Throughout an invite-only gathering of 150 followers, media and dignitaries on the Rock & Roll Corridor Of Fame’s Foster Theater in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday (October 5),Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of RUSH spoke about their resolution to reunite for a tour subsequent 12 months. The restricted run of summer season dates — Lee and Lifeson‘s first official exhibits below the RUSH banner in 11 years — will start on the Kia Discussion board in Los Angeles, website of the final RUSH live performance on the legendary Canadian band’s “R40” anniversary tour. Becoming a member of the duo on the trek will probably be German drummer Anika Nilles, who toured with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck in 2022 and has been rehearsing with Lee and Lifeson in preparation for the tour, dubbed “Fifty One thing”.
Relating to how they determined to tour as RUSH once more, greater than 5 years after iconic RUSH drummer Neil Peart‘s demise, Alex stated throughout final evening’s occasion (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Once we completed the [‘R40’] tour [in 2015], it was tough for Neil, and he’d had sufficient by that time. I believe Ged and I nonetheless had gasoline within the tank and we nonetheless needed to proceed working. However it was what it was, and the additional I bought away from it, the extra I believed, ‘It is okay. We had 40 years. I am uninterested in hanging round a resort, being away from household and all of that stuff.’ And I felt that means for many of the final 10 years, actually. I believed we had an ideal legacy, and it is okay. Then this man” — referring to Geddy — “got here alongside and had some massive concepts. And we talked and we began enjoying. After which I spotted that I like it a lot — I really like enjoying a lot. And I’ve continued, over these final years, doing different initiatives and nonetheless enjoying so much. However after we sat down and began enjoying among the RUSH stuff and I spotted how exhausting it was to play these songs… Whenever you do it day-after-day for 40 years, it isn’t a giant deal, actually — you are used to it — however once you’re away from it and you’re a little extra goal in regards to the intense complexity of the music and the texture and the nuances and all of the issues that go into making a RUSH track and efficiency, to be challenged with that once more was actually, actually thrilling. And the extra we began rehearsing and enjoying, the extra I simply fell in love with the concept of enjoying once more.”
Added Geddy: “It was a really tough resolution on many ranges, initially, as a result of what it entails by way of work, but in addition what had transpired. Dropping a member like Neil, it was devastating and it was a really unhappy time, and it took time for us to even ponder it. I imply, this can be a comparatively latest resolution. And I might say it was type of out of the query for the longest time due to these circumstances. And the way do you exchange somebody who’s irreplaceable? So, we’d joke about it generally, and Al was doing different issues, I used to be writing books and one thing occurred within the final couple of years that introduced us again to jamming within the studio. He would come over, drink my espresso, hold round, we’d jam and we might chortle. After which sooner or later — I do not know why — we began enjoying some RUSH songs for enjoyable. And God, we had been laughing so exhausting and we had been having fun with it a lot. And it was virtually like enjoying these songs dispelled the darkish clouds. It was not a straightforward resolution to come back to, and that is actually the primary time we’re speaking about it out loud in entrance of different folks. So, yeah, it feels proper, and we’re gonna do it.”
Requested how they discovered the appropriate drummer to step in for Neil on the “Fifty One thing” tour, Geddy stated: “Nicely, our concept was to not attempt to be RUSH 2.0, simply to pay homage to our music, pay homage to our misplaced brother and signify the songs and have fun the songs.
“I have never talked about this earlier than, however… So, my bass tech Skully [John McIntosh] was working with Jeff Beck. He was on tour with him for a number of years. And on the final tour he was enjoying with this drummer named Anika Nilles — an unbelievable drummer. And he would come dwelling, he would rave about her, what a superb participant she was and nice individual, and blah, blah, blah. So I type of seemed her up. And she or he’s throughout YouTube. She’s pretty well-known in her personal world of music. After which we began speaking about enjoying once more. I stated to Al, I stated, ‘Examine her out. Perhaps that is an attention-grabbing technique to go.’ And so one factor led to a different, and after we made the choice we needed to see if it might work, what’s it wish to play with one other drummer — we might had that have, after all, on the Taylor Hawkins tributes [in September 2022]. So we all know how tough it’s — regardless of who the drummer is, all of them have their very own notion of what it is wish to play a RUSH track, and so they might not line up with the best way we play RUSH songs. So whoever we had been going to decide on was going to be tough and there is going to be like a translation. And so we very secretly introduced Anika to Canada. And it wasn’t an audition, ‘trigger at that time we weren’t actually positive that we had been going to tour. It was all an experiment. Anyway, I am very blissful to say that she is improbable to play with. And we have had now quite a few classes along with her and we’re going to go on the highway along with her. I believe she’s a outstanding story. And she or he’s a lot youthful than us… And I like that, that she got here to RUSH music with none preconceptions. It additionally made it very tough, ‘trigger we needed to clarify nuances and work on subtleties, and she or he needed to actually attempt to get into Neil‘s headspace and his really feel. Quite a lot of drummers can play Neil‘s drum fills, however to mix that with the texture of these songs, in order that it feels the best way you guys wanna hear these songs, that is work — that requires work. And so she’s successful.”
As for what RUSH followers can anticipate from the upcoming live shows, Geddy stated: “I do not assume we are able to do a three-hour present the best way we did after we had been in our youthful years, however we’re actually gonna play over two hours. And we’ll get a whole lot of songs in, for positive.”
Lee went on to say that “it isn’t an accident” that he and Alex selected Los Angeles’s Kia Discussion board — the place RUSH performed its last-ever present with Peart in 2015 — as the placement of the primary gig of the tour.
“It’s going to be, I believe, fairly an emotional second,” Geddy stated. “And I’ve to say additionally a thanks to [Neil‘s widow] Carrie Nuttall and [daughter] Olivia Peart who’ve been very supportive and are supporting us for this tour, and we actually recognize that, and that makes issues higher. And we additionally plan to pay tribute to Neil a minimum of a few occasions throughout the present in our personal means. And that’ll occur each evening, we’ll pay tribute to him.
“After Neil handed, COVID hit and we by no means actually had been in a position to do any type of tribute to him — not a tribute live performance,” Lee defined. “And so that is a method that we pay homage to the music and the lyrics and the unbelievable drumming of our pal and companion, and on the identical time have fun the music that [the fans] have fortunately proven up for, for all these years. And we’ll simply endeavor to do our greatest to make [the fans] blissful.”
When the “Fifty One thing” tour was introduced earlier immediately, Carrie Nuttall-Peart and Olivia Peart stated in a press release: “We’re thrilled to help the ‘Fifty One thing’ tour, celebrating a band whose music has resonated and impressed followers for generations, and to honor Neil‘s extraordinary legacy as each a drummer and lyricist.
“Neil‘s musicianship was singular. Compositions of intricacy and energy that expanded what rhythm itself may categorical. As each drummer and lyricist, he was irreplaceable. Inimitable in his artistry, and unmatched within the depth and creativeness he dropped at the lyrics that impressed and moved so many, he profoundly formed how followers related with him and the band, giving voice and that means to their very own lives.
“Because the band enters this new chapter, it guarantees to be really unforgettable. We’re excited to see how their new imaginative and prescient unfolds, and to listen to this legendary music performed dwell as soon as once more.”
Earlier immediately, followers bought the information through a RUSH publication from a house video that introduced the celebration of upcoming dates with Lee and Lifeson at Geddy‘s dwelling studio.
RUSH will carry out a number of exhibits in seven cities throughout Canada, the US and Mexico, starting June 7, 2026 on the Kia Discussion board in Los Angeles. These particular “night with” exhibits will discover the band enjoying two units every evening. Every present will function a definite number of songs and RUSH will construct every evening’s setlist from a list of 35 songs together with their biggest hits and fan favorites.
Followers will be capable to take part within the RUSH artist presale by signing up at livemu.sc/rush by Thursday, October 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Artist presales for this tour are hosted by a number of ticketing websites however anybody who indicators up can be a part of the sale. For artist presales on Ticketmaster, no code is required — entry is tied to your account. The artist presale on SeatGeek for Cleveland would require a code. The artist presale begins on Monday, October 13 at 12 p.m. native time within the U.S. and Canada and Thursday, October 16 at 12 p.m. native time in Mexico. Common onsale begins on Friday, October 17 at 12 p.m. native time for the U.S. and Canada, and 11 a.m. native time for Mexico.
Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of mind most cancers. He was 67 years previous.
RUSH waited three days to announce Peart‘s passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from followers and musicians everywhere in the world.
Since Peart‘s demise, Lifeson and Lee haven’t recorded any new music or carried out dwell below the RUSH title, though each of them confirmed that a number of drummers reached out to them within the days after the legendary drummer’s passing about the potential of stepping in for Neil.