In this ever changing state of rock and roll, there are very few bands that make it to see a thirtieth anniversary, let alone with the same lineup for virtually the entire time. But then again, Rush are about as unique as they come, and their thirtieth anniversary is fully celebrated on the new R30 CD and DVD sets. Geddy Lee, vocalist and bassist of the legendary Canadian power trio talks about this latest live release and their plans for the start of their fourth decade in the music business.
"Originally we were not planning to do another live release since we were very happy with Rush In Rio," explains Geddy lee. "But we decided to record one of the gigs on the R:30 tours and we figured we would just use it at some later date, But the sham were going so well with the material and it looked so good, we figured why wait."
In addition to Rush's mesmerizing live performance from last year, purchasers of the new R30 DVD set will be treated to some vary rare footage from the seventies.
"We found all of this stuff and we thought our fans would get a kick out of it and there is no time like a thirtieth anniversary release to put that out. It just seemed appropriate if we were doing an audio retrospective to do a visual retrospective as well. Here's an interesting piece of trivia, the guy that filmed the "Xanadu" and "Farewell To Kings" stuff that's on there went on to be the director of American Idol," laughs Geddy.
Over the course of the past thirty years, the music of Rush has been anything but repetitive. Through all the twists and turns that their musical career has taken them, their fans have been accepting of it all, something the band themselves are very aware of and grateful for.
"I have no idea why our fans are the way they are, but I thank my lucky stars every day that they are like that," Geddy says appreciatively. "To get into Rush music you have to invest some time and a little bit of effort. It's not for everybody. I think once you've done that and if you get a positive response I think that you are just curious about where the band is going to go next. I can't really explain it, but I certainly appreciate it."
Rush fans will surely give their forthcoming new studio album a positive response upon its release. although they will have to wait a little while longer.
"With a bit of luck we will have an album out early in 2007 and then go out on the road maybe next spring if we are lucky. It's a little too early too tell yet what direction the new material is taking, but Alex and I are just having a blast. We are getting songs written so we are getting there. We kind of record while we write and we would say that we will write and record for the duration of this year. You just never know where it is going to go. I think that's what keeps it fun for us and I am glad that there are people out there that appreciated that. Not many bands want to be around for thirty years, but we just can't think of anything else to do," he laughs.