Anika Nilles has been pulling onstage pranks on Geddy Lee and and Alex Lifeson during Rush‘s hugely successful Fifty Something reunion tour.
Her antics show that she is unfazed at having to step into the shoes of the late, great Neil Peart who died of glioblastoma in 2020 at the age of 67.
Nilles’ latest onstage stunt came as they were wrapping up a performance of Working Man at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday night.
As shown in the video below, Lee and Lifeson are waiting for her signal to strike the final chord of the song when she grabs a bag of chips and has a quick snack before offering the bag to the guitarist and bassist.
They decline and she puts down the bag and quickly plays her part in an attempt to catch them off guard. But the seasoned pros aren’t put off and nail the timing.
The prank led one fan to quip in the video comments that Nilles is “all that and a bag of chips.”
Nilles has been pulling similar pranks throughout the tour and a compilation of her best efforts can also be viewed below.
The German drummer, who previously worked with Jeff Beck, came under a lot of scrutiny when it was announced that she would take on the role.
Peart was ranked among the greatest drummers on the planet and Nilles was a relative unknown before being asked to perform with Rush.
She recently told Classic Rock she discussed Peart’s thoughts on music when she met Lee and Lifeson for the first time in Canada.
She said: “I had a few songs prepared before I flew over, and we played those. But during the session we also talked a lot about Neil – about his view on music and drumming.
“We spoke a great deal about the feel of the songs. The most important point is simply to capture the feeling – that it feels right for the two of them to play their music again.
“And ultimately it will feel right for the fans as well. We talked about that a lot. The first session was really about getting to know each other and seeing how we function together.”
Rush: Fifty Something remaining tour dates 2026
Sep 02: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Sep 04: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Sep 12: Boston TD Garden, MA
Sep 14: Boston TD Garden, MA
Sep 17: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Sep 19: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Sep 23: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Sep 25: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Oct 05: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 07: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 10: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 12: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 15: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 17: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 25: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 27: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 30: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 01: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 05: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 07: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 09: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 11: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 20: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 22: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 25: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Nov 27: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Dec 01: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 03: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 10: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 12: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 15: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Dec 17: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Rush: Fifty Something tour dates 2027
Jan 15: Buenos Aires Movistar Arena, Argentina
Jan 22: Curitiba Arena da Baixada, Brazil
Jan 24: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 26: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 30: Rio de Janeiro Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. Brazil
Feb 01: Belo Horizonte Estádio Mineirão, Brazil
Feb 04: Brasília Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, Brazil
Feb 19: Paris La Défense Arena, France
Feb 21: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
Feb 23: Amstersam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Feb 25: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Feb 28: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Mar 02: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
Mar 04: Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Germany
Mar 08: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 10: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 12: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 14: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 16: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 18: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 21: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 27: Kraków Arena Kraków, Poland
Mar 30: Milan Unipol Dome, Italy
Apr 01: Basel St. Jakobshalle Basel, Switzerland
Apr 04: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Apr 06: Oslo Unity Arena, Norway
Apr 08: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Apr 10: Helsinki Veikkaus Arena, Finland
