We're down to the final week of the Snakes & Arrows tour; only 4 more dates to go! Rush will head south to play Bristow, Charlotte and Alpharetta in the coming days, and then on to Indianapolis to close out the tour. I now have tour attendance figures for nearly all the dates through the July 7th Mohegan Sun show (I'm just missing the 4 Western Canada dates and Milwaukee). You can check out all the details in this post or over in the tour section. We also learned last week that Pollstar ranked the Rush tour as the 12th highest grossing of 2008 thus far. Attendance has definitely picked up since the summer started.
One tour-related tidbit that I'd forgotten to mention in last week's update was that some 3-D Cameras were spotted at last Wednesday's show in Toronto. According to this thread at Counterparts a company called 3-D Camera Company had approached Rush about field-testing some new 3-D cameras at this show and Rush was allowing them access. Apparently the cameras were utilized during Far Cry, The Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer, and YYZ. There was no immediate word as to if or when the footage would see the light of day though. Reader Chris S sent me a couple pics of the cameras which you can check out by clicking the above thumbnails.
The big news of the week was - of course - Rush's live performance on the Colbert Report Wednesday night; their first US television appearance since 1975. The last time they were on American TV was back in 1975 on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert where they played Finding My Way, In The Mood and Best I Can. Also notable was the fact that all 3 band members were interviewed together by Stephen Colbert before their performance. I can't remember the last time that happened. If you haven't watched it yet you can view it at the Comedy Central website, over at YouTube or at RedLasso. It's apparently available for purchase on iTunes too. You can also check out the thumbnail images above courtesy The Diesel and several other great behind-the-scenes pics were taken by Rush roadie Jack Secret and posted up on Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section in a gallery called Jack Secret Presents... .
The interview that Stephen Colbert did with all 3 members of the band Wednesday night was absolutely hilarious (watch it here). So for my poll this week I thought I'd ask everyone which question from the interview was your favorite. Take the poll and let us know.
In my last poll I asked everyone what they thought about Rush's heavy involvement with the Rock Band video game as of late. The vast majority (about 3/4) of you thought it was really cool and great for the band while another 11% thought it was sorta cool. About 10% were either indifferent or couldn't care less, and a mere 4% said that it was stupid.
Speaking of Rush and Rock Band, I had a few updates to report on that front earlier in the week. Rock Band 2 will definitely include Rush's The Trees as one of the featured tracks, and the New York Times ran a story on the game last week which mentioned Rush and contained some quotes from Anthem's Andy Curran. You can also now listen to the alternate master track of Working Man for the game at this YouTube link. Also on the Rock Band 2 subject, reader DarrenL pointed me to this Rush Rock Band 2 wish list at IGN.com. The authors discuss the 10 Rush tracks that we'd damn near kill to have featured on Rock Band 2. The list: In The Mood, Fly By Night, Freewill, New World Man, Red Barchetta, The Spirit of Radio, Territories, The Body Electric, Bastille Day, and A Passage to Bangkok. I'm all for it. :)
And don't forget that I've teamed up with Atlantic Records to help promote a Rush + Rock Band online sweepstakes that they are running where you could win a prize pack including a Rock Band Special Edition game, a signed Rush lithograph, a Rush t-shirt, Snakes & Arrows and Snakes & Arrows Live! The contest runs through July 21st and you can visit this page to enter. Rush and Rock Band are also teaming up with ClearChannel.com to offer a similar contest which you can enter at this link.
Last week I let you know that Rush and several other top musical artists including Sting, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Alanis Morissette and Moby will be featured on an album titled, Songs for Tibet - The Art of Peace. The album is an expression of peace and support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama and was produced by former Rush producer Rupert Hine (Presto, Roll the Bones). It can be pre-ordered at Amazon at this link.
Wednesday I reported that this month's Live Design magazine contains an interview with Rush production designer and director Howard Ungerleider titled A Day In The Life. The article describes the Snakes & Arrows stage show in painstaking detail and Howard offers up some neat little anecdotes as well. Check it out here.
The August 2008 issue of the UK's Classic Rock magazine has Rush gracing the cover and includes a big 7-page feature on the band. The cover tagline reads Rush. Surviving tragedy. Defying fashion. Rock's uncoolest band take on the world. Again. Thanks to Gaumont77 for the heads up and the cover shot.
Be sure to check out all the new Rush oddities and rarities from MitA that I posted earlier today.
Reader snowdog987 alerted me to a list of the Top 25 AOR (album-oriented rock) bands of the 1970s and 80s over at Yahoo's Music Blog. Rush made the list coming in at #5. Here's what they said:
One of the most critically dismissed bands of all-time, mostly because drummer Neil Peart wrote painfully serious lyrics that scanned like they came from a sociology textbook that were then delivered by a singer who sounded like Daffy Duck shrieking on helium. Rush were actually very good at what they do--and over 30 years later sound better than just about any hard rock band that has emerged in their wake. What to make of that?
Reader and photographer Richard Pecjak made this really impressive photo collage of the Red Rocks show. You can check it out by clicking the thumbnail to your right. If anyone wants a higher-res version, let me know.
Here's a humorous blog post from life coach Tripp Lanier where he discusses shame and how it relates to his being a huge Rush fan. Check it out here. Thanks to HankMadison for the link.
Reader Lance the Shred is at it again. He's created another tribute video to the readers of RushIsABand.com. In this one he gives a shout-out to all the regular RIAB peeps and demonstrates his air-drumming prowess to the beat of Rush's Malignant Narcissism. Check it out here.
Reader Victor S wanted me to ask everyone to help support his friend and fellow Rush fan Matt Callow as he embarks on a bicycle journey from London to Paris next week to help raise money for charity. From Matt's website:
...this July I am cycling from London to Paris, and if that doesn't kill me I am sure that it will make me a little bit stronger, at least.
Having been the very grateful recipient of a couple of hip replacements in my early twenties, I am going to do this for two reasons:
Firstly, to show you what you can do after having bi-lateral hip replacements (even if you're a previously sedentary bloke in his (late...) 30's);
And
Secondly, to raise some much needed money for a phenomenal charity. Action Medical Research does some incredible work, the positive results of which affect each and every one of us. Please take your time to have a look at their website and read about all of the areas that work in - I bet you know at least two people who have been directly affected by some of conditions that they are working on. ...
To sponsor Matt in his endeavor go to this link and for more information on Action Medical Research check out their website here. Good luck Matt!
In one of my updates from early last month I mentioned how Rush was selling 4GB flash drives at their shows which were preloaded with the R30 version of Red Sector A (which was not included on the R30 DVD) in multistream Quicktime format. I just located the video on YouTube which you can check out here. I've also included it below:
Have a great weekend everyone!
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