The Rheostatics officially released their new album The Great Lakes Suite featuring Rush's Alex Lifeson this past Friday, and also hosted a pair of SOLD OUT shows at TD Music Hall in Toronto where they performed the album live. From last month's release announcement:

... The album celebrates the influential band's incredible 45-year anniversary, and features 18 tracks of primarily improvised music and spoken word, performed by longtime members Dave Bidini, Dave Clark, Don Kerr, and Tim Vesely, with newer additions Kevin Hearn and Hugh Marsh, alongside legendary guitarist Alex Lifeson. ... Recorded over two spontaneous sessions in Toronto, The Great Lakes Suite features an impressive roster of talented and award-winning collaborators: Inuk throat singer, songwriter, and novelist Tanya Tagaq; musician and filmmaker Laurie Anderson; poet and storyteller Chief Stacey LaForme; poet and essayist Anne Carson; poet Liz Howard, fiddler and singer Kendel Carson, singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne (Envy of None) and renowned singer-songwriter and activist, the late Gord Downie. ...

From all accounts the band put on two impressive performances, and several photos and videos are available online, including this video with several highlights from the show and this one featuring Alex on Mishipeshu/The Drop Off. The band also broke out a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which fit in nicely with the album's theme. John at Cygnus-X1.net has posted a gallery of photos from both shows which you can check out here. Here's a Billboard article discussing the album with some interview snippets from the band, including Alex Lifeson, who says the following:

... "I have been getting together with the guys occasionally over the years to play for the joy of it," he notes. "There is no mystery or much forethought in approach; the freedom to play whatever your brain convinces your fingers to do is the charm of this project. I give no thought to the end result, only to the moment. This was an entirely organic experience." ... "There are no rules or expectations," Lifeson - who also mixed one track, "Lake Michigan Triangle," featuring [Maiah] Wynne - says of The Great Lakes Suite sessions. "Everyone arrives, has a hug and sets up their gear. As soon as you're set up and making noise, you play. Rush and Envy of None are different recording requirements that demand more traditional studio approaches." ...

Both Dave Bidini and Kevin Hearn appeared on CP24 Wednesday morning to discuss the album, and Hearn had the following to say regarding working with Alex Lifeson:

... Working with Alex was amazing. He was kinda like an older brother in a way - just seeing him work. He was playing a lot of acoustic guitar on this record, which is an aspect of his playing that I'd never really heard before. So that was really cool. ...

The entire album is now available on all streaming platforms, along with a double-vinyl release here and in record stores.

Just like Rush themselves, the preeminent Rush fan gathering, RushCon, will be returning for 2026 after a decade-long hiatus. RushCon 2026 will take place in its traditional home of Toronto next summer over the weekend of August 7-9, coinciding with the band's hometown tour stops. From RushCon.org:

RushCon is returning to Toronto for an unforgettable celebration of the band's new tour, and we're pulling out all the stops. For 25 years, RushCon has been the premier gathering for Rush fans worldwide, and 2026 will be our biggest, most special convention yet.

Whether you've seen Rush 50+ times, you're catching your first live show on this tour, or you simply want a fun place to hang out with fellow fans, you are welcome here.

This weekend is built for you.

We have three full days of Rush-themed events, community, music, and once-in-a-lifetime moments planned.

The festivities will begin Friday evening with a welcome party and pre-show hangout at The Loose Moose. The main event will take place on Saturday at The El Mocambo with games, contests, guest speakers (author Kevin J. Anderson is already confirmed), and more, along with a Sunset Boat Cruise in the Toronto Harbor in the evening. Sunday will include a closing party and pre-show hangout at Henderson Brewing. You can get all the details and purchase tickets at RushCon.org. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to learn more about what RushCon is all about by taking a look at this video from the Time Stand Still documentary which profiles the last big RushCon event back in 2015, and introduces RushCon creative director Jillian Maryonovich.

Ticket prices were a hot topic of conversation among Rush fans during last month's Rush Fifty Something tour sales, and in the latest episode of the Something for Nothing podcast, hosts Steve and Gerry try to get a handle on the situation by chatting with Dean Budnick, co-author of the book Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How The Public Got Scalped. Dean discusses the beginnings of Ticketmaster, how they became the juggernaut they are, and what the future holds for concert goers. You can check out the episode below or wherever you get your podcasts:

Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan was a recent guest on the Track Star* YouTube channel (thanks Thomas P), where they test out his musical knowledge by playing him a track and he has to guess the band. At around the 7:30 mark they play him a snippet of Rush's Limelight (he guessed it easily of course), which leads into a discussion about the band:

... One of the greatest bands of all time. Happy to see they're gonna go out and play again. I think it's really cool. Obviously they've been through a loss with their bandmate, but I think it's perfect that they're finally gonna go back out and play. There is so much love for them I can't even imagine the emotion that's going to be in the room when they start playing again. ...

A recent episode of the Mystery Treehouse YouTube channel focused on the history of the synthesizer, and at one point when trying to explain the underlying science behind how they work, the host makes a joke about Rush's Tom Sawyer as seen in this vid around the 8-minute mark (thanks Asif K).

Former Decrepit Birth drummer Samus Paulicelli runs a YouTube channel under the name 66Samus, and this past week he shared a new video featuring his performance of Rush's YYZ, as described in this Bravewords.com article. You can check out the video on YouTube here.

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!!