Rush is a Band https://www.rushisaband.com/ Rush Blog - Rush is a Band Blog: Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:10:43 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Rush adds 4 new US dates to their Fifty Something tour]]> UPDATE - 8/31@4:10PM: Rush has provided more information regarding the Artist pre-sales. Unlike for prior shows, fans do not need to sign up for the pre-sale. Anyone can access them using the password FREEWILL. Those pre-sales go live on Wednesday morning at 10AM LOCAL VENUE TIME. The CITI pre-sales begin tomorrow at 10AM and the only requirement is that you need to use a CITI credit card to finalize the purchase. Houston's Toyota Center uses AXS.com rather than Live Nation, and currently they only have the CITI pre-sale listed. So we're not sure what's going on with that show at this point, but we are keeping an eye on it.

... ]]> 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:

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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 <![CDATA[Alex Lifeson guest appearance on Maiah Wynne's new solo album Into the Waves]]> Alex Lifeson's Envy of None bandmate Maiah Wynne has announced the release of her second solo album Into the Waves next month via Kscope Records, alongside a brand-new single titled See the Water. Alex Lifeson makes a guest appearance on the album, appearing on the tracks Don't Wait and Another Step. From the press release:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/14/6543/Alex-Lifeson-guest-appearance-on-Maiah-Wynnes-new-solo-album-Into-the-Waves Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/14/6543/Alex-Lifeson-guest-appearance-on-Maiah-Wynnes-new-solo-album-Into-the-Waves <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Toronto show #4 open thread]]> UPDATE - 8/14@7:37PM: Here are some photos courtesy Cygnus-X1.net.

UPDATE - 8/14@11:52AM: Some members of the Tragically Hip were at the show as seen in these photos:


... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/13/6532/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Toronto-show-4-open-thread Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:34:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/13/6532/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Toronto-show-4-open-thread <![CDATA[Alex Lifeson talks PRS Guitars, Rush's Fifty Something tour in new interview]]> The PRS Guitars website has posted a new interview with featured artist Alex Lifeson, where Alex talks about his long history of using PRS Guitars. He also touches a little on Rush's Fifty Something tour, saying the following when asked about how it's been going so far:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/12/6541/Alex-Lifeson-talks-PRS-Guitars-Rushs-Fifty-Something-tour-in-new-interview Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:36:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/12/6541/Alex-Lifeson-talks-PRS-Guitars-Rushs-Fifty-Something-tour-in-new-interview <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Toronto show #3 open thread]]> UPDATE - 8/13@9:34AM: Here's a review from Billboard, along with some photos courtesy Cygnus-X1.net.

UPDATE - 8/12@10:26PM: Rush posted an IG photo dump from the show:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/11/6531/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Toronto-show-3-open-thread Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:39:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/11/6531/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Toronto-show-3-open-thread <![CDATA[Rush on how the Fifty Something tour is going so far in new interview with the Toronto Star]]> Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are currently in the middle of their 4-night run at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena, and took some time out to chat with the Toronto Star on how their Fifty Something tour is going so far, their surprise at the overwhelming response from fans, and how they are dealing with the grind of touring. Here's Ged:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/11/6540/Rush-on-how-the-Fifty-Something-tour-is-going-so-far-in-new-interview-with-the-Toronto-Star Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:36:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/11/6540/Rush-on-how-the-Fifty-Something-tour-is-going-so-far-in-new-interview-with-the-Toronto-Star <![CDATA[Rush Fifty Something tour Toronto show #2 open thread]]> UPDATE - 8/21@9:03AM: Here's a review of nights 1 and 2 from Wall of Sound.

UPDATE - 8/12@10:23PM: Rush posted a pro-shot reel of Alex introducing A Passage to Bangkok:


... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/09/6530/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Toronto-show-2-open-thread Sun, 9 Aug 2026 10:16:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/09/6530/Rush-Fifty-Something-tour-Toronto-show-2-open-thread <![CDATA[Rush talks Fifty Something tour response in new interview with Chile's Radio Futuro]]> UPDATE - 8/18@9:36AM: Here's video of the full interview:

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Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson recently chatted with Chile's Radio Futuro about the enthusiastic response to their Fifty Something tour. Here's Alex Lifeson:

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/08/6539/Rush-talks-Fifty-Something-tour-response-in-new-interview-with-Chiles-Radio-Futuro Sat, 8 Aug 2026 00:48:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/08/6539/Rush-talks-Fifty-Something-tour-response-in-new-interview-with-Chiles-Radio-Futuro <![CDATA[Vinyl editions of Rush's 2112 (liquid vinyl) and The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987 coming in October]]> Rush has announced the October release of new vinyl editions of 2112 (liquid vinyl) and The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987. The 2112 edition was previously made available exclusively for the UMusic shop in NYC during Rush's Madison Square Garden run, and The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 19741987 will be available on vinyl for the first time as a two-LP set featuring all 16 of the original collections tracks, as well as an abbreviated one-LP, 10-track version. Both editions will be released October 2nd and are now available for pre-order (2112, TSoR Greatest Hits).

... ]]> https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/07/6537/Vinyl-editions-of-Rushs-2112-liquid-vinyl-and-The-Spirit-Of-Radio-Greatest-Hits-1974-1987-coming-in-October Fri, 7 Aug 2026 14:52:00 -0500 https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2026/08/07/6537/Vinyl-editions-of-Rushs-2112-liquid-vinyl-and-The-Spirit-Of-Radio-Greatest-Hits-1974-1987-coming-in-October