2016 is now well underway, and although there's not much new Rush news to report, there were a few new Geddy Lee interviews released this past week, including a new, 40-minute video interview where Geddy chats with uDiscoverMusic's Kylie Olsson at Abbey Road Studios. Geddy talks at length about the band's recently-released R40 Live concert video and associated tour, including the stage set, and setlist. He also touches on a number of other topics including the band's longevity, 40-year career, their early influences, what the future holds for Rush and more. At about the 32-minute mark Geddy is asked about the band's future plans and Neil's recent retirement announcement, and says the following:
... When Neil came out and said that he thinks it's time for him to hang [up the drumsticks], as far as the touring thing goes, I understand it but I'm a bit sad about it. Because I don't think he realizes how strong he is, and I'm sure he could go another couple years. But you have to have the will though. You have to have the will to put yourself through all those things you have to put yourself through. And he's got a young daughter at home that he wants to bond with. So I understand all of that. It's sad to see that part of Rush's life possibly come to an end. And so as far as the creative side of it we haven't even really talked about that. So whether Neil's reluctance to perform extends to the studio as well is something that we haven't talked about. I hope he's still up for it, because I know Alex is and it would be fun to make another record together. ...
He also goes on to reiterate that he'd definitely be open to doing another solo album. You can watch the complete interview below or at this location. TeamRock.com also conducted a short, new interview with Geddy Lee a few weeks ago for their Heavy Load column and made it available online earlier this week. They fire a bunch of short questions at Geddy covering a number of subjects including his childhood, his wine collection, his unusual singing voice, and the first time he got drunk:
I was sixteen and with Alex Lifeson. All of the bad first things that happened to me were with Alex Lifeson. We made this thing we used to call Panther Piss. ... It's what happens when you go to your parents' liquor cabinet and take a little bit from each bottle. You mix it all together and, hey presto, Panther Piss.
Rush is featured on the cover of the January, 2016 issue of International Musician - the official journal of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. The issue includes a 2-page feature on the band and their recent R40 Live tour, including some interview segments with Geddy, and highlights their long-standing membership in the AFM:
... All three musicians have been union members throughout their careers. Forty-seven-year Local 298 (Niagara Region, ON) member Peart, joined the AFM in 1968. Lifeson and Lee joined Local 149 (Toronto, ON) in May, 1970. "That was a big day for us; we considered ourselves professional musicians," recalls Lee of the day he joined with Lifeson. "We were part of something bigger than us. I'm a believer in unions and helping out fellow musicians." ...
Geddy Lee is also one of the many musicians interviewed for the new Jaco documentary on legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius. A new DVD Extras video of Geddy was recently released, where he discusses the Jaco Pastorius song that he thought set a new bar for bassists when it was released - Teen Town, which you can listen to on YouTube here. There's also a short snippet of Geddy discussing fusion music from the documentary which can be seen on YouTube at this location.
A new article profiling the recording and mixing of Rush's R40 Live concert video appears in the January, 2016 issue of Sound on Sound magazine. The article includes interviews with R40 Live producer David Bottrill, Rush front-of-house engineer Brad Madix, and others. You can read a transcription of the full article at this location.
Rush's vinyl re-issue campaign continues today with the release of their mid-'80s synth-laden classics, 1984's Grace Under Pressure and 1985's Power Windows. Rush has been releasing their entire back catalog on vinyl over the past year. All that's left to release after today are Hold Your Fire, Feedback and Snakes & Arrows, all of which will be available for purchase next Friday, January 15th. All titles are high-quality vinyl with a 320kbps MP4 Digital Audio download code, and you can order/pre-order all the various Mercury-era and Atlantic-era reissues using the links below:
AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
Fly By Night (01/27/15) - Vinyl | Blu-ray Audio
Caress of Steel (02/17/15) - Vinyl
2112: Hologram Edition (03/17/15) - Vinyl
All the World's a Stage (03/17/15) - Vinyl
A Farewell to Kings (04/21/15) - Vinyl | Blu-ray Audio
Hemispheres (05/19/15) - Vinyl
Permanent Waves (06/16/15) - Vinyl
Moving Pictures (07/24/15) - Vinyl | Vinyl + Large t-shirt | Vinyl + XL t-shirt
Signals (08/14/15) - Blu-ray Audio
Exit ... Stage Left (09/25/15) - Vinyl
Signals (10/09/15) - Vinyl
Presto (10/23/15) - Vinyl
Roll the Bones (10/23/15) - Vinyl
Counterparts (11/6/15) - Vinyl
Test for Echo (11/6/15) - Vinyl
A Show of Hands (12/11/15) - Vinyl
Grace Under Pressure (1/8/16) - Vinyl
Power Windows (1/8/16) - VinylAVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
Hold Your Fire (1/15/16) - Vinyl
Feedback (1/15/16) - Vinyl
Snakes & Arrows (1/15/16) - Vinyl
The 2016 Monsters of Rock Cruise will take place next month the week of February 22-26. This year they'll also be hosting a special pre-party on Sunday, February 26th and earlier this week they tweeted out the lineup which will include Sebastian Bach, Steve Vai and others. From the promotional image included with the tweet along with this retweet from Sebastian Bach, it looks like they'll be playing Rush covers. From the image, it also sorta seems like they might be calling themselves Hurry - perhaps as a nod to Rush (get it? hurry... rush...). It's not clear if they'll be exclusively playing Rush, but it's possible. For more information, visit the Monsters of Rock Cruise website or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
The Rushcast podcast kicked off it's 2016 Album Series earlier this week with an entire episode dedicated to Rush's debut album, with special guest Donna Halper. They'll be featuring a different Rush album every week over the coming weeks/months, with Fly By Night up next. I'll be a guest on the 2112 episode in a couple of weeks where I'll get to chat with Jay about my personal favorite Rush album. To find out more, visit the Rushcast website and follow them on Twitter.
Rush is featured on the cover of the German edition of Classic Rock magazine's January/February issue. The issue contains a German translation of the Exit Stage Left featured that appeared in the October issue of Classic Rock, although there are also interviews with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee on pages 28-37 that might be new. The issue is available for free download at this location (thanks RushFanForever).
There was an indirect Rush reference on this past Tuesday's episode of the Syfy channel's new space drama The Expanse (Season 1, Episode 5 - Back to the Butcher). Towards the end of the episode, the Canterbury's survivors accept a proposal by OPA leader Fred Johnson to join him at Tycho Station, and they rename their salvaged ship the Rocinante - the same name of the spacecraft in Rush's Cygnus-X1 - in order to mask their old transponder signal.
Prog-rockers Tool kicked off their long-anticipated US tour Wednesday night at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Tool are good friends with the guys in Rush and often hang out or jam together. Rush left Tool a letter in guitarist Adam Jones' road case a couple of years ago, and Jones rediscovered it last night and shared it with fans. The letter reads, Have a great gig! We're in the studio now. Catch you next time. Alex, Geddy, and Neil.
Tool opened up their show Wednesday with a cover of Led Zeppelin's No Quarter and then broke into The Grudge (video here). The band made headlines a couple of months ago when it dressed as Led Zeppelin for a Halloween gig in Arizona, although they didn't play dress up last night. They then proceeded with a number of Tool classics, but also included their new instrumental track Descending. Tool is currently working on their 5th album; their first since 2006's 10,000 Days, and will be touring across the southern US throughout the month of January. They are expected to be adding more shows to the tour at a later date. You can check out Tool's complete upcoming tour itinerary here, search past Tool tour dates here and view the complete setlist from last night's show here.
Here's Geddy's 40-minute video interview with uDiscoverMusic:
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!!
