Recommendations of the Editorial team
Towards the end of the third night of the Fifty Something Tour, something happened to Rush that seemed almost unimaginable for one of the most technically proficient and perfectionist bands in rock history: a complete musical catastrophe that brought the overture to “2112” to a halt in the middle of the prog gear. Nobody had made a mistake. Instead, after two minutes, Geddy Lee’s bass signal broke off – He snatched the instrument from his shoulder and disappeared backstage to get a replacement that didn’t show up immediately.
His bandmates didn’t notice at first, which led to a short, mesmerizing guitar-and-drums version of the piece from Alex Lifeson and touring drummer Anika Nilles. When Lifeson finally registered Geddy’s silence, he signaled Nilles to stop – which felt a bit like trying to stop a Terminator in mid-attack. “We’re taking a short break,” he said, seeming genuinely perplexed. Seconds later, Lee had a new instrument in his hand and the band started again – this time even more powerful.
A few mishaps on Rush’s first tour in 52 years without the late Neil Peart would be entirely understandable. But the 70-year-old co-founders and their new touring drummer prove to be tougher than their own equipment. A look at some key moments from Thursday night’s concert at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles:
“Moving Pictures” complete
After the band played the entire first side of “2112” the night before, Rush presented their most beloved album – 1980’s “Moving Pictures” – in full and in order at the start of the second set. Since they had already played all but one track from it over the course of the first two shows, there was only one tour premiere: an extraordinary rendition of the album’s most sprawling and underrated track, “The Camera Eye.”
In a rare and welcome arrangement intervention, keyboardist Loren Gold opened with some lyrical piano passages before the pulsating synthesizers kicked in. Lee had once described some of the band’s early work as “soundtracks for films that don’t exist” – and this performance was a powerful reminder of how well The Camera Eye fits into that category. The instrumental passages with their almost Neu!-like feel conveyed a physically noticeable feeling of movement. Nilles was simply breathtaking in her first-ever live performance of the song – mastering its convoluted complexities despite having already absorbed around 40 other epics. As the album progressed, subtle refinements to her playing could also be heard, including sinking deeper into the groove of “Tom Sawyer.”
Aimee Mann returned for a third performance of “Time Stand Still.” Mann had only spent a few days with the band when they recorded the studio version in 1987 and appeared in the (very ’80s) music video – and then somehow never appeared on stage with them again until this week. With each performance, she seems more excited to be on stage with the band: she exchanges smiles with Lee and clearly enjoys her harmonies with him. The performance of one of Peart’s most personal songs is accompanied by video footage from his life – and given the circumstances, his lyrical request to “freeze this moment a little longer” is unbearably moving every time.
“New World Man” after 24 years
The band played a strong “New World Man” for the first time since 2002. Eighties Rush is a beast unto itself – walls of synthesizers and a changing approach from Peart, who began to embrace polyrhythms and reggae à la his friend Stewart Copeland. If you don’t want to be greedy, this tour could do with more from this sometimes unfairly maligned era – “Force Ten” and “The Big Money” would be particularly welcome. But it was a pleasure to see Nilles demonstrate her ability to follow every step of Peart’s evolution, seamlessly embracing the track’s radically different feel without having to slavishly imitate every hi-hat pattern.
Lee’s voice holds out. After an eleven-year break from touring, the frontman had changed his singing approach through coaching, amazingly erasing decades of wear and tear from his voice. But even Lee may have wondered whether he could maintain that under real tour conditions. So far the answer is yes – and if anything, it’s getting stronger night by night. On the second song of the evening, “Dreamline,” he raised the chorus an octave higher – just for fun. An unmistakable sign of newfound vocal sovereignty.
Lifeson is having fun. From the start, Lee’s joy was palpable – he literally jumped in the air with excitement, reaching considerable heights for a 72-year-old, which might have made the tour’s insurance company slightly nervous. Aside from his nightly stand-up on the microphone – he claimed to have had a fight with Paul McCartney and talked about a clip of a dog and a goat on Instagram – Lifeson appeared a little more reserved on the first two nights, focusing on playing his parts cleanly. But on the third night he thawed out: he moved around more on stage, played around with his old friend in front of the cameras and upped the ante in his solos.
Rush Setlist: June 11, 2026
Set One:
“Xanadu”
“Dreamline”
“Subdivisions”
“Headlong Flight”
“Bravado”
“Red Sector A”
“La Villa Strangiato”
“Anthem”
“New World Man”
“The Spirit of Radio”
Set Two:
“Tom Sawyer”
“Red Barchetta”
“YYZ”
“Limelight”
“The Camera Eye”
“Witch Hunt”
“Vital Signs”
“Time Stands Still”
“Closer to the Heart”
“2112 Part I: Overture”
“2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx”
“2112 Part VII: Grand Finale”
Encore:
“By-Tor & The Snow Dog”
“Working Man”