Rush - Toronto ON CAN

Why are we here? We're here because RUSH is back!

After a long absence due to the tragic passing in early 2020 (following a private battle with brain cancer after keeping a glioblastoma diagnosis hidden from most for years) of the band's drummer and chief lyricist, the late, great, legendary, and inimitable Neil Peart, RUSH has returned at last. With help from Anika Nilles to fill Peart's enormous shoes behind the drum kit, as well as the edition of a fourth musician on stage (Loren Gold on keyboards), RUSH's North American 50 Something tour finally reached their hometown of Toronto on August 7th.

In classic RUSH style, a comedic hype video opened the show within a minute of the scheduled 7:45 ET start time Friday night, and after a stop at Henderson Brewing Company for the exclusive RUSH pop-up shop, Scotiabank Arena was the place to be. The first of four hometown shows interspaced by off days, the crowd was hungry to pay their respects to one of the best bands in the business. Anyone who has seen RUSH before knows they are indeed a band that is a formidable contender for the best band in all the land. Would they still measure up after losing the pounding, clockwork-like heartbeat of the band in Neil Peart? In short, it's a resounding, yes.

Anika Nilles held her own, enveloped behind a monster drum kit which surely would make her prodigious predecessor, the Professor himself, pretty proud. You know that thing where you expertly hammer out one complicated drum part right before gracefully blistering through another complicated drum part, and in between these two complicated drum parts, you transition through yet another, even more complicated drum part, with equal parts power and precision? Me neither. Anika Nilles, however, she knows.

Nilles appeared to be well versed in virtuosic percussive flow states, locking in each groove like a final answer. She performed very admirably, and if not quite as well as the legend who once held her throne, certainly as well or better than could be expected of any potential challenger to such a throne. Farewell to a king, and fair warning to all others; a new queen reigns. Nilles wore a focused game face throughout, concentrating on nailing the myriad intricate rhythms through the various time and tempo changes with which she was tasked. Of course, it's hard to share a stage with Ged and Al and not crack the odd smile, and Nilles was keen to play along in this regard as well.

Even if you haven't met them personally, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson make you feel like you're on a first name basis with them, and the crowd welcomed them both back with open arms when they hit the stage Friday night. Both armed with double-necked guitars to start (a Rickenbacker bass guitar for Ged and one of many Gibson guitars for Al) the band and crowd entered into a warm embrace with each other from the opening song (Xanadu).

Tributes to Peart's legendary drumming, and perhaps even more legendary character as a lyricist, musician, and person, were heavily and rightfully featured throughout the show. Ged gave multiple heartfelt tributes to his late friend and bandmate, and video tributes were also used to highlight the brilliance of the iconic Neil Peart. Ged was not the only one to get choked up, though probably the only one to do so wearing a t-shirt featuring ballerina Al (Al-erina, if you will) in a tutu. With RUSH fans, however, you just never know.

Typically, RUSH crowds are full of the world's finest air guitarists, and even more so, air drummers, standing up and rocking out throughout the show. After a long absence, however, with the average fan having advanced in age by a good decade, there was much more sitting and much less air instrumentation from the crowd. Though less fanatic than usual, the fans still brought the energy, cheering on the two local pals along with their two new additions.

After noting that the young kids needed a break, Ged led the band to a stage left exit after the first set. A 25 minute (including a countdown with 21:12 applause) intermission was then followed by some epic, futuristic jamming on 2112 to kick off the second half of the show, and an intergalactic channel was opened. Peart's presence was felt throughout, even without him actually being physically present.

Ged's vocals held up remarkably well, appearing to stretch his voice to the upper limit of his vocal range early in the show, and still managing to hold it together for nearly three hours. His bass playing was outstanding as ever, with a (Gibson) Thunderbird as well as (Fender) Jazz and Rickenbacker basses in his hands at various points. Subdivisions saw him switch back and forth between bass guitar and keyboard synth with his usual fluidity, but Gold's (mostly unnoticeable, to his credit rather than fault) presence meant that Ged required less athletic on-stage acrobatics than has historically been the case. He appeared to have energy in excess as he quite literally ran circles around Al at one point.

Not to be outdone, Al soared and seared with his phenomenal tone and touch, making great use of tasteful expression pedal embellishments to lift the tunes into the exosphere. True to form, he even regaled the audience with an exhaustive list of almost all of the available ailments, to which Ged was at a loss for words, and could only queue up Red Barchetta by letting the crowd know they were about to hear a song about a car. He even gave a couple beeps on a honking bass pedal to end the tune.

Among his many Gibsons, Al played a Telecaster (Time Stand Still, joined by guest vocalist Aimee Mann) and at least a couple PRS guitars, including an acoustic on the glorious Garden and the relatively rare live cut, Natural Science. Unless it was simply missed in the commotion of the triumphant return of Canada's (the Milky Way's?) greatest power trio, there was nothing resembling a Hentor Sportscaster to be seen.

The prog classic, By-Tor and the Snow Dog, opened the encore to satisfy the sold out crowd of nearly 20 000 fans, all screaming their adoration for the hometown favourites. Working Man ended with their final bows, and it just worked, man. The I Love You, Man pair of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel provided a cameo as people made their way to the exits, and keen eyes caught RHCP drummer, Chad Smith blowing bubbles on the screens earlier.

It didn't have the big guy, Neil Peart, but it did have big pyro and just about everything else. 5 effin' stars.

Show review by contributing writer: Brendan Fardy