Rush is back

[Mendalla]

A decade after they "retired" and 5 years after the passing of drum legend Neil "The Professor" Peart, Canadian prog rock legends Rush announced they are doing a reunion tour. Their new drummer will be German Anika Nilles, a fantastic drummer, composer, and music educator. I listened to some of her work and she'll be a real asset. Not a replacement for Peart (who was the soul of the band to a degree as well as being one of the best drummers in rock), but a solid performer with the skills needed to play the classic material and a background as a composer which will come in handy should they decide to start recording new material again (Peart was also the band's main songwriter). The tour kicks off in LA (scene of their final concert in 2015) next June. So far, the only announced Canadian dates are a four night stint at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto next August.

Here's some samples of Anika's work. She hews more jazz-y than Peart did, but prog has always drawn on jazz as one of its influences, so I would say that's a feature, not a bug.

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

I was scrolling through threads thinking of US politics and the wrong Rush came to mind.

“What?! Is there a new parody?! Or was Halloween extra weird this year?”
Aah yeah - how did I forget the band?

 

[Mendalla]

And here we go. The tour opened in LA the other night and they opened with "Xanadu". Talk about throwing the new kid into the deep end. Anika is marvellous here, as are Geddy and Alex. Nice to have the band that almost defined "power trio" back in action.

1987's "Time Stands Still" featured Aimee Mann of Til Tuesday on the original recording so fittingly, they brought her on stage for this show. One of the comments mentions that this is actually the first time she's done the song with them live. Only took nearly 40 years . The song opens with a nice reflection on life and drumming by the late Neil Peart.

Geddy's familiar wail has changed a bit with the years but he still does a great job on vocals.

One more. "Tom Sawyer" is one of the band's defining tunes and one that stands the test of time. Cute how they intro it with a clip from South Park. And wow, Anika. She nailed one of the most iconic drum lines in prog. If anyone was still doubting the guys' choice to put her behind the kit, this has to have dispelled them.

 

[Mendalla]

One of my favourite songs from the band is "Spirit of Radio", dating back to 1980. Here's the performance from the LA show.