Rush have played their first live performance alongside new drummer, Anika Nilles – check out footage below.
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The band’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson had teased something big for last night’s (Sunday March 29) Juno Awards, and followed up on their promise by opening the show with ‘Finding My Way’. That was the first track on their 1974 debut ‘Rush’, which featured John Rutsey on drums in the studio, rather than the late Neil Peart, who didn’t join the band until afterwards.
They were joined by German drummer, composer, and producer Anika Nilles, who has performed as Jeff Beck’s drummer and has released four solo albums, as well as The Who’s keyboard player, Loren Gold.
Their performance at Ontario’s TD Coliseum marked the first time Lee and Lifeson have played as Rush since they wrapped their career-spanning ‘R40’ farewell tour in 2015, playing 35 headline shows across North America, having formed over four decades prior.
Throughout their performance, vintage footage of Rush with Peart, who died from brain cancer in early 2020, showed on screen.
It comes after Rush announced that they will be touring across the UK, Europe and South America in 2027.
So far, 24 shows in 13 countries have been confirmed, marking the first time the band has played in Europe since 2013, as well as 17 years since visiting South America. They are pegged as an ‘Evening with’ event, and will see the band play two sets each night.
Dates kick off in Buenos Aires in January, and continue with stops in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and more, before heading over to Europe the following month. Those shows include stops in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and more in February, before four UK dates in March.
UK shows include a stop at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on March 8, a show at the Co-op Live in Manchester on March 12, and two gigs at The O2 in London on March 16 and 18. From there, seven more dates are planned for Europe, closing with a show at the Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki.
Check out a full list of dates below, and visit here for UK tickets, and here for international tickets.
Rush’s 2027 ‘Fifty Something’ UK, European, and South American tour dates are:
JANUARY
15 – Buenos Aires, AR – Movistar Arena
22 – Curitiba, BR – Arena da Baixada
24 – São Paulo, BR – Allianz Parque
30 – Rio de Janeiro, BR – Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos (Engenhão)
FEBRUARY
1 – Belo Horizonte, BR – Estádio Mineirão
4 – Brasília, BR – Arena BRB
19 – Paris, FR – La Défense Arena
21 – Berlin, DE – Uber Arena
23 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
25 – Munich, DE – Olympiahalle
28 – Cologne, DE – LANXESS Arena
MARCH
2 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
4 – Stuttgart, DE – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
8 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
12 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
16 – London, UK – O2 Arena
18 – London, UK – O2 Arena
27 – Kraków, PL – TAURON Arena Kraków
30 – Milan, IT – Unipol Dome
APRIL
1 – Basel, CH – St. Jakobshalle Basel
4 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
6 – Oslo, NO – Unity Arena
8 – Stockholm, SE – Avicii Arena
10 – Helsinki, FI – Veikkaus Arena
The new run of shows are announced following Lee and Lifeson announcing that they would be returning to the stage this year for a ‘Fifty Something Tour’ across the US, Canada and Mexico, which is set to kick off in June.
The ‘Fifty Something’ live shows come following Lifeson seemingly ruling out a reunion last year, after reflecting on their performances at Taylor Hawkins’ tribute concerts.
“The energy was fantastic around that show, I know, and some days I wake up wanting to go out and tour again and some days I don’t. For 40 years Rush included Neil, and I don’t think putting some new version together would have the same magic,” he said at the time.
“But after a few weeks that wore off and it occurred to me that despite all the pain of loss, Rush went out on a high note… I’d rather be remembered for that legacy than returning as the top Rush tribute band.”
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