Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Fri, Mar 29, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, Jan 9, 2009@10:14AM | comments removed/disabled

Not much happened this past week in Rush-land but I do have several random Rush bits to share. So let's get to it!

Earlier this week we learned that the release of Rush's upcoming Retrospective 3 Atlantic era greatest hits package has been delayed once again. The release date is now set for March 3rd. Online retailers such as Amazon have already updated the release date on their websites.

RushCon 9 will remain in Toronto, Ontario and take place sometime in late July. The organizers had tossed around the idea of an alternate location this go-around, but ultimately settled on Toronto where the convention has taken place since its inception back in 2000. More details will be forthcoming in the near future.

The Snakes & Arrows DVD is climbing back up the Billboard Top Music Video chart. In its 6th week of release it's moved up to the #2 spot from its #6 position last week. RushOzFan has a bit of bad news for Australia fans regarding the Australian release of the DVD. It apparently will be released by Shock Records and for reasons unknown it will not contain the Atlanta bonus disc. I haven't been able to independently verify this though. More as I learn it.

Former Coney Hatch bassist and current Anthem representative Andy Curran was recently a guest on Q104 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Reader Paul H was lucky enough to catch the interview and had a report for us. Andy talked about his early days in Coney Hatch, being signed by Anthem and how he now works with Rush's manager Ray Daniels and helps promote Rush. He spoke about his history with Rush and his involvement on the road for the Snakes & Arrows tour, specifically the missed Halifax date. He described a meeting he was in with Ray and Geddy and how emphatic Geddy was about playing there; apparently Geddy was quite upset about it. Andy then mentioned that Halifax was on top of the list for the next tour. He even stated that the crew was reading the RIAB comments and relayed the sadness and disappointment regarding Halifax to the band and that it really helped get the point across. Cool!

I was deluged with emails about the fact that NBC used some Rush music during the 2nd quarter of the Colts-Chargers game this past Saturday night. Al Michaels was reviewing the Indianapolis Colts 2008 season while Limelight played in the background. Thanks to everybody who let me know about this.

Reader The B-Man let me know that The Sun of London recently published a list of the top 40 greatest rock vocalists. Geddy Lee made the list at #34. You can see the complete results at this link.

The UK's premier digital rock radio station Planet Rock recently released its end-of-year poll results and Rush's Snakes & Arrows Live was the #3 live album of the year while the Snakes & Arrows DVD was the #2 music dvd of 2008.

A couple of weeks ago we heard some news from the Southern Hemisphere regarding a possible Rush mini-tour of South America. Suffice it to say that I was a bit skeptical, as were many other fans. We've been hearing rumors of a South American tour for over 2 years now and nothing has happened. So reader remistofeles decided to get in touch with the original source of the rumor, Chilean journalist Claudio Vergara S., for a little clarification. He confirmed that Chilean TV station Canal 13 was the driving force behind the effort to bring Rush to South America and that negotiations with Live Nation were ongoing. It sounds as if everyone is on board at this point except the most important participants - Rush. :) I think I'll remain skeptical for the time being.

Word on the street is that Geddy Lee recently purchased a vintage 1974 Fender Jazz Bass from a music store in Arlington, VA. Cool.

American alternative country band, The Gourds, have paid homage to our favorite bass player on their most recent album Haymaker!. One line of the track Shreveport goes as follows: Midnight drive down on Jewella Road ... Looks like it's gonna be just me and Geddy Lee tonight.

Ridgefield, Connecticut is home to pre-teen rockers Tailpipe. The band, which consists of 4 boys between the ages of 9 and 12, was recently featured in a Ridgefield Press article titled 11-year-olds play their way to stardom. Not surprisingly, drummer Chris is a Neil Peart fan. From the article:

... Chris has been drumming on everything, including pots, tables and limbs since he was a little kid, his father said. He's been a part of Tailpipe for about two years. To his father's delight, Chris named drummer Neil Peart of the band Rush as one of his main musical influences. ...

Reader GoldenRushFan was recently looking into a Disney vacation for his family and stumbled across this website for Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort which states the following in its description:

The 2,112 Guest rooms are arranged into 5 villages-Trinidad, Martinique, Barbados, Aruba and Jamaica-spread over 200 lushly landscaped acres.

I wonder if there's a room number 2112 too? :)

Back in July I mentioned the formation of a Rush-themed fantasy football league. Reader and participant MikeD gave me a rundown of how the season went. Apparently Why Why Zed defeated Busy Little Creatures to win the Larger Super Bowl (get it?).

Zu Audio sells loudspeaker and cable products for musicians including an interconnect called the GEDE - named after ... Geddy Lee of course! Thanks to Glenn A for the heads up.

Reader Rich2112 sent me a really cool picture of a red Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta with a big white number 212 on the side. Add another 1 in there and a starman logo on the hood and you'd have the ultimate Rush-mobile. :)

Scott K noticed this definition of Rush which is contained in the online Urban Dictionary:

One of the greatest progressive rocks bands of all time. The lyrics are superb, and the magnificent bass, drum, and guitar playing hold the music together, completed with Geddy Lee's unique vocal style.

Listening to Rush is a reminder of how great my taste in music is.

I particularly like the example sentence.

Rush's 3rd live album A Show of Hands celebrates its 20th anniversary tomorrow. So I thought I'd leave you with this video of YYZ / The Rhythm Method from the A Show of Hands DVD:

Have a great weekend everybody!

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