Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Last night, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 ceremony premiered on HBO. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, here are some previews from HBO on YouTube:

Thanks to Rushisaband for the head's up!

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

It was a big night at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. There, along with the rest of the 2013 class -- and a lot of Rush fans -- Rush was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Thanks to everyone on Twitter who sent updates.

Here are some highlights:

Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters inducted Rush:

All three members of Rush gave speeches.

Then, in one of the biggest surprises of the night, the Foo Fighters played "2112" in kimonos! (Yes, kimonos!)

Rush joined in at the end of "2112," and then played "Tom Sawyer" and "The Spirit of Radio."

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Finally, all bands took part in an all-star jam on the song "Crossroads."

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Tonight Rush will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. The event starts at 7:00 p.m. Pacific/10 p.m. Eastern. There's no TV coverage.

Congratulations to Alex, Geddy, and Neil on your induction, and thanks for all your music and inspiration over the years!

Congrats to the other 2013 inductees Public Enemy, Heart, Randy Newman, Donna Summer, and Albert King, Lou Adler, and Quincy Jones.

I'll be posting updates as I get them.

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Tomorrow, Thursday, April 18, Rush will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, along with the rest of 2103 2013 inductees. The event starts at 7:00 p.m. Pacific/10 p.m. Eastern.

There's no TV coverage tomorrow, but you can visit cleveland.com/rockhall for live coverage starting at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern. I'll also be retweeting and posting updates as I get them.

The induction ceremony will be broadcast on HBO on Saturday, May 18 at 9pm ET/PT.

Thanks to Cygnus-x1.net for the head's up!

Updates

5/11/13 - Changed "2103" to "2013"

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rush.com announced that there will be a special Rush fan pre-sale starting on Monday, January 28, at 10 a.m. PST for the 22nd Annual Rock Hall induction ceremony. The ceremony will be held at Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m.

Rush will be inducted by Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters.

From Rush.com:

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.

There are other pre-sales for AMEX cardholders happening right now through Jan 27, and the public sale will begin on Friday, February 1 at 10 a.m. PST.

As usual, there are many levels of ticket prices ($75 - 2000) for the event, as listed on the Ticketmaster site:

Premium tickets:

Hot Sound Package ($2000) includes:
. Premium reserved ticket ($750 ticket location)
. Access to Artist Rehearsals (Wednesday and Thursday)
. Invitation to the after-party at Club Nokia (Thursday)
. Exclusive merchandise item
. Collectible laminate
. Onsite event management staff

Hot Seat Package 1 ($750) includes:
. Premium reserved ticket ($500 ticket location)
. Exclusive merchandise item
. Collectible laminate

Hot Seat Package 2 ($550) includes:
. Premium reserved ticket ($350 ticket location)
. Exclusive merchandise item
. Collectible laminate

Other price levels are $75 - $350.

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock Hall announced that tickets for the April 18, 2013, induction ceremony will go on sale to the public on Friday, February 1.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members will have the opportunity to purchase advanced tickets on Monday, January 28.

Rush has indicated that they will perform at the ceremony.

More info from the Rock Hall site:

Ticket Purchase 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 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Thanks to Rushisband.com for the head's up!

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

After being eligible since 1998, Rush was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rush joins Public Enemy, Heart, Randy Newman, Donna Summer, and Albert King, Lou Adler, and Quincy Jones in the class of 2013.

Here's the official press release from Rolling Stone.

Rush released a statement on Rush.com:

"We are honored to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The 3 of us are especially appreciative of our loyal fans whose support and dedication has gone a long way to making this possible. P.S. And special thanks to our moms for voting 6000 times!" - Alex, Geddy, & Neil

Here's a Rolling Stone Interview with Geddy Lee about the induction.

Here's the announcement video:

It's been a long road for Rush (and many of the fellow artists inducted this year). Congratulations to Geddy, Alex, and Neil, as well as the fans who petitioned the Hall for years. 

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Updated 10/7/2012

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After 38 years together, 22 consecutive Gold records, 24 total Gold records, 14 Platinum records, 20 total studio albums, sales of 40 million records worldwide, countless years of touring to sold-out arenas, and years of petitions by fans, Rush was finally nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (They've been eligible since 1998.)

Rush accepted the nomination with professional grace, giving credit where credit was due (the fans):

"We are honored to be among the nominees for this year's Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame. We are especially thrilled for the many, many dedicated RUSH fans to whom this nomination is so very important." -- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart

The nomination brought out cries of vindication from Rush fans. But it also brought out the HATERS.

If you're a HATER, here's what I have to say to you: You're entitled to your opinion about Rush. But if you don't think Rush belongs in a legitimate hall of fame of Rock Music, then you don't know what you're talking about. And, no, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn't legit. If they were, would these bands and performers be missing? (This isn't an exhaustive list -- just some of the bands that jumped out from one list. Feel free to leave more in the comments.)

• KISS
• Yes
• The Cars
• Jethro Tull
• Journey
• Chicago
• The Moody Blues
• Iron Maiden
• Joe Cocker
• The Doobie Brothers
• Peter Frampton
• Cheap Trick
• Judas Priest
• Devo
• Def Leppard
• Motley Crue
• Duran Duran

As I watched these two LA Times music critics debate the merits of Rush's possible induction into the Rock Hall, I was surprised to hear the same old criticisms: complex time signatures, pretentious lyrics, and Geddy Lee's high vocal range don't belong in the Hall. Well, you've been saying these things for years -- and it's time to just admit you were wrong. You may not like or understand Rush, but that doesn't mean they're not a legitimate Rock band.

Neil Peart said in a 1992 article with Bob Mack in Spin Magazine about the critics:

"It's fine for people they say they hate us -- that our music is too busy, self-absorbed, elevated. Or they hate Geddy's voice. Fine. That's a taste thing... Rhythm is the basis of a lot of musical styles. To Rush, it's just an element. That's why we're accused of being too busy, too convoluted, too far-reaching. Yes, we're restless, and yes, our work is uneven -- but no one can ever question the sincerity of the attempt."

Rush has successfully defied the conventions that music critics helped create -- highlighting the flaws in the system. Like all great artists, Rush created their own conventions and did what they wanted. They built their audience by touring (not radio and hits). Their breakthrough album was 2112, a side-long sci-fi epic (even though they were under pressure to write 3-minute Pop songs from the record company). They experimented with musical forms and instruments -- always learning, always growing -- instead of staying the same. They gathered up reader's poll awards for their group and individual accomplishments.

But, most importantly, people were inspired -- because Rush continued to show that a Rock band could stand for something other than the usual "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll!" And as the years passed, the circle of fans grew larger until Rush couldn't be ignored anymore. Some of those early fans became influencers in media and culture. And now here we are, arriving at a time when even the Rock Hall has given up their crusade against Rush. (Even if the HATERS won't go out without a fight.)

Perhaps that in itself is worth celebrating.

Regardless of whether they get inducted into the Rock Hall, Rush will continue to do what they do best: write new music and play it live for an audience.

Congrats to Rush and the fans that made this happen!

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rush filmed this concert for an upcoming DVD (directed by Banger Films, producers of Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage) in the city where it all began for them.

First, here are some photos by John Arrowsmith -- one from behind Neil, and one from the back of the hall. I'd say this show was sold out.

Next, I got some great photos from Pete Roche at www.theclevelandsound.com of Neil. (Notice that Neil is wearing in-ear monitors for this performance.)

Update - 4/18 - See the rest of the photos and the review here:

RUSH live at Quicken Loans Arena 4/15/11

 

Finally, before the show Rush fans gathered at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to protest Rush's exclusion there. Ed at Rushisband.com shared this great photo via the Canadian Music Scene.

Labels: Banger Films, photo of the night, pictures, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Time Machine DVD, Time Machine tour 2011

Wired.com posted an article about the merits of Rush and why they should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Here's my own opinion:

Sure, it would be great for Rush to get more respect from the music industry. But for a while now, I've started to think that even if they did get nominated, they should reject it. I'm not sure why Rush would want to join an organization like this. If the RRHoF wanted to nominate/induct Rush, it should have happened years ago. If they nominate/induct Rush now, it would only be for the RRHoF's benefit.

I know that we've all signed petitions to get the band in, but it seems like it's time to direct our energy elsewhere. I think Rush should have their own museum in Toronto, where it all started.

What do you think?

Labels: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame