Over a decade ago I dropped some hefty coin to see Rush on their R40 Farewell tour. It was a bittersweet and exciting moment to see Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart perform their last tour. The music of Rush has been a part of my life and listening habits since I first heard their music in middle school. I wasn’t a diehard fan, like a few of my friends were, but I own many of their recordings and I have enjoyed this musical collaboration of theirs with great interest.

The R40 tour was my second Rush show. I became much more interested in the band after the first show. It was in the mid 1990’s at Tinley Park’s “New World Music Theatre” or something like that. I remember it was the first time I had been frisked at a show. When a band can create music with excellent precision in a live setting with great balance and nuance it really alters one’s perceptions. I had a similar experience with Aerosmith a few years later. It was this first Rush show that made me more than a passive fan. I was most interested in the drummer Neil Peart following that show. It was at that show I learned he was also the primary lyricist for the groups material.

As technology improved and connections with web pages and the dawning of You Tube and other social media platforms I began digging into the music of Rush far more often. Their form of progressive rock made me think. It made me read more. It made me practice a bit of philosophical metacognition of sorts. Neil Peart influenced my music making as a young professional far more than I knew.

During the performance at the United Center in Chicago, IL. I stood in wonder, knowing I was hearing and seeing one of the last dozen or so shows of a great rock band. They were going to end their run on top. Neil did not want to struggle to play the parts physically anymore. Arthritis was setting in, and when you are in your late 50’s and 60’s it is very difficult to play those parts that were developed in your 20’s and 30’s. The music that night was spectacular. They covered every record. The stage set started with Clockwork Angels and ended as a school gymnasium stage with the amps on chairs. They wound thier way back in time to where it all started. It was quite literally the best rock concert I had ever been to.

Once it was over and I was driving home late at night I was overcome with sadness by the end of this magnificent band’s career. Then Neil Peart passed away in 2020 from glioblastoma. This aggressive brain cancer also took my father in 2019. Glioblastoma is a nasty little bastard. I could hear it take my farther’s brain during each conversation. His speech slurred. He searched for words. The hard drive (brain) was being overwhelmed by the virus (cancer.) When I read of Neil’s passing it was like grieving my father once again. Every time I played a Rush song after Peart’s passing instantly connected me to R40, my first show, and memories of my dad. The music just hits harder now. It has more meaning… more power…

Then on October 6, 2025 I read that Geddy and Alex were going to do a tour as Rush. My first thought was who are they going to get to fill in for Neil? By the end of the article I read Anika Nilles name as the drummer. Who is Anika? I’ve never heard of her. Ok, I don’t follow the drum circles like my drumming friends do. “She’s really good” was what I got in my text messages. “Go look her up!” they said. I did and I’m pissed the music industry has ignored her skills. The musical world never gives the women of the industry their just due. There is my dissent for this blog. Shame on you world…

Last week I dug into more interviews with Geddy and Alex about Anika’s musicianship. I saw the sparkle in their eyes. She made a connection with them musically. When you make that connection as a musician you just know it is going to work. There is a linear thinking process and then there is a conceptual thinking process that goes into music making. It develops through listening and responding in real time over weeks, months, and years. Anika managed to infiltrate the world of Rush at the molecular level. Seeing the joy in Geddy and Alex’s body language and eyes made me happy.

Then came the ticket prices for the 50 something tour. Just a decade ago, I dropped $250 for a lower bowl seat to R40. I think the promoters are scalping all of us. Nosebleeds were $300. Lower bowl seats were double what I paid ten years ago. I can’t pull that type of expense. It will take other options for travel and entertainment away from my wife and I. I hope they release a video of a concert or at least sound recording. I want to hear what Anika brings to the music of Rush. I don’t want her to replace Neil. I want her to be Anika. I want her to fill these songs with her panache and grace. I want to see them honor Neil by making his lyrics breathe again, his music live again in the live setting. Music is a living breathing entity, and then it is gone as quickly as it is performed. I think this tour will be a nice soliloquy for the group to honor Neil’s legendary musicianship. I just wish I could afford a ticket…. Like many others…

Rush is back! I look forward to seeing what they can create. Welcome to the stage Anika! You have earned this opportunity and let no man say otherwise.

I can’t stop thinking big, in a world where I feel so small – “Caravan-Clockwork Angels” – Neil Peart