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Prog rock legends Rush have made their long-awaited return to the stage.
11 years after the band exited stage left at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, they were back at the same venue with new drummer Anika Nilles in tow as they kickstarted the Fifty Something tour in style. Our friends at Classic Rock did the math, with the band ending the 3,964-day wait by playing a song that has never opened a Rush set before.
Launching into Xanadu, from 1977’s A Farewell to Kings, the new-look lineup did little to shy away from the fan favorites, with mammoth hits including Moving Pictures’ bangers Limelight and Red Barchetta, The Spirit of the Radio, La Villa Strangiato, and Subdivisions all packed into a breathless two sets. And yes, they played 2112, stripping it down to just three parts.
But it wasn’t just the big hitters on show. Unexpected songs, including Dreamline, The Garden, a tender cut from the band’s superlative final album, Clockwork Angels, and By-Tor & The Snow Dog, ensured the setlist represented a career-wide representation of one of the best bands to abuse time signatures and double-neck guitars with wilful abandon.
And, shock horror, there were plenty of guitars on display. From Geddy Lee’s double-neck Rickenbacker and Lifeson’s double-neck Gibson SG used on that rip-roaring opener, to a Gibson Custom Shop Greeny – gifted to Lifeson by Kirk Hammett – the pair have brought a wealth of gorgeous instruments onto the tour bus.
Tonally, Lifeson has also opted to include his signature IK Multimedia TONEX pedal in his live rig, as he vies to replicate the classic sounds of the band’s records across the set, making it a history of Rush tone, too.
Rush produced 19 albums and a sea of classic material over a change-making 40-year career. That was widely believed to have ended after the R40 tour concluded in 2015, given that Peart wanted to retire from the road.
Peart passed away in 2020, with most fans believing that spelled the end of the band for good. But after the success of Lee and Lifeson’s cameo at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show, the pair opted to revive the band with the help of former Jeff Beck drummer Anika Nilles and ex-Who keyboardist Loren Gold.
Though there was a queue of what Geddy Lee calls “distasteful” drummers eyeing Peart’s drum throne, it was German fusion drummer Nilles who was given the nod. The fact that she wasn’t already immersed in the prog scene, or even a Rush superfan, helps create a degree of separation between Rush with Neil ‘the Professor’ Peart, and this surprise new era of the band.
“When Al and I finally said, ‘Okay, I guess we’re getting serious. Who’s going to sit in that impossible seat? It’s daunting,” Lee admitted to Classic Rock. “[Nilles] brought a lot to the table, but more than her chops, more than her guts, and her willingness to sit in that hot seat, she brought an intelligence and a story.”
The band will now traverse across the US and Canada, with South American and European shows taking place next year.
Rush setlist: Kia Forum, Los Angeles
Set 1
- Xanadu
- Limelight
- Far Cry
- Subdivisions
- Freewill
- Bravad
- Caravan
- La Villa Strangiato
- Vital Signs
- The Spirit of Radio
Set 2
- 2112 Part I: Overture
- 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx
- 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale
- Distant Early Warning
- Red Barchetta
- Dreamline
- Natural Science
- Time Stand Still
- Red Sector A
- YYZ
- The Garden
- Tom Sawyer
Encore
- By-Tor & The Snow Dog
- Working Man
