Note: Look under the Music category for reviews of all the gigs I went to. This story was written before the tour. Way before.
All right! Rush are touring the UK in May 2011 – just as I have predicted several times this year (smug, eh?)
I heard it on Planet Rock this morning, and it is also featured over at the Official Rush Website, plus there’s even an article about them in The Sun today which mentions it!
Well, I’ve already got my tickets on order via my usual source – must be in the front five rows, and tickets for every gig in the UK.
There’s no mention anywhere yet of the new album, Clockwork Angels, but Planet Rock suggest this will be released just after the tour finishes (OK, so I was slightly wrong about that – I thought they’d tour to promote the album!).
Here’s the official news release:
TIME MACHINE TOUR 2011
Rush has confirmed they will be extending the Time Machine Tour and coming to Europe this spring.
The following dates are confirmed, including Rush performing in Ireland for the first time ever.
More additional European announcements to come.
Thursday, May 12th Dublin O2
Saturday, May 14th Glasgow SECC
Monday, May 16th Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Thursday, May 19th Manchester MEN Arena
Saturday, May 21st Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Sunday, May 22nd Birmingham LG Arena
Wednesday, May 25th London O2
Rush.com members will be receiving a pre-sale notification on Monday, November 22nd that begins on Tuesday, November 23rd.
Tickets for the Time Machine Tour in Ireland & UK general on sale will commence at 9AM GMT on Friday, November 26th, 2010. Ticket links and details will be posted shortly.
Additional European dates will be announced shortly!
Also confirmed today, the Time Machine tour will return to North America for a selection of dates between March and July, primarily with Rush performing in markets not played on the previous tour run this summer.
A bit of a lean period on the music front of late. But I went to the Nottingham Arena tonight to see Paramore on the opening night of their UK tour.
When we ordered the tickets there was no problem: like the music, want to see the band.
In the interim, however, I was worried to see Hayley Williams collaborating with rap artist B.o.B. on the various music channels. I hate rap. And to make matters worse, I realised soon after we’d booked that B.o.B. was the supporting act.
Now, I still hate rap. But to be fair to B.o.B. he put on a decent show (there was only one obligatory “motherf***er”), and a couple of songs were quite rock-like. He still had the pointless dancers, of course, but then that’s what rap is. And some of the time it was impossible to work out where some of the sound was coming from – it sure as hell wasn’t coming from anyone who was holding an instrument, of that I’m certain. He also managed to get a few spectacular vocals immediately after taking the mike away from his mouth (if it wasn’t miming, then there was one hell of a backing track being used).
Naturally, the bass was so intense that your heart was struggling not to go into arrhythmia, and my trousers were shaking!
Hayley Williams came on to duet with him on their collaboration song.
Anyway, after the set change, Paramore came on. I have to say that they were excellent. It was difficult to hear any of the lyrics, and the sound was very intense just as you’d expect. But they put on a very polished show, with enough rawness to keep it in the rock camp. Hayley seemed genuinely surprised at the size of the venue and the number of people there (it wasn’t a full house, but it was close), and she was clearly happy at the reception they got.
They did a few acoustic numbers (as well as a country one – they are from Tennessee, after all), but the set was predominantly tracks which define the sound for which they are famous.
As I said, an excellent show.
On the side of it all, the audience was refreshingly short (and young – with weak bladders, meaning there was a constant flow in and out), so visibility was good. Not many were old enough to drink, so getting beer was easy at the break. A few songs required people to hold up lighters until their thumbs got too hot to carry on (that always cracks me up). And initially, you had to put up with the forest of iPhones until peoples arms got tired or batteries ran out.
Afterwards, we went for a pretty decent curry at Anoki (just round the corner). Mind you, it was bloody expensive. Main courses started at £14, and anything decent was nearer £17. Starters were £7, and rice and naan were £3 each. God knows how much the beer cost. It was lucky they were doing a 2 for 1 offer on main courses (we didn’t know about this before we went in), otherwise our £85 bill for four would have been closer to £120!
There weren’t many people in, even though thousands were walking past outsode. I can’t work out if that was because of the price, or perhaps because everyone else was off for a Happy Meal.
I’ve been doing some scouting around on YouTube and found some footage of Horslips. Looking back, what annoys me is that when I was a teenager I was too bloody naive to even consider that Horslips might have released any stuff like this. Mind you, back then – with no Internet – it was virtually impossible to find it if it wasn’t in the stores you physically went into, and even then it would only have been on VHS tape. I obviously missed quite a lot. This video shows them very young indeed:
Their sound really holds up well. This must date from around 1974.
BILLY CORGAN TO SPEAK AT RUSH WALK OF FAME CEREMONY JUNE 25 IN LA
Billy Corgan, vocalist, lead guitarist and songwriter for The Smashing Pumpkins, will pay tribute to the band as they accept their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Billy joins Donna Halper, former radio personality at WMMS Cleveland where Rush received their first radio airplay with Working Man participate as well.
The ceremony will take place in front of the Musician’s Institute at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard at 11:30 AM in Los Angeles this Friday, June 25th.
Mann Chinese 6 in Hollywood is going to have special screenings of ‘Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage’ at their theatre this Friday in honor of Rush getting their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame just blocks away. They’re giving special screenings at 2pm, 5pm and 8pm in their biggest auditorium.
Rush In Hollywood
Well, it may have taken nearly 40 years, but at least they are getting the recognition they deserve.
You can read more here, and here , and here, and here. And many other places online. There’s also a video on some of those sites.
The first of those stories confirms that the new album, Clockwork Angels, is due for release next year. My prediction is that that will coincide with the announcement of a World Tour. Note that there is also a new CD single (Caravan/BU2B) which is on release ahead of the album.
Remember – that comment about the World Tour is just a prediction, not a fact!
This story – and other posts relating to Rush – is still getting a lot of hits from people asking “will Rush tour the UK?” or “are rush touring the UK?”.
A new Rush DVD is due for release – it’s a documentary about Rush, from their beginnings all the way to the present day. Mine’s on pre-order from Amazon. Here’s the official trailer for it:
It apparently has a lot of unseen material, so definitely one for the fans and collectors.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a World Tour next year, once they release the new album “Clockwork Angels”.
I was watching one of the music channels last night before I went to sleep, and they played Rise by P.I.L. I had forgotten how good a song it is.
When it was first released, it made me buy a few other P.I.L. albums, and the track Don’t Ask Me also came to mind.
Back in the 70s I absolutely hated the Sex Pistols – and to be honest, I still do. They were just too contrived. But there is no denying that John Lydon – and the late Malcolm McLaren, come to that – were very talented (even if Lydon spent the late 70s punk era pretending he wasn’t).
I went to pick a pupil up a couple of weeks ago – he lives right in the centre of Nottingham. On my way through the city I hit traffic around the Trent FM Arena. This was due to the fact that Torvill and Dean’s ice show was on that night.
Now, I could start a whole new topic about the average age of the people going to this show, and the fact that being of that age somehow gives you the right to stop on yellow lines with strict No Waiting restrictions, right in the middle of busy multi-lane one-way systems during rush hour. But that isn’t my point.
Anyway, I picked up my pupil, and before we drove away I said to him that we weren’t going anywhere near the city centre because Torvill and Dean were on at the Arena, and the traffic was bad.
He said: “Who are Torvill and Dean?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. He had never heard of them. He justified this by saying that he knew about things from his own lifetime, but not before – but I still found it shocking, and I still wind him up about it.
To make matters worse, I was telling the story to a Pass Plus pupil a week or so later, and she’d not heard of them either. Better still, she said “Are you into ice dance then?” Bloody cheek! I can’t stand it, but I know who Torvill and Dean are.
I mean, what is the world coming to when young people haven’t heard of things that happened before they were born? Some of the best films and funniest comedians lived, worked, and sometimes died, long before I was born – but I still know of them, and I knew of them long before the Internet.
And it’s the same when it comes to music. Rush – who, behind only the Beatles and Rolling Stones, are the band with the most consecutive gold and platinum albums of all time – are totally unknown to most pupils. Last year, one chap (who was into rock music) had never heard of them, but when I gave him some of their stuff he was just blown away. He played it to one of his friends who said “I just can’t believe I’ve never heard of these.” At least I got a couple of converts out of it, though.
But anyway, I refuse to accept it is a sign that I am getting old. It’s just further evidence that young people are getting dumber – at least as far as history goes!
EDIT 19/05/2010: And it gets worse. Another one last night hadn’t heard of Torvill and Dean, either. The problem of ignorance amongst today’s youth is a bigger problem than anyone realises.
My heart missed a beat… but it is only a North American Tour. However, Rush’s website says that they’re working on a new studio album, and that means a World Tour is quite possibly on the way.
This is from the News section:
Tickets for Rush go on sale in select markets beginning April 16th at www.livenation.com
(Toronto – Thursday, April 8th 2010) – Rush – Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart – is without question one of the most inventive and compelling groups in rock history, equally famed for both its virtuoso musicianship and provocative songwriting.Announced today, The Time Machine Tour is an evening with Rush, where they will perform their classics, give a taste of the future – and for the first time ever – feature the Moving Pictures album live in its entirety.
The band is currently working on their 20th studio album with producer Nick Raskulinecz (co-producer from 2007’s Snakes & Arrows) and in addition to their classics plan to showcase a few new tunes live this summer.
“We were off for a year and a half, and now it’s just pouring. Everything is totally crazy and there’s not a minute left in the day. We’ve got these half-dozen songs, and we’ll probably go in the studio and work on a couple of them and see how it goes, perhaps release something – and I say perhaps – and then we plan on being on the road,” says guitarist, Alex Lifeson.
This summer’s Live Nation promoted tour will visit approximately 40 cities throughout North America beginning June 29th in Albuquerque, NM and finishing October 2nd in West Palm Beach, FL with stops along the way in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Holmdel, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington, and more along the way (complete tour itinerary follows).
Rush has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and garnered untold legions of devoted and admiring fans. According to the RIAA, Rush’s sales statistics place RUSH third after The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band.
Released in 1981, Moving Pictures was their most successful album, certified 4x Platinum and features some of Rush’s most well known songs and perennial radio favourites Tom Sawyer, Limelight and the Grammy-nominated instrumental YYZ.
“Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage” a documentary created by filmmakers Scot McFadyen & Sam Dunn (whose filmography also includes: “Iron Maiden; Flight 666,’ “Metal, A Headbangers Journey” and “Global Metal”) will premiere at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival on April 24th followed by the Canadian premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs festival on April 29th. The band was also recently showcased in the comedy “I Love You Man” where they play themselves in a concert scene featuring actors Paul Rudd and Jason Segal as ubra-fans, a performance which has exposed the band to a whole new generation.
Inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame this past March alongside Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and the Guess Who, Rush has also been nominated for multiple Grammy awards and won a number of Juno Awards. They were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and bestowed the Order of Canada in 1997. Consistently celebrated and respected worldwide, Rush is the most successful Canadian rock band of all time and they remain one of the biggest grossing arena rock bands ever.
Tickets for Rush Time Machine Tour will go on sale beginning April 16th in San Francisco, Uncasville, Saratoga Springs, Denver, Chicago, Wantagh, Seattle and Holmdel at Livenation.com. Tickets for performances in Milwaukee, Sarnia and Syracuse go on sale April 17th, check local listings for ticket information. Citi® cardmembers will have access to pre-sale tickets through Citi’s Private Pass® Program beginning April 13th in select markets. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.
Quite amazing, isn’t it, that Rush are third in the all-time list of bands with the most consecutive gold and platinum albums.
Anyway, I’ll have to start saving so I can do the whole UK thing again (that Glasgow trip nearly killed me last time).
EDIT 25/04/2010: I’m getting a few hits from people querying whether Rush are touring the UK. At the moment their website only gives details of North American venues and there is no suggestion that it is a World Tour.
EDIT 20/05/2010: Still getting hits asking if Rush are touring the UK. Another thing to consider is that they usually only tour when they have released an album. As the press release says, they’re working on one… so a world tour must be on the way, but I would guess it will be in 2011 or later.
New Rush Single – From Clockwork Angels Album
EDIT 10/06/2010: You can buy a CD single of two new tracks from the forthcoming album. Available as mp3 downloads from Amazon – but I’ve got mine on order from the Rush Backstage Club . If you go to the Official Rush Site you can hear clips of the tracks in the background – they sound good. The album will be called Clockwork Angels.
EDIT 18/3/2011: Someone came here asking “what is Roy Wood doing now” and I noticed his site is down. I don’t know why. As far as I know he is still touring.
I went to Sheffield last night to see Status Quo , with Roy Wood’s Rock & Roll Band in support.
Roy Wood began his music career in the sixties – most famously with The Move , and in later years with The Electric Light Orchestra . But I remember him from my teenage years in his band, Wizzard .
Outwardly, he’s kept his age well – he doesn’t look that much different to the way he does in the videos they keep showing of Wizzard in its heyday on the cable music channels. But he’s also kept his voice.
He played a lot of the old, well-known songs – including The Move’s Flowers In The Rain, Blackberry Way, and Fire Brigade .
His backing band was quite impressive. I haven’t got a clue what their names are (look at his official site to find out ), but they consisted of backing/co-lead singer, four sax players, keyboards, bass guitar, and drums.
It seems this was only part of the full band he tours with – he has a seven-piece brass section most of the time.
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As you’d expect, he finished with Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. The crowd had remained seated throughout the set (what can you expect from old people?) but they got up to clap and dance for this one. In fact, the only thing they didn’t do was get their lighters out and start waving them around!
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After the set was changed, Status Quo came on. Francis Rossi has been unwell – a number of gigs prior to this one had been cancelled or postponed (I think he has had bronchitis). He looked a little drawn, and Rick Parfitt did appear to be doing most of the vocals early on.
Now, I have to be honest – I’m not the biggest Quo fan in the world. I don’t dislike them or anything, and I do enjoy listening to them (I enjoy just about anything live. Except rap, of course). But a lot of my interest is based on two things. Firstly, they play guitars, and secondly, the are more or less legends in the music business.
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The set was actually very good. The animated back-screens worked very well, and the rest of the band was very accomplished (even if the bass player did look like someone you want to slap). Quo played most of their hits, either in full or in medley.
From a musical perspective, it was a very enjoyable night.
I like to people-watch when I go to these things – I mentioned the average age of the crowd at the last Queen concert I went to, and I always mention general behaviour and demeanour (who could forget all those children trying to take their own photographs on mobiles at the MGMT gig?)
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If anything, the average age of this lot was the highest yet. About three quarters of the way through the Quo set, many of them started to sit down – unable to cope with long periods of standing. But the overriding annoyance this time was the old-people smell. Specifically, old women’s perfume!
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I had two near me. One of them was wearing that sickly flat stuff that makes you feel sick, and another was wearing something that felt like you were having two nails hammered up your nose. God, it was overpowering. And that’s another thing I just reminded myself of: I’d say that more than 50% of the crowd was female.
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It was pleasantly easy to get out of the car park (only half the Arena had been used for this show, so there was only half the usual traffic – and a lot had come by bus anyway). It was also pleasantly cheap to park (£5). Compare this to when Rush played there – parking had been extended to cover a big field behind the Arena, and it took well over an hour to get out, and I think it cost more like £10 to park.
Anyway, enough moaning. It was still a good night, and a very pleasant way to end a year of live shows (I don’t think I’ll go to another this year).
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Oh. One more thing. I’m going to have to get a decent bloody camera, which can take pictures in low light with a fast shutter speed. Only a handful came out – it all depends on how still you can hold your hand and whether the subject moves. Mind you, this Sony is over 5 years old now.
I might have mentioned this somewhere else, but a while back I went to see Graham Bonnet (formerly of Rainbow ) with a mate of mine. Now, I was never a big fan of Rainbow and I always thought that Graham Bonnet seemed to be trying way too hard in more ways than one – those Wayfarer shades always spring to mind, along with the veins bursting out of his neck when he sang.
In all honesty, the gig was pants (my opinion, obviously, as there were people there who were clearly enjoying themselves). But the real revelation was the support band.
I’m not completely sure how Planet Of Women works. They appear to be a trio of girls, but they also rely heavily on a talented backing band – which seems that it might be composed of whoever is around at the time. This is not intended to take anything away from them at all, and I guess that all will become clear(er) in time. But the lead singer’s voice is nuclear-powered – she sounds a little like Tina Turner but far more powerful.
From what I can figure, the lead singer (Jade) has been unwell and that would explain why I can’t find any upcoming tour info (though annoyingly, I keep finding reviews of gigs I’ve missed). Their website suggested an album was in the offing. Nothing seemed to appear, but when I did a bit of scouting I managed to pick up an EP/single off eBay , and I also found a live set available for download from TuneTribe.
I’ve resampled a few tracks from the live set – have a listen.
