UPDATE - 6/7@12:57PM: Caravan has debuted at #26 on the Mediabase Rock Chart. Please call your local rock stations and request the song so we can push it even higher.
UPDATE - 6/4@9:39PM: Ticketmaster has finally e-mailed out the redemption instructions for the VIP pre-sales packages. They give you a redemption code and a link where you enter the code, your t-shirt size and address. They indicate that the packages will be sent out shortly after the DVD release on June 29th.
The news of the past week was dominated by Tuesday's digital release of Rush's Caravan single along with its B-side BU2B. The songs can be purchased separately or as a bundle which includes a PDF of the liner notes and lyrics. The songs have been selling very well and have been appearing at the top or near the top of both the iTunes and Amazon best-selling mp3 lists. The songs have also been getting a good amount of radio airplay and I imagine we'll see one or both of them on the rock radio charts next week. The Rush.com website has revamped its look and feel with the new Caravan and BU2B graphics/music as well. With the release also come the inevitable reviews, most of which are very good so far. There's this 8 out of 10 review from metal site Hellbound.com (thanks kevin), this one from Consequence of Sound, this review from Eschewing the Plain (thanks kevin), and this review from MusicRadar.com (thanks RushFanForever) kicks off with this paragraph:
Rush have issued two tracks, Caravan and BU2B, from their upcoming album, Clockwork Angels, on iTunes. And if this pair of aces is any indication of what we can expect from the Nick Raskulinecz-produced disc (recorded in Nashville, no less!), it's going to be one of their strongest efforts in years. ...
Agreed! In addition to being produced by Nick Raskulinecz, the songs were mixed/engineered by Rich Chycki who recently wrote about the experience in his blog complete with a couple of great photos. This one's for the gearheads:
... Blackbird is one of the best equipped studios there is. We had a pretty maxxed drum mic and guitar amp setup. I have Neil’s kit loaded with tube mics – Tube 67s on all toms and ELAM 251’s for overheads and surround rooms, plus a pair of M50’s way up in the air.
We had a healthy selection of amps on hand, all fed with my latest toy — a Radial JD7 guitar splitter. Very clean. Amps onhand included a prototype Hughes & Kettner Core Blade, an Orange OR80, a HiWatt 100 Reeves, a 100 watt Marshall Super Lead, a JCM800, a Marshall 2555 (the non-grey Jubilee head),a Bogner Ubershall head, and an incredible 30 watt HiWatt head. I’ve never seen this particular model before and it sounded so sweet!
Once we had completed tracking, we took the tracks over to the Sound Kitchen just outside Nashville where I once again went analog for this mix session; this time I opted to use my old friend, the SSL G+. I hope everyone enjoys the new tunes. The guys are definitely firing on all cylinders!! ...
Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
Now that the 2 new tracks have been released most of us have had a chance to listen to them at least a few times (or a few hundred times!). So I thought that for my next poll I'd ask everyone which of the two songs they like better. Take the Poll and let us know.
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were interviewed for CTV's Canada AM this past Wednesday morning. The interview focused mostly on the Rush documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage and you can check it out at this link. There were also a couple of print interviews with Geddy and Alex also dealing with the documentary that appeared in the Toronto Sun over the holiday weekend. There's this one titled Rush film follows band's evolution, and this one titled Rush riding pop culture wave. And Chud.com weighed in this week with an 8 out of 10 review of the film (thanks Mars). The documentary's US distributors D&E Entertainment are also running a contest sponsored by Gibson Epiphone where they are giving away 10 limited edition signed Gibson Epiphone Les Paul guitars. For all the details on how to enter go to this link. The film's Canadian distributors have teamed up with HMV to run a separate contest for Canadian residents where you can win tickets to a Rush concert and copies of the DVD. For all the details on this contest click here (thanks thedigitalman).
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage will be released to theaters across North America and Europe next week. The distributors continue to add cities/theaters due to high demand. A list of US cities/theaters can be seen here, a list of Canadian cities/theaters are at this location, and European release information can be found here. One of the first of these theatrical showings will occur at the Regent Theater in Arlington, MA this coming Sunday, June 6th where Donna Halper will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions. Donna was recently interviewed about the documentary (which she appears in multiple times) for The Arlington Advocate:
.... I’m very honored to do [the film]... I have a long history with the band. Sometimes, I’m amazed that we are still friends. I’m in the music industry for many years, and I’ve done a lot of favors for a lot of bands - I was a music director, so my job was to get them airplay, and I did that for hundreds of bands - but this is the only occasion where the band continues to acknowledge me.
In my early days working with the band, I was like a big sister to them. But now, they have gold and platinum albums, and they are millionaires – and yet that link is still there. ...
You can read the entire interview at this link. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up. The documentary will be released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 29th in the US/Canada and July 5th in the UK. It will get its television premiere on VH1 and VH1 Classic on June 26th. You can check out all the coverage of the documentary's world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival including photos, videos, reviews, interviews and news articles in this post; for Canadian premiere coverage at Hot Docs see this post. To listen to Geddy and Alex discuss the documentary on the radio interview circuit check out this post, and go here for their CNN interview. The official trailer for the film can be viewed at this link along with these 2 preview clips.
Rush's Time Machine tour kicks off in less than a month on June 29th in Albuquerque, NM. Since early this year I've been hearing reports that Rush would be including South American dates on the tour with my latest information saying 5 dates in mid-October. Last weekend Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported that the band has indeed been booked to play the National Stadium in Santiago, Chile sometime in mid-October. The exact date is still to be determined subject to a couple of Brazilian dates first being finalized. The article also addresses all the false alarms in recent years regarding Rush playing South America, but seem more sure about things this time. You can read the entire article in Spanish at this link and see a Google translation at this link. There hasn't been any official word yet from the band regarding a South American leg. In other tour-related news, we learned yesterday that Geddy Lee is now endorsing Orange bass amplifiers and will be using them on the upcoming tour. And some folks have finally started to receive their Music Today t-shirts!
Earlier this week we learned that Rush's legal team had asked the Rand Paul Senate campaign to stop using Rush's music at campaign rallies and in campaign videos. One web video that used Tom Sawyer has already had its audio track disabled. Reader mogulman let me know that political blog Talking Points Memo posted an article about the controversy yesterday that is riddled with Rush puns:
... Paul, who has quickly stepped into the limelight, used the Rush song "Tom Sawyer" in a Web video, and his campaign has also played "The Spirit of Radio" at a rally. In a far cry from the conservative Paul's discussion of protecting private property rights, his campaign actually used the libertarian-minded band's intellectual property without permission, attracting a letter from the band's lawyer for his attempt to get something for nothing. ...
There was a short interview with Geddy Lee in Satuday's National Post where Geddy talks a bit about Rush merchandise. You can check it out at this link.
A couple of Fridays back Neil Peart posted a news update to his website at NeilPeart.net. In this latest update he posted a few old photos of himself, giving some background on each one. A couple of the photos showed Neil playing in one of his first bands - JR Flood - and he makes some remarks about the Rogers kit he was using:
... Looking at this particular image can send me off in so many directions. My eyes go straight to those drums, the first good set I ever owned: gray ripple Rogers. Not long after that photo was taken, I stripped them down to the bare shells in my bedroom, painstakingly disassembling all of the hardware, and covered the gray ripple wrap with “chrome” wallpaper, to emulate Keith Moon’s Tommy kit. .... Happily, the Rogers are still in the possession of my friend Brad, who has restored them beautifully, stripping off the cheesy chrome wallpaper to reveal the classic gray ripple finish. A couple of years back I had the opportunity to play them again, in Brad’s basement, with him playing guitar, and we had a fine time. ...
Reader AlexFan is a friend of Brad's and generously shared this photo of the Rogers kit in its current state in Brad's basement. Very cool.
Last year we learned about a new TV venture from The Trailer Park Boys with a working title of The Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour. The show was greenlit last November for six episodes that will air on Showcase in Canada. Alex Lifeson was initially slated to appear on the show as a mad scientist character but according to this Chronicle Herald article he is no longer involved with the show:
... Written and produced by its stars, The Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour is inspired by the dark and edgy troupe comedy of shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The League of Gentlemen, with the trio playing 24 characters over the course of the series. The cast also includes guest stars Maury Chaykin as the mad scientist (a role originally pitched to Rush guitarist and Trailer Park Boys fan Alex Lifeson) and actor Jay Baruchel, star of the recent Canadian comedy The Trotsky. Trailer Park Boys alumni Pat Roach and John Dunsworth will also appear in guest roles. ...
Too bad. I think Big Al would have been perfect for the role! My guess is that he just couldn't fit it into his busy schedule over the next year. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
Guitar World magazine has put out a special Guitar Legends issue celebrating the magazine's 30th anniversary. The issue features The 30 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Heroes including our own Alex Lifeson. You can purchase the magazine at this link. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
In honor of Memorial Day last weekend, Spinner.com compiled a list of Songs About the Dearly Departed which included Rush's Afterimage. Here's what they said:
A song about dealing with the loss of a friend, this tune was dedicated to Robbie Whelan, who died in a 1983 car accident en route to the recording studio. Whelan, an assistant recording engineer, had worked on several early Rush albums. Later, drummer Neil Peart would use the 1984 song's opening lyrics -- "Suddenly you were gone from all the lives you left your mark upon" -- as a dedication to his late wife and late daughter in his memoir 'Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road.'
Thanks to Joe C for the heads up.
Reader tomsawyer912 let me know that Rush's Tom Sawyer came in at #17 on the Top 500 Countdown at Baltimore's 100.7 FM over the holiday weekend.
Reader Perry M let me know about this online poll at The Province asking readers what their favorite Canadian song is. Rush's Tom Sawyer is one of the options. You can go vote for it at this link.
Chris McDonald's academic study of Rush - Rush, Rock Music and the Middle Class: Dreaming in Middletown - was recently reviewed by Canadian music/culture critic Carl Wilson. You can read the review at this link and purchase Chris's book at this link. Thanks to Tough Soul for the heads up.
In the latest installment of his music discovery podcast and blog Bands Like Rush, Ben Sommer talks to bassist/vocalist Carl Shultz of progressive rock band Elf Project. Ben talks with Carl about how Elf Project evolved out of a Rush tribute band and how he gets his amazing bass sound – modeled faithfully after Geddy Lee. If you listen to the podcast you can hear full-length versions of the tracks Serene and Lessons from their latest album Mirage. To find out more about the band check out their website at this link. You can read the entire interview or listen to the podcast at this link.
In anticipation of next week's theatrical run of the Rush documentary, here - once again - is the awesome trailer for the film.
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!
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