Rush is headed back to the hometown this coming week to play the last of their 4-show residencies on their Fifty Something tour at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena, and this morning they announced that they'll be filming all four of those shows for a possible future concert film. From the Toronto Star:
... Geddy Lee commented: "It's always a hard decision as to where to film a live concert. Given the limited cities we are able to play, the demand for such a film has been off the charts, not only as a keepsake of their experience, but for those many fans that have not been able to see it live. Toronto being hometown made it a natural choice, and being the last mini-residency of four shows, playing over 40 songs which gives us the best chance to capture it all.
"We know there are fans traveling here from all across the globe and that will make it a special week," he continued. "This tour, being a celebration of our history and a tribute to [late RUSH drummer] Neil [Peart] has been an emotional outpouring from the fans and from us. They have been louder and prouder than ever before, and we hope to capture them letting their ya-yas out while rockin' their best 'Tom Sawyer' air drum fills!"
A representative for RUSH told the Toronto Star plans for the how the concert footage will be used is still being explored.
Lee's brother Allan Weinrib, a longtime RUSH collaborator, will oversee the concert footage, according to the Toronto Star, marking his directorial debut after years producing the band's projects, including the concert film "Rush: R40 Live". ...
Singer Aimee Mann performed backup on Time Stand Still for all 4 LA shows, and following the show she mentioned in an interview that she'd likely be doing some more shows - particularly in Cleveland where she said the band had planned on doing some filming. That might have been the original plan, but apparently no longer, and this likely means Aimee Mann will be on hand for at least one of the Toronto shows in order to capture her performance on film. Here's a short interview snippet from Q107 with Alex Lifeson giving a few more details:
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in partnership with RushCon will be celebrating the return of Rush to Cleveland with a 4-day fan event. Rush the Rock Hall will take place during Rush's 2-show run at Cleveland's Rocket Arena from Thursday, September 17th through Sunday, September 20th. ...
The CBC has announced the release of a documentary honoring the late Neil Peart titled "No One's Disciple" that will air on September 23rd as part of the documentary series "The Passionate Eye" ...
Toronto's iconic Long & McQuade music store has just announced an Anika Nilles signing event for this coming Saturday, August 8th between the first 2 Toronto Rush shows ...
Friday Rush updates! Rush opens up their NYC run at Madison Square Garden, LE 2112 50th anniversary liquid vinyl edition for NYC shows, multiple Rush events for Toronto next week, "Tom Sawyer" in the trailer for Amazon's Reacher Season 4, and more ...
Today is Geddy Lee's 73rd birthday and also the 52nd anniversary of Neil Peart joining Rush. Happy birthday Geddy!!
