Rush Kick Off Reunion Tour With Live Rarities And Aimee Mann

Last October, Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announced their first tour since prog-rock legend Neil Peart passed away in 2020. It has been over a decade since Lee and Lifeson played music from Rush's catalogue, and after some "serious soul-searching," they decided it was time to celebrate their band's 50-plus-year history and pay tribute to Peart.

The drummer tasked with filling these big shoes is former Jeff Beck drummer Anika Nilles. She made her live debut as Rush's new drummer at the Juno Awards in March, but last night was the first night of their North American tour, kicking off at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. Rush played 24 songs across two sets, interspersed with collage tributes to Peart. Entire recordings of the show are already available on YouTube.

The night began with a hilarious introductory video in which a group of fans sets out to find Rush. Along the way, they encounter a variety of peculiar and meaningful figures from the band's history, including Lee disguised as a sausage vendor, two animated birds representing Lee and Lifeson, Lifeson portraying a military officer handing out doughnuts, and Paul Rudd and Jason Segel reprising their roles from 2009's I Love You, Man as two best friends jamming to Rush. Apparently, Rudd and Segel's characters have been trapped in the Rush house for 15 years. The fans also cross paths with the main cast of South Park, who are rehearsing as Lil' Rush.

The performance officially began with "Xanadu" from 1977's A Farewell to Kings. It was the first time the song had ever opened a Rush concert. The set spanned 13 albums, and several songs were revisited live for the first time since the early 2010s, including "Limelight," "Bravado," "Freewill," "Caravan," "La Villa Strangiato," "Vital Signs," "Dreamline," "Red Sector A," "The Garden," and "Time Stand Still." For the latter, Aimee Mann joined them onstage, marking the first time she had performed her part live with the band. The encore included "By-Tor & The Snow Dog," which they hadn't played since 2004, followed by "Working Man." The show closed with one final tribute to Peart.

Check out videos of the show below.