2112 Comic Series by Matan Kohn

2112 Sighting!  Yesterday saw the release of issue number one of the comic book series "2112" by Matan Kohn.  Details of this series are unknown, and the title may be the only Rush relation in this post-apocalyptic series.  In "Genesis", issue #1, "a person awakens from a coma after about a hundred years, and discovers that everything around him has changed." You can get it here. - Thanks to Chad Saylor for the headsup!

Alex Lifeson performing at Phoenix Rising March 29

Alex Lifeson will be performing March 29 at Phoenix Rising, a fundraiser for West End Phoenix in Toronto to be held in the Great Hall 1087 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J 1H3.   Performers including Rheostatics, Alex Lifeson, Whitehorse, Nasim Asgari and Special Guests. Hosted by Tom Wilson (Lee Harvey Osmond).  Click here for more.

Fu Manchu: How SoCal Stoner Crew Enlisted Alex Lifeson for Epic Space Jam

Revolvermag.com has posted a new interview with Fu Manchu frontman Scott Hill, where he talks about enlisting Alex Lifeson on their latest album Clone of the Universe, set for release on Feb. 9.

"Our manager is friends with his manager, and they were talking. Without asking us, our manager was like, "Hey, would Alex want to play on their new record?" His manager asked him and got back to our manager, like, "Oh yeah, he totally will. Send him a song!" When he told us, we were all like, "Holy shit!" We immediately reverted back to the Rush fans we were in seventh grade! [Laughs] So we sent him the four-track, which was a little lower than normal demo quality and he was like, "This is great. What do you want me to do on it?" We were like, "Holy shit, he's asking us?!? Dude, do whatever you want, wherever you want!  So we got in the studio and recorded the song, and then we sent it to him in Canada; he sent us back a bunch of stuff, and it all just sounded insane. He was like, "Use whatever you want," so we picked this one section of stuff that he did; it's in the first part where the band drops out — he's playing a really effected guitar riff along with the bass and drums, and then the bass and drums drop out. He's doing stuff with a bunch of different effects, all these sci-fi sounds and pick slides, and we were just flipping out listening to it. We still can't believe it! [Laughs]"

 Click here for the full story.

"Animate" covered by Allegaeon, featuring "Counterparts" inspired album art

Back in September 2016 I shared that Denver Colorado death-metal band Allegaeon had included their cover of "Subdivisions" on their latest album, Proponent for Sentience.  During the recording sessions for Proponent For Sentience, Allegaeon recorded two Rush covers. Besides the aforementioned "Subdivisions", on January 6th, 2018, the date version of the band's song 1.618, Allegaeon released their cover of "Animate" worldwide on all digital music services featuring a single cover based on the Counterparts album art; buy the digital single at Amazon.com.

"When we settled on Rush to cover during the 'Proponent' sessions, I simply couldn't pick which song to do. 'Subdivisions' or 'Animate.' Both were favorites for me personally, and both were sort of 'under the radar' eg. not 'Tom Sawyer' or 'Spirit Of Radio.' Where the original idea was to do a cover for a Japanese bonus track, we figured if we did both we could cover a special song for both the Japan AND Europe pressing. Then the powers that be decided to just include 'Subdivisions' on the album, and keep 'Animate' in reserve for something. Jan 6th, 2018 is the only occurrence of the golden ratio in date form that will occur during our life time. So 1.6.18 seemed like the perfect date to release it in Allegaeon fashion." Guitarist Greg Burgess, via Blabbermouth.net, January 5, 2018

- Thanks to B-man for the headsup!

Rush Reference on "Kevin Can Wait"

Kevin Can Wait is an American sitcom television series starring Kevin James currently airing on CBS.  During Monday night's episode, season 2 episode 15 titled "Fight or Flight", Kevin and Vanessa are at the airport, and the flight they are waiting on from New York to Orlando is flight number 2112. - Thanks to Chad Kilhefner for the headsup and for Riab for the screencap!

Rush Reference on "Riverdale"

Riverdale is an American television series based on the characters of Archie Comics currently airing on Warner Bros CW network. During season 2, episode 10, aired January 17, 2018, titled "Chapter Twenty-Three: The Blackboard Jungle," when confronted with being transferred to a new High School, Jughead quotes "Subdivisions" and says: 'So our choices are conform or be cast out." - Thanks to Sebastian Seifert for the headsup and screencap!

Neil Peart reviews Bill Bruford's book "Uncharted"

Drummer Bill Bruford has penned a new book, Uncharted; Creativity and the Expert Drummer, published on January 17th.  Fellow expert drummer, Neil Peart, reviewed the book for the University of Michigan Press, and what is notable are his credentials are given (by him?) as "former drummer and lyricist".  Hmm...

“After forty years of creating professional music, pretty much all of it to his taste (passing rare), Bill Bruford has laid down the torches — and tried to capture their flame in words. Begin by running your eyes down the list of Bill’s collaborators. The expert performers and teachers will attract any reader with more than a passing affection for music. Simply put, it is a lights-out masterpiece of useful insight and passionate, reflective wisdom."
—Neil Peart, former drummer and lyricist, Rush

- Thanks B-man for the headsup!