Rush News

Rolling Stone has published its Midyear Music Biz Report Card, showing Rush coming in at #8 among the year's rock and pop tours with $18.3 million in earnings, not too shabby for a second leg tour (last year Rush came in 6th with $21 million in earnings as reported by USA Today). The Top 10 Rock and Pop Tours for 2008 are: 1. Bon Jovi ($56.3 million), 2. Bruce Springsteen ($40.8 million), 3. Van Halen ($36.8 million), 4. Kanye West ($31.6 million), 5. Jay-Z/Mary J. Blige ($30.7 million), 6. Spice Girls ($23.3 million), 7. The Police ($23.3 million), 8. Rush ($18.3 million), 9. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ($17.8 million), 10. Hannah Montana ($17.1 million) - RollingStone.com, July 29, 2008

Visit the multimedia section of Rush.com for the latest instalment of "The Biggest Fans"! Also in the Multimedia section, they have added the RockBand interview where Geddy and Alex discuss the "Working Man" Vault Edition, and the making of the debut album thirty five years ago(!). - Thanks to Chris Falskow for the headsup!

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The Snakes & Arrows Live 2CD set, featuring the full setlist from the 2007 tour recorded last year in Rotterdam, was released this past April. The complimentary DVD is to be released later this year; although still no official date has been announced, it is rumored to have a tentative November 4th release date.

The 2008 leg of the tour kicked off April 11th in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and ran through July 24th in Indianapolis, Indiana. This second leg included four songs not performed in 2007, and as confirmed by this official notice from FogoLabs, the band also filmed the recent July 22nd show in Atlanta in HD. According to inquires made at the show, cameramen stated they were primarily capturing the new songs introduced on the second leg for possible inclusion as bonus footage on the pending DVD release. Click here for complete 2008 tour news and reviews.

On Wednesday July 16th, Rush appeared on The Colbert Report. The complete episode is available on Colbert's website. Before taking the stage, however, Rush answered the challenge and performed "Tom Sawyer" as part of the video game Rock Band. How did it go? After playing the song, Geddy quips "I'm joining another band..."

"...The Canadian band Rush, which hasn’t performed on U.S. television in more than three decades, will play their classic 'Tom Sawyer' on the Comedy Central show Wednesday (11:30 p.m. EST). The Geddy Lee-led trio, which is currently on tour, hasn’t played on U.S. television since 1975..." - Associated Press, July 15, 2008

Originally released for Rock Band on July 8th, today Rush has released the "Working Man" (Vault addition) on iTunes!

"The version features a never before heard guitar solo that Alex Lifeson did during the original recordings back in the 70’s. The song was re-mixed by Rich Chycki who is known for his work on R30 and Snakes & Arrows. A great addition to the Rush song library!" - Rush.com, July 21, 2008

Rockband.com has a recent video interview with Alex & Geddy filmed backstage before a recent concert, where they discuss finding this lost "Working Man 'alternate solo'", and go into detail regarding the making of their debut album.

"Ever wondered where Rush's fondly remembered satin kimono costumes (pictured below) ended up? Be honest now – you have, haven't you? Well, now it can be revealed. Jap (sic) band Onmyo-Za have Geddy, Alex and Neil's old duds in their possession and are wearing them with plide! (Alright, so we know these sorta outfits are de rigeur in Japan's Visual Kei scene, but give us a break, will ya?!) Onmyo-Za have been described as a Japanese thrash-pop answer to Nightwish, and you can check them out playing their fine opus Kasha No Wadachi here." - ClassicRockMagazine.com, July 21, 2008 (Thanks to Brian Sullivan for the headsup!)

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A cover of "Tom Sawyer" is one of the original 26 songs included on the music video game Rock Band, and in January covers of "Limelight" and "Working Man" 'as made famous by Rush' were made available for download.

On July 8th, two more songs, "Closer To The Heart" and "Working Man", were made available for download. Unlike previous Rock Band versions, however, both songs are 'master tracks'. In addition, Rush.com confirmed "the version features a never before heard guitar solo that Alex Lifeson did during the original recordings back in the 70’s. The song was re-mixed by Rich Chycki who is known for his work on R30 and Snakes & Arrows. A great addition to the Rush song library!" (On July 22nd, Rush released the "Working Man" (Vault addition) on iTunes!)

Rockband.com has posted a new video with Alex & Geddy filmed backstage before a recent concert, where they discuss finding this lost "Working Man 'alternate solo'", and go into detail regarding the making of their debut album.

Apparently surprised at the reaction by Rush fans to their recent article, "Rush Never Sleeps" (which appears in the July 10-24 issue), the the folks over at Rolling Stone have posted their defense on their website. When the issue hit news stands, many online Rush fans commented that while much of the article was positive, the overall tone seemed an attempt to justify why the magazine was sinking so low as to write about Rush, and that it included many negative connotations on both the band and its stereotypical "nerdy" fans.

The magazine is now defending itself with a new online article titled "Rush vs. Rolling Stone: A Qualitative Analysis", where they write "In the 2004 edition of the Rolling Stone Album Guide, Rush's albums received an average of 2.7 stars. Technically, those ratings put them somewhere between 'fair' and 'good' in the RS canon, which, needless to say, will not satisfy the fans at RushMessageBoard.com." Also recently posted is their "Rush: The Complete Album-by-Album Guide".