It’s been 50 years since Canadian progressive pock trio Rush released their debut album in 1974, and almost ten years since the band played their final show. In that entire 40 year period, they never toured Australia, so Australian fans either had to cough up the money to travel overseas to see them or just be content with the albums and DVDs.
This August, Aussie Rush fans will finally have a reason to celebrate as Southern Californian Rush tribute band Mood Lifters tour Australia for the first time, bringing an evening of Rush music to all five major cities. Alongside classic fan favourites from Rush’s wide and varied discography, the band will also be performing the 18-minute epic “Cygnus X1 Book II – Hemispheres” from 1978, and the classic 1981 album Moving Pictures in its entirety.
Musician and Rush superfan Joshua Batten caught up with Mood Lifters guitarist Ben King and singer Rocky Kuner to discuss the tour and what goes into recreating Rush’s classic sound for new audiences.
MORE ABOUT MOOD LIFTERS
Southern California’s exciting MOOD LIFTERS are the world’s best performers of the music of RUSH other than if RUSH were on stage themselves. Singer Rocky Kuner was a founding member of the Rush tribute YYNOT, and guitarist Ben King and bassist/keyboardist Isamu Kakitani were with Xanadoodz – A Tribute to Rush.
The shows on the Australian tour will be three hours, with a 20 min intermission. Right after the intermission, Moving Pictures will be played in full, the same way Rush did it on the Time Machine tour. Other nuggets that will be sure to send Rush fans home happy are cherished songs such as “Closer to The Heart”, “The Spirit Of Radio”, “Freewill”, “Working Man”, and “Cygnus X-1 Bk2” (the entire Side 1 piece from Hemispheres).
Like the band they tribute, all members of MOOD LIFTERS are committed to a simple concept — that the music of RUSH deserves to be honoured by faithful and accurate reproduction, with high energy and enthusiasm, in every single performance.
MOOD LIFTERS AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Tuesday 20 Aug – The Brightside, Brisbane
Wednesday 21 Aug – Factory Theatre, Sydney
Friday 23 Aug – Cranker, Adelaide
Saturday 24 Aug – Max Watts, Melbourne
Sunday 25 Aug – Rosemount Hotel, Perth
https://moodliftersrushtribute.com/
