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What a great performance! They sounded great. Wish they could have played more.

I'll throw in my thoughts for fun: Geddy - this is probably the best he's sounded in 20 years TO MY EARS. It's clear he's done some work to adapt his technique to his age. Obviously he's not going to sound like 70's Geddy, I'm just hoping he stays this fresh through the tour and doesn't have to lower the keys of too many songs. But damn he looks happy, he's slapping the shiz out of da bass, and TO MY EARS he's never reached a point where he's sounded unlistenable. Really not looking forward to 8 months of "is he singing good or not" debates. Anike - I don't think there's been any debate about her technical abilities, it's going to come down to everyone's personal taste about her feel. Ged and Al clearly feel incredible with her, but after hearing Neil for 40 years, it's going to be a bit strange at first to have another drummer bringing themselves into the Rush fold. I'm hoping that the prog fans will be TOTALLY NORMAL ABOUT THIS and can be cool with her not being a carbon copy of Neil. I was a bit unsure at the beginning of the song, she seemed a tad nervous/stiff to my ears, but as soon as she started hitting those fills, she was ON IT. Also, her drum tones are insanely good. Can't wait to hear her play the Neil songs. Alex - Whatever issues he was having with his arthritis on the last tour.... he was on fire. Go off king. Loren - Again, this is going to be a personal thing, but I loved what he added. He gelled into the arrangement and added just enough flair without getting in the way of the main trio. It seems like he'll fill in the space without some of the studio overdubs, especially on the later era songs. The CBC - Nobody is talking about how hilarious that pip'd in appaluse is, while panning out to an absolutely quiet crowd who seemed to have no idea who Rush is. That one guy in the pit jumping up and down - Go off king. Overall... this got me so hyped for a tour that I can't afford to see.

She has already learned over 25 tunes as of 3-4 weeks ago......I am sure she is locked in to those and will be locked in to the 40 they have planned to rotate 40% of over a 5 night cycle. She is a world class drummer. It's all about the "feel" technically she can play literally all the parts......no doubt in that. And I can see they are having a blast and the chemistry is strong. She will slay all of it. Rush is gonna slay literally all of it.....they have high standards.

I think most of my additional optimism about the tour, that comes from seeing this Juno performance, springs from the simple logic that if they did this well, with this song, how much easier is it going to be to play songs like Dreamline, Red Sector A, Far Cry…so many songs that are much better suited to Geddy’s current vocal range. I mean, going all the way back to the first album and, objectively, just crushing one of their high-key, Zeppelin-esque bangers as faithfully as they did probably represents the zenith of “degree of difficulty” they’ll face on this tour. Part of me wonders if the song choice didn’t contain a little element of, “We’ve heard some tut-tutting out there about, ‘Will they still be able to cut it’. Well, here—hold our f***ing beer, and watch this.”

It could be, but I doubt it. They've probably played the classics dozens of times at rehearsal already and she is more than capable. I think it was more the "first album, first song" thing - apparently a suggestion by management according to Geddy.

Yeah, I think that could be the case. Makes no difference though …. There still will be miserable tossers who just won’t give her a chance. More power to Anika I say!!

Burning for Buddy was a pivotable moment. NP deserves a huge amount of credit for stepping out of his comfort zone and putting that project together. But I think perhaps he overestimated his abilities at that time. Seeing Omar Hakim, Will Calhoun and even Matt Sorum skillfully execute difficult jazz standards had to have been a wake up call for him. There is no question NP can swing. We’ve seen it in his drum solos and other performances. But at Burning for Buddy, he was definitely under rehearsed with the band. And that’s how it swing develops: playing live with a band. You can only rehearse by yourself so much. You can probably self rehearse too much and drive the swing out of the performance and over analyze. But so many of the other drummers came out of jazz directly. But that’s what makes NP so great. He acknowledges that music is a journey filled with challenges.

A drummer buddy of mine once said “Neil swings like a rusty gate”. This was in response to Burning for Buddy.

I’ll admit to wondering that too, but frankly I think the whole thing about tiptoeing around “Neil’s ghost” at every turn is being overblown. I bet 99% of the hand-wringing “but, Neil” stuff comes from the fan base, with the remainder coming from the band.

Maybe they picked that song first because it's a Rutsey song and they can ease her in before getting her into the Neil stuff.

Ignore it.... let them be miserable. It's on them, not us.

Was it really necessary to come in here to post this?

It will still take a bit of getting used to this being "Rush" now though.

Now that RUSH have hired a young woman to play drums on the new tour, are they more heavy metal now or less? Only you good people can decide this... Oh and whoever votes for the number 3 option I'm coming after you, so you better get ready for a keyboard warrior shootout on the streets!

Has anyone else found their LED display eating batteries like crazy? Kind of wish they had an optional AC adapter.

For those who enjoyed Alex's guitar tone at the event - he used his Tonex (confirmed by IK Multimedia on their Instagram).

Gonna wager Annika attends exactly 3 meet and greets.

Soon………. Very soon!!!!

Come at me, bro!

Meanwhile 'ere's a song for yer...

A lot of big names were using Steinbergers in the mid-80s...

Anika did great but I've never doubted that at all. Geddy and Alex looked so happy to be back playing together. Vocally Geddy did fine. Very bold choice to go with a song that high for their first performance with this lineup but he sounded better than he sounded on the early 70s stuff on R40.

Performance was magical. Looks like they are rested, re-energised and sounding bloody great. Please no more comparisons and enjoy the now which maybe the last tour of the world’s finest rock band.

I adored the tuning on her toms and that came across in person as well. The big rolls sounded very classic Rush to my ears.

Haha - I love Neil...but "swing" is not something his playing is noted for.

This video from the Laura Secord Secondary School concert shows all the polite Canadian kids sitting while they get their faces blown off. Check audience reaction at 3:20.

FFS, NO ONE has Neil's swing. I guess some people out there just live to complain... Nice to see Ged and Al acting like teenagers at the Coff-In again...

I gotta be honest. I gotta have more cowbell! Ye, I was bawling like a 6 year old girl with a skinned knee. Interesting to pick a first album song. Nice. I wonder if they threw a picture of John onscreen for a brief second behind them. For a moment, I wondered if they'd go into the R30 Medley. Then my adventurous mind thought they'd do a complete discography, since they started with first song, first LP. Ha! I didn't do the math, but right about now, they might be up to say, "Roll the Bones". Anika sounded great. Alex sounded awesome. Geddy was as good as could be expected. I understood why they put keyboard guy up there. They'd already announced they would hire a "keyboard guy" (which is his official name from now on, for me), so they respected him in the classy way of everything they do. BTW, I read youtube comments online to get my fill of joy, (a sentence I never imagined I'd read, or type) before I ventured over here to get a dose of reality, and all the ways in which pure joy could be nitpicked to death. In the words of Billy Joel: "Leave a tender moment alone". Nah. Just kidding.

Yep! You're right. .......3, 2, 1 I'm used to it.

See you in Tampa brother!

I just had a thought. They didn't give anything away about the upcoming tour. Basic stage setup, and one song in it's original key. My hunch is that the songs will be tuned down, and that's not Anika's touring kit. They showed up to surprise us, which was great. But they haven't given us a clue about what's to come. Other than that they are 'starting out again'. I'm excited.

I dont know theyve played in front of folks so calm and reserved before lol.

What a way to announce we are back! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I smiled, laughed and cried all at the same time. Yes. Just f***ing yes!

The only thing missing was Alex's new dance moves.

It was great to see how Anika gelled with Ged & Al. I think that they picked a song from the first album so the emphasis wasn't on her vs. Neil. I also thought the song "Finding My Way" was appropriate, as the three of them are doing exactly that right now. She's a solid drummer. And, I would think she probably knew we diehards would be scrutinizing her perfomance last night. She's filling some big shoes, and she sounded great. Is she Neil? Nope, but I don't expect her to be Neil. Be true to the song, but I'm fine with her "take" on the drum parts. Al sounded fantastic. Ged sounded great too but I don't know how his voice is going to last this extensive of a tour without pitching some of these songs down. I'd rather hear him sing songs in a more comfortable key than straining to hit notes he first did 50 years ago. I also expect to hear a few instrumentals sprinkled throughout the set to help his voice, which I'm cool with. And I'm happy to be back here with my Rush family!

When I entered the arena last night and saw this kit set up (with a blanket hiding the bass drum logo), I immediately knew it was truly happening.

The performance is still living in my head... 100% rent free... My thoughts: Anika... THE WOMAN SHE IS. Omg. Finally getting to see her rock it out with Ged and Al was a TREAT. She really did seem to fit in well and her sound was really good! Loved her own spin, because honestly? Why would she do a one for one of John or Neil? She's not them. She is Anika. She has her own flavour and I loved hearing it with them! Alex? Holy crap, dude looked FANTASTIC. All that physical training he had to do really did wonders! He seemed so energetic, so present! And his playing reflected that the entire song. Seeing him in such good spirits and playing so effortlessly again was beautiful. Geddy... holy... mother of Syrinx. That man seemed like he had the best time up there. He had energy that I don't think we'd seen in many many years. Like a creature being released from confinement. AND HIS VOICE WAS SO GOOD. I knew all the naysayers would be probably biting and swallowing their words. Man's had 11 years to rest, to rejuvenate. He had POWER again. His playing was perfekt (heh) as always! And I loved finally getting to get a taste of Loren! Didn't expect to see him up there with them. I liked his energy and vibes from what I could see! The little snips of keyboards in the song were kinda nice! Was it "Finding My Way" from 74? Nah. This is "Finding My Way" but make it 2026. And I loved every second! Fifty Something Tour will absolutely be a spectacular run. And I cannot wait!

Awesome to see them back - and Anika's drums sounded way better than the travesty that was the R40 kit. Maybe 10 000 year old blah blah wood isn't the best idea after all...

That sounded great. Any minor doubt I had in my mind have just evaporated. Let's not pretend that Geddy sounded exactly like he did on the Album 52 years ago - but to even attempt to sing that in the same key and generally sounding better than he did 10-15 years ago whilst doing so is one hell of an achievement. The band sound tight and well-rehearsed and I thought that Loren's addition to the sound was tastefully done and not too intrusive - adding a little bit of a lift to the second half of the song. I thought that Anika's interpretation of the track contained a good blend of John Rutsey and Neil influence, as well as some of her own sound. I liked the little alternating 1/8th and 1/16th cowbell pattern she played during the bridge. Looking forwards to the tour now.

This was a fantastic way to kick off this next chapter. The band sounded GREAT across the board with Geddy’s vocals being a stand out IMO. I think there’s real poetry in them taking it ALL the way back to start again. A song that Neil didn’t play on seems very appropriate. Finding their way indeed. Welcome back, RUSH!!!

Geddy's voice is barely okay compared to the last time we heard it, but it's not good at all, especially compared to his heyday. You people are listening with your hearts instead of your ears. The rest of it was awesome.

That backing away from the mic to take advantage of full volume to try to hit those high notes . . . that could wear him down. Long ago someone posted about how he shouldn't sort of waste his voice on extending notes like that or trying to match the original too closely.