Rush is a Band https://www.rushisaband.com/ Rush Blog - Rush is a Band Blog: Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson Mon, 7 Sep 2026 12:59:12 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Montreal show #2 open thread]]> UPDATE - 9/7@12:58PM: Here's a review plus some photos from The Metal Voice.

UPDATE - 9/6@12:16PM: There was a classic Alex Lifeson moment during the intro to Limelight where Ged handed the mic over to Lerxst for a bit. He said a few nice things about Montreal and then asked Ged if he could start the song now. Geddy replied, "You're the boss!" which surprised Alex a bit, so he says, "I'm the boss? This is new! I'm the boss! Ah, you're fired, everybody! I'm just going to do a show by myself. I'm going to make hundreds of dollars! I'm going to go to the middle of the stage and take a rock star pose and start this, because this is my band now." He then busts into the song, as seen in this video.

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/04/6559/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Montreal-show-2-open-thread Fri, 4 Sep 2026 11:37:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/04/6559/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Montreal-show-2-open-thread <![CDATA[Updates and other random Rush stuff]]> Rush's Fifty Something tour rolls on and continues to expand, with the band announcing the addition of 4 new US dates this past Monday. One-off shows were added in Houston on October 1st, St. Louis on October 21st, Cincinnati on October 23rd, and Pittsburgh on November 15th, with tickets on sale now. The band played a pair of shows in the Motor City this past weekend, and the first of a pair of Montreal shows on Wednesday. They'll wrap up their Montreal stint tonight before taking an extended 8-day break and picking things back up in Boston next weekend. So far the band has been alternating between different versions of their Bravo and Charlie setlists respectively for their 2-night runs, and we expect that trend to continue. For night 1 in Detroit they played a version of the B setlist (B-4) featuring Natural Science in place of The Trees, while in Montreal Wednesday night they played that same setlist (B-5) but with the one change of dropping The Analog Kid for Distant Early Warning. Night 2 in Detroit saw the band pull out the same Charlie setlist (C-2) that was played for night 2 in Philly last week, and we should see a version of that setlist tonight in Montreal. Anika Nilles continued her end-of-show gags for this past week's shows, eating some chips for night 1 in Detroit, putting up a closed sign on night 2, and playing a triangle Wednesday night in Montreal. Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and Adrian Smith were in town for Maidens's show last night at Parc Jean-Drapeau, and both attended Rush's show the night prior. They hung out with the boys backstage as seen in this Instagram post:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/04/6554/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff Fri, 4 Sep 2026 11:07:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/04/6554/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff <![CDATA[Rush question featured on tonight's episode of Jeopardy! Masters]]> The American quiz show Jeopardy! is currently holding its Masters Tournament, and in the evening's episode featured a Rush-themed question/answer. In a category called Recent Transitions the $600 answer to the question was:

Anika Nilles replaced the late Neil Peart as this band started playing out again

Contestant Andrew He answered correctly, What is Rush?. Jeopardy! seems to have a love affair with Rush, and have used the band in MANY clues over the last several years. Thanks to Robert H for the heads up, and Michael M for the vid.

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/03/6562/Rush-question-featured-on-tonights-episode-of-Jeopardy-Masters Thu, 3 Sep 2026 22:10:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/03/6562/Rush-question-featured-on-tonights-episode-of-Jeopardy-Masters <![CDATA[Record Collector magazine to feature Rush in upcoming issue]]> Record Collector magazine will be publishing a special Record Collector Presents ... Rush edition next month, and have revealed the cover and contents. From the description:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/03/6561/Record-Collector-magazine-to-feature-Rush-in-upcoming-issue Thu, 3 Sep 2026 13:44:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/03/6561/Record-Collector-magazine-to-feature-Rush-in-upcoming-issue <![CDATA[Watch the trailer for the upcoming Neil Peart documentary No One's Disciple]]> The CBC will be releasing a documentary honoring the late Neil Peart titled No One's Disciple later this month. The doc will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2 weeks from today on September 16th at the Princess of Wales Theatre ahead of its airing on the CBC September 23rd as part of the documentary series The Passionate Eye. The film will include some recent footage of Geddy and Alex jamming some Rush tunes with drummers Stewart Copeland, Chad Smith, Gavin Harrison, and Tool's Danny Carey. Fellow Canadians The Tragically Hip are also in the film, as seen in this clip, and filmmaker Sam Dunn was interviewed about the film for a CTV News story as seen here. Today the filmmakers released the first trailer for the film, which you can check out below or on YouTube.

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/02/6560/Watch-the-trailer-for-the-upcoming-Neil-Peart-documentary-No-Ones-Disciple Wed, 2 Sep 2026 14:38:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/02/6560/Watch-the-trailer-for-the-upcoming-Neil-Peart-documentary-No-Ones-Disciple <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Montreal show #1 open thread]]> UPDATE - 9/4@9:18AM: Here's a review from the Montreal Gazette, along with some photos courtesy Cygnus-X1.net.

UPDATE - 9/3@9:52PM: Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and Adrian Smith were at the show and hung out with the boys backstage as seen in this IG post:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/02/6558/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Montreal-show-1-open-thread Wed, 2 Sep 2026 10:55:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/02/6558/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Montreal-show-1-open-thread <![CDATA[Anika Nilles Modern Drummer September 2026 cover feature and extensive new interview]]> Rush touring drummer Anika Nilles is the subject of a 14-page cover feature and new interview in the September, 2026 edition of Modern Drummer magazine. They've also posted an extensive, hour-long video interview to accompany the issue, which you can check out below or on YouTube (thanks Ronald B):

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/01/6557/Anika-Nilles-Modern-Drummer-September-2026-cover-feature-and-extensive-new-interview Tue, 1 Sep 2026 14:22:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/01/6557/Anika-Nilles-Modern-Drummer-September-2026-cover-feature-and-extensive-new-interview <![CDATA[TAMA unveils new Anika Nilles Signature Snare Drum]]> Yesterday TAMA drums and Rush drummer Anika Nilles unveiled the new Anika Nilles Signature Snare Drum. From the announcement:

We are proud to unveil the new Anika Nilles Signature Snare Drum. Over the course of more than two years of meticulous development & refinement, Anika focused on three things: deep low end, clear snare wire definition, and a look inspired by her love of vintage snares. The result was a 14x6.5" 1.2mm Seamless Aluminum shell that delivers warmth, projection, and strong lows. The shell is formed with a slightly wider bearing edge & four grooves at the center of the shell for a touch of style, yet together these two design features enhance the shell's rigidity and natural resonance. Paired with Sound Arc Hoops, Anika's snare delivers the perfect blend of clarity and presence. A newly designed "Mod-Tone Muffler" lets players switch the mute on/off instantly and adjust the pressure with a single dial. The Anika Nilles Signature Snare embodies her musicality and depth-ideal for players seeking the grooves and expression that define her artistry. ...

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/01/6556/TAMA-unveils-new-Anika-Nilles-Signature-Snare-Drum Tue, 1 Sep 2026 11:30:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/09/01/6556/TAMA-unveils-new-Anika-Nilles-Signature-Snare-Drum <![CDATA[Rush adds 4 new US dates to their Fifty Something tour]]> UPDATE - 9/4@9:20AM: Here's a goofy video of the band announcing the new shows, which go on sale this morning at 10 AM local venue time:


... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/31/6555/Rush-adds-4-new-US-dates-to-their-Fifty-Something-tour Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:13:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/31/6555/Rush-adds-4-new-US-dates-to-their-Fifty-Something-tour <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Detroit show #2 open thread]]> UPDATE - 8/29@11:38AM: Here's a review from The Oakland Press, along with some photos courtesy Cygnus-X1.net. For Annika's Working Man gag last night, she hung up a CLOSED sign and walked off her drum riser:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/28/6552/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Detroit-show-2-open-thread Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:02:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/28/6552/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Detroit-show-2-open-thread <![CDATA[Updates and other random Rush stuff]]> After their extended post-homecoming break last week, Rush cranked up the tour machine once again this past weekend, playing a pair of shows at Philly's Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday and Sunday, and then moving on to Detroit on Wednesday for the first of a pair of shows in the Motor City. They'll wrap up their 2-show Detroit stint tonight before heading back to the Great White North to play a couple of show's at Montreal's Centre Bell later next week. Now that the 4-performance stints are concluded, there was a lot of speculation as to how Rush's setlist selection would play out for the rest of the tour. From the small sample size we have so far, it looks like they'll be rotating in different versions of their Bravo and Charlie sets for each city in order for fans to get a taste of both 2112 in full and Moving Pictures in full. There's no way they can insert every single song they've rehearsed over 2 nights, so they are instead adding more versions of these sets where the core setlist songs and structure remain, but they swap out a couple tracks and maybe drop one. For instance, for Detroit night 1 they subbed out Leave That Thing Alone for La Villa Strangiato, and The Garden for Witch Hunt just like last Friday in Philly. But they also swapped out The Trees for Natural Science and cut out the Headlong Flight/Caravan slot altogether. For tonight's show, we should see a Charlie set, and fans will get Moving Pictures in full, which is what happened in Philly this past Sunday. For that show, they played the standard C setlist but with the one change of swapping out Anthem for A Farewell to Kings. One highlight from the past few shows has been Anika's epic gags at the end of Working Man, which are becoming more and more elaborate. For night 2 in Philly Anika drew a sketch of Ged/Al on a clipboard that had stick figure depictions of the pair with the caption Lerxst & Dirk at the top and U SO CUTE at the bottom, and for Detroit she pulled out a bag of potato chips. Drummer Mike Portnoy was at that show and had great things to say about Anika, who he hung out with backstage:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/28/6550/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff Fri, 28 Aug 2026 11:15:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/28/6550/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff <![CDATA[Happy 73rd birthday Alex Lifeson!]]> UPDATE - 8/27@10:47AM: From the official RUSH IG page:


... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/27/6553/Happy-73rd-birthday-Alex-Lifeson Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:01:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/27/6553/Happy-73rd-birthday-Alex-Lifeson <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Detroit show #1 open thread]]> UPDATE - 8/28@11:04AM: For Anika's end-of-show gag, she pulled out a bag of potato chips:

----- snip -----

UPDATE - 8/27@4:35PM: Here's a gallery of photos from The Detroit News.

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/26/6551/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Detroit-show-1-open-thread Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:17:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/26/6551/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Detroit-show-1-open-thread <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Philadelphia show #2 open thread]]> UPDATE - 8/24@6:19PM: Here's a review from Baltimore Positive.

UPDATE - 8/24@1:38PM: Mike Portnoy was at the show and hung out with Anika a bit, having great things to say about her and the tour in general:


... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/23/6547/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Philadelphia-show-2-open-thread Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:37:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/23/6547/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Philadelphia-show-2-open-thread <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Philadelphia show #1 open thread]]> UPDATE - 8/27@9:46AM: Here's a review from the Boston Herald.

UPDATE - 8/23@10:00PM: Here's a video review from music professor and host of The Daily Doug on YouTube - Doug Helvering:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/21/6546/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Philadelphia-show-1-open-thread Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:34:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/21/6546/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Philadelphia-show-1-open-thread <![CDATA[Updates and other random Rush stuff]]> Rush finished off their 4-show homecoming residency in Toronto last Thursday before taking a much deserved 8-day respite. They'll crank the tour machine back up tonight in Philadelphia, kicking off a run that will see them play a pair of shows in 18 cities across North America before taking a break for the Holidays and picking things up in South America and Europe next year. Now that the band has all of their 4-show mini-residencies under their belt, fans are curious as to how the setlists will break down for this stretch of the tour given that they'll only be doing 2 shows per city. The only info we have to go on at this point are the 2 Echo/E and Foxtrot/F setlists that were played in Mexico City. It's probably a good guess that the 2-night rotation will look something like those. Although they might pull out some totally new setlists, or they might just continue with the 4-setlist rotation and just spread it over 2 cities. We'll start to answer all those questions this weekend in Philly. Rush's week-long break began with Rolling Stone Canada releasing an extensive cover feature on the band, including a new hour-long interview with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, along with separate interview snippets from Anika Nilles, Geddy Lee's vocal coach Mitch Seekins, and more. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson touch on many subjects surrounding the Fifty Something tour in the candid interview, with Alex opening up about his health issues and quitting cannabis, and Geddy Lee sharing how a vocal coach helped him turn back time and both describing how joyful the tour has been thus far. Here's an excerpt from the print article discussing the difficulty involved in properly honoring the late Neil Peart on the tour:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/21/6545/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:09:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/21/6545/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff <![CDATA[Live Nation posts mini-documentary on Rush's Fifty Something tour for their Fandemonium documentary series]]> When Rush's tour kicked off in LA back in June, Live Nation's Fandemonium documentary crew was there to capture some footage and chat with fans about what makes Rush fans one of music's most devoted communities. Earlier today they posted the final result - a 6+ minute mini-documentary which you can check out below or on YouTube. The doc features a narration from Eric Hansen of the Power Windows website (and author of Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth), along with footage of several other fans. Rush continues their Fifty Something tour tomorrow in Philadelphia!

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/20/6549/Live-Nation-posts-mini-documentary-on-Rushs-Fifty-Something-tour-for-their-Fandemonium-documentary-series Thu, 20 Aug 2026 17:38:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/20/6549/Live-Nation-posts-mini-documentary-on-Rushs-Fifty-Something-tour-for-their-Fandemonium-documentary-series <![CDATA[New CBC interview with Geddy Lee's vocal coach Mitch Seekins]]> UPDATE - 8/18@9:25AM: The audio of the entire 8-minute interview is available for listening at this location (thanks TheSphere1729).

In preparation for Rush's Fifty Something tour, Geddy Lee did something he'd never done before - he hired a vocal coach to help him get his pipes in shape for the extensive tour, and it paid off as he describes in his recent Rolling Stone interview.

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/17/6548/New-CBC-interview-with-Geddy-Lees-vocal-coach-Mitch-Seekins Mon, 17 Aug 2026 20:34:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/17/6548/New-CBC-interview-with-Geddy-Lees-vocal-coach-Mitch-Seekins <![CDATA[Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson talk Fifty Something tour in extensive new video interview with Rolling Stone]]> UPDATE - 8/26@7:08PM: Rolling Stone Canada has announced that the Summer 2026 Rush issue will be released as the first ever print edition of the magazine!


... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/14/6544/Geddy-Lee-and-Alex-Lifeson-talk-Fifty-Something-tour-in-extensive-new-video-interview-with-Rolling-Stone Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:21:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/14/6544/Geddy-Lee-and-Alex-Lifeson-talk-Fifty-Something-tour-in-extensive-new-video-interview-with-Rolling-Stone <![CDATA[Updates and other random Rush stuff]]> After wrapping up their final 4-show residency in the hometown of Toronto last night in epic fashion, Rush is now at the quarter pole of the tour - 22 shows down, 66 to go. Rush's homecoming shows are always something special, and the hometown crowd never disappoints, as this past week demonstrates. So the band decided to record the YYZ shows this go-around for an inevitable live concert DVD that we'll likely see late next year. They brought back Aimee Mann for night 1 to be sure to get that performance on film, but that's all she was able to commit too. This first portion of the tour saw Rush play 4-show residencies in 5 cities; LA, Fort Worth, Chicago, NYC and Toronto. For those 4-show stints, the band was fairly consistent in playing essentially the same setlist for each of the 4 nights in each city. These setlists were dubbed by the band as Alpha/A, Beta/B, Charlie/C and Delta/D with each corresponding to the 4 nights in order, with few exceptions. The A and B sets have 2 versions each, but the only difference being a song swap between the 2 (swapping Caravan and Headlong Flight. The setlist that's seen the most changes is the night 4 Delta/D setlist with 3 separate versions, while the night 3 Charlie/C set hasn't seen any. The standard Delta set was played for nights 4 in LA and Chicago, while they brought out a special we're sorry for canceling setlist for the 4th show in Fort Worth, which was so different from D that the band dubbed it as Gorgo/G. Then for night 4 in NYC they played a truncated version of the D set (D-2) where they dropped Distant Early Warning and shuffled the order. Last night in Toronto they brought out that D-2 set again, but swapped out Finding My Way for By-tor and the Snow Dog, giving us yet another version (D-3). But from this point forward on the North American leg of the tour, they'll only be playing 2 shows per city, which means this 4-show rotation pattern will likely change. The only info we have to go on at this point are the 2 Echo/E and Foxtrot/F setlists that were played in Mexico City. I'm anticipating that the 2-night rotation will look something like those, but it's really anyone's guess. They might pull out some totally new setlists, or they might just continue with the 4-setlist rotation and just spread it over 2 cities. We'll find out in a week from today when Rush plays Philadelphia after a much-deserved week-long break. Rest those vocal chords Geddy! At the end of every show, Anika Nilles has started a new tradition where she plays up waiting for Ged/Al to finish their noodling at the end of Working Man - things such as reading the paper, looking at her watch, etc. For last night's show, she threw the infamous Bag on over her head as seen in this video, and this IG post from Rush:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/14/6538/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:50:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/14/6538/Updates-and-other-random-Rush-stuff