JARG

The part of the interview I enjoyed the most was the last 3rd or so where she spoke specifically about the approach she took to duplicating some of Neil's drum parts.

It's a good list. I get the impact of closing with Anthem, but I would think your vocalist might want it not quite so late in the set, but also not too soon.

I don't remember all what we played (and that's not surprising since we're talking mid 1990s), but our set list included The Trees, Red Barchetta, The Pass, Cold Fire, Dog Years, Driven, Bacchus Plateau, CTTH, and others. We eschewed the usual introduction, and instead "wandered onto the stage" as if we were checking our gear, with our "Geddy" first checking his keyboard to make sure it worked, by holding down the low E key...I then stepped up and starting some volume pedal noodling which melted into to Xanadu and then at the end of the traditional volume pedal noodling, instead moving onto the looping "Sweet Child of Mine-esque" part, we transitioned into Dreamline and were off and running.

My 20-year old daughter might. She'd thought the "I could some day see Rush" door was closed when Neil died. The closest she thought she'd ever come was at the Seattle stop of the Geddy book tour. A few tears leaked from her eyes that night.

Expect rushbrazil.com clickbait article any time now.

2 hours ago, WonderDude said:

TapeheadToo caught it again at around 2:12:11...

 

She just grabs another and keeps on trucking like it's no biggy!  So awesome!

Not a drop, but a planned toss. Perhaps the stick was on the verge of breaking. Before she tosses it she looks down to make sure she has another ready to grab.

44 minutes ago, PAFHumbucker said:

They were doing anything but ignore each other last night.  I think Alex probably has good nights and bad nights physically.

He does seem to be loosening up with each show.

21 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

 

It really is this simple. I think Geddy is just letting Alex do his job.

 

As for Geddy always checking in on Anika, he's going back there at certain times in certain songs just to make sure she remembers the cues. Just before the tempo change in Grand Finale, for example.

 

She hasn't lived and breathed these songs for 50 years, and these are not AC/DC songs. So despite playing them for the past year, missing a cue here and there -- which she's done in recent shows -- is to be expected. 

 

 

Great to see her laugh off the flub.

And let's not forget that Neil pretty much composed his drum parts down to the last hit. These songs didn't just have a drum "vibe", but a virtual map that she's having to memorize. Yeah, she gets a ton of leeway as far as I'm concerned, and hardly ever needs it.

7 hours ago, WonderDude said:

You guys can dissagree with me.  But I still think Geddy is giving Anika queues.  I don't think that she needs many.  And it will probably eventually no longer be needed.  But remember how amazingly complex this material is for someone who didn't grow up listening to it.

As for Al and Ged.  I think they are more than fine with each other.  However, I think Al is in a lot more pain than we know.  I think he is struggling with his arthritus.  

I wonder when Neil was new to the band if Geddy also spent more time locking in with him than he did in later years? I don't think it's actual cues, but Anika is someone with whom Geddy hasn't spent decades playing, so there may be a desire on Geddy's part to visually lock in with her more until they get to the point where they can practically read each other's minds.

On 7/19/2026 at 4:11 AM, gornhay said:

I think Alex has to concentrate a lot more now, hence the aversion to leaving his post.

I think this is likely. When I watched the vids from opening night, I thought to myself, "OK, new drummer, maybe he's just more nervous than usual", but now watching him play I can see his hands actually reveal the mental hesitation he seems to be experiencing. Thirty years ago how the notes would flow, but now he seems to be having to think about what to play. He has always been my favorite guitarist and was an absolute beast for years. I pity him now, even though he can still play circles around me.

On 7/18/2026 at 8:24 AM, James Bond said:

 

Yeah, they sure can't stand each other on this tour.

Said nobody.

I might if the instrumentals were interesting enough. If they were just doing vocal-less versions of songs that had vocals, that might be fairly boring. A deliberate all-instrumental album from Rush could be a pretty cool thing, but the instrumentals would need to take me on a journey, like La Villa.

23 minutes ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

 

I had pretty much the same reaction when I saw that footage at pretty much the exact same spot. The middle fill has always been my fave and she really nailed it.

On 7/3/2026 at 9:14 AM, WonderDude said:

Speaking of Tom Sawyer, this is a pretty cool comparison: 

They are definitely different.  But both are cool!  I can't really say that I prefer one over the other.  I do find the bleed in of the crowd during Anika's solo part to be exhilarating! 

 

Very cool video. I wonder if one was quantitized to the other to get the tempos to line up.

My daughter and I flew from Seattle to Fort Worth for the June 24th show. When we heard that the show had been pushed back to July 2nd, we initially thought we could swing that (we really wanted to see them at Dickies because we've heard good things about the venue). Doing so would have required another set of airline tickets and a hotel reservation, but after some further discussion, we decided we would just but tickets for the October 12th show in Seattle. Our seats aren't quite as good as what we had at Dickies, but they're close, and at half the cost. After hearing that the July 2nd show had to be rescheduled, we were extremely glad we decided to give up on seeing them in Fort Worth. Fingers crossed that there are no more mishaps!

On 6/14/2026 at 6:54 PM, zappafrank said:

Been watching a show for a while now and it feels like the prices have gone up ever since the tour started. I'm kinda worried that this will continue.

It wouldn't surprise me if they were given the positive responses to the LA shows.

6 minutes ago, Timbale said:

Yes, that footage of his bass going out during that section of 2112 reveals that (it sounds like) the original vocal from the record is being sampled...perhaps along with Loren singing, too.

 

But is is interesting that they decided to put that vocal part back in, one way or another, after ignoring it since probably '86 or so.

Yeah, I think he's singing over the top of the backing track.

On 6/12/2026 at 11:57 PM, Timbale said:

So, I went to the first show in LA, and noticed a few interesting things about Geddy’s singing choices…

 

1 - on Limelight, the line in the chorus “those who wish to be”…he has sung that line starting on beat two (offsetting it) for many, many years. I can’t remember the first tour he did it on, but maybe around Presto?  I always thought this was so it was easier for him to catch his breath.  On this tour, at least opening night, he sang it like it is on MP - starting the phrase on beat one. 
 

2 - On Spirit Of Radio, he has consistently sung an alternate melody on the line “glittering prizes and endless compromises” for a really long time….maybe since the p/g tour in ‘84?!  At the show, he sang it as recorded on PeW.

 

3 - on Closer To The Heart, he sang the “whoa whoa” before the last verse for the first time and I don’t know how long.

 

4 - on 2112 Overture, he sang the wordless “ohs” which I think he has let the audience sing instead of him for many many tours.

 

I don’t know, it just seems interesting. It’s like he went back and listened to the records for the first time in a long while and decided he liked some of the original phrasing, maybe. 

I think he has a backing track helping him out on those parts.

21 hours ago, Blue J said:

 

I would like your post here multiple times if I could!

 

I wonder if that was a UK-only release- I think I've seen you post it/talk about it here before, but a long time ago. But yeah I've never seen it otherwise.

 

I was introduced to Rush by my oldest brother (born 1967)- Permanent Waves was the 'new' Rush album at that time, but he also played Fly By Night, 2112 and A Farewell to Kings for me. For whatever reason I didn't hear Hemispheres or Caress of Steel until a bit later.

I saw it for sale in the states back in the early 80s.

4 hours ago, Rushman14 said:

Yeah I was filming it. Unacceptable amount of time to figure it out what was wrong. I was shocked they actually stopped the song. 

 

But they started over and the crowd went nuts because that's Rock n Roll.

I was at one of the TFE shows (I think it was in San Antonio) when Alex's guitar didn't work on Subdivisions. He kept gesturing over to his tech and finally mouthed the word "SHORT!", and was given a replacement guitar. It took several songs before he finally stopped fuming.

17 hours ago, WY Man said:

From RUSH's All the World's A Stage tour, Amarillo, Texas, Jan. 22, 1977.  I was there !

 

Horrific AI. Alex looks like a cross between KK Downing and Joe Elliot.

8 hours ago, sweetblindness said:

Was full 2112 on anyone's bingo card?? INSANE!

Yeah, when I saw that on the setlist site I was very surprised.

41 minutes ago, losingit2k said:

I wonder if they will switch Caravan for Something else from Clockwork Angels

They did Headlong Flight…not sure if it replaces Caravan.

Looking forward to watching the Analog Kid video when it drops.

Been watching lots of vids from opening night and Alex seems to have had an off night. He seemed less comfortable with himself than he has in previous years. Hopefully that was just opening night nervousness (with a new drummer, no less) and that he'll get back to being his regular goofy, entertaining self.

21 hours ago, Cygnus The God Of Balance said:

What's the verdict on Loren Gold?  Kinda felt like he really didn't need to be there.  Looked like he was just standing around vibing a lot.  Not a knock on him, but I guess I thought Ged was going to get out from behind the keyboards mostly.  It almost felt like "I wanna play the good parts, and you can play the stuff I don't wanna play".  Am I wrong?

I think his duplicating Alex's "Strangiato theme" guitar line helps thicken that part and gives Alex a little bit of cover in case he flubs notes.