Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Rush.com announced the 2008 Snakes & Arrows tour dates today, and also announced that a live Snakes & Arrows CD will be released sometime in April. Here are all the details:

Press Release:

TORONTO, ON - January 18, 2008:
After a hugely successful 2007 tour, the fans have spoken and they want more. Rush officially announce dates for their extended 2008 Snakes & Arrows World Tour. The tour will kick off with their first ever appearance in San Juan, Puerto Rico April 11 and hit over 45 cities throughout the United States and Canada. For Rush fans this will be the first time in over a decade the band will make stops in Orlando, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Reno, Moline, Boise, Austin, Jacksonville and Winnipeg to name a few. Also for the first time in years the band will play Albuquerque, Edmonton, Vancouver, Hershey and Manchester.

The 2008 tour dates and venues are listed below. Tickets for New Orleans, Reno, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver and Detroit go on sale SATURDAY JANUARY 26.

American Express Cardmembers will also have the opportunity to purchase advance tickets January 26th through February 1st for Rush performances in Boston; Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Holmdel, Wantagh and January 27th through February 2nd in Los Angeles and Irvine. In addition there will be a MUSICTODAY fan club presale for all Rush performances in conjunction with RUSH.COM starting January 22 through January 24.

A SNAKES AND ARROWS LIVE CD will be released sometime in April. Details are forthcoming. In addition, the track "Malignant Narcissism" from the band's 2007 release "SNAKES & ARROWS" (Anthem/Atlantic) has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Fans will experience the technical virtuosity and hard-rocking compositions they have come to expect from Rush members, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart. In addition the band will update their set list for the 2008 tour.
The Rush tour in North America is produced by Live Nation Global Touring and SRO/Anthem.

For complete tour & ticket information, fan club presales and more, visit: www.rush.com & www.livenation.com

Tour dates:

APRIL 2008

11th    San Juan, PR              Coliseo de Puerto Rico                        
13th    Ft Lauderdale, FL        Bank Atlantic Center                        
15th    Orlando, FL                 Amway Center                                
17th    Jacksonville, FL           Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena            
19th    New Orleans, LA          New Orleans Arena                                         
20th    Houston, TX                Woodlands Pavilion                        
23rd    Austin, TX                   Frank Erwin Center                            
25th    Dallas, TX                   The Music Center at Fair Park                        
26th    Oklahoma City, OK     Ford Center                                    
29th    Albuquerque, NM        Journal Pavilion                    

MAY 2008

1st      Phoenix, AZ                  Cricket Pavilion                     
3rd     Reno, NV                      Reno Events Center                                     
4th     Concord, CA                 Sleep Train Pavilion                                
6th     Los Angeles, CA           Nokia Theatre                        
10th   Las Vegas, NV              Mandalay Bay Events Center                            
11th    Irvine, CA                    Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre                                    
20th    Moline, IL                   iWireless Center                        
22nd   St Paul, MN                Xcel Energy Center                
24th   Winnipeg, MB              MTS Center                                     
25th    Regina, SK                 Brandt Center                     
27th    Edmonton AB             Rexall Place                                
29th    Vancouver, BC            GM Place                     
31st     Seattle, WA                The Gorge Amphitheatre                              

JUNE 2008

1st        Portland, OR              Clark County Amphitheatre                        
3rd        Boise, ID                    Idaho Center                            
5th        Denver, CO                Red Rocks                        
7th        Kansas City, MO        Starlight Theatre                            
9th        Chicago, IL                United Center                        
10th      Detroit, MI                 Joe Louis Arena                        
12th      Montreal, QC             Bell Center                
14th      Philadelphia, PA       Wachovia Center                
15rd      Boston, MA                Tweeter Center                
25th      Indianapolis, IN         Verizon Amphitheater                 
27th      Milwaukee, WI           Summerfest                
28th      St Louis, MO             Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre                    
30th      Cincinnati, OH           Riverbend Music Center                        

JULY 2008

2nd     Pittsburgh, PA             Post Gazette Amphitheatre                 
4th      Atlantic City, NJ          Marc Etess Arena                        
5th      Saratoga, NY              SPAC                      
7th      Uncasville, CT            Mohegan Sun                          
9th      Toronto, ON               The Molson Amphitheatre                              
11th    Manchester, MA         Verizon Arena                                        
12th    Holmdel, NJ               PNC Bank Arts Center                                    
14th    Wantagh, NY              Jones Beach                                            
17th    Hershey, PA               Hershey Stadium                            
19th    Washington, DC         Nissan Pavilion                    
20th    Charlotte, NC             Amphitheatre                                    
22nd   Atlanta, GA                Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park

Labels: press release, Rush SnakesArrows, Rush.com

It's official. Rush is touring in 2008. Here are the details from Rush.com:

-----------------------------------------------------------------

RUSH EXTEND WORLD TOUR INTO 2008

TORONTO, ON -- December 12, 2007:

After a hugely successful 2007 run, Rush are pleased to announce they will extend their Snakes & Arrows World Tour into 2008. The band will begin rehearsals in March to revamp the set list before kicking off the tour with their first ever appearance in San Juan, Puerto Rico in April.

2008 will see Rush tour in over 40 cities throughout the United States and Canada making stops in many where they haven't performed in well over a decade including: Orlando, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Austin, Jacksonville and Winnipeg to name a few. Along the way, Rush will play new venues in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Seattle and will revisit some familiar ones in Boston, Washington and Charlotte amongst others. Rush fans can look forward to a complete tour announcement in mid January. As details develop more information will be made available at www.rush.com and www.livenation.com.

Due to the overwhelming response of their fans in North America, the "Snakes & Arrows" tour has been Rush's highest grossing tour ever and the best attended in many years.

Snakes & Arrows (Anthem/Atlantic Records) was recorded in the fall of 2006 with Grammy Award-winner Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver) with Rush co-producing. Their first album of original material in nearly five years, Snakes & Arrows debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200. In addition, the track "Malignant Narcissism" has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Since releasing its self-titled debut album in 1974, Rush has been universally regarded as one of the most inventive and exciting groups in rock, famed for virtuoso musicianship, epic soundscapes, and dramatic lyricism. The band's extraordinary body of work -- which includes such acclaimed works as 1976's "2112," 1981's "MOVING PICTURES," 1996's "TEST FOR ECHO," and 2002's "VAPOR TRAILS" -- has achieved worldwide sales exceeding 35 million units.
Fans will experience the technical virtuosity and hard-rocking compositions they have come to expect from Rush members, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.

The Rush tour in North America is produced by Live Nation Global Touring and SRO/Anthem.

For complete tour & ticket information, fan club memberships and more, visit: www.rush.com

Labels: press release, Rush SnakesArrows

Neil Peart and Sabian are introducing the Diamondback Chinese cymbal to the Paragon line. Neil has used this cymbal on both "Snakes & Arrows" and the songs he recorded with Vertical Horizon.

In the Sabian forums, CymbalBob says of a new Paragon cymbal (presumably the Diamondback), "All I can tell you is we are planning to introduce 1 new Paragon model next month at Summer NAMM in Austin TX. It should be available to the general public sometime in August."

Here is the Press Release:

PRESS RELEASE

Sabian and Neil Peart Add Diamondback Chinese Cymbal to the Paragon Series
June 28, 2007



The 20" Paragon Diamondback Chinese is the latest collaboration between legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart and award-winning cymbal maker SABIAN. The thin, highly responsive model features a wide-flanged circumference punctuated by industrial cotter pins holding a total of four jingles that vibrate when the cymbal is struck. To increase the sound, the jingles are positioned in the shallow of the flange so they vibrate on both the bow and the edge, while a single rivet is positioned between each of the four jingle placements.

"While recording Snakes and Arrows," said Peart, "I was making good use of the two Paragon Chinese models I had developed with SABIAN's Mark Love a few years ago. The 20" had a sharp, tight attack, while the 19" had a warm, dark swell. However, a couple of the songs called for a different texture, something with a subtle stick sound, and a wispy, kind of ethereal voice, but with a sizzle...like a traditional rivet cymbal, but with more 'presence.'

Mark produced prototypes until we arrived at one particularly innovative combination, which I named Diamondback (thinking both of Paragon's diamond logo and the fact that it 'rattles'). I used the Diamondback prominently in such songs as 'The Larger Bowl' and 'The Main Monkey Business,' where it delivers a wispy, haunting ride effect with the sizzle of rivets and tambourine jingles. It also added a subtle accent in songs such as the opening track, 'Far Cry.'"

As with all Paragon models, the Diamondback combines various hammering and lathing styles including a hand hammered bell. Jumbo-sized HHX dimpling is applied specifically to the bow and lip after the lathing process in an effort to lower the fundamental pitch of the cymbal and give it a dark tone.

"Like the rest of our Paragon range," added Peart, "the Diamondback is a testament to the creative and uncompromising work of Mark Love and the other dedicated craftsmen at SABIAN. They share my vision that a cymbal company's ultimate product, after all, is music." The Diamondback Chinese is handcrafted from premium SABIAN B20 'cast' bronze and features the 'rich gold' logo markings exclusive to the Paragon series. To create a rich high-low response when the jingles and cymbal vibrate together, the jingles are of brighter sounding B8 bronze. This combination of B20 and B8 increases the complexity of sound produced. All Paragon cymbals are quality protected by the SABIAN one-year warranty. For more information, visit their web site at http://www.sabian.com/.

Labels: cymbals, press release, Rush SnakesArrows, Sabian

There are a lot of interesting bits of news about Neil and Rush that I thought I'd compile into one update.

• Snakes & Arrows hit #3 on the Billboard 200, #3 on the Canadian charts, and #13 in the UK. Read the official Anthem release.
• The official "Far Cry" video is now available on YouTube. The video was directed by Chris Mills.
• The reviews of "Snakes & Arrows" have been coming in over the past few weeks (mostly positive). I've been compiling them on my "Snakes & Arrows" page. Thanks to Rushisaband.com for tracking down many of these reviews.
• While Geddy and Alex continue to do a lot of press for "Snakes & Arrows," Neil has also done some interviews. You can listen to a radio interview on IcebergRadio.com. There are also two interviews with Neil: Toronto Star: Closer to the Heart and Globe and Mail (although you now need to purchase the Globe story to read it all).
• The "Snakes & Arrows" MVI disc is confirmed to release on June 5. A few short clips of the documentary have made it to YouTube: clip 1: Alex working on guitar overdubs and clip 2: Geddy singing and entire band playing The Main Monkey Business.
• Andrew MacNaughtan has Neil Peart prints for sale (signed by Neil himself): Neil Peart Retrospective 2006 - $95.00 (sale); Neil Peart Snakes & Arrows Recording Session - $325.00; Neil Peart African Drum - $275.00 (sale).
• Finally, you should be able to find the Drum! issue with Neil on the cover at newsstands now.

Labels: Andrew MacNaughtan, audio interview, magazine article, newspaper interview, press release, Rush SnakesArrows, videos