UPDATE - 9/13@5:35PM: Here's a bootleg video of Alex at the Suck after party at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto. He joined the band Burning Brides onstage for the song Flesh and Bone which appears on the movie's soundtrack (thanks RushFanForever).
UPDATE - 9/12@8:40AM: Here are some photos of Alex from the Suck premier last night (thanks RushFanForever). [photo 1] [photo 2] [photo 3]
Stealing the Rush news spotlight this past week was Neil Peart's new baby daughter Olivia Louise. Neil posted a news update to his website earlier this week detailing the months leading up to Olivia's birth on August 12th and included a beautiful baby picture. To read this very touching update and to check out the full-res baby picture go to this link. In other Neil Peart news, our favorite drummer turns 57 tomorrow. Happy birthday Neil!
The only other significant piece of news was Alex Lifeson's appearance on the Dean Blundell morning show on 102.1 The Edge in Toronto Wednesday morning to talk about his cameo in the vampire/comedy flick Suck. Alex plays a border officer in the film. You can listen to the podcast of the interview at this link or in this post. Reader RushFanForever located this NOW magazine article about the film which mentions Lerxst:
... In addition to Pop, Stefaniuk found room for Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins, Moby, Carole Pope and Rush's Alex Lifeson (pictured, right). Moby's the only one of the bunch who sings. Stefaniuk talked the avid vegan into playing the frontman for a band of Buff alo gore rockers called the Secretaries of Steak.
"I liked having actors playing musicians, and musicians being actors," Stefaniuk explains.
"I thought it was really fun to put Henry Rollins in a mullet. I thought it was fun to have Moby play a tough guy. Both Iggy and Alice gave, I think, sophisticated performances. Alex Lifeson should just fuckin' quit Rush and be an actor, he's so funny. He did all these little things, like playing with the typewriter and other subtle things that were so funny. I kept saying,
'Dude, be an actor!'"
The movie will premier at the Toronto International Film Festival this evening at 9:30PM at the Varsity 8 Theater.
Speaking of the Toronto International Film Festival, a month ago I let you know about the City Sonic Project - a collaboration between Toronto documentary film companies White Pine Pictures and Kensington Communications. The project pairs Canadian music artists with award-winning Canadian filmmakers to create short documentary films about the artists' connection to places where their musical lives were transformed. One of the 13 short films pairs Geddy Lee with director Bruce McDonald. Geddy is followed as he takes viewers on a tour inside the legendary Massey Hall (where All the World's a Stage was recorded). All 13 films will have their world premier as part of the Toronto International Film Festival's TIFF in Concert program at Yonge and Dundas Square. Geddy Lee at Massey Hall will screen this coming Sunday, September 13th at 12PM. To view a bunch of great production stills from the film, check out this Flickr photo gallery slideshow (thanks RushFanForever).
Back in a Friday updates post this past April I let you know that Canadian hard rockers Helix would be playing a benefit concert for the S.P.C.A. (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) this weekend. There actually will be 2 shows, one Friday night in Strathroy, ON at The Portuguese Club and one Saturday night at the Edleweiss Tavern in Kitchener, ON. Prior to the Saturday show there will be will be an auction of various items donated by fellow rockers including a signed Rush lithograph.
Also on the subject of charity auctions, a 2001 Fender Precision bass guitar autographed by Geddy Lee and several other prominent artists was recently put up for auction to raise money for Deftones bassist Chi Cheng. Cheng was gravely injured in a Northern California car crash 10 months ago and remains in a semi-conscious state. His insurance company stopped his coverage last January and to help cover his expenses his friends and family started a fundraising website called One Love for Chi. The auction has since ended, but for more information on how to donate to the fund, visit the website at this link. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
A few of weeks ago I told you about a couple of documentaries exploring the Canadian music scene in the '70s and '80s that would be running on the CBC. The first documentary titled This Beat Goes On finished last Thursday. Reader RushFanForever watched the entire first documentary and part 1 of the second, and gave us a detailed report regarding all the Rush bits which I've added as an update to my original post. The series finishes up next Thursday with part 2 of Rise Up.
This article at PopMatters.com talks about digitally downsizing your music collection and mentions Rush's 2112 as one of those albums ... you just don't touch as they exist to be listened to as a whole, in order, with no omissions ... . I agree.
I found this recent article on the 93X ROCKS! website titled Weezer Stole From Metallica Who Stole From Rush.... It talks about how Weezer's 1994 song Undone - The Sweater Song has a riff that's virtually identical to the main riff in Metallica's Welcome Home - Sanitarium, which itself contains a tribute to Rush's Tom Sawyer (at around the 4:06 and 4:43 marks). Three degrees of riff-ripping I suppose. :)
Reader Ben from the Netherlands sent me a scan of this vintage Rush concert poster from an April 14, 1977 Rush show at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The Tim Wilkerson NHRA Racing team has a blog on the official NHRA website. Team manager Bob Wilber is a big Rush fan and in a recent blog post talked about his new Snakes & Arrows miniature drum kit:
.... Back here in Woodbury, despite how tired I was when we arrived home late last night, I was also ever so pumped to see a small box waiting for me on the kitchen island (Alexa, from next door, came over throughout the weekend to watch Da Boyce and get our mail). You may recall when, back in June, Barbara bought a set of fantastic mini- guitars for me, for my birthday. At the time, I firmly stated that if the company in question were to ever produce a miniature set of Neil Peart's drums, from any era Rush has gone through, I'd be the first in line to buy them.
Well, I don't know how close I was to the front of the line, but I went to their website as soon as I heard they had produced his "Snakes & Arrows" drum kit (most of it) and it arrived over the weekend. To be fair, it's actually just the front part of his fully-circular actual kit, which contains a second set of electronic drums behind him (the whole kit is on a riser that spins around when he plays the back kit, so that he's still facing the audience no matter which part of the enormous set-up he's banging away on) but that was still fine by me.
Earlier in this blog I mentioned that I'd been "messing around" for a bit of the day, today, and my first order of business was to unpack, assemble, and set up my cool new drum set. I rearranged a bookshelf just for this occasion, putting my Geddy Lee bass and Alex Lifeson guitar next to the drums, while carefully arranging the toms, snares, and cymbals into something close to the actual kit... It even came with a miniature set of sticks, foot pedals, and a stool... Too cool... Now, if I could just shrink myself down to about 1/24 scale, I could go to town trying to play "Far Cry" or "Workin' Them Angels" from the brilliant "Snakes & Arrows" album and tour...
He also included a few pics in the post which you can see by clicking on the thumbnails above. Thanks to mr.bravado for the heads up.
Reader nevetsrush let me know that the UK's Planet Rock Radio interviewed Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree and gave him a Prog Rock trivia quiz. One of the questions they asked him was to name the four sections of By-Tor and the Snow Dog. He got it partly right; it was a tough quiz. Here's the video link. Porcupine Tree's new album The Incident releases this coming Tuesday.
Charlie L let me know that metromix.com recently compiled a list of 14 bands that they think deserve their own Rock Band or Guitar Hero game and Rush made the cut. Here's what they have to say:
The Game: "Guitar Hero: Rush"
Why Them: Okay, clearly you haven't seen "I Love You, Man." Or "Orgasmo." Or "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters."
Why That Game: Because-as anyone who's played "YYZ" in "Guitar Hero 2" will tell you-Rush's virtuoso musicianship makes it perfect for this rockin' game.
Songs They'd Obviously Include: "Tom Sawyer," "Subdivisions" and "The Spirit of Radio."
Other Songs We'd Like Included: "Working Man," "Far Cry" and all 20 minutes and 38 seconds of "2112."
Possible Guest Stars: Aimee Mann, who sang on the song "Time Stand Still," and their friend, fan, and occasional tourmate Les Claypool of Primus.
LP DLC: "Moving Pictures"
Robert M let me know about a new book titled Music and Cancer: A Prescription for Healing which mentions Rush both in the Preface and later on page 194.
Back in May Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were guests on CBC Radio's Q with Jian Ghomeshi. You can watch a video of the entire interview in this post. The show's YouTube channel recently posted a couple of outtakes of Alex and Geddy recording some promo spots from the show (thanks DigitalMan745):
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend!
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