Rush kicked off their Fifty Something reunion tour Sunday night at The Forum in Los Angeles — 3,962 days, or 10 years, 10 months and six days after they ended their R40 tour there on August 1st, 2015, which marked the end of the road for drummer Neil Peart who wanted to spend more time with his family. (He succumbed to brain cancer just over four years later on January 7th, 2020 at 67.)
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, backed by drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold, did 24 songs over two sets, playing roughly for just over two-and-a-half-hours with a 25-minute intermission.
With fans lining up for merchandise outside The Forum at one in the afternoon, they were pumped, on their feet all night, and it was quite evident that Geddy and Alex were moved by the reception, along with the love and support shown for Anika Niles, who did an admirable job given the pressure of having to fill such big shoes.
The set included 10 songs not played in over 13 years, with one, “By-Tor & The Snow Dog”, returning for the first time since 2004. They also did three instrumentals — “La Villa Strangiato”, “YYZ”, and “2112 Overture.” (See set and more show details list below.)
Rush rehearsed upwards of 40 songs for the tour and plan to change the set list nightly in the cities where they are doing multiple shows, which includes Los Angeles, with shows two, three and four on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Now for more in-depth details:
Like their previous tours, they opened with a film, this one showing three fans visiting the Village of Strangiato Retirement Community in search of Rush.
After encountering Geddy as Gershon the sausage maker, who gives them a map of the grounds, they made their way into the Xanadu house where they were greeted by Alex as a soldier.
From there they made their way down the hall where behind one door were actors Jason Segel and Paul Rudd — reprising their roles as diehard Rush fans from the 2009 film, I Love You Man — rehearsing “Time Stand Still,” and the cast of South Park also playing a Rush song.
Finally, they entered a room where an elderly Geddy and Alex were playing the card game Go Fish. When one of the fans opened a closet showing the kimonos they wore on tour in the late ’70s, they were sucked back in time as the film concluded by showing clips from throughout their career.
With that, the lights illuminated the stage where, standing behind a screen, Geddy and Alex, each playing double neck guitars, kicked the show off with “Xanadu” — the first time they ever opened with the 1977 song — on a set designed as a rooftop, complete with a chimney, skylights, a stair bulkhead, and satellite dishes.
After “Xanadu,” Geddy addressed the audience, saying, “You are so beautiful. We’re here for many reasons — 50 years of music, and to pay tribute to Neil.”
And Neil was remembered during two video segments — one in each set — in which video and photos were shown while Neil talked about drumming and his philosophies on life.
Geddy also commented on Neil’s lyrics, saying they “strike us in various ways. This is how you can tell an artist is at work,” and how he “always saw into the future” with his lyrics.
In the second set, Geddy tried to get Alex to say something, and he did, saying how the owner of a white Toyota left their lights on.
The second set also featured a guest appearance by Aimee Mann who reprised her role of singing background vocals on “Time Stand Still,” which they hadn’t played since 2011.
Arguably the highlight of the night were the last three songs as Anika Nilles killed it during “Tom Sawyer,” with the audience applauded her fills, bringing a smile to her face.
That brought the second set to an end, leaving Geddy speechless as he said, “I don’t know what to say. You were amazing.”
From there is was a very tight two-song encore of “By-Tor & The Snow Dog” and “Working Man,” with the latter featuring an animated version of the original band with drummer John Rutsey on the video screens.
The night ended with a film clip of Jason Segel and Paul Rudd paying tribute to and praising Neil Peart, with Segel trying to teach Rudd how to pronounce Peart.
Rush – opening night of Fifty Something tour – Sunday, June 7th, 2026 at The Forum in Los Angeles:
- Xanadu – first time as show opener
- Limelight – first time since 2013
- Far Cry
- Subdivisions
- Freewill – first time since 2011
- Neil Peart tribute collage 1 followed by Bravado – first time since 2013, dedicated to Peart
- Caravan – first time since 2013
- La Villa Strangiato – first time since 2011
- Vital Signs – first time since 2011
- The Spirit of Radio
Set 2:
- 2112 Part I: Overture
- 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx
- 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale
- Distant Early Warning
- Red Barchetta
- Dreamline – first time since 2013
- Natural Science
- Neil Peart tribute collage 2 followed by Time Stand Still – w/Aimee Mann and first time since 2011
- Red Sector A – first time since 2013
- YYZ
- The Garden – first time since 2013, and first time without an ensemble
- Tom Sawyer
Encore:
- By-Tor & The Snow Dog (first time since 2004)
- Working Man
Photo credit: RUSH Facebook
Comments