Rush returns to Halifax and Hamilton July 6th & 12th

Rush.com has announced shows in Halifax and Hamilton on this year's Clockwork Angels tour:

RUSH is excited to announce that after 26 years, they are returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia to perform as part of their Clockwork Angels Tour, on FRIDAY JULY 12 at the Halifax Metro Centre. They are also pleased to announce a return to Hamilton, Ontario on SATURDAY, JULY 6 at Copps Coliseum. Both shows will have a pre-sale begin Tuesday, February 19 at noon local time with tour packages password protected for you for the first 24 hours. Visit http://bit.ly/Rush2013Packages
Password will be 2013Rush You can also visit rush.musictoday.com/Rush/calendar.aspx for the Fan Club pre-sale that begins Tuesday, February 19 at noon local time and ends Thursday, Feb 21 at 5pm local time. For those that are American Express card users, there will also be a Front of the Line pre-sale available for the Hamilton show. Please visit www.americanexpress.ca/fronoftheline for more details.

Howard Ungerleider Featured in PLSN, February issue

The February issue of Projection, Lights & Staging News has a feature interview with Rush's lighting designer, Howard Ungerleider.  Howard explains how the design came about, his initial thoughts on first hearing Clockwork Angels, and the hiring of the various eclectic companies that put it all together.

"...with the album called Clockwork Angels and the theme of some of the songs, I knew where it was going. I wanted to design a system with angel sort of wings; there’s actually 22 moving parts to it because there’s a dozen other little mini-trusses that come down on high string motors...The band members are true professionals, and what’s also great is they all have a great sense of humor. Just look at the humorous videos they create and show just before they hit the stage. They are made up as characters with pot bellies, funny wigs and all. Even when we’re not on tour and we go over to Alex’s (Lifeson) house for a party, he comes out as a character, so yeah, great bunch of guys, very level-headed. The freedom that they give me with my lighting is very important and allows me to give them my best. I’ve done other acts where you’re micro-managed to the point where you can’t really be creative, which is not a good thing. When I use video, it’s to bring you closer to the artist while not taking away from seeing the band on stage at the same time. It gives you a little bit of insight with the robotic cameras that we’re using now — you can get right in on top of Neil Peart playing the drums, for instance. I’m using the perspective of the fan from the audience — I want to see different angles, viewpoints. I want to do lighting choreography, not only to the music, but also to the lyrics that trigger those cues. Half the show is run manually, which is a great experience!" For the full interview visit PLSN.com. - Thanks to Greg Nosek for the headsup!

Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony Ticketing Information From Rush.com

UPDATE #3: Rush.com just shared: "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame packages include Premium Ticket, Exclusive Merchandise, and more - Click here for more info".

UPDATE #2: Pursuant to the below announcement, the presale starts today at 10am PST!

UPDATE: Rush.com has just sent out the following exclusive ticketing offer for Rush fans:

The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame announced ticketing details for the 28TH Annual Induction Ceremony held APRIL 18, 2013 in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre.

We want to celebrate and share this moment with as MANY Rush fans in the room that night as possible!

There will be a special Rush fan pre-sale that starts Monday, January 28 at 10 a.m. PST through Thursday, January 31 at 10 p.m. PST at Ticketmaster.

The password for this pre-sale is rushfan. There will be preferred seating held in every price and seating area.

Please also be aware that tomorrow, January 24, a Presale for American Express Cardmembers begins. Advance tickets for American Express Cardmembers will be available from Thursday, January 24 at 10 a.m. PST through Sunday, January 27 at 10 p.m. PST. Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster.

The public on-sale will begin on Friday, February 1 at 10 a.m. PST. To purchase tickets, visit Ticketmaster or charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000. There will be a four-ticket limit on all orders. Additionally, three levels of VIP packages will be available through Ticketmaster.

And a big shout out to Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters for doing the honors for us that evening!

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has posted the following information:

Tickets to the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony go on sale to the public on Friday, February 1st. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Members will have the opportunity to purchase advance sale tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 Inductions starting Monday, January 28. Memberships must have been active as of January 1st, 2013. Some restrictions apply. Stay tuned for more details!

Scheduled for Thursday, April 18, 2013, the 28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles. This marks the first time since 1993 that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on the West Coast. The ceremony will again be open to the public, as it was in 2009 and 2012 in Cleveland.

The induction ceremony will broadcast on HBO on Saturday, May 18 at 9pm ET/PT. - Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

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

Yes' Chris Squire On Rush's Rock Hall Of Fame Induction

On Monday Rollingstone.com posted a new interview with Yes' Chris Squire where he was asked:

Q: Rush are getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Are you at all miffed they got it before you?

A: [Laughs] No, I can't object to that. Logistically, it's probably difficult for whoever the committee is to bring in Yes. Rush is fairly simple. It's the same three guys and always has been. They deserve to be there, no doubt about that. But there still seems to be a certain bias towards early-Seventies prog rock bands like Yes and King Crimson. 

Local H's "The Another February EP" Featuring "2112 Overture/Temples Of Syrinx"

Today Chicago based alternative band Local H released The Another February EP containing a radio edit of "Another February" from last year's studio album Hallelujah! I'm a Bum.  The other four tracks on the EP are all covers, including their take on "2112 Overture/The Temples Of Syrinx". -Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

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