On 40th anniversary, 40 reasons to still dig Rush

Tom Donoghue/DonoghuePhotography.com

As someone far wiser than me once said, “Freeze this moment a little bit longer. Make each sensation a little bit stronger.”

That’s from “Time Stand Still,” a cut from “Hold Your Fire,” which is a Rush album from 1987. Love those lyrics. Freeze this moment. Make it last.

Another favorite, over time, is the title song from “Roll the Bones,” which asks, in a Las Vegas sort of way, “Why are we here? Because we’re here. Roll the bones.”

The timeless band Rush, my fave, fave, favorite for nearly all of its 40 years of existence, is back for its “R40” anniversary tour Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. To honor this event, we roll with 40 fun facts about the great Canadian power trio who, as Jack Black once said in the documentary “Beyond the Lighted Stage,” has a “limitless supply of rocket sauce.”

These nuggets are pulled from that doc, online bio posts from such listings at Rolling Stone and Wikipedia, my own past columns and memories that hearken to my first rush album, “2112,” and its wild song list and equally dazzling cover art.

Let’s rock it:

40. The band purchased its infamous Japanese-designed silk robes while on a tour stop in San Francisco. Those are the robes they wore on the back cover of “2112.”

39. When the band was touring as openers with UFO, members of that band nailed slippers to Geddy Lee’s mic stand with the note, “These will go good with your robes.”

38. Upon leaving the band, original drummer John Rutsey took to bodybuilding before dying of a heart attack related to diabetes in 2008.

37. Among the band’s opening acts: The Fabulous Thunderbirds (1984, “Grace Under Pressure Tour”).

36. In the official Rolling Stone bio of the band, the word “freakishly” appears before “beloved” in the opening sentence. (“With an unmistakable sound melding Geddy Lee's freakishly high-pitched vocals, Alex Lifeson's high-cholesterol guitar heroics and Neil Peart's ultra-complex drumming, this Canadian power trio are one of the most beloved progressive rock bands ever.”)

35. The band opened for KISS for more than 50 dates across Canada and the U.S. in 1974.

34. Of that tour, Lee says, “Their hotel rooms, especially Gene Simmons’ dressing room, were very interesting to watch."

33. Sebastian Bach of Skid Row was Member No. 3 of the Rush Backstage Pass Club in Toronto.

32. In the novelty single featuring Lee, “Take Off,” Doug McKenzie (as played by Dave Thomas) claims to play the drum solo. “Get out! Hoser!” calls out his brother, Bob (as played by Rick Moranis).

31. The band had not appeared on U.S. television in more than 30 years before sitting for an interview, and playing “Tom Sawyer,” on “The Colbert Report.”

30. During the interview, Colbert asked if the band ever performed a song that was so long that by the end, they had been inspired by what they had played near the beginning of the song (all three members nodded).

29. Among the bands to open for Rush: Mr. Big (1990, “Presto Tour”).

28. The first show by the band’s Lee-Lifeson-Peart lineup was opening for Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh on Aug. 14, 1974.

27. Lee says he does not remember that show because he downed a small bottle of whisky before hitting the stage, which made him “completely dizzy.”

26. Of “Caress of Steel,” which features the lengthy pieces “Necromancer” and “Fountain of Lamnenth,” Lee says, “I think we were pretty high when we wrote most of that album. It sure sounds like it.”

25. “Caress of Steel” was so poorly received that its subsequent tour was referred to by the band as, “The Down the Tubes Tour.”

24. Also on that tour, and “not breaking,” as Lee remembers, was Ted Nugent.

23. On the current “R40” tour, fans have been sporting handlebar mustaches while wearing long lab coats with “The Professor” written across the back. This is a tribute to Peart, often referred to as “The Professor.”

22. Rumor from the early '80s, during the height of the satanic worship panic caused by the misinterpretation of lyrics and logos from rock bands: Rush stood for “Rulers Under Satan’s House. (Similarly, KISS was supposed to be the acronym for “Kings in Satan’s Service,” another falsehood.)

21. As a kid, Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins learned the entire first side of “2112” on guitar. He estimates that it took a year to complete the task.

20. Lifeson was born Alexandar Zivojinovich but changed his surname as a loose interpretation of the Serbian term for “son of life.”

19. Lee owns an extensive baseball memorabilia collection and sang the Canadian national anthem, “O Canada,” at the 1993 MLB All-Star Game at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

18. “A Passage to Bangkok” is a metaphorical account of smoking different varieties of marijuana. There is no direct reference to marijuana, pot or weed in the song.

17. The band’s early influences included Yes, The Talking Heads and The Police.

16. “Moving Pictures,” at quadruple platinum (more than 4 million units sold), remains the band’s top-selling album.

15. A mirrored version of the “2112” “starman” logo was a popular county fair prize from the mid-’70s through the early ’80s.

14. During his motorcycle journey from Canada to Mexico after the 1998 deaths of his wife and daughter, Peart says he was not recognized once.

13. The “Man Cave” constructed by Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) was used, in part, so that Fife could rock out to Rush.

12. The song “Losing It” from “Signals” is inspired in part by the last years of Ernest Hemingway’s life, with the line, “For you the blind who once could see, the bell tolls for thee …” The song had never been performed in concert until the “R40” tour.

11. Lifeson’s acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony consisted entirely of the words “blah, blah, blah” repeated for 2 1/2 minutes.

10. In April, Lifeson said the current 40th anniversary tour would be the band’s final large-scale tour, as he suffers from psoriatic arthritis and Peart from chronic tendonitis.

9. The band members’ ages: Lifeson and Lee are 61; Peart is 62.

8. Joe Flaherty’s SCTV character “Count Floyd” has been used in video clips during concerts introducing the song “The Weapon.”

7. The washing and drying machines and chicken-basting stations onstage are a sly reference to the unnecessary equipment (such as oversized bass amps) used by the band over the years.

6. Lee’s parents were Holocaust survivors.

5. “Red Sector A" from "Grace Under Pressure" describes incarceration at a Nazi concentration camp.

4. Lee’s full name is Gary Lee Weinrib.

3. It is impossible to perfectly air drum the entirety of “La Villa Strangiato.”

2. Past drum solos by Peart have featured a segment of the Count Basie classic “One O’Clock Jump,” which Peart recorded on the Buddy Rich tribute album “Burning for Buddy.”

1. In his acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Peart said, “It is fitting that we receive this honor as a working band in the middle of a tour in our 39th year.”

It’s 40 today, and it’ll end soon, sadly. Saturday might be their last show in Las Vegas. Freeze this moment, a little bit longer …

MGM Grand Hotel and Casino MGM Grand, a AAA Four Diamond resort, offers 5,044 rooms and suites. MGM Grand features KÀ by Cirque du Soleil; Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club; and world-class entertainment at the Grand Garden Arena and Hollywood Theatre. The resort offers signature restaurants by celebrity chefs including Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak, Emeril Lagasse’s New Orleans Fish House, Wolfgang Puck’s Bar & Grill and Michelin three star and Forbes Five Star restaurant, Joël Robuchon. As part of its ongoing “Grand Renovation,” MGM Grand has remodeled all rooms and suites in its main tower and is adding several new experiences to its lineup including Hakkasan Las Vegas Restaurant and Nightclub, a new upscale dining/nightlife concept (coming in April 2013). MGM Grand also features a state-of-the-art, non-smoking conference center, the Grand Spa, Cristophe Salon, "CSI: The Experience" and an inviting pool complex featuring the tantalizing daylife of Wet Republic. Upscale accommodations include The Mansion, an exclusive hotel within the hotel; the luxurious two-story SKYLOFTS at MGM Grand; and The Signature at MGM Grand, a luxury all-suite, non-gaming hotel located adjacent to the main resort. 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard S. Las Vegas , NV 89109 702-891-1111

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 people with excellent lines of sight and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. The Grand Garden Ticket Office is open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. 3799 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas , NV 89109 702-387-1600

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