According to Brooklyn Vegan, Rush has kicked off their first tour in eleven years with slew of celebrity guests at their first two sets at The Forum in Los Angeles. The Forum was also notably the last location of the band’s previous tour, which was Rush’s original drummer, Neil Peart‘s, last performance with the band before his unfortunate passing in 2020, from brain cancer. Anika Nilles joined the band as their new drummer.
The Canadian rock band began the first set of their Fifty Something Tour on Sunday with a comical, mystery short film, “Where’s Rush?” The film featured a trio of teenagers searching for the band in a haunted castle. In their search, the trio encounters the band’s frontman, Geddy Lee, disguised as his sausage maker character, who leads them on. While wandering through the castle, the teens open door to reveal actors Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, reprising characters from their Funny or Die comedy sketch, where they played Rush superfans. Behind another door, the lead characters from South Park, performing as their own band called “Lil’ Rush.” Finally, the trio finds the band’s two original members playing cards with each other, and asks if they “wanna jam” before setting off a reaction that played clips from the band’s previous shows that lead into the opening of their first song, “Xanadu.”
During the band’s second set at The Forum, they were joined onstage by Aimee Mann for performance of their collaborative song “Time Stand Still” from the band’s 1986 album Hold Your Fire. This performance was the first time Mann had performed the song live with the band.
Their second set included more pre-recorded skits as well, notably a return of the South Park characters and “Lil’ Rush.” The skit preceded the band’s final number “Tom Sawyer,” and had the characters confuse the story for that of Huckeberry Finn’s.
Rush concluded the night with final tribute to Peart.
Photo Credit: Dave Gatson
Leave a Comment