UPDATE - 3/16@1:41PM: Utah! Energy Solutions Arena Usana Amphitheater in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 27th (Friday). Not confirmed of course - but none of these are really.

My Friday updates are fast becoming a weekly tradition at rushisaband.com. I think it's a good idea so I'll continue the tradition. It's a good way to report any minor Rush-related news that may have slipped under the radar and to just summarize the week's happenings. A lot went on this week so there's a lot to summarize.

At the top of the list is Monday's pre-release of Far Cry on Rush.com. If you've been hiding under a rock for the last week and haven't heard it yet, then go give it a listen - it rocks. It is also available for purchase on most music sites including Napster, Sony Connect, Real.com , iTunes Canada and finally ... iTunes US (thanks to reader Gary M for the heads up). So if you are able and so inclined go purchase a copy if for no other reason than to support Rush. You also will want to check out these pics of the Far Cry single hard copy given to radio stations.

Geddy Lee is involved with an ESPN promotion for fantasy baseball and gave 2 interviews related to it; one video interview and one print interview (where he says that the new album is best work we have ever done). The promo involves the creation of a prog/glam rock band called Iron Diamond featured in this commercial and on this MySpace page.

And of course there's the upcoming tour. I've been posting any rumored dates that I hear about and here's the list of (all unconfirmed as of right now) dates I have.

Jun. 13 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheater
Jun. 15 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheater
Jun. 16 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheater @ Florida State Fairgrounds
Jun. 19 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jun. 27 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center
Jun. 29 - Scranton PA @ Montage Mountain
Jun. 30 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Jul. 02 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheater
Jul. 04 - Darien Lake, NY @ Six Flags
Jul. 07 - Homdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center
Jul. 09 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Jul. 27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Usana Amphitheater
Jul. 28 - Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
Aug. 04 - Marysville, Ca @ Sleep Train Amphitheater
Aug. 08 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Aug. 10 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Center
Sep. 01 - Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Sep. 12 - London, ON @ John Labatt Centre in London, ON
Oct. 03 - Glasgow, UK @ SECC Arena
Oct. 05 - Newcastle, UK @ Newcastle Metro Arena
Oct. 16 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Ahoy' Rotterdam
Oct. 17 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Ahoy' Rotterdam
Oct. 19 - Oberhausen, Germany @ Oberhausen, Germany
Oct. 21 - Mannheim, Germany @ SAP-Arena

Hopefully Rush will release the full schedule on Monday.

In other news, you only have a few hours left to purchase your very own Leggo Geddy action figure on eBay. Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the release of Bob and Doug McKenzie's Great White North album where Geddy performed on the track Take Off. Don't forget to vote for Rush in 97 Rock's March Bandness competition. 29 Years ago today, the Archives compilation package which combined Rush's first three albums, was released. Tomorrow marks the 27th anniversary of Permanent Waves being certified Gold. Happy Friday everybody! It's a great time to be a Rush fan.

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