Another new interview with Alex Lifeson has been posted today, this time by The Canadian Press. Alex discusses's Rush's charitable history.
"It's a way that you can do it as a unit, which Rush is, without
making really a big deal about it. This is really great to get this award —
it's always very humbling — but this is just something that you're
supposed to do. We don't make a big deal out of it."
Among their charitable contributions, Rush has donated significantly to
Toronto Food Bank, United Way, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the
New Orleans-assisting Make it Right Foundation, Doctors Without
Borders, Alberta Flood Relief and Casey House. Click here for the full interview with Alex. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
Today Canada's Canoe posted an all new interview with Alex Lifeson where he talks about Rush's upcoming 2015 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at this year's Juno awards (which will be accepted in person by Geddy Lee), and how he is preparing for the upcoming tour.
“I learned very early that it feels really good to help somebody
else. A lot of times it feels better than getting help yourself and now
that we’re in a position to do something and have been for awhile, it
only makes sense. It’s a duty, really, that we all have to help the less
fortunate.”
“It’s a wonderful thing to get this kind of recognition. We’ve been very lucky, particularly over the last many years
that there’s been all this attention paid to us. And it’s lovely and
it’s very much appreciated but it’s not the most important thing. But we
happily accept these sorts of things but we don’t try to make a really
big deal. You know, it’s a typical Canadian attitude, trying to stay
under the radar, and do the thing that we do, and then complain as much
as we can.”
Of the tour, Alex said:
“We’re prepping for the tour; we’re at that stage where we’ve just started playing. You don’t want to hear us. We’re nuts. We rehearse for six weeks before the
rehearsals. I’m serious. I’ve been rehearsing for three weeks now. I
spend four hours, three times a week, and then the rest of the time I
play for an hour to two hours. And that’s just to get ready for
rehearsals.”
Last week CelebrityAccess.com posted a new and extensive interview with Ray Danniels, CEO and president of SRO Entertainment and the Anthem Entertainment Group. On "In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc", Ray talks about managing RUSH for four decades, maneuvering record deals over the decades, looking out for what's best for his clients, and what is to come in the future. Of the R40 tour, and whether Rush will tour again in the future, Ray responds:
"Somewhere between possible and probable. There are some of us who would keep going forever, and there are some of us who wouldn’t. So it’s a process of working that out. And what somebody thinks today may not be what they think in a month...I am focused on making this as good as it can be, and then seeing where we are. I did not want to do a farewell tour. There was no one in the band who wanted to do that because there is nobody who thinks it is that final or thinks that they won’t make music or do something. But I will tell you this. I am probably not going to be able to get a band full of 65 year olds out again on the road--which is what would happen next time with any potential tour--they all would be 65-ish. Neil is as much an athlete as he is a musician, but with these 2 1/2 and 3 hour length sets, I don’t know if it possible to keep up with that (physical) demand. And they each want to go out on top in every single way. From their status....well, that is more me—the status—than it is them; and still having the ability to be at their best. To play at the level that they have been able to play."
You can check out the complete interview at CelebrityAccess.com. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
UPDATE: One week after Kreiger's van appeared with its new color scheme, there has been yet another Rush reference. During this week's episode, "Pocket Listing" (season 6, episode 9, aired March 5), Doctor Kreiger is seen sitting in front of a bunch of monitors and one of them is displaying a large "YYZ". - Thanks to David Wholihan for the headsup!
Last night (February 26) on FX's Archer (season 6, episode 8 "The Kanes"), Doctor Kreiger's van was once again painted with a Rush themed mural; this time it featured a motif mimicking Rush's debut album with "RUSH" simply replaced by the word "VAN". - Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!
This is not the first time that RUSH has been referenced on Archer:
"Double Trouble" (season 2, episode 13, aired April 21, 2011): Dr. Krieger mentions listening to "Red Barchetta" through his "awesome van's" stereo, and says to Archer's Russian defector love interest Katya "Please tell me you like Rush". The van is painted with a mural like the Exit...Stage Left album cover but reads "Exit...Van Left".
"The Man From Jupiter" (season 3, episode 1, aired January 19, 2012): Dr. Krieger's van is now painted with a Hemispheres themed mural that reads "Krieger Vanispheres".
"Skin Game" (season 3, episode 8, aired March 9, 2012): In the opening scene Krieger brings Archer to his lab which holds a large Neil Peart-esque drumkit, replete with double bass drums with "Thunder" and "Dome" written in the font from the debut album. Archer says "Wow, amazing, you can play 'YYZ'", to which Krieger replies "First of all, it's YY-zed. And second of all, no I can't get it, it's impossible." Later, in the next scene (after the opening credits), in regards to creating an android of Katya, Krieger says "How dare you fail to recognize my greatest accomplishment to date?", and Pam replies "What, you finally nailed YYZ?" Krieger shouts "It's Zed, and...no, Neil Peart (Pert) stands alone..."
"Space Race: Part 2" (season 3, episode 10, aired March 22, 2012): Dr. Krieger's van was once again painted with a Rush mural; this time it was "Caress of Krieger".
"The Wind Cries Mary" (season 4, episode 2, aired January 25, 2013): Dr. Krieger's van is painted with a Rush mural yet again with "Van By Night".
"Sea Tunt, Part II" (season 4, episode 13, aired April 11, 2013): Dr. Krieger is naked in his basement modifying an assault rifle, drumming to "Tom Sawyer" with a pair of screwdrivers. Click here for a video clip.
VH1 Classic's new docu-series "Rock Icons" premiered Saturday evening (February 21st) spotlighting Geddy Lee. The full episode is available below (or you can view it here).
"From Banger Films, the people that brought you the Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary and the TV show Metal Evolutions, comes an all-new docu-series profiling the biggest icons in hard rock, heavy metal and classic rock. Rock Icons premieres Saturday February 21st at 10/9C, immediately following the That Metal Show‘s season 14 kick-off, and takes you backstage with in-depth, intimate portraits revealing who these rock stars really are. Each 30-minute episode is jam-packed with exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage with featured artists and the key people who helped shape their careers. The series premiere goes beyond the limelight with Geddy Lee, lead singer and bassist extraordinaire of Canadian progressive hard rock legends Rush. Find out how his remarkable musical talent and drive was influenced by the early passing of his father and why he is determined to live every bit of his life to the fullest. Future episode will chronicle the lives of metal god Rob Halford of Judas Priest, former Guns N’ Roses guitar hero Slash, Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and more. Between Rock Icons and That Metal Show, VH1 Classic is the place to be on Saturday nights for all things rock so don’t forget to tune in starting February 21st!" - VH1.com, January 28, 201
"We did a feature length film on Rush, right? And now we’re doing a half-hour feature on Geddy Lee. We sort of sat there and said, what else are we going to talk about, we’ve already covered so much. As we started to talk about it and do more research, what we started to embrace was not only the Geddy Lee that’s in Rush but who he is outside of Rush. What does that tell us about his personality? So even though I spent hours with Geddy and the other guys in the band making Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage, going down with him into the “bass room” of his house where he’s got, literally, the history of the electric bass all on his walls, and to sit with him as he actually pulls basses off the wall and play them and talk about the history of the instrument – I still have these moments where I’m like, this is amazing. Because I started playing bass because of my love for bands like Rush and Iron Maiden. I mean, I wanted to be Geddy Lee and Steve Harris when I was 12. I still really get a big thrill out of spending time with these guys because they come to respect the work that we do and so it’s very comfortable. We can just sit down on a very one to one basis and talk about things in a fairly transparent and relaxed way. And I think… let’s just say I’ve had worse day jobs." - Sam Dunn of Banger Films, VH1.com, February 12, 2015
As announced last fall, following last year's Rush reDISCovered release, Rush is reissuing the rest of Rush's remaining Mercury era albums (studio and live albums through A Show of Hands) in chronological order throughout the rest of 2015. Previous vinyl reissues include Rush reDISCovered, and Fly By Night (also available on blu-ray audio).
Five minutes into last night's AMC "Breaking Bad" spinoff, "Better Call Saul" (season 1, episode 4), Saul is in a room smoking a bong and hanging on the wall behind him is a Rush poster for the Aug 14, 1974 Pittsburgh show (first show with Neil Peart). [Webmaster's nitpicker's note: while this is an officially licensed poster created NMR Aquarius, it is a poorly researched - it's irksome that they used a Hemispheres
photo on a commemorative poster for a concert in 1974!] - Thanks to William Gordon for the headsup!
TORONTO - Rush frontman Geddy Lee's memory of attending his first show at Toronto's Massey Hall remains spring-water clear — and what stands out is the sound quality that was swamp-water muddled.
It was June 5, 1968, and a then 22-year-old Lee was desperate to see British rock royalty Cream, even though his friends weren't.
"I couldn't get anyone to go see Cream with me," Lee told The Canadian Press in one of Massey's spartan dressing rooms Monday.
"I said: 'Screw you all, I'm going by myself.' I sat in the balcony. And I don't think their PA system had arrived because they played onstage and Jack Bruce was singing through the Massey Hall crappy little announcement system.
"It was really strange," he added, laughing.
Such whimsical glitches may become less common as the venerable Massey Hall — a piece of Toronto iconography since it was built back in 1894 — undergoes a seven-year, $135-million revitalization.
"Phase one" of that operation began this week, with improvements including a first-ever loading dock, a modernized back of house, a backstage space for artists, and technical tweaks.
Massey Hall has been the site of several legendary live recordings, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie's "Jazz at Massey Hall," Neil Young's "Live at Massey Hall 1971" and Rush's own "All the World's a Stage."
Lee talked to The Canadian Press about the relationship between the historic venue and his beloved power-prog trio.
Geddy Lee appeared on the season premiere of VH1's "That Metal Show" on February 21st at 9PM ET. The full episode is available here (embedded below). In addition, That Metal Show has posted multiple additional interviews and outtakes from Saturday night's episode which you can check out here.
During the episode, Geddy was asked to rank Rush's first nine studio albums and chose: Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, 2112, Hemispheres, A Farewell To Kings, RUSH, Signals, Caress of Steel, Fly By Night.
Geddy Lee pulled no punches tonight (Feb. 21) when asked if an upcoming series of dates represented a de facto farewell tour for Rush — even if he was unwilling to call it that.
“It’s very hard to answer that question for a lot of reasons,” he said, during a special guest appearance on the season premiere of VH1′s That Metal Show. “First of all, you know, the three guys in this band have very different opinions on this point in our lives. Everybody’s in a very different space right now. We’ve done a lot of touring for the last 10 years, a lot of writing, a lot of working. (Drummer) Neil (Peart), for example, has a young child at home and he’s said publicly, numerous times, that it’s very hard for him to leave his daughter. She needs him. So, it’s clear that we are at a point in our career that we have to slow down — and slow down dramatically. So, I’m not a guy who’s in love with the farewell tour idea, but it’s clear that this is going to be the last big tour that we’re going to do for a while, anyway. I can say that.”
Read More: Geddy Lee on Rush's Upcoming 'Last Big Tour': 'We Have to Slow Down Dramatically' | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/geddy-lee-final-rush-tour/?trackback=tsmclip
Don't miss ON TAP tonight because the ONE & ONLY Geddy Lee of RUSH will be calling in for an EXCLUSIVE interview! Geddy is going to tell us all about his upcoming appearances on VH1 Classic's That Metal Show & #RockIcons!
Back in 2009, director Paul Miil released a documentary about Niagara's music scene titled The Big Story of Small Potatoes which "explores the roots of the lost music scene of Niagara, circa 1964-1974." The documentary includes Neil Peart along with one of his early bands JR Flood performing the song "Giant Killer". Miil later posted the full documentary on Youtube.
This past Sunday, Miil posted The Origin of Neil Peart, a newly assembled 48-minute documentary using reedited footage from The Big Story of Small Potatoes, as Miil explains in the intro:
"Before the footage from The Big Story of Small Potatoes was lost to time, I thought it prudent to fill the commitment I made to myself in 2007 to make the Neil Peart documentary. Neil Peart's band mates and contemporary drummers are the true character of this film. I had a ton of fun researching and finding them, and thank them all for their participation. In any event, it may be more accurate to have the 'many' explain the 'one'..."
You can check it the documentary below. - Thanks to Andy O for the headsup!
Today Stewart Copeland posted another video of guests jamming at the Sacred Grove including Neil Peart, Matt Scannell and Danny Carey. This one is dubbed "A Little More Noise," and you'll see why in the video. From his post:
Some new drums arrived so Peart and Carey came over to lay heavy hands upon them. Scannell and I banged out any old riffs while Stone chimed the gongs. Couple days later four MORE drummers dropped by and took up the horns. The piano was an afterthought.
Today Neil Peart updated his website with the latest issue of "News Weather & Sports." Titled "The Adventures of Bamm Bamm", this is the second half of his December report where he shared his experience of competing in the "24 Hours of LeMons", an endurance racing series for low-budget enthusiasts such as Neil. This report covers their followup races in northern California at Thunderhill Raceway in September and Sonoma Raceway in December. You can check it out here.
Episode Two of the YouTube documentary "Le Studio - Temple of Sound" is now available. This documentary covers the LeStudio backstory from inception to current state. This is just the second episode posted in a year; Chapter One was posted in April of last year.
LeStudio was a world class recording studio in the Laurentian Mountains of Canada. It was the private retreat of Rush for the writing and recording of eight of their albums, as well as hundreds of other artists over the years. It closed in 2003 and now sits stripped of all it's furnishings & equipment, abandoned in the forest.
UPDATE (Feb. 6): Jay and Mark Duplass, creators of the show, appeared on Conan earlier this week, and cajoled Conan to air drum with them along to Tom Sawyer. Rush.com has posted that Geddy Lee noted "Clearly the Duplass Bros. are seasoned air drummers…they nailed it!" Check out the video here.
Rush's "Tom Sawyer" was heard during last night's episode of HBO's Togetherness (season 1, episode 3). Near the end of the show, as Brett and Alex drive home from the party "Tom Sawyer" is playing on the car stereo. They end up pulling over, discussing the song and air drumming. The song then plays over the end
credits. The episode is available on demand and on HBO Go to HBO subscribers. - Thanks to Jeff Lucas for the headsup!
"Motorcycle enthusiast... author... drummer... lyricist... NEIL PEART of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee RUSH joins Jim Ladd, high in the Hollywood Hills, for an exclusive one-on-one discussion. Topics will range from Neil's latest book: 'Far and Near: On Days Like These' to the music that influences him to the recently-announced Rush R40 tour celebrating 40 years! This not-to-be-missed interview happens this Tuesday February 3 at 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific on Deep Tracks - SiriusXM 27." - XMRadio
Evil Ed Nijjer, Canadian editor for DRUM-line magazine, spoke with Lorne Wheaton, Neil's drum tech, to discuss the R40 drum kit at the DW Booth at the NAMM show last month. You can see the video interview below, which includes this comment which sheds some light onto what to expect from the setlist:
"For this next tour we're not going to be using the full V-Drum kit on the back. We are not going to be spinning. It's going to be full-tilt Rush songs and there will probably be a whole lot of old stuff in it." - Lorne Wheaton
Although the recent R40 Tour press release alluded to the fact that this would be "their 21st tour, one which will most likely be their last major tour of this magnitude", a new interview with Neil Peart from yesterday's Toronto Star restates the obvious/unwanted truth in its title. The interview itself, however, does not actually include any statement from Peart that this could be Rush's last tour, so take it as you will...
Last year, Alex Lifeson appeared on John Wesley's latest album, Disconnect. Last fall, Guitar Player magazine published an interview with John Wesley by Anil Prasad, which included an Alex Lifeson sidebar. That piece is now online in greatly expanded form on Innerviews.org, including extensive coverage of John’s friendships with Alex and Neil. You can find it at http://www.innerviews.org/inner/wesley.html
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