At this point, it’s pretty clear that Rush have no real future as either a studio or live band. But this August, a little more than four years after the Canadian prog-rock legends played their final notes together onstage in 2015, fans will have the chance to celebrate the group at worldwide, one-night-only screenings of a new film called Cinema Strangiato. Today, they’re teasing the contents with a new trailer.
The feature, partly named after Rush’s beloved 1978 instrumental “La Villa Strangiato,” promises highlights from Rush’s 2015 R40 Live tour (including hits such as “Subdivisions,” “Closer to the Heart” and “Tom Sawyer”), as well as previously unseen backstage and soundcheck footage, and interviews with famous Rush superfans such as Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, and the Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins. Also included in the film is “Falling Down the Rabbit Hole,” a segment on the creation of bassist-singer Geddy Lee’s recently released Big Beautiful Book of Bass, chronicling the legacy of his chosen instrument.
In addition to the live footage, the trailer teases intimate soundcheck shots taken from behind Neil Peart’s drum kit, as well as a New Jersey R40 performance of the 1982 deep cut “Losing It” featuring guest violinist Jonathan Dinklage (the brother of actor Peter Dinklage), and interview snippets featuring Morello, Corgan, Hawkins, and producer Nick Raskulinecz, who worked on Clockwork Angels, Rush’s final studio album to date.
Taking place on August 21st, the Cinema Strangiato screening is being billed as the band’s “First Annual Exercise in Fan Indulgence” — another nod to “La Villa Strangiato,” which is subtitled “An Exercise in Self-Indulgence” — suggesting that other Rush-themed cinematic events are in store for the coming years. More info on screenings and tickets can be found here.
As for the future of the band itself, when Lee spoke with Rolling Stone in 2018, he kept things relatively open-ended. “Well, I’d say I can’t really tell you much other than that there are zero plans to tour again,” Lee said. “[W]e’re very close and talk all the time, but we don’t talk about work. We’re friends, and we talk about life as friends. I can’t really tell you more than that, I’m afraid. I would say there’s no chance of seeing Rush on tour again as Alex, Geddy, Neil. But would you see one of us or two of us or three of us? That’s possible.