Rush with Anika at the Junos 2026

[laxu]

Looks like Anika has about a ten piece set, which is pretty large by most standards. And yet it looks like a cocktail kit when you’re used to seeing Neil’s live rigs behind Geddy and Alex…

I imagine they'll scale the kit larger for their own shows.

 

[Frodebro]

I imagine they'll scale the kit larger for their own shows.

I don’t think they’ll go remotely as big as Peart’s kits. That would lead to comparisons between Anika and Neal, which I seriously doubt anybody wants.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I don’t think they’ll go remotely as big as Peart’s kits. That would lead to comparisons between Anika and Neal, which I seriously doubt anybody wants.

TL;DR- I doubt they care.

Not saying she will or won't use a similar-sized lit, just that I get the impression, if she wanted to use a large one, heck, for that matter, use an exact replica, that Geddy & Alex don't weight into their choices what people will think, except for Neil's family. Rush name? Check. Touring again despite saying they were done? Check. Using a relatively unknown drummer as opposed to a few top names that are huge Peart fans? Check.

Iow, seems to me they're doing what they want to do, w/o weighing fans' opinions, one way or the other.

 

[la szum]

Even if not for the insane ticket prices, I want my memories of seeing Rush live to remain like they were when I saw them during MP, 7th row, first concert ever, in which I had myself seriously believing they were not from Earth, because no human beings on our planet could do what they were doing! (Substances were involved in that belief, but still... )

It was ALL live back then, no tracks, with both Ged and Alex playing Taurus pedals, completely blowing me away that 3 people could sound like a much larger band, not to mention the musicianship being spectacular. Couldn't have been a better way to start my concert-going life, and it took a little while until I saw a band that amazed me more than they did.

Oh, and without Neil, it ain't Rush to me.

But they were Rush before Neil, too, no??

 

[la szum]

I'd rather enjoy them for what they are now. The past is the past. They deserve to have fun and do what they do best, even if it's not to the level of their heyday.

A recurring client of mine is a huge Rush fan, and he happens to play guitar too. He'll be seeing them this year.

I concur. Are we all supposed to go crawl in an hole and not come out into the Sun after
our heyday has passed us by? God forbid people see us out in the wild doing our thing.

I just don't get this whole gatekeeping culture where fans want to tell artists and musicians
who they are supposed to be, and what they are allowed to do and not do.

Can't we get busy living our own fucking lives and let others live theirs?

I know, too much to ask, isn't it??

 

[TSJMajesty]

Fuck me. It's like you can't even state how you personally feel about a band without being made to feel you're just wrong to feel that way.

 

[JiveTurkey]

For some reason, when it's musicians who I actually love; I give it a little more positive leeway than, say; "Motley Crue is coming back and I am soooooo excited!"?

 

[FuzzyAce]

TL;DR- I doubt they care.

Not saying she will or won't use a similar-sized lit, just that I get the impression, if she wanted to use a large one, heck, for that matter, use an exact replica, that Geddy & Alex don't weight into their choices what people will think, except for Neil's family. Rush name? Check. Touring again despite saying they were done? Check. Using a relatively unknown drummer as opposed to a few top names that are huge Peart fans? Check.

Iow, seems to me they're doing what they want to do, w/o weighing fans' opinions, one way or the other.

Yeah, but if they listened to all the critics they'd never play again. Doesn't sound fair to them.

 

[Mooselake]

I imagine they'll scale the kit larger for their own shows.

Possibly, but one thing I'm sure they'll do when it's their stage, their production, their show, is to bring the drums up a lot in the mix. Anika probably doesn't hit as hard as Neil did, but I expect when July rolls around in Chicago it'll sound a bit more Rush-like in the sense of the drums being a lot more up front.

 

[Val Kill More]

I LOVE Rush. They are my favorite band.

I don’t know why they played “Finding My Way” at the Junos, and in the original key, because there was no way in hell Geddy was going to approach those high notes, and when he did try…oof. Hell, Rush had played 2112 live tuned in a lower key since the ‘90s.

I saw them on their last tour in 2015, and I thought (even without them saying it outright) that it would be their last, and I was perfectly fine with it. I could tell they lost a bit off the fastball then. Especially with ticket prices this high, and another 11 years behind them, I have no desire to see them on this go-round - and that’s not taking anything away from Anika; she’s fantastic - but without Neil, I can’t do it.

I agree that Geddy was struggling with those high vocal parts but I think they played Finding My Way because it was the first track on their first album and it was to be a sort of a nod to either a new beginning or coming around full circle with a new drummer.

 

[dean701]

I agree that Geddy was struggling with those high vocal parts but I think they played Finding My Way because it was the first track on their first album and it was to be a sort of a nod to either a new beginning or coming around full circle with a new drummer.

also the first song that Neil Peart played live when he joined the band. Geddy will be Geddy. He wants to sing whatever he wants and gives no shits about it. He's struggled for 20 years in the high register. He still manages to pull off anything post Farewell to Kings. He takes vocal lessons to this day and at 72 I think he is just happy to get out there. I had the fortune to sit down and talk with him for about 20 minutes at his book signing. Very down to earth. He still crushes the bass. He wants to relax so they have a keyboardist so he isn't so foot frenzied on stage.