2013 and Rush

I think 2013 might just turn out to be a very good year. It all began in 2004 when I discovered a European Rush fan forum called The National Midday Sun (or TNMS in short) while looking for information about Rush R30 tour. I had no idea that I would get to meet some of the members in person, since most of the members came from the UK. But in 2004 I already met some of the members when I went to Stockholm to see Rush at the "Penultimate R30 Show at the Globe". And in 2007 a few of the UK based members came to Helsinki and attended the pre-gig meet (that I had arranged).

In 2013 I will be making a return visit to the UK. Once again thanks to Rush. And it was so nice of the band to pick my birthday as the date for the London gig. So if you're going to the O2 in London to see Rush, perhaps I'll see you there. Say hi if you happen to see me.

/H

Envy - but not so much

I wish I'd been in Toronto last night, at the Air Canada Centre. I've read a few comments about the show, and I'm a little envious. If you don't know what show I'm talking about, here's a little tip. But on the other hand I'm rather happy anyway that I'll be seeing the band in the UK in May. I'm not as hardcore as many other fans who would travel the world to see them. I actually *shudder* considered skipping this tour altogether. Luckily, my family is absolutely wonderful and did something I never could have dreamed of. Last May, on my birthday, they told me we'd be going to London next May as a birthday present.

Do I even have to say that I love them?

/H

Countdown

It's been a while since I posted anything Rush related here. Now, I know there are a lot of people who like Rush, but don't like their song Countdown. I'm not one of them. I love listening to it when my working week approaches the end, as it does right now. I love how it builds up towards the end of the song. Gets me in a good mood every time. Have a great weekend, everyone!



/H

Time for a short update

It's been waaay too long since I posted here. Still enjoying Clockwork Angels. I still haven't been able to print my tickets for Rush' O2 Arena gig in London. I'm not really worried yet, but I'm wondering what the problem is. Well, as long as I can print the tickets before May 2013, I'm ok with that. We still have to find plane tickets and some place to stay, but I'm sure we will. After all, it's not the first time I'll be going to London, and this time I should be able to ask some advice from my TNMS mates.



Almost all the recordings for the upcoming Hilastherion album are done now. I think there are some spoken parts that still need to be recorded, but that should be it. We started practicing again after a summer break, and it went better than I expected. Of course I didn't nail all the parts, but at least I remembered most of them. And some parts I even remembered better than I thought I would. This is going to be a great album.

There's also a pretty big Larp coming up next summer. Dark Paths' End is Eloria's 10th anniversary Larp. Eloria is a Swedish-language Role-playing association, where I'm a member. I'm really looking forward to this Larp, it's not only for one evening or even for one day. It starts on a Thursday with preparations and prebrief, the actual Larp is on Friday and Saturday, and it ends on Sunday with a debrief and disassembling the camp and everything around it. Actually, preparations have already begun, and will go on all the way until the Larp takes place. There will be a lot of different workshops building up to this Larp.

/H

Vacation coming up

Only a couple of days left now, then I'm off on vacation. Naturally, I'm not going to spend a lot of time online. I have better things to do, like reading, swimming and thinning a little in the forest at our summer cottage. And what could be a better setup for a Rush video? Here's The Trees.



Enjoy! I'll be back some time in August.

/H

TNMS

I would like to take this opportunity to mention one of my favourite places on the entire web: TNMS - The National Midday Sun, the home for European Rush fans. I have been a member on this site since 2004, and it has brought me lots of joy and interesting discussions through all these years. The atmosphere is just how I like it, the tone can be a bit harsh from time to time, but if you just remember not to take comments and/or posts to seriously you'll be just fine. It was through this forum that I managed to get 7th row seats at Rush concert in Stockholm in 2004. So if you live in Europe and you like Rush and a bit of banter, come join the fun.

/H

O2 - May 2013!

I'm excited, last night I bought the tickets for Rush concert at O2 Arena in London May 2013. That's the biggest part of the puzzle done! The rest should be a piece of cake. Plane tickets and some place to stay over that particular weekend should be much easier to arrange. Well, now it's time for some breakfast.

/H

Comparing

I've been meaning to post something in here for a couple of days now, but I never seem to come around to actually doing it. Since my last post I've been listening a lot to Clockwork Angels. I posted on TNMS (The National Midday Sun - The Home for European Rush Fans) that CA is their best album since Hold Your Fire, and yesterday I decided I had to compare the two. When I first got into Rush, I wasn't too keen on their output in the 80s. I thought everything before Moving Pictures was great, but I couldn't see what was so great about Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. Since then I've discovered so much in those albums, that I love them too. And that's one of the reasons why I love Rush. There's just so much to explore and discover. But at the same time, this means that these albums are nowhere near safe from upcoming contenders like CA.

Anyway, back to my comparison. Before I posted that CA is their best album since HYF, I didn't compare it with the albums in between the two, since it was so clear to me that CA was better than those six albums (Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, Test For Echo, Vapour Trails and Snakes & Arrows). And I stick by that opinion without comparing them. But HYF is such a strong album that I had to draw the line there. Then I started thinking, what if it's even better than HYF? So, yesterday I finally compared them. And I came to the conclusion that Hold Your Fire wins, for now. I prefer the sound on CA, and CA rocks harder, but so far the songs on HYF are still slightly stronger on the whole. I'm not too sure I'll prefer HYF in the long run though...

/H

On second thought...

Change of plans...I've skipped my planned playlist for this week, in favour of something brand new instead. And what a stunner the new album is! So far I'm loving it, and I've noticed that I even enjoy Caravan and BU2B more than I've done when listening the single versions. Someone said that the album versions are remastered, it wouldn't surprise me if they are.

Anyway, I haven't been this excited about an album since the first time I heard Exit...Stage Left (My first contact with Rush, and a live album that will always have a special place in my heart.). Sure, it isn't old Rush, but it's new and revitalised Rush. They sound like they're having fun playing. In my book, that's a good thing.

I'm really looking forward to the tour next year!

/H

Marathon

Although Rush is my favourite band of all times, I don't always listen to Rush. My listening seems to go in cycles. Sometimes I listen very little, sometimes very much. With the upcoming album release approaching, I tend to listen more. Last time they released an album I decided to do a Rush marathon a few times before the album was released. So I listened to all the albums (including their first single) in chronological order. Now I'm happy to say that I can do the same thing again, adding S&A + their latest single to the playlist.

So, today I'm doing the First single, Rush, CoS, FbN and 2112, on Tuesday it's AFtK, Hemispheres, PeW and MP, on Wednesday Signals, GuP, PoW and HYF. Thursday means Presto, RtB, Cp and TfE, and on Friday I'll do VT, S&A and the Caravan/BU2B single. Then, this coming weekend I can do them all without interruption. But no Live albums, and certainly no Feedback.

/H

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog, where I'll be posting mostly about the mighty Canadian Power Trio RUSH, but also about other music. Music is my passion in life, and my favourite band by far is Rush. If you're a Rush fan, you probably already know that they are touring Europe in 2013.

I've been a Rush fan since about 1991, but I didn't get to see them play live until 2004, in Stockholm, at the "Penultimate Show at the Globe" on their R30 tour. I thought that it might be their final tour ever, so I knew right away that I had to go see them as soon as I found out that they were touring Europe. That time I was very lucky to find out about the tour well before it started, so I learned through TNMS that there was a password for the pre-sale tickets. Knowing this, I was able to get a ticket for the 7th row on Alex's side, a very good seat for a newbie. And during the first half of the show, I went all the way up to the stage, along with a lot of the other fans in the first few rows. Before the second half of the show, the arena security guys came and told everyone that they had to stay in their own seats. But I didn't mind that, the first half of the show had already made my day. And the ferry trip from Stockholm to Turku the following day was great fun, the ferry was filled with Finnish Rush fans.

In 2007 they toured Europe again, this time I had already been a TNMS member for a few years, so I knew some of the other Finnish TNMS members in person (and some of the Swedes as well). I was thrilled to learn that they were coming to Helsinki, so I talked to some of my friends and fellow Rush fans and I got seats for all of us at once. Not as good seats as in 2004, but good enough for me. Through TNMS, we had decided to do a pre-gig meet in one of the most original restaurants in Helsinki, Zetor. I made a reservation way before the gig, to make sure we had somewhere to meet up, and we even got our own little room to sit in and talk. Even a few forum members from the British isles came to that pre-gig meet. This pre-gig meet was possibly even more fun than the gig itself. I got to meet a whole bunch of other Rush fans. I still dream of organising a Finnish Rush convention, but that's another story.

I'm planning on going to the O2 arena in London in 2013 to see them play live on my birthday. That should make a memorable birthday, don't you think?

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/H