Inner Rush

A short documentary from the might National Film Board of Canada:

Rush receives Governor General Performing Arts Awards

OTTAWA—Their Excellencies the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Mrs. Sharon Johnston will present the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, on Friday, May 4, 2012, at 6 p.m. Their Excellencies will also attend the National Arts Centre gala in Ottawa, on Saturday, May 5, 2012, which will feature outstanding performances, evocative film portraits and personal tributes made by special guests.
This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards. Created in 1992, under the auspices of the late Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn, the GGPAA are presented each year to Canadian performers whose extraordinary lifetime achievements have contributed significantly to the enrichment of Canada’s cultural life.

There's a nice photo of the boys with their shiny news medals here

Congratulations to Rush for yet another honour--now if only the cretins at the Rock And Rock Hall of Fame would pull their heads out of their asses and catch up with the rest of the world....

Rush on CNN this morning.

CNN personality John "Don't call me "JD"" Roberts got to jam with Rush, doing a passable version of Limelight.  Way to go JD! Here's the video:

Rush + Steampunk = Sublime Awesomeness.

So I've finally running across pictures from Rush's current "Time Machine" tour (due to run 'til mid-October), and they are amazing. What's really impressive is how they've managed to incorporate the steampunk vibe into the entire visual presentation, from the video, to Neil Peart's drumset and Alex Lifeson's speaker cabinets.

As a guy who likes Hammer movies and Blade Runner in equal measure, there's something about Steampunk (and it's lesser known offspring, Dieselpunk) that has always appealled to me aesthecially. Combining as it does the warmth and beauty of the "traditional" (wood, brass, leather, clockwork gears) with cool, futuristic geekiness, I can really see how it fits in with Rush, a band with both a long history and a vibrant present. Moving Pictures (performed in it's entirely this tour) is the perfect embodiment of this--an album that is legitimately considered "classic", but yet sounds as fresh as if it was recording a couple of years ago. How many albums can truly make that claim.

Sabian Cymbals has an excellent article about the creation of the stunning cymbals used by Neil on this tour. Even non-drummers will find this fascinating, and the pictures are wonderful.

Tandem Digital not only did some of the video for the tour (clips on their site) but also created a CG prototype for Neil's drum set and riser. This article not only provides a fascinating insight into the process, but there's also a beautiful picture of the real thing!

Also, check out this video showing Alex Lifeson talking about his rig for the Time Machine tour: Check out the beautiful speaker cabs!

Rush raps U.S. politician over copyright

Canadian rock band Rush has sent a letter to Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul, saying his campaign is violating copyright laws by playing Rush music without permission.

Read more: CBC News - Music - Rush raps U.S. politician over copyright

New Rush, out Tuesday!

The new single from Rush, Caravan, comes out on Tuesday via a digital download on Amazon. A second track, BU2B, will also be available, and if you purchase both, there's a also a PDF booklet. The "cover" was revealed last week--it's one of the best Rush covers in years, and one of the best covers period. These tracks will be performed by Rush on their upcoming summer tour, and Caravan at least should be appearing on their next full studio album, Clockwork Angels.

CNN talks about RUSH

The release of the documentary "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage" has created more mainstream media buzz than the band usually gives on their own. CNN did this short piece that features some interesting chat with Geddy and Alex. One bum note: the reporter, while pronouncing "Neil Peart" properly, pronounces Alex Lifeson's name as "Life-ah-son". It was funny and sad at the same time.

Rush on Colbert

If you missed this, it wsa hilarious:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Rush
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Rush's Return to the Limelight -- RollingStone.com

Music -- Latest News -- Rush's Return to the Limelight -- RollingStone.com

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We talked about this on the air a couple of weeks back, but this Rolling Stone interview with Geddy Lee gives a few more details. The speculation that Rush would be previewing new material on this tour and releasing it piecemeal seems to be true. Some interesting comments about Moving Pictures too.

Thanks to Wheezer, the Cincinnati Metal God, for providing the link

In other exciting Rush news, the two year campaign to get the band a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame will come to fruition on June 25. Donna Halper, who is the American radio dj who "discovered" their first album over 30 years ago has been the driving force behind the campaign. No details about the unveiling ceremony have been released yet, but when I know, you'll know (or you can check out the Rush Is A Band blog and probably find out the same time I do).

Rush Documentary due out this month

And here's a preview clip featuring some interesting photos and some comments from Geddy's mom!


rush clip 2
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The Opening Ceremonies: A Comment

If you watched the Olympic ceremony last night, you'll notice a distince lack of the promised Rush performance. Rush were definitely there--BBC America apparently interviewed them at the venue the day before the show. But....but....oh screw it: I'll let the rushisaband guys break the news:

"Well, obviously no Rush tonight. Notice how the show was themed around the different provinces of Canada moving from east to west? Also notice how Ontario and the Great Lakes region were skipped over? What I'm now hearing is that this portion of the show was scrubbed due to nature of today's tragic events. Apparently it had a full rock and roll metropolitan vibe to it and was cut for sensitivity. The word is now that Rush may tentatively play at the closing ceremony. Sorry everybody - I'm as pissed off as you are."

I don't blame him. While I thought the tributes to the luge guy were beautiful, moving, and were handled very well, any moron who thought that it was appropriate or necessary to remove an entire province and it's music from the programme because of "sensitively" issues needs to find someone with a crowbar to help pry their head out of their ass.

A little personal history

Permanent Waves was the first Rush album I ever purchased, and I hated it!

I was a callow youth of about 13, just returned to Canada and living with my cousin, who played me 2112. I loved the song "Something for Nothing" so as soon as we moved into our new home I saved up my allowance and skipped down to Sam The Record Man to buy 2112. Alas they didn't have 2112 so I bought the album with the cute chick on the cover (hey, I said I was callow) took it home and put it on the old turn table and listened--and hated every minute of it. Nine minute songs? Lyrics that weren't about girls and partying? Fussy, intricate instrumentation? and it was LOUD! I didn't get it, didn't like it and put it aside for a year or so.

After that year or so had passed I started hearing this cool song on the radio called "Tom Sawyer". I heard if for weeks and loved it, but didn't know who sang it. One day I finally heard the DJ announce "Tom Sawyer by Rush" and I thought "Half a mo'*--Don"t I have a Rush album somewhere?" so I went home, pulled out the album and put it on the slightly newer turntable and listen--Holy Crap? Epic slabs of pure awesomeness! Lyrics that actually meant something! Pure instrumental virtuosity! And man was it LOUD!! I was hooked, big time.

In the year between the release of Moving Pictures and Signals I'd purchased every Rush album on vinyl, and in between Signals and Grace Under Pressure I replaced every album on cassette. And I've been a huge fan ever since

*although I had my English accent beaten out of me pretty quickly at school, I still tended to think in English idioms.

I love you, Man!

Okay, so I went to the drive-in tonight to see "Star Trek" and the second feature was "I Love You Man", which due to an impending thunderstorm we didn't stick around to see. There was on reason and one reason only I wanted to see this movie--Rush appears in one scene, performing "Limelight". Thankfully I didn't miss that scene becuase my lovely wife tracked down an online version of it, which I'm now sharing with you:

Rush i love you man
by kev5655

HIstory Of Rush.

A short documentary on the history of Rush. Not particular good (for one thing it makes the bizarre claim that the members of Rush have all gone solo), but it does feature some nice live footage and some soundbites from Geddy and Alex.

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Rush And Bubbles

Shortly after Alex Lifeson appeared on an episode of "Trailer Park Boys", Bubble reciprocated by performing with Rush during the Easter Seals Telethon. Unfortunately I was working that evening and missed the performance, but thanks to the wonders of YouTube I was finally able to see it and I thought I'd share it.

Some Canadian Metal News

Former Helix drummer Brian Doerner suffered a heart attack on Oct. 5, 2007.

Fortunately he is expected to make a full recovery, and will resume drumming in the future. The attack has forced him to withdraw from Saga's current tour. Replacing him will be Chris Sutherland of Kim Mitchell's band.

In other news, Rush was the 6th highest grossing tour for the summer of 2007. The number 1 spot was taken by The Police's reunion tour, which made a staggering $91 million. Rush was actually the 3rd highest rock band, after The Police and The Dave Matthews Band. Other rock artists in the top ten where John Mayer, Roger Waters and Tool.