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Rush Announces Tour, Peart Shapes Up
04/15/2002 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Brett Anderson
(4/15/02, 4 p.m. ET) -- Rush has announced summer tour dates in support of its forthcoming album, Vapor Trails. The road stint starts June 28 at the Meadows Music Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and runs through August 21 at the Journal Pavilion in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More tour dates will be announced at a later time.
Vapor Trails, due out May 14, features the return of the band and drummer Neil Peart. Peart's wife and daughter died in the late '90s, leading the group to take a four-year hiatus. When Peart was ready to return to Rush, he had to reacquaint himself with his drum kit after the long break.
Given Peart's circumstances, bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson led the charge on Vapor Trails. Lifeson told LAUNCH about how Peart worked to get back up to speed. "For Neil, he hadn't played much in the four years, and he was a guy who practiced every single day for at least an hour. So, for him, it was a little bit of a job to get back into shape, but he worked very hard at it, and I think it was something that he really relished. It felt good to get really physical with his kit, and as he was getting material from Geddy and me he became very excited about his arrangements--drum arrangements--and within a few months we were in very good shape."
Although Peart was inactive during the band's hiatus, Lee and Lifeson kept busy. "Well, Geddy had just come off doing his solo record, so he was in top form, actually both vocally and playing-wise on the bass guitar," said Lifeson. "I have a studio at home. I play all the time, so I was feeling pretty good. I was working on a production project with a band, so I was playing and in pretty good shape."
Vapor Trails is Rush's 17th studio album. All of the Canadian band's 22 albums have reached at least gold status, a certification signifying sales of 500,000 copies from the Recording Industry Association Of America.
Rush tour dates (subject to change): June 28 - Hartford, CT - Ctnow.com Meadows Music Center June 29 - Scranton, PA - Coors Light Amphitheater at Montage Mountain July 1 - Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre July 3 - Virginia Beach, VA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre July 4 - Raleigh, NC - Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek July 6 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center July 7 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Six Flags Performing Arts Center July 9 - Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion July 11 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center July 12 - Boston, MA - Tweeter Center July 14 - Philadelphia, PA - Tweeter Center At The Waterfront July 15 - Wantagh, NY - Jones Beach Amphitheatre July 17 - Toronto, ON - Molson Amphitheatre July 19 - Milwaukee, WI - Marcus Amphitheatre July 20 - Chicago, IL - Tweeter Center August 1 - Kansas City, KS - Sandstone Amphitheatre August 2 - St. Louis, MO - UMB Bank Pavilion August 4 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center August 6 - Pittsburgh, PA - Post-Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake August 8 - Columbus, OH - Polaris Amphitheater August 9 - Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center August 11 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theater August 14 - Nashville, TN - AmSouth Amphitheater August 16 - The Woodlands, TX - C.W. Mitchell Pavilion August 17 - San Antonio, TX - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre August 19 - Dallas, TX - Reunion Arena August 21 - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavilion
-- Darren Davis, New York
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