The final show of Geddy Lee's My Effin' Life spoken word book tour took place at London's Barbican the week before Christmas, capping off a highly successful slate of appearances that began last month at New York City's Beacon Theatre. After the tour was over, Geddy sat down with Billboard Canada for a new interview to reflect on the tour, his memoir, and his plans going into 2024 (thanks RushFanForever). When asked about making new music in the coming year, either with or without Alex Lifeson, Geddy was as coy as usual, giving essentially the same answer he'd provided on all his tour stops:
... Well, after this tour is over, and I finished promoting this book, I am going to disappear. And my wife and I will head out to some remote place and do a lot of walking. That's my immediate plan. After that, I would like to do some sort of music. If it's with Alex, that would be lovely. If it's on my own, that would also be interesting. ... I would say definitely maybe. ...
Many US fans are hoping for another leg to his spoken word tour, since Geddy's North American leg focused heavily on shows in the Northeast and on the West Coast, essentially ignoring the American South and Southwest. While Geddy's statement above doesn't seem too optimistic on that front, it's still feasible that he might add another short leg later this winter once he's had some R&R. If that's the case, I'd expect an announcement sometime after the New Year.
Rush tribute band YYNOT will be hosting their 2nd annual Bubba Bash in celebration of The Professor at the Keswick Theatre outside Philly (Glenside, PA) next Saturday, January 6th. Just like last year, the show will be "In Celebration of Neil Peart", and feature YYNOT along with special guests Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, etc.), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, Overkill, etc.), Jon Dinklage (Clockwork Angels string ensemble), Joe Bergamini (drum instructor, author, etc.), John Wesley (Porcupine Tree), Seven Antonopoulos (Opiate for the Masses), and more. All proceeds from the show will go to benefit Cedars Sinai Hospital, and you can send along your donation here. YYNOT has made a name for itself in recent years for being one of the premier Rush tribute bands, as well as a great prog-rock band in their own right with a trio of albums of original material under their belt. The band along with hosts Cathy Rankin and Michael Mosbach (Neil Peart's good friend and Rush security) were interviewed by the Rushfans YouTube channel this past week to talk about the event, and you can watch that interview below or at this location. The show is nearly SOLD OUT, so get your tickets asap. You can check out some videos from last year's inaugural event on YYNOT's YouTube channel here.
Speaking of Neil Peart, back in the summer of 2021, Peart's extensive classic car collection - dubbed the Silver Surfers by Neil himself - was sold at Gooding & Company's 17th annual Pebble Beach Auctions. Just before the auction, it was revealed via an announcement at Rush.com that this collection of classic cars was the subject of a coffee table book that Neil Peart was working on prior to his untimely passing nearly 4 years ago:
... Neil's love of classic cars was a lifelong passion, and prior to his passing, he was extremely proud to have completed his final book titled, "Silver Surfers." The following passage from his first coffee table book explains, in his own words, how the collection name came about:
"The title Silver Surfers for my collection of cars occurred to me while driving my DB5 up and down the Pacific Ocean. Because it felt right to me, I guess - the idea that I was just one of the wave riders .... In search of natural peace, I often drove out that way and up in to the Santa Monica Mountains. Out past Malibu to Ventura County, I'd weave along barren ridges of rock and vegetation, the ocean always on one big side. The waves were slow and gentle, or churned out a powerful, rolling rhythm..."
We are happy that his wish to see this book published will be fulfilled, with a release date to be announced. This will certainly be a loving homage to the man and one of his true passions.
Since that initial announcement very little additional information has surfaced, but it now looks like the book will finally see the light of day according to this Amazon listing giving an expected release date of May 7, 2024. From the listing:
... The final piece of writing by legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart was about one of the great passions of his life-collecting cars; the joy of collecting them, and the even bigger joy of driving them. In this never-before-seen piece, finished just before his passing in 2020, Neil writes about not only his lifelong passion for cars and the open road, but about his Silver Surfers-a rare collection of the best sports cars from the 1960s.
Each image in the book, personally selected by Neil, takes you on his journey of car collecting-including a photo of him at 22 with his first car, a 1969 Lotus Europa, purchased when he was working as a parts manager at his father's farm equipment dealer; a 1948 MGTC he bought in London while on tour; and the black Ferrari car he drove while writing the songs for the seminal album Moving Pictures. And then there are his beloved Silver Surfers-seven classic 1960s sports cars, from an Aston Martin DB5 Saloon to a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, each one a gorgeous silver, except one: a black 1964 Shelby Cobra whose patina Neil loved so much he refused to change it.
Beautiful studio images showing both the interior and exterior of these extraordinary cars, as well as personal images of Neil driving them along the California coast, accompany Neil's warm, personal memories of why and how he bought the cars, the friends he made along the way, and what it was like to be behind the wheel. Neil's final work is a love letter to these cars that meant so much to him, and to the passion of the road that fueled his life.
The book also includes a foreword from Peart's wife Carrie Nuttall Peart, along with stunning photographs of Neil's car collection from her personal archives. Silver Surfers is currently available for pre-order in hard cover at this location.
The Iron Claw is a new film from A24 which tells the story of the Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. The film's trailer first released back in October and prominently featured Rush's Tom Sawyer throughout, as does the film itself, which released to theaters last week. The choice of music is fitting, as Kerry Von Erich's nickname was The Modern Day Warrior and he used Tom Sawyer as walk out music, as described in more detail in this Screenrant article:
... The Iron Claw's soundtrack includes the classic "Tom Sawyer," and its use in the film perfectly establishes the tone and atmosphere of the 2023 drama. The song's inclusion shows the filmmakers' dedication to replicating the time period depicted as faithfully as possible. However, underneath the Prog-Rock power ballad's catchiness lies a deeper meaning. Even though The Iron Claw changes important things about the real Von Erichs, the film is largely faithful to the true story, making its "Tom Sawyer" use that much more interesting. Although The Iron Claw depicts Kevin Von Erich as the film's protagonist and suggests he'll be the first member of the Von Erich family to win a major world wrestling championship, Kerry Von Erich becomes the first member of the family to earn this distinction. He accomplishes this feat by beating the "Nature Boy," Ric Flair, on May 6, 1984, thus winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Kerry's nickname, "The Modern Day Warrior," fits perfectly with the prominent opening lyrics in "Tom Sawyer" - "A modern-day warrior / Mean-mean stride / Today's Tom Sawyer / Mean-mean pride" - and the film gets this point across in a short amount of time. ...
Triumph guitarist/vocalist Rik Emmett was recently interviewed for the Toronto Mike'd podcast, and was asked about a Triumph/Rush supergroup. You can hear what he had to say around the 18-minute mark here (thanks RushFanForever).
Reader Bill C let me know that the Chicago Culinary Kitchen in Palatine, IL has a huge mural in their restaurant of the cover of Martin Popoff's Rush: Album by Album book, as seen here.
Prog magazine ran a poll just before Christmas to determine the best prog Christmas song. Alex Lifeson's rendition of The Little Drummer Boy was included, but only got 0.5% of the vote (thanks RushFanForever).
New Year's Day 2024 is just a few days away, so I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for visiting the site and following all the RIAB social media channels over the last year (in addition to Facebook and X, we're now on Instagram too). 2024 stands to be a VERY exciting year for Rush, with the potential of new music from Geddy (and Alex?), Rush's 50th anniversary celebration, and more. So we should have a LOT to talk about next year. Have a very safe and happy New Year celebration everybody!
