Rush embarked on its first run of performances since 2015 last night (June 7) at the Los Angeles opener of the Fifty Something tour, which features drummer Anika Nilles filling the seat once held by the late Neil Peart. Core members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were also backed by keyboardist Loren Gold and welcomed singer Aimee Mann for the first-ever live performance of Rush’s 1987 song “Time Stand Still” with her on guest vocals.
The 24-song set was loaded with rarely played favorites, including “By-Tor & the Snow Dog” (first time since 2004) and a host of tunes not aired since 2011, including “Freewill,” “Vital Signs” and “La Villa Strangiato.” Lee previously promised a nightly tribute to Peart and said, “we’re going to hope to learn around 40 songs and 40% of the set will be different from night to night.”
Of course, the show offered up hits like “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight” and “The Spirit of Radio,” plus the 2112 suite (condensed into three sections). Always gear-savvy, Lee and Lifeson also each wielded double-necked instruments at times.
Per Billboard, Peart “appeared in various digital renderings, with illustrations of his face intermittently showing up in a cloud bank, in a rock face and, finally, with him drumming in the cosmos. While his spirit would have always been alive in the performance given how much he contributed to the music, the production did a classy and even-handed job in making him a wise recurring presence.”
Reported the Los Angeles Times, “the band seemed exhilarated, if a little stiff at times, a first-night quibble that will surely self-correct. Some of the dead-on precision of Nilles’ attack was lost by out-of-sync video screens, an annoying glitch that needs attention given her monster performance. She has learned how to play the intimidating ‘La Villa Strangiato’ perfectly — it’s the least they can do.”
The Fifty Something tour plays three more shows in Los Angeles through Saturday and then continues to Mexico City on June 18 and 20. Dates are on the books through April 10, 2027, in Helsinki.
