Geddy Lee Guest Star On "How I Met Your Mother"

Geddy Lee made a guest appearance on Monday's (February 4th) episode of CBS's How I Met Your Mother.   The episode is now streaming on CBS's website. 

"Oh Canada, get ready for some major prime-time ribbing and every hoser cliché imaginable when the popular American sitcom How I Met Your Mother unveils its ode to the Great White North. Alan Thicke, Geddy Lee, Jason Priestley, k.d. lang, Alex Trebek and Luc Robitaille are just part of the constellation of Canadian stars featured in the all-things-Canuck episode that airs Monday." The Star, Febraury 4, 2013

Related News

• 'How I Met Your Mother': James Van Der Beek among guest stars for final Robin Sparkles installment - EW.com, January 7, 2013
• Geddy Lee, Steven Page to appear on ‘How I Met Your Mother’ - Toronto CityNews, January 30, 2013
• HIMYM to air Maple Leaf-theme episode - Canadian Press, February 4, 2013

Power Windows Website Turns 15!

Today marks the 15th Anniversary of the launch of the Power Windows website at 2112.net.  Time flies!  Thanks to everyone who contributed to this site over the years, thanks also to the readers and to those that have make Paypal donations to keep it going, and a very special thanks to Blake Willis of 2112.net!

"Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions Of Rush" Now Available

Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of Rush is now available. 

"Do you have a modern day warrior putting up a fight at bedtime? Looking for a reliable way to put baby to sleep and not some fly by night sandman? Try Rockabye Baby’s tender lullaby versions of Rush’s hard rock hits. This magic music will bring your baby closer to the heart of slumberland." - Rockabye Baby

The tracklist is the typical Rush cover set (diehard fans could likely name it in their sleep): 2112: Overture, Limelight, Fly by Night, The Spirit of Radio, Freewill, Tom Sawyer, Working Man, A Farewell To Kings, Trees, Red Barchetta, Subdivisions, Closer To The Heart

Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of Rush was released January 29th, 2013 - order now!   To hear samples, click here. 

"A Brief History Of Time, Part 10"

John at Cygnus-X1.net has added another installment of Rush: A Brief History of Time. In this the 10th installment, John has added 113 new articles and advertisements spanning from 1975 all the way through to 2012. - Thanks to John at Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!

Rush Referenced On "Archer" Yet Again

Thursday night's episode of Archer included yet another Rush inspired treatment on Krieger's van.  In the episode "The Wind Cries Mary", Krieger gave his van a Fly By Night makeover - click here to enlarge; for previous Rush references on Archer, click here. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

Sound & Vision speaks to Richard Chycki on 2112 5.1

In a new interview with Sound&Vision magazine, Rich Chycki talks about mixing 2112 in 5.1 surround sound.

"I felt very proud of the 5.1 mixes when Alex called me, bubbling over about how it sounded like the original album yet “so much more.” He was so excited. It really was that moment, when one of the three people who would know this project better than anyone gave his blessing, that I felt this had turned into something very special."

To purchase 2112 in 5.1, click here.

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins to induct Rush into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

From today's Cleveland.com:

Foo Fighters and self-professed Rush super-fans Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins will induct the Canadian prog-rockers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April in Los Angeles.

"It's got to be a dream come true for them. The Foo Fighters would have grown up listening to Rush on '70s radio," said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Greg Harris by phone from Washington, D.C. "You can tell that they have a real sense of rock 'n' roll history. You don't get the staying power they've had without it."

Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum announced the first group of artists that would be inducting this year's class in a press release Tuesday night.

In addition to Grohl and Hawkins, Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson will perform in honor of Donna Summer, Don Henley will induct Randy Newman, and John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. will perform in honor of Albert King, with Mayer giving the induction speech.

The inductors for Public Enemy, Heart and Ahmet Ertegun Award lifetime achievement award winners Quincy Jones and Lou Adler will be announced later.

"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- and rock 'n' roll itself -- is at its best when we connect the past with the present," Harris said. "In Gary Clark Jr., Mayer and Albert King, we've got three generations of great artists. And it's the same thing with Christina, Hudson and Donna Summer."

This year's induction ceremony will be at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 18. The ceremony will be recorded and broadcast on HBO on Saturday, May 18. Tickets to the ceremony go on sale to the general public on Friday, Feb. 1.

Clockwork Angels 2013 Tour North American Tour Announcement

Rush.com have just announced the following:

As previously alluded to, and due to overwhelming demand, the Clockwork Angels Tour will continue in 2013 to over 20+ cities in North America this year. Beginning in April, fans will be able to catch RUSH live in a number of new markets not visited on last year’s tour.

Today we have announced details for the spring leg of the tour which include:

April 23, 2013  Frank Erwin Center. Austin, Texas
April 26, 2013  BB&T Center. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
April 28, 2013  Amway Center. Orlando, Florida
May 1, 2013   Bridgestone Arena. Nashville, Tennesee
May 3, 2013   PNC Arena. Raleigh, North Carolina
May 5, 2013   Farm Bureau Live At Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach, Virginia
May 7, 2013   1st Mariner Arena. Baltimore, Maryland
May 9, 2013   Mohegan Sun. Uncasville, Connecticut
May 11, 2013   Etess Arena. Atlantic City, New Jersey

Pre-sale for RUSH fans for the spring tour dates begin today, Tuesday January 22nd at NOON LOCAL TIME!

CLOCKWORK ANGEL TOUR PACKAGE

Tour Packages will be exclusive to RUSH fan members for the first 24 hours.

Passcode: angelfan (lower case, case sensitive)

Rush Clockwork Angels Tour Package consists of:

• One reserved ticket located within the first 15 rows of the stage
• New and exclusive Rush 2013 Tour t-shirt
• Collectible Tour Poster (numbered, limited)
• Official Tour Program
• Exclusive surprise Rush gift item
• Commemorative Concert Ticket
• Commemorative Tour Laminate

To purchase your RUSH Tour package, please visit http://www.vipnation.com/programs/rush---clockwork-angels-tour/

RUSH FAN CLUB PRE-SALES

The Fan Club tickets are only available during the PRE-SALE. Reserve the best seats in the house through our special Rush fan pre-sales. These presales only last three days, and only certain cities/dates are currently available with more presales being added later. Check back soon if you don’t see your date. At the end of your ticket purchase, you will have the opportunity to pre-order Exclusive RUSH.com Tour Merchandise.

In addition, when you order Fan Club Tickets and the Exclusive Merchandise you will be automatically entered to win a meet and greet with members of the band at your show (one winner plus guest per city).

To purchase Presale Tickets and Presale Merchandise please visit http://rush.musictoday.com

Just a reminder to those fans that are also CITI card members, you will also have access to pre-sale tickets through Citi’s Private Pass® Program beginning January 23rd in select markets. For complete presale details visit http://www.citiprivatepass.com

Stay tuned for additional tour announcements for the summer dates that will resume when the band returns from their European leg in June. These will include but not be limited to Hershey, Wantagh, Saratoga, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Boston, Calgary, Vancouver, Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, and will finally see RUSH return to Grand Rapids and Halifax for the first time in decades!

Rock&Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Special Guests Announced

The Rock&Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will include special appearances by John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Don Henley, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Gary Clark, Jr., Usher, "and more".   This is based on a flyer posted on Heart's Facebook page.  - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

Click here for more on Rush's induction into the Rock Hall Of Fame.

Alex Lifeson Tour of Guitar Rig, From September 1977!

A rare video of Alex Lifeson giving a tour of his guitar rig backstage at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon, in September 1977 has recently surfaced (the video is misdated as 1975).  Rush played three consecutive nights in a row at the Paramount with UFO and Max Webster. The hair might have changed, but the voice hasn't!

Alex Lifeson "Hentor Sportscaster" replicas from Freddy's Frets

Custom guitar shop "Freddy's Frets" has received permission from Alex Lifeson to create and sell replicas of his Hentor Sportscaster, a customized Fender Strat which Alex named after Peter Henderson, co-producer of Grace Under Pressure.  A portion of the proceeds will go to the Grapes Under Pressure charity:

"Hello my fellow Rush fans! Alex Lifeson has given me permission to backwards engineer and meticulously blueprint his iconic Hentor Sportscaster so that I may make and sell accurate replicas. I have had the Hentor in my possession for about 6 months and have documented every property and detail of this amazing and unique sounding guitar. Alex's only stipulation was that for every guitar sold, a portion of the profit goes to his charity "Grapes Under Pressure". While in my possession over the last few months I made suggestions to Alex on upgrading the guitar. The Hentor now sports Dimarzio FS-1 single coils and I also fabricated a huge brass sustain block for the Floyd Rose, the biggest one I've seen and yet there is still a good amount of movement available. These two upgrades as well as others are listed in my OPTIONS category." - Freddy Gabrsek, FreddysFrets.com (Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!)

MixOnline - "All Access: Rush"

On Tuesday, MixOnline published "All Access: Rush", a behind the scenes look at the Clockwork Angels tour, with front of house engineer Brad Maddix, monitor engineer Brent Carpenter, guitar tech Scott Appleton, bass tech John Skully McIntosh, and keyboard tech Tony Geranios.

Six-string wizards: Meet the unsung heroes of rock ’n’ roll

Alex Lifeson's guitar tech, Scott Appleton (aka Great Scott) is featured in "Guitar Techs: The Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n Roll" in today's Globe & Mail. - Thanks to Rush for the headsup!

Transporter: The Series - "Working Man" Theme

Making its Canadian premiere this Friday night, the theme song of HBO's all new Transporter: The Series, based on Luc Besson's Transporter film franchise, is a cover of Rush's "Working Man".  Arranged by Jamie Forsyth and performed by Danielle Armstrong, you can hear the Transporter theme song here.

The series premiered last October 11 in Germany, and on December 6 in France.  The Canadian premiere is set for this Friday, January 4, on HBO Canada, while US viewers will have to wait until June 21st. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Further Reading:

• Transporter: The Series - Thierry Attard, December 6, 2012
• Former 'Prison Break' star Chris Vance takes lead on 'Transporter: The Series' - Canadian Press, January 2, 2013

Rush 2112 Deluxe Edition Now Available

Rush's all new 5.1 edition of 2112 was released December 18th.  Three versions are available, click to order:

• Deluxe Edition CD/DVD
• Deluxe Edition CD/Blu-ray
• Super Deluxe Edition, CD/Blu-ray/hardbound comic book case
• iBook Edition 

The week after the reissue's release, sales of the new release propelled 2112 back into the Billboard 200 at #138.

All versions include 5.1 surround sound mixes as well as unreleased live tracks – and the super deluxe edition holds the band’s first ever comic book. Three configurations will be available.  The Deluxe Edition can be purchased in CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray, with the pack including the remastered album and three bonus live tracks. The second disc includes 5.1 surround sound mix and an interactive digital comic book. Original sleeve designer Hugh Syme has created a new cover and the liner notes are accompanied by previously unpublished photos.  The Super Deluxe Edition is sold as a CD/Blu-ray pack, assembled in a hardbound book case including a 40-page comic book which refers to every song on the album.  Click here for a video preview of the new release.

Unreleased bonus live tracks:

Overture (Northland Coliseum, Edmonton, AB – June 25, 1981)
The Temples of Syrinx (Northland Coliseum, Edmonton, AB – June 25, 1981)
A Passage To Bangkok (Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England – June 17, 1980)

Deluxe Edition CD/DVD

Expanded artwork; liner notes by David Fricke; lyrics and unreleased photos.
CD: Digitally remastered plus 3 unreleased bonus live tracks
DVD: 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Richard Chycki in PCM (DVD-Audio players) and 48kHZ / 24-bit Dolby Digital (DVD-Video players); 96kHz / 24-bit PCM Stereo (DVD-Audio players) and 48kHZ / 24-bit Dolby Digital Stereo (DVD-Video players); Digital comic book; gallery: unreleased photos and handwritten lyrics by Neil Peart

Deluxe Edition CD/Blu-ray

Expanded artwork; liner notes by David Fricke; lyrics and unreleased photos.
CD: Digitally remastered plus 3 unreleased bonus live tracks
Blu-Ray: 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Richard Chycki in 96kHz / 24-bit PCM and DTS-HD Master Audio; 96kHz / 24-bit PCM Stereo; Digital comic book; gallery: unreleased photos and handwritten lyrics by Neil Peart

Super Deluxe Edition

Hardbound book case; 40-page comic book by story artist Tom Hodges; 24-page book with expanded artwork, liner notes, lyrics and unreleased photos; new iner notes by David Fricke

CD: Digitally remastered plus 3 unreleased bonus live tracks
Blu-Ray: 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Richard Chycki in 96kHz / 24-bit PCM and DTS-HD Master Audio; 96kHz / 24-bit PCM stereo; digital comic book; gallery of unreleased photos and handwritten lyrics by Neil Peart

iBook

As a companion of the 2112 Deluxe Edition, Rush have released their first ever iBook for 2112. The iBook consists of unpublished pictures, black and white ink art and pencil sketches for every comic book cell, and preview music for the newly remastered Mastered for iTunes (mFit) audio of 2112 with 3 bonus live tracks.

• 40-page comic book by story artist Tom Hodges (“Star Wars -The Clone Wars,” The Simpson’s “Treehouse of Horrors #17″)
• Unpublished pictures
• Black and white ink art and pencil sketches for every comic book cell
• Preview of the remastered audio of 2112
• Expanded artwork, liner notes, lyrics and unreleased photos
• Brand new liner notes by David Fricke, Rolling Stone

"Clockwork Angels: The Novel" Rare Author VIP Editions Auction Ends Tomorrow

Kevin J. Anderson is auctioning off two rare Author VIP editions of Clockwork Angels.  They are copies #107 and #110 out of 150 created, and were never for sale to the public and are only available from Kevin and Neil.  These have slipcovers, are still sealed in shrink wrap, are signed by both Kevin and Neil Peart, and are coming from Kevin directly.
Kevin is auctioning these copies to raise money for Sean, one of his fans who has Brittle Bone Disease and recently had medical issues.  In addition, his wheelchair equipped van has stopped working, and Kevin wants to raise money to help get Sean a down payment for a van as well as to help with his medical costs.

To bid on the books, visit http://www.onelittlelight.net/auctions/. In addition, if you would like to donate to Sean's cause, Paypal donations are being taken at 1littlelight2112@gmail.com.

UPDATE: Kevin J. Anderson has made the auction more interesting, adding additional items, and extended the auction to 11/27 at 11:59 p.m. MST.

James A. Owen is a writer and illustrator.  His most recent book series is "Here there be Dragons" and he is a close friend to Kevin J. Anderson.  James is illustrating a Neil Peart dragon with 6 arms playing the drums and has the symbols from Clockwork Angels.  13 prints will be made, signed by James and Kevin.  The two winning bids on the Clockwork Angels books will get a print each.  Ten more prints will be available to the first 10 people that pledge to donate at least $100.  Those that want one of those 10 prints, must email 1littlelight2112@gmail.com with Rush Dragon in the title. The final print will be available to the person that pledges the highest amount in a separate auction going live here shortly. It will be hand colored by James A. Owen himself.

There will only be 13 of these, and all will be signed by James and Kevin.  See attached first pencil sketch. - Thanks to Tracy Mangum for the headup!

Happy Rush Day!

Today is Rush Day, and to celebrate Geddy Lee will be appearing live on the UK's Planet Rock from 9-10am EST.  In addition, Alex Lifeson will be appearing on Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" show which starts at 11pm EST on Q104.3 in New York City; Friday's entire show has been dubbed The Holiday Rush and will be dedicated entirely to Rush.

Today the USAToday posted an feature story about Rush Day, including a short interview with Geddy Lee:

As for the International Rush Day Friday, he says, "It sort of took off on Facebook or one of those social-media things, the idea of it being a fan day. We've got amazing fans, and they look for every moment to celebrate their support of us. I am very appreciative of that, I can tell you."

• UPDATE 2: Click here for Geddy's interview with Planet Rock Radio: Geddy Lee Celebrates Rush Day, Geddy chatted about the reissue of their classic album 2112, entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the British tour of "Clockwork Angels" next year and winter safety.- Planet Rock, December 24, 2012
• UPDATE: Click here for Friday night's "Holiday Rush" special, Eddie Trunk with Mike Portnoy. Alex's interview is halfway through.

RollingStone.com: "Rush Celebrate '2112' Reissue with iBook Comic"

From today's RollingStone.com:

Recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Rush today released their first-ever iBook for their classic record 2112, complete with previews of the remastered album, a 40-page comic book, sketches for each comic book cell, expanded artwork and new liner notes from Rolling Stone's David Fricke. now you can get an exclusive first look at the comic, written by Tom Hodges. 

The comic is also available in physical form, though the iBook includes previously unpublished photos not available in the physical version. The iBook does not include the album, though it does come with samples of the six original songs and three bonus tracks. You can order the iBook here. - RollingStone.com

Vote for Rush in Q103.4 New York's "The Year That Rocked" Awards

Q104.3 in New York City have launched their first-annual Q104.3's The Year that Rocked Awards for 2012 and Rush is up for 2 awards - Classic Rock Album of the Year and Best Live Performance!  Voting will be open through the morning of 12/31 and with the winners announced later that day.  VOTE NOW!

Rush Referenced On Saturday Night Live

During the Weekend Update segment on last night's episode of Saturday Night Live, anchorman Seth Myers announced that Donna Summer, Rush and Public Enemy were all 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Showing a photo of the three of them he then joked "'Who are those other two?' said the fans of any one of them." - Thanks to Vincent Sorrentino for the headsup, and RushIsABand for the screencap!