Main Menu
Classic Rock News And Views
Browse: Classic Rock Gear Classic Rock Ringtones Classic Rock Posters
October 29, 2009
Alex Lifeson And Rick Mercer’s ‘Man Date’
Popular Canadian comedian Rick Mercer recently took Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson on one of his infamous “man dates” for his CBC television program, The Rick Mercer Report.
The highlight of Mercer and Lifeson’s date was a visit to an indoor skydiving facility which actually looked like a lot of fun, but may be a bit tricky to master if Mercer and Lifeson’s experience was any indication.
In typical Rush form, Lifeson seems a bit reluctant to toot his own horn when Mercer asks him what it feels like to be one of the best guitarists in the world. “Oh, don’t ask me,” Lifeson responds.
Towards the end of the segment, they visit the bar that Lifeson co-owns. Called The Orbit Room, a Toronto watering hole that offers patrons live music nightly. Lifeson and his partner Tim Notter have been running the place for about fifteen years.
Despite the respect he has earned for decades of performing with Rush, Lifeson still does not get high marks for his attempts to play along with one of Rush’s songs on what appears to be the popular music video game, “Rock Band.” Lifeson appears to be making a genuine attempt to play well, and is clearly in synch with the guitar parts but still falls somewhere short of a satisfactory performance, according to the feedback from the game.
Rush fans will likely remember a similar experience that the entire group had while making an appearance on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report during the summer of 2008.
Obviously, there’s no compelling reason for Alex Lifeson to spend time learning how to play “Rock Band,” but he and Mercer seem to enjoy their time together. I do wish, however, that he would have indulged himself a bit and actually smashed the guitar at the end of the game. It might have made for some good TV and the game could easily be replaced, considering that he happens to be a member of one of the best-selling rock groups of all time.
Check out the segment at the CBC site.
October 15, 2009
Lifeson Soars, Bertinelli Dishes, Buble Tops KISS and Whitford Races
Rush axe man Lifeson soars on ‘man date’
Not looking much like the menacing owl portrayed on the cover of Fly By Night, Alex Lifeson recently joined Canadian comic Rick Mercer as they filmed a “man date” segment for Mercer’s CBC TV show The Rick Mercer Report.
The pair stopped by Niagara Freefall Indoor Skydiving to float around a bit, which, judging from the photograph, Mercer enjoyed thoroughly. More at The Niagara Falls Review.
Valerie Bertinelli pens new book
The woman who was the object of many a teenage fantasy during her days as a TV actress on One Day At A Time (guilty as charged!) is back with a new book.
This time, instead of Losing It, Bertinelli is Finding It, and sharing her inspirational story about how she “discovered how to live the best life possible at the age of 49.”
Coming as a shock to some of us who watched her every move on One Day At A Time, Bertinelli describes her struggles with her self-image and how she felt inferior to co-star MacKenzie Phillips. Perhaps by now she has come to the realization that it was her that most of us admiring young men had our eyes glued to during each episode. I know I sure did! Check out the full scoop at ABC News.
Buble and Oprah a KISS killer?
In a recent interview with Macleans magazine, KISS frontman and business mogul, Gene Simmons jokingly (at least I hope he was joking) referred to himself as “king of the world.” Unfortunately for KISS, Simmons was not able to proclaim his group as king of the charts at the same time.
Having never had an album make it all the way to #1 on the Billboard chart, the group seemed poised to finally reach the promised land with the release of their new album Sonic Boom.
Those hopes were dashed by none other than Michael Buble, the Canadian crooner who was recently featured on Oprah after the release of his new album Crazy Love. Oprah’s star power was cited as a contributing factor that helped send Buble to the top of the chart with Sonic Boom coming in second. Read more from Gawker.
Aerosmith guitarist takes to the track
If you happen to be an Aerosmith fan who also enjoys things like racing, you will definitely want to check out the footage of Brad Whitford as he zips around a racetrack in a Volkswagen speed machine.
Check it out at Aerosmith’s official website.
September 18, 2009
Rush Auctions Memorabilia on eBay For Charity
Could there be any doubt which member of Rush is behind the the selection of the beneficiary for a charity eBay auction that will offer up various Rush memorabilia? “Grapes For Humanity” is the charity organization in question, and in light of the fact that the group’s bassist and lead vocalist Geddy Lee is well-known a wine aficionado, and even has is own spacious wine cellar in his home.
Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart may also be among those that enjoy wine, and evidently are fully behind this event, however, as someone whose wine cellar was once featured in a Toronto magazine called City Bites, one has to suspect Lee as the man behind this particular choice.
“Grapes for Humanity” is described as an “organization that helps to raise funds to benefit humanitarian causes around the world with the assistance of the international wine community.”
Now as someone who cannot drink the stuff (it gives me terrible headaches), I’m not on board with the whole wine thing, but I’m sure that “Grapes For Humanity” is a very worthy cause if the guys from Rush support it. I’ve heard stories from people that have actually worked with Rush that describe them as some of the nicest guys in the business.
For those interested in what little bits of Rush history might be up for grabs on eBay, here’s a sampling:
- A Geddy Lee Signature Fender Jazz bass AND a rare Garrison G-50E Custom Acoustic guitar used by Alex on the Snakes & Arrows tour. They have both been signed by Geddy and Alex as well as by members of Depeche Mode, TOOL,The Fray, Pearl Jam, Judas Priest and many more in Support of Grapes for Humanity.
- A Gibson Les Paul Axcess "Custom Shop" guitar which was used by Alex Lifeson in a recent secret session. The guitar will be autographed and will be accompanied by a signed photo of Alex with the Guitar.
- A Sabian Paragon Diamondback Chinese 20" Cymbal, from Neil Peart’s personal kit, with Neil’s signature.
If you’d like to toss your hat in the ring, you can visit eBay and enter your bid.
“Grapes For Humanity” cites their main focus as “To provide a better quality of life for victims and survivors of disasters. We help these individuals become self-sufficient citizens to go on to lead fulfilling and productive lives. Funds are raised through various international wine events, wine auctions, corporate and private home wine tastings. Through our partners we direct the proceeds of these events to those in immediate need. Grapes for Humanity is an organization that is run on the strength of its volunteers. We pride ourselves on the fact that all monies raised go directly to our chosen partner.”
In this particular case, the chosen partner is HALO (Hazardous Area Life-Support Organization) for their on-going work with victims of landmines in the African nation of Angola. In addition to the money that will be raised through the auction, that sum will be matched by the Julia Burke Foundation in California.
More information is available at Rock Star Weekly.
September 4, 2009
New Rush Album And Tour On Tap For Next Year?
We’ve heard subtle hints coming from Rush’s two most vocal members for a while now about the possibility of the group getting back to work soon. From all appearances, it seems that both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are starting to get a little antsy and would like to begin work on some new material.
Drummer Neil Peart, who just recently became a father again, might be a different story. After a major life event like that, he may want to stick around home for a while and settle into the new routine. Lee and Lifeson will probably talk him into returning to work before too long, however.
Recent word by way of NoiseCreep.com suggests that the group may resume work soon and if all goes well, come up with a new album to showcase on a tour next summer.
The group seemed extraordinarily pleased with the finished product after working with producer Nick Raskulinecz on their last album, Snakes & Arrows. I think Nick calls the office once a week just to make sure we’re still planning on getting back to work at some point,” according to guitarist Alex Lifeson.
The Snakes & Arrows tour was particularly grueling for Rush, with a total of 120 shows performed at venues around the world. The group decided that a year off would be a good break after spending so much time on the road. Although there are no formal commitments coming from them about when they will get back to work, Lifeson reports he has been doing some writing and hopes he will get together with Lee and Peart in the near future to start planning their next album.
Although it’s too early for Rush fans to start planning for a tour next summer, it’s obvious that Rush is not finished yet. It’s a pretty safe bet that they will be releasing a new album again. The only question is: “When?”
March 18, 2009
Rush’s Geddy Lee And Alex Lifeson In New Interview and Magazine Piece
These days it seems like Rush is coming out of the closet. No, I don’t mean that closet. What I’m saying is that they seem to be garnering more acceptance in the mainstream. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is likely to be a touchy subject amongst the Canadian trio’s dedicated fans.
Recalling my early days as a Rush fan in the late 70’s, there was a certain air of “coolness” that myself and my Rush-adoring friends enjoyed by feeling that we were members of a somewhat exclusive club – those who understood at the time how cool Rush was, and appreciated how unique they were among their rock star peers. To say nothing of their amazing ability as musicians.
With Rush showing up in U.S. television for the first time in 30 years, being featured not long ago in Rolling Stone magazine after decades of being snubbed, being interviewed for Entertainment Weekly and appearing in the new comedy movie I Love You Man, it appears that the perceived exclusivity of being a Rush fan may be something that’s slowly slipping away. The real world, it seems, has begun to notice Rush.
Now it appears that the lack of attention the group received from the mainstream may have been due in part to choices that they themselves had made. In the Entertainment Weekly interview, Geddy Lee is quoted as saying: “We’re so ass-backwards sometimes. We don’t do the things we should do, from a practical point of view. As we’ve gotten older we’ve lightened up about a lot of things. What used to be such a big deal is maybe not such a big deal to us anymore.”
That was in response to a question about why it was that they had decided to appear on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report last summer. Lee attributes the tragic events in drummer Neil Peart’s life that nearly led to the groups break-up for giving them a fresh perspective on things and adopting that “lighter attitude.”
Asked about the possibility of appearing in other movies, Lee, in his trademark tongue-in-cheek style responds: “Any movie. We’re all available. We’re putting ourselves out there. We all want to be character actors now. “We’re ready to be in any movie anybody wants to put us into.”
Yes, fellow Rush fans, our favorite Canadian trio does appear to have lightened up significantly of late, but perhaps the opportunity to grow their fans base and introduce a younger generation of fans to their music outweighs that little thrill some of us enjoyed by feeling like we were members of an exclusive club or secret society. I am still a little disappointed that I was never quite able to master the secret handshake, however.
More Rush News comes to us by way of Power Windows where they link to a feature piece in Premier Guitar on Alex Lifeson. Although there is some discussion of general interest to Rush fans, the bulk of it, as one might expect, is best enjoyed by guitar geeks, as Lifeson talks about the kinds of things guitar geeks like to know about.
Although they insist that they are now enjoying a nice rest after their grueling two-part Snakes & Arrows tour, it seems like it might be hard for these guys to sit still for very long. Lee and Lifeson has been showing up in both radio and print interviews of late, and it appears that Neil Peart may actually be enjoying some personal pursuits, although it’s hard to be sure since he’s known to be the most reclusive of the three. He does however, dedicate some of his time periodically to update fans with posts to his personal website. Always and interesting read in this fan’s opinion.
