The Rush tour machine appears to be slowly coming to life once again. Rush met sometime in November for a band meeting to discuss their plans for the upcoming year. In the wake of this meeting, Geddy Lee was a special guest at the 25th annual Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) Miracle Day charity event in early December. According to fan reports, at the event Geddy was asked about Rush's plans for an album/tour and replied that Rush plans on entering the studio very, very soon and are hoping to then tour this summer. Since Geddy's comments were made, I've also heard some anonymous reports that a couple members of the Rush road crew have been casually contacted regarding the possibility of going out on tour next year. Adding fuel to the fire, several major radio stations (Chicago's WLUP, Boston's WZLX, Philadelphia's WYSP) have recently announced contests to promote the release of the Working Men live compilation where they are giving away tickets to Rush's next tour. And just yesterday we learned that the biggest FM radio station in Buenos Aires (FM Rock & Pop) reported earlier this week that a major local booking agency is working on bringing Rush to Argentina for the next tour. This all jibes with reports I've been hearing from inside sources that the band is currently in the process of nailing down dates for a 2010 tour to start in the late Spring, focusing particularly on first getting to places they missed on the last tour - like South America. We should be getting some kind of official announcement early next year. Start saving your pennies! Now the big question is what type of studio release will we see from the band and when.
The Blu-ray version of R30 which contains the complete September 24, 2004 show from Frankfurt, Germany was released a couple of weeks back. The blu-ray version contains all 22 of the tracks included with the original DVD release along with the 8 missing tracks; Bravado, YYZ, The Trees, One Little Victory, Secret Touch, Red Sector A, La Villa Strangiato and By-Tor and the Snow Dog. Unfortunately the blu-ray version does not contain the bonus disc that was included with the original DVD release despite the fact that some retailers mistakenly shipped the item with a sticker stating extensive bonus materials include interviews and rare performance footage. And although there are currently no plans for a European release, Rounder has confirmed that the blu-ray is region-free. If you haven't already ordered your copy, you can do so at this link.
The DarkStar interactive video game which features the music of Rush will finally be seeing the light of day sometime next year. Final beta testing should wrap up in late January and the game is then set to release on PC and MAC in 2010, with console versions tentatively set to follow in late 2010 or possibly 2011. They are still working out a deal with Universal and Atlantic regarding the use of Rush's music, and are asking Rush fans to take a short survey to help speed the process along. To watch a short trailer and take the survey go to this link.
Neil Peart made several recent updates to the Bubba's Bar -n- Grill section of NeilPeart.net. He added a section for turkey recipes and a few more items to the official Bubba's Bar -n- Grill merchandise store at BubbaWares.com; a black and white bowling shirt, a pink bowling shirt, a refrigerator magnet and a hockey jersey. On a related note, one thing I had missed regarding Neil's website was that he updated his background music to go with the theme of his latest news update; Autumn Serenade - a solo warm-up recorded at DW this past November (thanks between2wheels).
A couple of weeks ago Neil Peart recorded a new drum-centric version of The Hockey Theme for The Sports Network (TSN). You can watch a sneak peak of the recording session at this link. He recorded the song on a custom drum kit created for him by DW Drums that featured the logos of all 30 NHL teams. The kit is described in detail in this Drum Workshop article along with an accompanying photo gallery. There's also this article from Sabian's Chris Stankee describing the session which also has an accompanying photo gallery. And RushFanForever located this Flickr gallery of photos from the session. As I'd mentioned above, The Bubba's Bar -n- Grill hockey jersey that Neil is wearing in the preview video is now available for pre-order at Bubbawares.com.
The inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced earlier this week. We already knew that Rush was not one of the nominees, so many Rush fans were rooting for prog-to-pop rockers Genesis or former Rush tourmates KISS (and many Rush fans could not care less). KISS did not end up making the cut but Genesis did, which bodes well for Rush's future chances. On a related subject, Robert Trujillo of 2009 Rock Hall inductee Metallica was recently interviewed by Jon Matsumoto for Mercury News and had the following to say:
... Trujillo says Metallica aims to help other overlooked heavy-metal and hard rock bands gain entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "The most important thing with our induction is to bring awareness to some of the other groups in the hard rock, metal realm," he says. "We've got (Black) Sabbath in the Hall of Fame. So let's bring awareness to bands like UFO and Rush and bands from other parts of the globe. It doesn't have to be centered around Britain or the U.S."
Metallica's Kirk Hammett mentioned Rush as his choice for induction back in January as did bandmate James Hetfield. Hetfield even went so far as to mention Rush in Metallica's Rock Hall acceptance speech earlier this year.
Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson recently penned an article for Sound & Vision Magazine where he lists 20 Albums That Deserve To Be In Surround Sound, one of which is Rush's Moving Pictures. Here's what he had to say about it:
One of my favorite bands at its very peak. Moving Pictures is that rare thing: a 40-minute album without a wasted note or even a weak moment. It was made with relative economy compared with some of the other albums on this list, yet the interplay between the three extraordinary musicians (and the tasteful integration of synthesizers) would be a blast in 5.1.
Steven Wilson is one of the leading proponents of music in surround and is currently remixing the entire King Crimson catalog in 5.1 with the full support of King Crimson founding member Robert Fripp who - along with Alex Lifeson - was a guest musician on Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet. There was also a rumor going around earlier this Fall that Wilson might be giving the same treatment to the Rush catalog and that Alex Lifeson is on board with it. I've not heard any update and/or confirmation regarding this. Thanks to robertrobyn at The Rush Forum for the heads up.
As I'd mentioned last week, Katy at online handcrafted jewelry store Between Sun & Moon is offering Free US Priority Mail shipping with any $30 purchase to rushisaband readers; just use discount code rushisaband. Get your orders in my the end of today to ensure delivery by Christmas! Even if that special lady in your life isn't a Rush fan she will be a fan of Rush inspired jewelry from Between Sun & Moon. I've given my wife (definitely not a Rush fan!) a couple of Katy's pieces and she absolutely loves them.
Several weeks ago we found out about a new documentary from filmmaker Paul Miil which explores the Niagara music scene of the late 60's and early 70's of which Neil Peart played a major part. It was released late last month and is titled The Big Story of Small Potatoes. Neil Peart was not interviewed for the documentary but Jimmy Johnson, who later became a guitar tech for Alex Lifeson, is interviewed. The film makes reference to several bands that Neil played in including JR Flood - which has a portion of their song Giant Killer (which Neil plays on) included on the soundtrack. The film's website also includes a list of several bands that Neil purportedly played with. Filmmaker Paul Miil wanted me to let everyone know that the film will premier this Sunday, December 20th at 2:30PM at The Golden Pheasant (244 Ontario St. St. Catharines) and admission is free. A surprise VIP will be attending the premier.
Reader RushFanForever recently located this photo of Geddy at Flickr. It's from an October gathering of WorldWide Pants Incorporated in Canada which is David Letterman's film production company. You can check out the photo at this link. I'm not sure who is in the picture with Geddy.
Season 7 of Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force kicked off this past Sunday, December 13th with a Christmas special titled A PE Christmas (episode #701). At one point in the episode Master Shake and Meatwad are in a studio recording a Christmas rap song and they ask the engineer to adjust the EQ, which he does. The conversation then goes like this:
Engineer: how's that?
Meatwad: You're not touching the board. You're just sorta looking at me.
Engineer: Yes - I'm controlling it with my feet.
Master Shake: Of course - like Geddy Lee!
You can watch the episode online at this link. The Rush reference occurs about 30 seconds into the 2nd clip. The show's creators are big Rush fans and have included Rush references in at least 2 other episodes; Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary (episode #214) and The Marines (episode #508). Neil Peart also made a cameo appearance in 2007's Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. Thanks to Anthony for the heads up.
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a UK game show with a pop and rock music theme. On two recent occasions one of the team captains wore a Rush t-shirt on the show (see the thumbnails). Thanks to Power Windows reader Dylan W for the heads up.
I'm not sure what was going on here, but on an episode of SportsCenter from a few weeks ago Jay Onrait makes his apparent hatred of Geddy Lee known by drawing a picture of himself punching Geddy Lee in the head. It looks like this is probably some kind of joke or taken out of context, but I'm really not sure. You can check out the video on YouTube at this link. Thanks to Simon T for the heads up.
Primal Wear - the makers of the Rush 2112 cycling jersey - have just added a Rush Fly by Night jersey to their line of cycling apparel. The jersey retails for $79.95 and you can check it out at this link. Thanks to Robo for the heads up.
Rush and their doubleneck guitars get a mention in this article at Premier Guitar Magazine titled Those Daring Young Men and Their Doubleneck Guitars: A Brief History of Multi-Neck Players:
Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush have both used doubleneck instruments onstage and in the studio. Lifeson's original EDS-1275 was broken by a falling speaker horn at a gig at Nassau Coliseum in the late 1970s, but was repaired and repainted afterward. Lifeson gave the guitar to Eric Johnson as a gift, but it was stolen within weeks. Lifeson has since replaced the 1275 with another that he has used only in rehearsals as of this writing.
Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
Speaking of doublenecks and to get us in the mood for a Rush tour, here's Xanadu from Exit ... Stage Left (a personal favorite of mine):
Happy Holidays everyone! Have a great weekend. Rush on!
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