Primus bassist/frontman Les Claypool posted a photo of himself hanging out and playing some bass with Geddy Lee to his Claypool Cellars Instagram page earlier this week. The photo's caption reads:
Getting schooled by the master
@geddyimages
#geddylee #lesclaypool
Claypool has been friends with Rush and Geddy Lee in particular since back in the '90s when Primus supported Rush on tour. The pair of bass masters have a well-documented mutual respect and admiration for each other as musicians. Claypool also helped to induct Rush into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame back in 2012 where he performed a cover of The Spirit of Radio as seen here.
Rock icon Tom Petty tragically passed away earlier this week at the age of 66. Rush played one show with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as the support act back on November 26, 1977 at Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, PA. Petty had just completed a 40th anniversary tour with a 3-night stint at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of weeks ago. In a Rolling Stone interview back in December (thanks George Y), Petty spoke about this likely being his last tour, giving many of the same reasons that Neil Peart gave regarding his decision to retire from touring:
... [Petty] thought this would be the group's last tour together. He said, "It's very likely we'll keep playing, but will we take on 50 shows in one tour? I don't think so. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thinking this might be the last big one. We're all on the backside of our sixties. I have a granddaughter now I'd like to see as much as I can. I don't want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid, that's a lot of time." ...
This certainly puts Neil's decision in perspective.
Philadelphia Flyers fan site Broad Street Hockey put together an article this past week with nine curated playlists for the Flyers' upcoming season. Their playlist designed for the first game of the season includes Rush's Tom Sawyer:
The lead single off one of the defining pieces of 80s rock, Tom Sawyer is perfectly confident for a season opener. Plus, it's literally impossible to listen to Geddy Lee's screeching tenor without feeling a distinct desire to get the fuck up and do some jumping jacks or something.
Rush discoverer and unofficial big sister Donna Halper was a recent guest on the Sound Off podcast with Matt Cundill and spoke at length about her career in the radio business, religion and the story of how she helped to launch Rush's career. You can listen to the podcast online here.
Speaking of podcasts, the Stuck in the '80s podcast spent their latest episode celebrating three albums that recently turned 30 years old, one of which was Rush's Hold Your Fire. You can check out the podcast online here.
As most Rush fans know, Alex Lifeson has been the co-owner of the Orbit Room in Toronto since the mid '90s. Soul in the City was an annual event held in the early 2000s that celebrated the Orbit Room and in particular co-owner Tim Notter's birthday. The event was held at the Capitol Event Theatre in Toronto until the mid 2000s when it was moved to the Orbit Room itself. Reader Jeff H attended a couple of these events and managed to capture some footage of Alex Lifeson sitting in with the Orbit Room's house band The Dexters on a couple of songs. He recently uploaded a couple of these videos to YouTube including this performance from 2000's event, and this one from 2002.
Speaking of Alex Lifeson performances, a couple of weeks ago at Toronto's Massey Hall the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted four new members; Beau Dommage, Stéphane Venne, Bruce Cockburn and Neil Young. Alex Lifeson was in attendance at the Gala and made a surprise appearance with Canadian rock band Arkells as a guest musician on a performance of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl towards the end of the show. Earlier this week CBC Music posted a pro-shot video of the entire performance to YouTube which you can watch below or at this location. Rush was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame back in 2010.
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
