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Showing posts from June, 2011

iDrum Issue #2 Featuring Neil Peart Now Online

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Back in March we reported that iDrum Magazine - the world's first truly interactive magazine for drummers - launched. The premiere issue included part one of an exclusive in-depth 40-minute video interview with Neil Peart together with exclusive images from the current "Time Machine" tour. The second issue of iDrum magazine is now online and includes the second part of the Neil Peart interview (click HERE to view.) We pick back up from the first installment of our insightful interview with Neil to where he discussed how conditioning plays a part in being prepared for life on the road and how fortunate he has been to avoid injury that has so often plagued drummers during their career. Click HERE to watch the first installment of the interview.

Rush Prepare to Take on Vegas / RushCon:X1 Begins

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Update (06.27.2011): Click HERE for a review and photo gallery from the Las Vegas show. Tonight, Rush rolls into Las Vegas to perform at the MGM Grand Hotel while the 11th Annual RushCon convention - dubbed RushCon:X1 - begins. Including the Vegas show, there are only five more dates before the Time Machine Tour draws to a close. Regarding the RushCon:X1 convention, which is taking place at the Hooters Hotel and Casino in the Night Owl Room, doors will open at 10:30am beginning a day of Rush-filled activities. RushCon is a by-the-fans, for-the-fans event where folks have an opportunity to raise money for an important charity whilst having an amazing time learning more about the band, getting to know each other and connecting with other fans from around the world. Over the past 10 years, RushCon members have formed life-long friendships and bonded over their fondness of this band. The after-concert party for convention participants will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe - On the Str

Profile on Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson: How These Local Legends Influenced Rock Music

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PostCity.Com, a Toronto-based news organization, has posted two short profiles on Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, reflecting how they've influenced the local Rock scene in Toronto, and beyond. Geddy Lee Geddy is around, which makes him doubly interesting and important. The streets are his and his band’s, but instead of moving into a Scottish castle or gated Florida Key or Umbrian monastery, he and Alex remain in Toronto (Neil only occasionally remains). In this regard, musicians young and old will come across him in the fullness of the Ontario light and think to themselves, “He stayed, so can I. I’m not going anywhere, dammit.” And so they do. Alex Lifeson On Saturdays, we’d escape to the small rooms at the back of the strip mall music store, where ’70s stoner music teachers showed us what we were doing right — or wrong: we were mostly wrong — and how Alex had actually kerranged when we’d keblanged; how he’d finger-pulled when we’d finger-pushed. They were epic, those licks, an

Fly By Night Selected as one of Toronto's Top 50 Rock Songs of All Time

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PostCity.Com, a Toronto-based news organization, has published its list of the top 50 rock songs in Toronto history with the limitation that only one song per artist or band can be selected. Representing Rush was their single Fly By Night from the album of the same name (of course). “Fly by Night” RUSH — it all began with the hiring of legendary drummer Neil Peart, who replaced John Rutsey for the band’s second album and helped take the Willowdale group to dizzying heights of musical complexity. Click HERE to view the entire list. Thanks to Eric from Power Windows for passing along the news.

Rush Voted the #1 Greatest Live Act in the World Today

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MusicRadar.com recently conducted a poll with its readers; asking them to select the best live act in the world today. The results? It wasn't even close. Rush came away with the #1 spot, blowing away such notable competition as Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Metallica and yes even Lady Gaga: Rush: So there we have it. The greatest live act in the world today is a Canadian trio who have been taking their hugely popular brand of progressive rock on the road for nigh-on four decades. Rush are still selling out arenas across the globe and anyone who attended the recent Time Machine shows in the UK will confirm that they were nothing short of captivating for three and a half hours. Geddy, Alex and Neil, we salute you. Check out the entire Top 30 list via this LINK . Thanks to RushFanForever and Callum Mackay for passing along the news.

Roll The Bones 24 Karat Gold CD Coming Soon

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Audio Fidelity is introducing a 24 Karat Gold version of Rush's 90's classic album Roll the Bones . Previously released 24K Gold versions of Rush CDs came from Mobile Fidelity , however Roll the Bones is the first such offering from Audio Fidelity: Our 24K+ compact discs reproduce the ultimate sound of a classic recorded performance without the irregular plated surfaces of standard aluminum discs. Our 24K+ series brings you classic music in deluxe packaging with see-through slip cases. We only use the original vintage mixes played back on a specially constructed playback deck. Here's where the PLUS comes in: Engineers Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray use their 30 years of expertise to create the best sounding versions of the music ever released. When they are satisfied with the end result, the final digital master is shipped directly to the manufacturing plant for etching in "real time" onto the glass surface by laser. The end result of this unique masterin

Rush Icon Enhanced Edition Coming July 19th

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Last October, Universal released a Rush compilation disc under the "ICON" series. The "ICON" series includes artists ranging from KISS to Diana Ross, and has the tag line "Great Artists, Great Songs, Great Value!" Though there are many Rush compilation discs out there, ICON was unique in that the price was very reasonable ($7.99) and the tracklist featured a lot of B-side classics. Now, coming this July 19th, is an 2-disc enhanced version. Where the original version only featured studio tracks, the enhanced version's second CD will include a selection of live tracks taken from All The World's A Stage, Exit Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure Live and A Show of Hands . Here's the tracklist for both CD's: Disc 1 1. Working Man 2. Fly Be Night 3. The Necromancer 4. The Twilight Zone 5. Closer To the Heart 6. Circumstances 7. Freewill 8. Limelight 9. The Analog Kid 10. Red Sector A 11. Marathon 12. Force Ten Disc 2 1. Bast

Modern Rock Review Feature: The Rush Story

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The Modern Rock Review website has just posted an extensive feature on Rush. The profile includes two multi-part articles, two editorial articles, and a discography. There has never been a rock band like Rush. They are three modest and unassuming men who have each excelled deep into the realms of virtuosity with their respective instruments. They have a single guitarist, Alex Lifeson, who plays any style imaginable and often switches instruments mid-song to replicate the original feel of the song. They have a singer lead singer, Geddy Lee who often plays at least two other instruments while singing. They rarely harmonize and almost never produce anything in the studio that they can’t reproduce on stage. And then there is Peart, loves to come up with mathematical formulas to make multiple time signatures fit and is considered by many (if not most) to be the finest drummer who ever sat behind a set. Together, these three have jived together like no other before them and will likel

Neil Peart's News, Weather, and Sports Update

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Neil Peart has posted the June 2011 update to the News, Weather, and Sports section of his website. In this entry, titled "Singletrack Minds in the Sceptered Isle" , Neil discusses his motorcycle travels throughout Great Britain. The motorcycling is fantastic, through lovely and occasionally magnificent scenery, and the day-off destinations, the country hotels, are wonderful. The weather can be . . . variable (I once described “the three Rs” of motorcycling in Britain as “rain, roundabouts, and the wrong side”), but that’s one lesson I learned from the English, living there in my youth. If you make plans for an outing, a picnic, a hike, or a motorcycle ride, whatever the weather on that day, you go. And in the typical Peartian fashion, the landscape captures his attention ... and imagination: One day in the mountains I was thinking about all of the barren peaks in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, wondering why they are not forested. It finally occurred to me tha

Rush Begin the Final Leg of the 2011 Time Machine Tour Tonight in South Carolina

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Update: Click HERE for a nice article/interview with Alex Lifeson ahead of Rush's stop in El Paso, TX on June 14th. Thanks Eric from Power Windows It all began nearly a year ago. Rush took the stage at the Hard Rock Casino Pavilion in Albuquerque, New Mexico to begin what the band dubbed as the Time Machine Tour ; playing songs from their past and present, and giving a glimpse of the future. Tonight, at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, SC, Rush will resume the tour after a week-long break following the European leg. The band will then work their way south across Louisiana, Texas and Arizona before heading further west into California for five dates, Las Vegas (the site of RushCon 11 ) and Oregon. The tour will end with a date in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 30th and a final stop at The Gorge in Seattle, WA on July 2nd. The tour has been an unqualified success in every way; selling out arenas throughout the country -- and the world. And based on the numerous interv

Neil Peart Talks Drum Solos: New MusicRadar Interview

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Ahead of the taping of Neil Peart's solo for the Drums Solos Week segment on The Late Show With David Letterman m which airs this Thursday, June 9th, Joe Bosso of Music Radar conducted a lengthy interview with Neil about "...the art of the drum solo - his own, those of his heroes, and how, over the past few years, he's moving "more and more towards improvisation..." It's mid-afternoon in New York City, and Neil Peart is unwinding. And how exactly does Rush's world-famous drummer and lyricist kick back in the Big Apple? By solving a math problem, of course. But this particular equation has a very specific purpose, and it's one that will soon be played out in front of TV cameras, a studio audience and millions of people, for Peart is one of the stars - he's the closer, in fact - of Drums Solos Week on The Late Show With David Letterman. There's just one hitch, however: The show's producers have asked the renowned sticksman, who this T

Neil Peart to Appear on the David Letterman Show - UPDATE #3

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Update: (06/10/2011): The video of Neil's solo performance on the Late Show with David Letterman is now online (view below). Update: (06/06/2011): It's been confirmed that Neil will be taping his appearance on the Letterman show today (Monday). This confirmation came by a tweet from Brutus ; Neil's long-time friend and riding partner: Bubba's in NYC to do the Letterman taping today. Show airs on Thursday. . Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for the heads' up on the tweet. Update: (06/03/2011): According to a post from Rush's official Facebook page, which linked to this article , not only will Neil be performing on the David Lettermen show, he will be performing "the grand finale to a 'drum solo week'" "...the finale drum solo performance of the week on Thursday, June 9 goes to Neil Peart, drummer for the legendary rock band Rush and regarded as one of the greatest drum soloists in rock music..." According to the latest issue o

Neil Peart Discusses Moving Pictures on CBC's Strombo

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It was back on March 19th when we first reported that Neil Peart made a rare appearance on the CBC talk-show Strombo which was formerly called The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos . Though taped in March, the episode isn't expected to formerly air on the CBC until June 17th. However one segment of the video interview is now available ONLINE and features Neil Peart breaking down Rush's classic Moving Pictures , track by track: The Rush drummer breaks down the band's classic album 'Moving Pictures', track-by- track... 'That was an important time musically and a great time for the three of us in terms of having a good time and sharing our goals and making music,' he says about the recording of the album, originally released in 1981. 'There was nothing self-indulgent or so-called pretentious about it. It was true boyish enthusiasm that was involved in creating all those things. We were progressing and learning and developing taste at the same tim

A Video Tour of Neil Peart's Time Machine Drum Kit

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After Rush's final performance in the UK at the O2 Arena in London last week, the folks from Rhythm Magazine, the UK's best-selling drumming magazine, ventured into the venue to interview Neil Peart and to take a tour of his phenomenal steampunk kit with Neil's long-time tech Lorne Wheaton. The results are below in a fantastic 9+ minute video. You can also watch the video directly at YouTube via this LINK . Thanks to Eric from Power Windows for passing along the news.

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