WOW

Phenomenal

Can't wait for June 28th. I'll be there with my wife, son and daughter-in-law.
Based on the comments about the Neil tributes, I just hope nobody's cutting up onions or it's not too dusty because only my wife has seen me cry in the last few decades.

Anyone else fired up for maybe new music after this tour? Watching those guys they are just too young to be done. When McCartney is touring at 84 and Mick and Keith at 82. Geddy and Alex are 72 and watching those shows they can still do it - maybe with a little help like a keyboardist.

I know Neil was the primary lyricist (and the best) but there were some written by Geddy and/or Alex.


But actually I would love an instrumental Rush album too - they have many great instrumentals and I was kind of hoping they were secretly working on a few tracks like that - maybe even just an EP of 4 songs.

Call it Rush 2.0 (although yes technically it is 3.0) or something.

Maybe it's just me.

Yes please.

I swear we are living in bizarro world right now - Rolling Stone magazine has put out back to back articles praising the first two Rush shows. The publication that used to mock and revile the band is now touting this as as triumph and calling it a miracle.


https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/rush-tour-night-two-review-setlist-2112-1235575587/

It is paywalled but for some reason I am seeing it for free so I'll post snippets.....












The article about the first night is just as effusive but is more about the emotion of that night and Geddy almost cracking a few times while praising Anika's play in what they say is the hardest job in all of live music right now.

And this made me laugh

Regarding the Rolling Stone articles, I assume it's a slow news day for them and they need clicks. And since my boy Bad Bunny isn't touring the USA (LOL), this Rush tour is the biggest live show going right now.

One question that screen shot you shared raised is, they referred to Anika as a "touring drummer".

I've had friends of mine tour with bands who weren't really in the band permanently but that's not how I think of her.

My assumption is that Anika isn't a hired gun for this tour but rather that she's fully in the band - similar to Arnel Pineda joining Journey.

Now will Rush ever record new music again, frankly, I hope the answer is no. But, if they went out on another tour in 2028 or played a residency at The Sphere in Vegas in 2029 or something, my expectation is that Anika is the drummer.

They put a year into this, both for themselves to relearn the songs to their technical level but for importantly for her to learn the songs to play at this level. And they will now tour for a year.

There is 0% chance anyone else sits in that seat. I'll go on a limb and say no one ever again. Forget the time investment, I'm not sure what the fans would do if they treated that seat as a random fill in. It would diminish Neil in a bad way.

Was she a session drummer a year ago? Yeah. Is she now? Not anymore. It's her seat. She earned it and the fans accepted her and for this band that is massively important. Maybe more than any other band. She is the drummer for Rush.

I never expected to see them play again, other than the random stuff like the Hawkins tribute or at the RRHOF. Not after this length of time. I'm glad they didn't just immediately find a drummer to replace Neil. They were done. But they clearly had it in them to go back. Did they need Macca telling them that? Maybe. Grohl? Maybe. Whatever it was we are blessed for it. Seeing them enjoy the stage and embrace her on stage is a gift.

The question of contracts is a different thing. I feel certain Loren Gold is getting a flat fee to participate. He is a session keyboardist. I'll bet she is getting more than a flat fee. Is it an equal split? Probably not. But I bet she's getting points.

I think maybe they referred to her as a touring drummer since she's done that before for other bands as well.

And we dont know what's beyond this if anything.

But I fully agree she earned that seat and more of a status than that but I'm not sure she's in the band either. When this was announced it was simply said this way:

For Fifty Something, Lee and Lifeson will be accompanied by German drummer, composer, and producer Anika Nilles, who has performed as Jeff Beck's drummer for over 60 shows and has released four solo albums.

I dont think it's meant to insult but touring drummer does come across that way. For me though until she records with them and it's just playing music from the Neil era then she isnt in the band. Or if they make that announcement.

HollywoodBQ said:

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Regarding the Rolling Stone articles, I assume it's a slow news day for them and they need clicks. And since my boy Bad Bunny isn't touring the USA (LOL), this Rush tour is the biggest live show going right now.

One question that screen shot you shared raised is, they referred to Anika as a "touring drummer".

I've had friends of mine tour with bands who weren't really in the band permanently but that's not how I think of her.

My assumption is that Anika isn't a hired gun for this tour but rather that she's fully in the band - similar to Arnel Pineda joining Journey.

Now will Rush ever record new music again, frankly, I hope the answer is no. But, if they went out on another tour in 2028 or played a residency at The Sphere in Vegas in 2029 or something, my expectation is that Anika is the drummer.

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Brian Hiatt is a massive Rush fan, and has written 2 other feature articles about them for RS. Like most of us, he was a fan before he was a teenager. (I was 12 when I bought All The Worlds, Hemispheres the next year).

I still think it's kind of weird for a 13 year old listening to that album.

The Story Behind Rush's Greatest Song "Tom Sawyer"

If you're posting on this thread, you know this already, but still, nice to see the attention.

BTW, I'm listening to Countdown in Dolby Atmos right now. That song was sick enough already, but man. I totally agree with the poster above that they should dust this one off. Loren would kill the synth parts.

So this happened last night. I trying to have words - trying to process - night 3 in LA they played Moving Pictures in its entirety.

That's how you do it.

I would trade a few from Moving Pictures for all seven parts of 2112 and maybe Natural Science

3 concerts in 5 days. 3 completely different concerts.

That's insane.

And there are songs that's look like they didn't make the cut. Presto, Roll the Bones. Cygnus I or II. And I know it's considered a deep cut but I'm surprised they haven't played Lakeside Park as it was part of his youth.

They did Lakeside on R40 so maybe that's why?

I'll say it again - I have one extra for Fri 26th if anyone wants a TexAgs discount!

OMG they played all of Moving Pictures to open the 2nd set and 2112 (parts I, II. VII) moved to the end. I believe that is the first time to play all of MP since the Time Machine tour in 2010-11 which was kind of the feature of that tour,

Camera Eye included a a new piano intro by the keyboardist Loren Gold.

Aimee Mann joined them for Time Stand Still again - I stil think it will just be the LA shows,

Third significantly different set list.

Also the first major technical issue - 2112 was abandoned when Geddy Lee's bass stopped working completely. They switched it out and restarted the entire number.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

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OMG they played all of Moving Pictures to open the 2nd set and 2112 (parts I, II. VII) moved to the end. I believe that is the first time to play all of MP since the Time Machine tour in 2010-11 which was kind of the feature of that tour,

Camera Eye included a a new piano intro by the keyboardist Loren Gold.

Aimee Mann joined them for Time Stand Still again - I stil think it will just be the LA shows,

Third significantly different set list.

Also the first major technical issue - 2112 was abandoned when Geddy Lee's bass stopped working completely. They switched it out and restarted the entire number.

---

That's what he gets for playing a Gibson bass.

So trying to maintain this setlist comparison is becoming crazy.

So YELLOW is unique to that night. - 13 songs have been played on only one night (14 if you count the full 2112 as unique)
Other colors are for songs played on two nights - I did not color code 2112 even though it is different parts

Still no songs from: Caress Of Steel, Power Windows, Presto, Test For Echo, Vapor Trails

The 11 songs (so half of the setlist) that have been played every night are:

Xanadu - always the opener
Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight
Subdivisions
2112 - but twice it was the abbreviated version
The Spirit of Radio
Bravado - with the Neil tribute
Time Stand Still - with Aimee Mann
Working Man - always the encore closer

I doubt they're going to play anything heavy on the e-drums, although Neil did use them on Witch Hunt.

I listened to Vapor Trails yesterday. Lots of good material to choose from there. I would love a live version of Peaceable Kingdom.

Good to see New World Man back. We missed you, big guy.

maybe they are planning 4 unique setlists for the 4 nights in the bigger cities - LA, DFW, NY, Chicago, Toronto

and maybe the cities with 2 stops get 2 of those - everywhere else in NA for 2026 (sorry Houston you get none)


I had not noticed the international dates they added for 2027 wow - a lot of single stops and a few with 2 (Santiago, Sao Paulo, Glasgow, Manchester) and London got 3. Total of 30 more shows in 2027 from Jan-April.


First tour in South America since 2010 Time Machine Tour but that was only 4 shows compared to 9 this time.

They last toured Europe in 2013 for Clockwork Angels but only 11 shows compared to 21 this time - I wonder if some of that is because of Anika being more known there.

G Martin 87 said:

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"Crazy" may not be a strong enough word to describe what they are doing with this tour.

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I've never heard of any band playing what amounts to unique concerts on a tour.

The 13 songs played only once:

• Far Cry
• Caravan
• Distant Early Warning
• Natural Science
• The Garden
• The Analog Kid
• Leave That Thing Alone
• The Trees
• Animate
• A Passage To Bangkok
• Finding My Way
• New World Man
• The Camera Eye

These 10 have been played twice:

• Freewill
• La Villa Strangiato
• Vital Signs
• Dreamline
• Red Sector A
• Headlong Flight
• Closer to The Heart
• Anthem
• Witch Hunt
• By Tor and Snow Dog - opening the encore both times

These 11 have been played every night but different order other than the opener and closer:

• Xanadu - always the opener
• Tom Sawyer
• Red Barchetta
• YYZ
• Limelight
• Subdivisions
• 2112 - but twice it was the abbreviated version
• The Spirit of Radio
• Bravado - with the Neil tribute
• Time Stand Still - with Aimee Mann
• Working Man - always the encore closer

In those Rick Beato interviews, they said they had 38-40 songs. Seems like there's more to come

All this excites me. I may have to drive up to ft worth. Never seen them live

You you count all the parts of 2112 you get like 37.

I won't be shocked to see Aimee Mann only do the LA shows. I also won't be shocked if that song drops completely and I won't be shocked if a female backup is used nightly just for that.

I know they said originally it was more than 40 and they added something and took something away. The whole "my hard drive is full!" line. I wonder if adding all of 2112 was that add. It will be interesting to find out later what the original list looked like.

From Geddy's interview with Rick, it sounded like not all albums are going to have a song played in these concerts. That being said, I wonder if Caress of Steel is getting passed over.

Chipotlemonger said:

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From Geddy's interview with Rick, it sounded like not all albums are going to have a song played in these concerts. That being said, I wonder if Caress of Steel is getting passed over.

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so far it is

Still no songs from: Caress Of Steel, Power Windows, Presto, Test For Echo, Vapor Trails

Zombie Jon Snow said:

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Chipotlemonger said:

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From Geddy's interview with Rick, it sounded like not all albums are going to have a song played in these concerts. That being said, I wonder if Caress of Steel is getting passed over.

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so far it is

Still no songs from: Caress Of Steel, Power Windows, Presto, Test For Echo, Vapor Trails

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I dig Caress of Steel so I chose this as an opportunity to listen again to it start to finish. Definitely a departure from their first couple of albums, you can see how it led into 2112. Some good stuff but I can see why they would skip covering anything on it now in their shows.

Mathguy64 said:

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You you count all the parts of 2112 you get like 37.

I won't be shocked to see Aimee Mann only do the LA shows. I also won't be shocked if that song drops completely and I won't be shocked if a female backup is used nightly just for that.

I know they said originally it was more than 40 and they added something and took something away. The whole "my hard drive is full!" line. I wonder if adding all of 2112 was that add. It will be interesting to find out later what the original list looked like.

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I bet they dump Time Stand Still completely. Replace with Bastille Day or Lakeside Park.