Rush are touring in 2026!

Haych

Don't know how, don't know if I'd want to see it but:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koiX_Wspatw

Axe_meister

Oh fuck yes.

racefaceec90

i just saw the video on yt and i have to say i am also in 2 minds about it.

rush are my favourite band and i was lucky enough to see them 4 times.

on one hand it just won't be the same without Neil as he was integral to the music and the band (stating the obvious i know), BUT at the same time it is awesome to see Alex and Geddy still best friends and wanting to play together (you can tell how much they still care about each other as both friends and musicians).

 i know that they will have thought long and hard about touring as rush and respecting neil at the same time.

good luck to them on their tour and if i could see them i would. 

Philly_Q

Oh god I love those guys.

It's a great idea to take an extra musician or two, so it doesn't feel like this is meant to be a "new Rush".  It's just Geddy and Alex doing what they do, for fun.

Please come to the UK.  But not stadiums.

Philly_Q

Only Canada, US and Mexico dates.  So far.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/rush-announces-2026-tour

Tour dates:

Jun 07 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum

Jun 09 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum

Jun 18 - Mexico City, MX - Palacio de los Deportes

Jun 24 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena

Jun 26 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena

Jul 16 - Chicago, IL - United Center

Jul 18 - Chicago, IL - United Center

Jul 28 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden

Jul 30 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden

Aug 07 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena

Aug 09 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena

Sep 17 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Arena

Haych

racefaceec90 said:

i just saw the video on yt and i have to say i am also in 2 minds about it.

rush are my favourite band and i was lucky enough to see them 4 times.

on one hand it just won't be the same without Neil as he was integral to the music and the band (stating the obvious i know), BUT at the same time it is awesome to see Alex and Geddy still best friends and wanting to play together (you can tell how much they still care about each other as both friends and musicians).

 i know that they will have thought long and hard about touring as rush and respecting neil at the same time.

good luck to them on their tour and if i could see them i would. 

I too wish them well but like you I feel quite ambivalent about it.

If they can still pull it off then godspeed to them.  

Axe_meister

It's great music, they love what they play, no doubt they will be very careful choosing the right musicians. Yet Neil will be missed, so it will be a different experience, but no doubt a good one

StefB

Drummer is Anika Nilles.

Whitecat

Think of the biggest number you can imagine - ticket prices are gonna be slightly higher than that. 

Hopefully Alex’s arthritis is under control now, I know he was struggling at the end of the last tour. 

I wish them very well though. 

axisus

Rush were absolutely one of the biggest bands of my youth, but I never got to see them live. Real happy that they are doing this, why not!

I'd love to see them, even without Neil (sob!), but I'm not gonna stand in the middle of a massive stadium. I don't suppose they would play a venue of a size that interested me. 

Having followed the band since the late 70s, it does pain me a bit to see Alex looking so old, but it's a fact of life that we all get old, and all the musicians I liked back then are old! Geddy's a strange one, he looked weird in the 70s, but he looks really cool now, I think he's aged really well.

I also think it's a good idea to bring in a few other musicians, gives less of a 'we have replaced Neil' feel. 

matt_sefton

I was a massive Rush fan in my youth and saw them a couple of times but I think this is a bad idea. I’ve got no problem with Alex and Geddy playing live again but don’t call it Rush. Just like you couldn’t replace Lemmy in Mötorhead, you can’t replace Neil Peart in Rush.

Whitecat

matt_sefton said:

I was a massive Rush fan in my youth and saw them a couple of times but I think this is a bad idea. I’ve got no problem with Alex and Geddy playing live again but don’t call it Rush. Just like you couldn’t replace Lemmy in Mötorhead, you can’t replace Neil Peart in Rush.

As with Donald Fagen touring as Steely Dan after Walter Becker passed it might be under extreme promoter pressure. 

wibble

I'd love to see them again but I can't imagine they'll do too many dates outside of North America if they do expand their tour.

CaseOfAce

matt_sefton said:

you can’t replace Neil Peart in Rush.

I think you can - likewise Alex Lifeson - witness the guy doing the Eddie parts with the recent David Lee Roth tour - it's close. Very close. And there'll have found someone who can more or less do Peart on the hits.
Now replacing Geddy Lee is a completely different matter. That voice is utterly unique.

Haych

My two peneth worth, I appreciate nobody asked me:

Alex and Geddy obviously love each other and love playing together, so who am I to suggest they shouldn't have that pleasure one more time.

That said, they are past their peak, even on the last tour I thought Geddy was struggling with his voice and Alex's guitar playing isn't what it used to be.  As mentioned previously he's suffered quite badly with psoriasis/arthritis so that's going to have a negative impact  - that was ten years ago.

I hope they have a great time on tour, I really do.  But, I've seen Rush several times since the mid 90s and I want to remember them as the truly legendary band they were.  

I'd much rather they leave fans wanting more than make fans question why they went out one more time.

That said, I hope they pull something magic out of the bag and blow everyone away.  I'm blown away that it's even happening, I honestly never thought they'd tour again, especially after some of the statements the two of them have made about continuing without Neil.

Still, I expect the payday they've been promised might have changed their mind.

Philly_Q

matt_sefton said:

I was a massive Rush fan in my youth and saw them a couple of times but I think this is a bad idea. I’ve got no problem with Alex and Geddy playing live again but don’t call it Rush. Just like you couldn’t replace Lemmy in Mötorhead, you can’t replace Neil Peart in Rush.

When Neil died I strongly felt they should call it a day - and in fact they'd already retired anyway - but I don't think this is "replacing" him.  It's not like they're bringing in a new drummer and recording new material.  It's more like a tribute/nostalgia show, done in a different way than their "real" shows, and I find myself very much in favour.  They're both 72 years old and they won't get many more opportunities to do something like this.

(If my spectacles were just slightly more rose-tinted, I'd be oblivious to the fact that people will be paying huge sums for tickets...)

Philly_Q

Haych said:

That said, they are past their peak, even on the last tour I thought Geddy was struggling with his voice and Alex's guitar playing isn't what it used to be.  As mentioned previously he's suffered quite badly with psoriasis/arthritis so that's going to have a negative impact  - that was ten years ago.

Maybe they'll do the full "Pink Floyd" and have two keyboard players, a second guitarist and a trio of backing singers... I don't think they will, but it would certainly make it clear that it was not a case of "getting the band back together".

They're pretty unique in having an unchanged line-up for almost their entire career, and that's why this seems a bit... sacrilegious.  As we've discussed before, there are bands of similar vintage touring with no original members at all and people just accept it.

ThorpyFX

they should have done it this year, but I i guess they don't want to RUSH.

matt_sefton

ThorpyFX said:

they should have done it this year, but I i guess they don't want to RUSH.

Get your coat…

Haych

Philly_Q said:

Haych said:

That said, they are past their peak, even on the last tour I thought Geddy was struggling with his voice and Alex's guitar playing isn't what it used to be.  As mentioned previously he's suffered quite badly with psoriasis/arthritis so that's going to have a negative impact  - that was ten years ago.

Maybe they'll do the full "Pink Floyd" and have two keyboard players, a second guitarist and a trio of backing singers... I don't think they will, but it would certainly make it clear that it was not a case of "getting the band back together".

They're pretty unique in having an unchanged line-up for almost their entire career, and that's why this seems a bit... sacrilegious.  As we've discussed before, there are bands of similar vintage touring with no original members at all and people just accept it.

I think they should just hit the road and do a Feedback type setlist, a bunch of covers and blues standards, maybe one or two of their own snuck in for good measure.

It's going to be a different atmosphere for sure, no Neil and a fourth person (I seem to recall a fourth person was something they mulled over during the late 80s).  I can't see them doing the same intro reels like they used to, but maybe I'm wrong.

I also expect quite a bit of backlash from fans who don't think they should be going on the road without Neil.

That said, it's seven shows in selected cities, so it's hardly proper touring.  Maybe they'll use it as a tester, see how they are received in the new form and see whether they still have the chops for it.

Schnozz

I had the opportunity to see Rush for £55 in Newcastle in maybe 2007? And I thought it was too much because Stevie Wonder was the same... Boy do I regret that decision.