Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Photo of the night: Manchester, UK - May 22, 2013

2013-05-22T18:25:00.001-07:00

Rock Hall HBO video previews now online

2013-05-19T10:17:00.001-07:00

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!

Photo of the night: Atlantic City, NJ - May 11, 2013

2013-05-13T20:32:00.001-07:00

Clockwork Angels Tour 2013 - Leg 1 report

2013-05-12T11:32:00.001-07:00

Last night, Rush completed the first leg of the Clockwork Angels 2013 tour in Atlantic City. As expected, the band has continued the same show as 2012. (Power Windows has a nice graph of the setlists played at each show, and it looks like Rush is alternating between 4 setlists so far.)

Here are some highlights from Photos of the Night (thanks John Arrowsmith and Rush), Neil and Michael's WestSideBeemerBoyz Twitter account, and a few other sources.

April 18 Los Angeles, CA @ Nokia Theater - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

April 23 Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center

April 26 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ BB&T Center

April 28 Orlando, FL @ Amway Center

Looks like Neil's having fun off the drum kit again.

May 1 Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena

Check out the Clockwork melon!

May 3 Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena

Nashville drummer Tommy Harden, tour drummer for Reba McEntire and many others shared this great photo:

May 5 Virginia Beach, VA @ Farm Bureau Live At Virginia Beach

Probably my favorite so far:

May 7 Baltimore, MD @ 1st Mariner Arena

May 9 Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun

May 11 Atlantic City @ Etess Arena

Photo of the night: Uncasville, CT - May 9, 2013

2013-05-10T20:43:00.001-07:00

Great behind-the-scenes shot of the entire band:

Photo of the night: Baltimore, MD - May 7, 2012

2013-05-08T21:24:00.001-07:00

A nice one of Neil and Geddy:

Photo of the night - Virginia Beach, VA - May 5, 2013

2013-05-07T19:38:00.001-07:00

Photo of the night: Raleigh, NC - May 3, 2013

2013-05-05T10:12:00.001-07:00

Photo of the night: Nashville, TN - May 1, 2013

2013-05-02T08:02:00.001-07:00

Photo of the night - Orlando, FL - April 28, 2013

2013-04-29T08:43:00.001-07:00

Photo of the night: Ft. Lauderdale - April 26, 2013

2013-04-27T10:14:00.001-07:00

Photos of the night: Austin, TX - April 23, 2013

2013-04-24T20:56:00.001-07:00

Update: Official Austin photos have been posted. Here's a good one of Neil:

Rush kicked off their 2013 Clockwork Angels tour on Tuesday, April 23 in Austin, Texas.

Setlist and show: It appears there were no major changes in the setlist, lighting, videos, or other aspects of the show (as expected).

Photos: While there are no official photos posted yet from tour photographer John Arrowsmith yet, here are some screengrabs from the official tour kick-off video that Rush released on YouTube:

Clockwork Angels 2013 tour begins tonight

2013-04-23T08:44:00.001-07:00

Tonight, Rush kicks off their 2013 leg of the "Clockwork Angels" tour in Austin, TX. As usual, I'll be posting photos of the night and other reports as the tour winds through North America and Europe. I'll be catching the show in Vancouver, B.C. as well.

To start things off, Frank Erin Center posted these great B&W photos on Twitter (thanks to @Rushinconcert for the head's up!):

Rush wins Juno for Rock Album of the Year

2013-04-21T12:30:00.001-07:00

Even though the awards ceremony won't be until later tonight, the Juno Awards Twitter account tweeted that Rush has won the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year.

Rush then tweeted the following:

Congrats to Rush!

Rush inducted into the Rock Hall Hall of Fame

2013-04-19T01:58:00.001-07:00

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."

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

Rush inducted into Rock Hall tonight

2013-04-18T12:47:00.001-07:00

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.

Rush induction at Rock Hall - Coverage

2013-04-17T10:25:00.001-07:00

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"

Neil Peart Dauz trigger pad available for purchase (limited quantities)

2013-04-11T19:34:00.001-07:00

If you're interested in buying the exact Dauz trigger pad that Neil Peart uses on his kit, the manufacturer is selling a limited quantity (as of this writing, there are 42 left).

Here's a picture that Gump posted on his Twitter account recently, which includes the red Dauz pad:

From the Dauz website:

Limited Edition 6" Pad
This is the EXACT Dauz Pad we custom designed for Neil Peart's new kit.
As you probably know, Rush is gearing up for a huge worldwide tour. Neil asked us to upgrade his current Dauz pad to one that matches his latest red and copper kit. Neil named her "Ruby".

For a very limited time, we are offering our customers who buy direct from Dauz the opportunity to own their own "Ruby".

This unique, one-of-a-kind pad will only be available for a very limited time. We only manufactured a limited amount. So when they are gone... they're gone!

Thanks to Rushisaband for the head's up!

Rolling Stone video interview with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee

2013-04-02T08:30:00.001-07:00

Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee tour Rolling Stone's headquarters and reminisce about Rush's career, including:

Neil Peart auditioning for Rush
Led Zeppelin's influence on the band and particularly on Alex's style
Meeting their heroes
John Lennon's assassination
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails
Rodney Dangerfield

Thanks to Rushisaband for the head's up!

Meet "Clockwork Angels: The Novel" author Kevin J. Anderson this week

2013-03-24T18:47:00.001-07:00

Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert are celebrating the release of their new novel Hellhole Awakening (out March 26, 2013) with a book tour. Starting March 26, get out and meet Kevin at cities across the U.S. In addition, Kevin and Brian will be together at the Seattle signing, and Brian will be in the Portland, OR, area for a solo signing.

For Kevin J. Anderson/Rush fans in Seattle, here's a Facebook Event I created for the book signing. I'll be at the event getting a book or two signed by Kevin, so let me know if you're going, too. And feel free to forward the event to other friends!

Here's the full schedule from Kevin's blog (with a few notes and links added by me):

Tuesday, March 26, 7 PM
San Diego, Mysterious Galaxy Books (Kevin)
Portland, Powell's Books, Cedar Hills Crossing (Brian)
Wednesday, March 27, 7 PM (my birthday!)
Dallas, Barnes & Noble 7700 West Northwest Hwy (Kevin)
Thursday, March 28, 7 PM
Houston, Barnes & Noble, River Oaks Shopping Center (Kevin)
Friday, March 29, 7 PM
Seattle, University Books event at University Temple United Methodist Church (Brian & Kevin)
University Temple United Methodist Church
1415 Ne 43rd St, Seattle, WA 98105

I will be at NorWescon in Seattle as a guest Saturday and Sunday

Monday, April 1, 7 PM
Atlanta, Eagle Eye Books (Kevin)

Tuesday, April 2, 7 PM
Dayton OH, Books & Co at the Greene (Kevin)
April 5 - 7
Richmond, VA - I will be Guest of Honor at RavenCon
Tuesday, April 9, 7 PM
Colorado Springs CO, Barnes & Noble, Citadel (Kevin)
In addition to Hellhole Awakening, I will be happy to sign copies of any of my Dune novels with Brian, or Clockwork Angels, or the Dan Shamble, Zombie PI books -- or anything else I've written. I'll have giveaways and door prizes. I hope to see you there.

Neil Peart and Rush featured on Tandem Digital's new website

2013-03-09T21:05:00.001-08:00

Tandem Digital Entertainment, the award-winning visual and sound design company behind many Rush concert videos (as well as Neil Peart's website), has launched a beautiful new website. You can check out the Rush-related sections by clicking the image and links below.

Rush concert animation

Neil Peart animation

Neil Peart's "Time Machine" kit pre-visualization project

Thanks to Tandem Digital for the head's up!

New update at NeilPeart.net: Winter Latitudes

2013-03-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

Neil has updated his website with a new blog entry:

March 2013: Winter Latitudes

New Bubba's Book Club posted: 21 books reviewed!

2013-02-19T19:54:00.001-08:00

Neil Peart just posted Issue 17 of Bubba's Book Club to his website. I guess Neil's been busy reading.

Thanks to Bubba's Bar n Grill for announcing this via Twitter.

Final Clockwork Angels 2013 tour dates announced

2013-02-19T00:30:00.001-08:00

Update: Rush posted an official announcement that added Grand Rapids, MI, on June 30 with Chicago on June 28.

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

Rush.com announced the final North American tour dates for 2013 with 15 additional cities.

Fan Club Presale for all additional dates starts Tuesday, Feb 19 at 12 pm local time and ends on Feb 21.

Date	City	Venue	Public on sale
21-Jun	Hershey, PA	Giant Center	25-Feb
23-Jun	Wantagh, NY	Nikon at Jones Beach Theater	25-Feb
25-Jun	Saratoga, NY	Saratoga Performing Arts Center	25-Feb
28 Jun	Chicago, IL	First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre	25-Feb
30 June	Grand Rapids, MI	Van Andel Arena	25-Feb
2-Jul	Cincinnati , OH	Riverbend Music Center	25-Feb
4-Jul	Milwaukee, WI	Summerfest	22-Feb
6-Jul	Hamilton, ON	Copps Coliseum	22-Feb
12-Jul	Halifax, NS	Metro Centre	23-Feb
24-Jul	Calgary, AB	Scotiabank Saddledome	22-Feb
26-Jul	Vancouver, BC	Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena	22-Feb
28-Jul	Portland, OR	Sleep Country Amphitheatre	25-Feb
31-Jul	Salt Lake City, UT	USANA Amphitheatre	25-Feb
2-Aug	Denver, CO	Pepsi Center	25-Feb
4-Aug	Kansas City, MO	Sprint Center	25-Feb

The Neil Peart workout: Preparing for a concert tour

2013-02-16T16:23:00.001-08:00

In Issue 10 of DW Edge Magazine, Neil Peart outlines his personal workout and drum rehearsal routine to prepare for the Clockwork Angels tour. I thought it might be interesting for others to see this broken down into a list with some excerpts from the article. If you've ever wondered what it takes to perform at Peart's level (at age 60, no less), this is a good place to start.

Read the full article (PDF).

Phase 1: "Off season" workout: February - June 2012 (3x week)

1: Bike ride to the gym (20 minutes)

"A twenty-minute bicycle ride across town, with my workout gear stuffed into a backpack, is a decent warm-up. Changing at the lockers, I trade the helmet for a bandana, to keep the sweat out of my eyes (the same purpose as the hats I wear while drumming)."

2. Cross-training machine (30 minutes)

3. Yoga and calisthenics (20 minutes)

Neck and shoulder rolls

Standing poses of the Sun Salutations

Warrior poses

Triangle

Lunges

Downward dog

Plank

Upward dog

Sitting stretches

3. Sit-ups (25)

4. Weights (20 reps each, 50, 70, 90 pounds depending on muscle group)

Leg presses

bicep curls

Tricep presses

Leg curls

Chest presses

Leg lifts

High-lat pulldowns

Chest flys (15 pound dumbbells on an inclined bench)

5. Swimming (cool down)

14 laps of front crawl

2 laps of breast stroke

6. Bike home (20-30 minutes, slightly uphill)

7. Dinner
"... another important aspect of fitness is diet, of course. Being the meal-planner, grocery shopper, and cook in our house (Chef Bubba is a working homemaker), our meals always offer a healthy assortment of nutrients. Lots of fish and chicken, steamed vegetables in multiple colors, and a comforting carbohydrate. I also believe in a daily multivitamin as a supplement (and single malt whisky, when the day's work is done)."

Phase 2: "Sport Specific" workout: Drum rehearsals at Drum Channel Studio: June 25 - July 18 (Daily for 3-1/2 weeks)

"After such a long period of conditioning, I came in physically strong, but the only real training for drumming is drumming. See, it's all that hitting. Irresistible force strikes immovable object and that ... a few thousand times.

"In professional athletics this approach is called sport-specific training. Cyclists have to cycle and runners have to run. However, it remains true that all of the advance fitness work I did gave me the foundation to build on."

Drive to Drum Channel (50 miles)

Work on songs

Smooth out technological problems

Work on solo

Drive home (50 miles)

Dinner

Sleep in own bed

"Gump and I would have three-and-a-half weeks to work on the songs, smooth out any technological problems, and dream up some new solo ideas. This is my favorite part of the touring process because I begin the day at home with my family, then have a challenging and satisfying hard day's work, and end up at home cooking the family dinner and sleeping in my own bed. And it includes one of the world's best commutes, fifty miles up the Pacific Coast Highway and back every day. You really cannot beat that.

Weight loss: 10 pounds

Phase 3: After July 18 - September 6: Production Rehearsals with Rush

"Right off the bat I will be away from home for more than two months straight, with band and production rehearsals in Toronto, and the first leg of the tour. The family will visit from time to time, but still -- that is a long exile from one's everyday life. Nearly forty years of such a nomadic existence has adapted me to being separated from my loved ones, and taught me not to dwell on the sad fact of it, but those at home do not share that "partitioning." Carrie now becomes a single parent for the next five months. Three-year-old Olivia has had most of a year with Daddy being around, and now she finds his absence unsettling -- and upsetting. As I have remarked before, I can endure missing Olivia, but I can't stand her missing me.

Phase 4: 35 shows across North America