit podcast. Co-host Jason discusses the film and the importance of nerds in Rush's rise to fame starting at about the 27:20 mark and running for about 7 minutes. You can listen to the podcast at this link.
... Perhaps the ultimate in a Floyd-equipped Gibson is the Gibson Custom Les Paul Axcess Standard. ... The Axcess serves as the springboard for Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson's Gibson Custom model, which incorporates GraphTech Ghost piezo bridge saddles to select or mix between electric and acoustic sounds. ...
The Rush frontman's parents were Polish Holocaust survivors who got married a few months after their concentration camp was liberated. The bass player and high-pitched vocalist was actually born Gary Lee, but when his mother tried to pronounce his name in her Yiddish-influenced Polish accent, it wound up sounding more like "Geddy." The name stuck and he eventually had it legally changed.
This past Sunday, April 1st I teamed up with Eric at the Power Windows site and John from Cygnus-X1.net for an April Fools' joke where we claimed that Rush would be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, complete with an expertly photoshopped cover! Thanks for playing along and being good sports about it. John and Eric did 99% of the actual work on the joke including coming up with the idea and doing all the photoshopping - I was mostly just along for the ride. It was just believable enough to hook a lot of people, but there were a couple of clues if you looked for them; such as the date of April 21, 2012 ... 4/21/12, and the fact that we used a recycled photo. If you missed it, just check out this post.
Blabbermouth reported on Saturday that pioneering American thrash metal band Anthrax would be including a cover of Rush's Anthem on an upcoming tribute album. No further details are available regarding the album, but Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante posted a one-minute video of himself laying down the drums for the track to his YouTube page here.
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
Rush 2012 Clockwork Angels tour update: official announcement coming April 19th?
Yesterday we learned that the Headlong Flight single from Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album will be released digitally on Tuesday, April 24th, along with a radio release beginning Thursday, April 19th. There are also rumors of some kind of limited pre-release preview to occur next Wednesday, April 11th, but details regarding this are sketchy at the moment. I've also learned that we may be getting the first official 2012 tour announcement on April 19th to coincide with the radio release. If true and since the tour is not expected to begin until September, I speculate that this will be a general announcement of sorts that will include some of the dates and the general itinerary, but not a full announcement - much like what was done with the 2008 and 2011 tours. Neil Peart had confirmed a Fall tour in an interview last month. On Tuesday we got our first glimpse of what might be the cover art for the album, along with the possible tourbook cover. I was later asked by Rush's management to take down the artwork, but they still seem to be available for viewing on some other websites. The supposed tourbook cover has a distinctive Signals theme to it, which seems to indicate that the album will play a central role to the upcoming tour. The album celebrates the 30th anniversary of its release this coming September 9th. Knowing that Rush played Moving Pictures in its entirety on the last tour to celebrate that album's 30th anniversary, one can't help but speculate that this tourbook cover image may indirectly imply that Rush will be doing the same thing with their Signals album on the upcoming Clockwork Angels tour. Generally speaking, I've been hearing for some time now that the band will be hitting dates in the Midwest and Eastern Canada in September-October, and the Southeastern US in October-November. So far I've only heard of 3 firm dates though; one in Bristow, VA on Sunday, September 9th, one planned date at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA on Tuesday, September 11th, and another at the Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville, IN planned for Thursday, September 13th.
UPDATE - 4/5@7:59PM: Almost forgot! DJ_Carter also learned that the official tour announcement should be coming the same day as the radio release on April 19th.
UPDATE - 4/5@1:38PM: Here are some of DJ_Carter's comments regarding the radio-edit of Headlong Flight that he listened to:
... The opening chords sound almost EXACTLY like a heavier version of Bastille Day. ... There's some Bastille Day rhythms, a more raw guitar tone that sounds less polished and more Hemispheres-y, an absolutely bone-shattering drum break in the middle that sounds like a modern version of Neil's break in By-Tor, and some really audible and fun shifts in the structure of the song, a la the transitions in Natural Science. If I had to encapsulate the sound in just a few words, it would be Caress of Steel crossed with Vapor Trails. Headlong Flight doesn't feel as heavy as BU2B; it's very much Vapor Trails-y, but with much more tasty bass. Truly, the bass in this song is killer. I think we can count on seeing a lot more of the Leave That Thing Alone live solo stuff on this record. ... One thing that was really encouraging about this track was the fact that Neil's drumming was very fast in certain places. BU2B was ... heavy but plodding, not challenging or rhythmically complex. Headlong Flight is totally different. This is Neil at his best, and the break I mentioned earlier feels like his classic fills. There is indeed a guitar solo, towards the end of the track. But it's a solo in the sense that Alex's solo from Caravan was a solo. He's shredding, no doubt about it, but it isn't like a Freewill type of shredding that has a pattern and a resolution. Very frenetic and exciting, though! ...
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UPDATE - 4/5@8:00AM: I have a few more details regarding the track lengths of the various edits from reader DJ_Carter. He let me know that the album version of Headlong Flight runs in at 7:20. The original length of the radio-edit of the track was 5:20, but once it was confirmed that it would be the first single they produced another, shorter version that clocked in at 4:50. He was played both of these cuts (the 5:20 and 4:50 versions) but couldn't tell any significant difference.
We learned last week that Headlong Flight is the title of the first single that will be released from Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album. Roadrunner began shopping the single out to various folks in the radio industry last Wednesday setting the Twittersphere abuzz with reactions - all very positive. The track is about 7.5 minutes long and has been described as epic by those who have heard it along with some comparisons to By-tor and the Snow Dog and mid-70s Rush. You can read all the reactions in this post. I'd initially heard that the single will be released to radio on April 19th but now have some more details. Apparently there will be a very limited (probably just a one-off spin) preview release on select stations next Wednesday, April 11th. Then the track will be released on a limited number of stations April 19-20th. The general radio release along with a digital release on iTunes and other formats will occur on Tuesday, April 24th. More information as I learn it.
As I'd mentioned in my latest Friday Rush updates post, this past Thursday, March 29th Geddy Lee participated as a celebrity judge for RAW! The Great Toronto Tartare-Off at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York. The event was sponsored by Grapes for Humanity where Geddy Lee is a member of the board. Toronto Life magazine was at the event and posted a write-up along with a photo gallery on Friday, including a couple of photos of Geddy (thanks RushFanForever). Proceeds from the event go towards a child's education by constructing a needed school in Guatemala and $0.95 of every dollar raised will be donated to the project. Other judges included Corey Mintz, Josh Josephson and Amy Rosen of The National Post.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Sonic Elements 5-song EP XYZ: A Tribute To Rush now available for pre-order
This past Thursday, March 29th Alex Lifeson attended the Kidney Foundation of Canada's Paint the Town Blue gala at the Art Gallery of Ontario to hlep kick off their first-ever Canada-wide fundraising campaign - The New Challenge Campaign. You can check out a Flickr photo gallery from the event which includes a few photos of Alex at this link, and watch a short video of Alex painting at ContactMusic.com. Alex has been involved with the Kidney Foundation through their Brush of Hope project for several years now, and helped the organization raise thousands of dollars with his paintings.
Possible cover artwork for Rush's Clockwork Angels album, tourbook revealed
UPDATE - 4/3@3:58PM: I was politely asked by Rush's management to remove these images from my site, and I have complied.
UPDATE - 4/3@1:21PM: Several of you have pointed out that the clock is reading 9:12 - or 21:12 in military time (9/12 is also Neil Peart's birthday). Also, I believe this is just the cover artwork - not the final cover itself. The actual cover will likely have Rush and Clockwork Angels written on it in some shape or form.
This morning I was sent the possible cover artwork for Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album and tourbook. They come from a reliable source which is why I decided to post them, and why I think they are legitimate. The album cover itself depicts the now familiar Clockwork Angels clock of alchemical symbols over a swirling red cloud. The tourbook cover is what's really interesting though. It depicts a cracked exterior wall along a sidewalk, with the crack revealing some steampunk gears beneath. On the wall written in a graffiti-style are rush, CLOCKWORK ANGELS, a CA logo of sorts and a red fire hydrant. Now here's the real intriguing part; sitting in front of the fire hydrant on the sidewalk is a Dalmatian. This is unmistakably a reference to Rush's 1982 Signals album, which celebrates the 30th anniversary since its release this year. Knowing that Rush played Moving Pictures in its entirety on the last tour to celebrate that album's 30th anniversary, this tourbook cover image seems to indirectly reveal that Rush will be doing the same thing with their Signals album on the upcoming Clockwork Angels tour. Pure speculation of course, but I wouldn't see any other reason to include the reference on the tourbook cover. We should know soon enough whether these are the official covers, since album artwork typically reveals itself online about 2 months or so before release - which is still scheduled for Tuesday, May 29th.
UPDATE - 4/6@2:50PM: The video finally made it to YouTube here (thanks irvinm) at about the 1:45 mark.
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UPDATE - 4/2@3:30PM: CTV now has the entire show up online here although it looks to be geographically restricted to Canadian residents. You can watch Shatner singing Tom Sawyer from about 9:08 to 9:34 on the clip (thanks The Sphere).
Rush's Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland DVD ended up losing out to Feist in the Music DVD of the Year category at the Juno Awards pre-telecast Gala awards dinner Saturday night. Rush won a Juno award in this category for Rush in Rio back in 2004 and last year for Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. The actual Juno Awards televised ceremony took place last night at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, ON with William Shatner hosting. Shatner opened the ceremony with a spoken-word performance medley of Canadian rock classics including Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild, Bryan Adams' Summer of '69, BTO's Takin' Care of Business, Trooper's Raise A Little Hell and Rush's Tom Sawyer. There's a YouTube video of the performance here but unfortunately it cuts off before the Tom Sawyer portion.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Anthrax to cover Rush's Anthem for upcoming tribute album
Blabbermouth reported on Saturday (thanks Will C) that pioneering American thrash metal band Anthrax would be including a cover of Rush's Anthem on an upcoming tribute album. No further details are available regarding the album, but Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante posted a one-minute video of himself laying down the drums for the track to his YouTube page here.
UPDATE - 4/1@10:07PM:APRIL FOOLS!!!! ... in case you hadn't already figured it out. Hopefully you all enjoyed this year's joke - I know I did. Thanks for playing along and being good sports about it. This one was especially fun because I teamed up with John of Cygnus-X1.net and Eric at the Power Windows site to execute the ruse. John and Eric did 99% of the actual work on the joke including coming up with the idea and doing all the photoshopping - I was mostly just along for the ride. It was just believable enough to hook a lot of people, but there were a couple of clues if you looked for them; such as the date of April 21, 2012 ... 4/21/12, and the fact that we used a recycled photo. And - who knows? With the big Clockwork Angels media blitz Roadrunner is planning maybe Rush will end up on the cover of Rolling Stone sometime this year.... Yeah, right. :)
UPDATE - 4/1@8:01PM: As promised, Rolling Stone has posted a short excerpt from their Rush cover feature online here along with a photo gallery at this link.
According to a source at Rolling Stone magazine, later this month Rush will be featured on the cover of the magazine for the first time ever in the band's nearly 40-year history! The April 21st issue of Rolling Stone will contain a multi-page cover feature titled Clockwork Excellence: Canucks still ticking after nearly 40 years, along with a side article titled Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Scandal: Why Rush really isn't in the Hall (should be interesting!). You can check out a high-res working copy of the cover at this link or by clicking on the thumbnail. Apparently a short excerpt and photo gallery will be posted online at RollingStone.com sometime later today or tomorrow, which I will link to when available. Other members of the online Rush community including both John at Cygnus-X1.net and Eric at Power Windows have also been contacted by the same source at Rolling Stone. As I'd mentioned in my latest Friday Rush updates post, the coming month will be bringing a storm of Clockwork Angels media coverage of which the Rolling Stone cover is just the beginning.
Over their decades-spanning career, Rush has been featured on literally hundreds of rock and music magazine covers with the one glaring exception being Rolling Stone. Early in Rush's career, Rolling Stone's critics would continually pan the band's albums but the magazine otherwise ignored Rush out-of-hand. This all began to change a few years ago back in 2008 when Rush was riding a new wave of popularity due to their highly successful Snakes & Arrows tour. At that time Rolling Stone seemed to undergo a change regarding their attitude towards the band, dispatching a reporter to spend four days with them on the Canadian leg of their 2008 tour and interviewing all 3 members for a 6-page feature titled Rush Never Sleeps. Around that time they also published an online feature titled Rush vs. Rolling Stone Qualitative Analysis where the magazine tries to counter the argument that Rolling Stone hates Rush (the article has since been removed). Since then the magazine's coverage of the band has been markedly more cordial, although positive might be overstating it a bit. Perhaps Rush's cover feature marks a new turning point in the magazine's relationship with the band. When links to the short excerpt and photo gallery become available, I will post them here.
UPDATE - 5/2@10:06AM: It looks like the Live Nation password for this round of pre-sales is not melody (thanks Bob). 
UPDATE - 5/8@9:33AM: The entire article has been transcribed by John at 
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