The band - consisting of Geddy Lee (on bass, keyboards and vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitars and mandolin) and Neil Peart (drums and percussion) - who are now all in their 50's - played at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on Mother's Day (as well as two shows at the Nokia Theatre the week before). They not only sounded as tight together as ever, but they showed the most personality and humor than they ever had before. During the concert, the band starred in several ongoing skits where Lee's character 'Harry Satchel' spends an inordinate amount of time and energy looking for chicken. Along the way, he encounters Lifeson as multiple characters - complete with appropriate accents, costumes and sometimes fake teeth - and actor Jerry Stiller (in drag). Its a far cry from their past performances where they were glued to their positions, barely spoke and took their live shows very seriously. They still take the shows seriously; they just seem to have more fun doing them.

Like they have for the last three or four tours, they play alone now without an opening act. Their past opening acts were sometimes entertaining (Steve Morse Band & Primus, for example) and sometimes weren't (Fastway?). Prior to their coming onto the stage, you not only get to hear a recording of their 1976 epic track 2112 done by an orchestra, but then you see the first skit, which features Lifeson, by far the goofiest of the three members. In it, he hears a noise and when scared, he tries to get comfort from bedmate Peart (the most serious member). It turns out the noise is being caused by Lee's loud Scottish character who blames the racket on the actual Lee, playing himself, who is there also.

Never before had the band displayed this much willingness to be goofy. Fans have gotten to see their sense of humor only sporadically with Lee's participation in the 1981 novelty song 'Take Off' by Bob and Doug Mackenzie (SCTV characters played by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) and Lifeson and Lee singing and playing the Canadian National Anthem with Terrence and Phillip - the offensive, fart-joke happy characters from the South Park series and movie. (Both SCTV and South Park continue their connection to the band and appear in the Rush show now). Another sly example of their humor is naming a Rush song 'Limbo" and acknowledging that one particular instrumental is "Part IV of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy."

The band played almost a three hour show at Verizon Wireless, which was broken into two parts - the first part of mainly older material and the second part which was longer, dedicated to more of the new Snakes & Arrows album and it featured a couple of individual solos. The first half had the songs 'Ghost of a Chance,' 'Digital Man,' and 'Mission,' which are songs brought back into the setlist rotation since their initial recording (in 1991, 1982 and 1987 respectively). Also among the songs is the longtime concert staple 'Freewill' and 'Between the Wheels,' which is another long-lost track recorded in the 80's and trotted out again. ('Wheels' is from the 'Grace Under Pressure' album from 1984, which is one of the band's darkest records to date - musically and lyrically. The theme of that album is generally bleak, lonely and futuristic, but one of the tracks 'Red Sector A' is also a thinly veiled nod to Lee's family - who had survived being in the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. After realizing its double-meaning, listening to the lyrics becomes a more haunting experience).

During the short intermission, the sketches are on full display with Lee's Scottish 'Harry Satchel' looking for - and eventually finding - some chicken. Only after Lee leaves at the break do you then fully realize what is on his side of the stage. Three rotisserie chicken ovens - that are fully functional. A guy in a chef's hat comes out a couple of times after the break and butters the fowl - which brings your attention more toward the prop and makes it funnier.

After the break, the band energetically powers through many of the songs on Snakes & Arrows, including 'Far Cry,' 'Workin' Them Angels,' 'Armor and Sword,' 'Spindrift' and 'When the Wind Blows.' They also play the cut 'Witch Hunt' which hasn't been in the rotation regularly since the 80's and the hoppin' instrumental 'Malignant Narcissism' - which in itself is another nod to South Park. After that song, Peart plays his signature drum solo - which is a rare art for most rock bands nowadays. Like usual, Peart incorporates all of his acoustic drums and cymbals, as well as his electric drums, MIDI-pads and triggered horn blasts into the 10 minute solo. In the final section of it, he plays along with the Buddy Rich track 'Cotton Tail,' a swing tune with a complex horn part. Peart has including a swing section in his solo ever since he got inspired by Rich's music in the 90's and recorded an album of swing music as a dedication to him.

No show of Rush's would be complete without them playing the popular track 'Tom Sawyer,' which is sometimes introduced in interesting ways. This one has the kids of South Park attempting to play it themselves as 'L'il Rush' (with Cartman as Lee - complete with long hair). Needless to say, they fail and they let the real guys do it.

The band's final song is another show staple, the instrumental 'YYZ,' which for years had appeared earlier in the show, but was now pushed into the encore. The track is so known by other musicians, that drummers, bassists and guitarists all try to learn it (either for real or on the game Guitar Hero, where it's now immortalized.) One of those musicians is Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who lived out a dream when Lifeson and Lee appeared onstage at a Foo Fighters show in Toronto in March and he played 'YYZ' with them. Hawkins and bandmate Dave Grohl - also a drummer - were so excited about it afterward that Hawkins bearhugged Lee after the song and Grohl talked - no wait, yelled - about that appearance for the rest of the Foo Fighters show.

If you haven't seen a live Rush show and have any interest in seeing a rockin' good time with three great veteran musicians, then catch Rush in concert on the next tour. In the meantime, you can listen to the studio record 'Snakes & Arrows' or the live version 'Snakes & Arrows Live' which are both available in stores or on iTunes. When you listen to the album, get some chicken. That might enhance the experience.

On a somber note, the band's original drummer John Rutsey, who had only played on Rush's first album in 1974, died on the same day as the Irvine show. He was 55.

Don't miss Rush at their second show at the new Nokia Theatre tonight at 8. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster or at the box office.
This is their second leg of their tour supporting the Atlantic Records studio album Snakes & Arrows, which came out last year and their live record Snakes & Arrows Live, which came out a week or two ago.

They are a great band to see live and Snakes & Arrows - produced by Nick Raskulinecz - is fantastic.

Tune in later for some of my interview with guitarist Alex Lifeson...

After a lengthy tour around the US - including stops in Austin, Nashville, Canada and Denver - Larry Bagby is playing in LA again on Wednesday April 30th at the Cat Club. This time around, he is performing with Justine Bennett - with whom he just recorded the album 'Two not One.' They are also competing in the Nashville Star television show - like American Idol, but for country-esque music - and that starts airing in June with host Billy Ray Cyrus.

This will be Larry and Justine's only Los Angeles show before they hit the road again, so come over to the Cat Club Wednesday night. They play at around 10ish, right after Jim Carrey's daughter Jane Carrey and her band play. So you can see Daughter of the Mask followed by Larry - who appeared in the movie Walk the Line as Johnny Cash's bass player and in a KFC commercial that's running now. (The commercial has two kids and two adults at a table and one of the kids calls the woman 'Nancy' and she objects. Larry is the husband/father).

Check 'em out at the show...and also here.

What you do know is that Jason Segel's movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall - that he wrote and stars in - came out on Friday. What you might not know is that he is a Harvard-Westlake School graduate and was part of the Wolverines state basketball championship team in the 1995-1996 season. In fact, Segel actually quit playing ball in his senior season to focus on trying to be an actor - then he appeared in the movies Can't Hardly Wait, Dead Man on Campus and SLC Punk! two years later. His big break came in 2000 when he met Judd Apatow and began appearing in his many projects including the shows Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared and the movie Knocked Up, among others. He is now a regular on the TV series How I Met Your Mother, which recently featured guest star Danica McKellar - also from Harvard-Westlake.

In a story about Segel that appeared in the Daily News on October 30, 1996, Segel said that he would invite his then-basketball teammates - including now-NBA players Jason and Jarron Collins - to his first movie premiere. I wonder if he did.

The great live band The Mornings is playing on Saturday night at the Mint at 10:30. The Mint is at 6010 W. Pico Blvd in LA. Excellent live show and they're playing with several cool groups.

As a teaser, here is a video to check out. Also look at www.myspace.com/themornings for more info.

There is this great band - based in the Valley - called The Mornings. I've seen them a couple of times and they are energetic and very entertaining with their blend of rock, pop and reggae along with some 70's Wurlitzer-keyboards and horns on occasion. Recently, they have been surprising with some unusual things in their live shows. The last time I saw them the lead singer Adam did this dance-hall reggae thing that sounded like Shaggy and then three of the guys did a rapid-fire rap, over this ambient beat - which was great as well as pretty funny. One other time I saw them, they had a show at the House of Blues that was inspired by LOST the TV show - complete with singing and playing the DRIVESHAFT song 'YOU ALL EVERYBODY' . (If you watch Lost, you'll know what that is).

Anyway, I say all of that because they are playing Thursday night at the Malibu Inn in Malibu at 9:45. Check them out...its a cool venue as well - located at 22969 Pacific Coast Hwy.

I'll think you'll dig 'em

Before the show, check out their tunes here
and their super cool video for the song HAPPY here

Diablo Cody - winner, Best Original Screenplay - a former stripper with a big visible tattoo of a scantily-clad woman on her arm. Right after the Oscars, semi-nude photos of her showed up on the internet and were labeled 'controversial.' Uh, that shouldn't have surprised anyone. Hello...stripper?

Viggo Mortensen - nominee, Eastern Promises - along with an actor, he's a very accomplished photographer and painter as well as a published poet. His paintings were seen in his movie A Perfect Murder (1998). Speaks several languages, including Danish. The mother of his son is a famous singer from a punk band. Never mind the Lord of the Rings stuff.

Daniel Day-Lewis - winner, Best Actor - Like Mortensen, an extreme Method actor. Day-Lewis sequesters himself during movie shoots. He lived in the wild for a month before he shot The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and not only learned how the shoot that giant rifle he carried thoughout the movie, but he also learned how to hunt and skin animals and he built his own canoe. He is also a skilled woodworker and worked as a cobbler during a long break between movies.

Johnny Depp - nominee - Nothing needed here. We know about him. Particularly his playing the cross-dressing, classically-bad director Ed Wood in the movie of the same name; his creating the Jack Sparrow character by combining Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew together and the characters of Willy Wonka, Edward Scissorhands and real-life writer Hunter S. Thompson. Just the tip of the iceberg with this dude.

The Coen Brothers - winners for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director - very interesting material in each movie. Fargo (1996) illustrates the banality of living in the South Dakota/Minnesota area. While writing Miller's Crossing (1990) they got writer's block and turned to writing something else - which became Barton Fink (1991) - to solve the problem. Barton Fink is about a writer with writer's block (among other things). When they write their scripts, every single sound said by the actors in the film - including the pauses and the 'uh's,' 'um's' and the swearing - is scripted exactly. In each movie, they do everything themselves and together. They edit their own movies under the pseudonym 'Roderick Jaynes.' Even though it's them under an alias, they talk about Roderick Jaynes like that's a real person - an angry and bitter 80ish curmudgeon who they say was bitter about losing in the Best Editing Category.

George Clooney - He was Batman. Like Depp, started on television in the 80's. Was on two different shows about a hospital in Chicago. One called ER and one called E/R. His Dad Nick was a newscaster in a variety of places, including Ohio, where he also hosted a daytime talk/variety show. Aunt was Rosemary.

Paul Thomas Anderson - nominee, as writer and director - his Dad Ernie was an actor who created and popularized the character 'Ghoulardi,' the host of a horror night on a local Cleveland television station. Nevermind that the younger Anderson made Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999). What's with the frogs raining down on people in Magnolia?

Tilda Swinton - winner, Best Supporting Actress - openly admits to having a open relationship. Is in a relationship with a painter who is 18 years younger than her, but yet lives platonically with the father of her twins - who is 20 years older than her.

Saorise Ronan - nominee, Best Supporting Actress - nominated at age 13. Her father is actor Paul Ronan. Paul acted with Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997).

Jason Reitman - nominee, Best Director - son of director Ivan Reitman

Tony Gilroy - nominee Best Director and Best Screenplay - His father Frank is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and writer.

Tamara Jenkins - nominee, Best Screenplay - after being a performance artist, wrote an autobiographical script that became the film The Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) that she directed. Her husband Jim has already won an Oscar for writing the film Sideways (2005).

Julian Schnabel - nominee, Best Director - also a painter and artist. Painted the album cover of a Red Hot Chili Peppers album By The Way. Directed Javier Bardem to his first Oscar nomination in the early 2000's.

Javier Bardem - winner, Best Supporting Actor - third generation in a family of actors. His grandfather performed at the beginning of Spanish cinema and his mother as still active in her career. Bardem doesn't actually drive, but yet did in No Country For Old Men.

Cate Blanchett - twice nominated in acting categories this year - at age 38, already been nominated five times. Twice for playing Queen Elizabeth I in two different movies that weren't related to each other and were ten years apart. Won for playing another Oscar-winning actress (Katharine Hepburn) and nominated for playing musician Bob Dylan in a movie where not only was she Dylan, but so was Heath Ledger and so was a black kid.

Ruby Dee - at age 83, became the second-oldest Oscar nominee.

We all know about Tommy Lee Jones going to Harvard with Al Gore. Oh and don't forget about Marketa Irglova - the young girl who won for Best Song and got the rare opportunity to come back out to do her acceptance speech after Bill Conti chased her off with music. Today's her 20th birthday.

He got the awards for Worst Actor

Worst Supporting Actor

and Worst Actress

Ironically, it is also nominated for an Oscar for Best Makeup. (See above)

If you want to hear a great live act, Larry Bagby and his band are playing at the Fox and the Hound Pub - 11100 Ventura Blvd in Studio City - on Sunday at around 8pm. He's outstanding - especially live - and his music blends a little country with a little rock and a little folk. The pub is cool too - very English. Bangers and Mash. Excellent.

If you want to hear Larry a little before you go see him go here or here