 | Written by Alex Stojanovic (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com RUSH Fifty Something Tour 2026 (Night 1 of 4) @ Scotiabank Arena Toronto, ON, Canada August 7, 2026 "I wish that I could live it all again!" That was exactly what all us Rush fans were wishing for since the R40 tour ended in 2015, whether it's to go back in time or see them again at some point. When it was confirmed that it was the end, it was no surprise, but still a dagger. The worst dagger however was when Neil Peart sadly passed away at the start of 2020, thus putting all hope of ever seeing Rush again into the coffin, and sending shockwaves across the globe, reverberating among all those who knew him or were touched by his music, drumming and lyrics. After Covid, all while focusing on their individual projects like book writing and other musical ventures like Envy Of None, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson made sporadic appearances at special occasions, notably at the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows in 2022, which ultimately planted the seeds for a potential revival. As time went on, fans always held out hope, but we all kept accepting the fact that seeing them again was just impossible, until............ |
In October 2025, Geddy and Alex took the internet and the world by storm when they announced that they would be returning to the road in 2026 to celebrate 50+ years of Rush music, and to properly pay tribute to Neil. I remember I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the first post appear on Facebook, thinking it was all fake news, but it turned out to be real. Although conflicted for the first few minutes, that confliction turned into excitement rather quickly. I have to say this though. For all the years people were hoping for a reunion, they always threw out the obvious choices for possible drummers to sit in Neil's place, namely Mike Portnoy, Danny Carey and Mike Mangini, simply because they come from the prog rock/metal worlds and were all fans. I love that when it was announced, instead of the obvious choice, it was the last person anyone expected: Anika Nilles.
Being a drummer, I knew about Anika and her playing for a while, and didn't even question the boys' decision. However, I love that people were taken aback by it because it was not what they expected. I love how Anika came into Rush by not being a "fan", but very aware of the band and their stature, because Geddy and Alex wanted a fresh approach and not a Neil clone, which I think is a really smart move. Anybody that's a Neil fan is going to try and replicate what Neil did note for note, and that's not what they were going for, and sadly, some people can't accept it. A situation like this is never easy, and it took a lot of careful planning and soul searching, but the outcome is one that exceeded all expectations. What spawned as just 12 shows in a handful of major cities, quickly exploded into a full blown world tour within the course of a couple of months due to high demand for tickets and shows selling out instantly, which was inevitable from the get-go, with every city in North America having two or more shows, followed by further international touring in South America and Europe taking place in 2027. The tour saw the band returning to the format they've done for the last 3 decades, with the 3-hour "Evening With" format including a 30 min intermission in between sets.
Fans of all generations filled the grounds of the Scotiabank Arena to witness the long-awaited return of our hometown heroes on the first of four nights on August 7, with the other three nights being the 9th, 11th and 13th. With an electric atmosphere already buzzing, it escalated even further when those house lights went out, and the deafening applause erupted. In keeping with tradition, a humourous introduction video featuring the members in character played on the skrim that goes up and down. The video gave cameos to some of the band's famous characters in past intro videos, like Gershon, the Scotsman and The Bag. A couple other legendary cameos included the South Park version of the band rehearsing, as well as Paul Rudd and Jason Segel reprising their roles as Peter and Sydney from I Love You, Man. As the video ended with a quick timelapse of Rush throughout the years, the sillhouettes of Geddy and Alex sent fans into a frenzy as the haunting atmospheric intro to "Xanadu", and the main riff sent a bomb of excitement exploding all around the arena. While Anika is getting the lion's share of the attention and praise, and rightfully so, we cannot overlook the contribution of Loren Gold as well, who deserves just as much credit for adding some really cool textures with the additional keyboards and backing vocals, and taking some weight off Geddy's shoulders so he can focus on bass more.
Getting back to business here, the celebration continued with a healthy balance of setlist staples, fan favourites and rarities like "Limelight", "Far Cry", "Subdivisions", "Freewill", "Spirit Of Radio", "La Villa Strangiato", all of which proved that Rush were not screwing around when it came to this tour, and there was more of that proof to come in the second set. Speaking of not screwing around, Geddy clearly has put the work into getting his voice in shape, because he was hitting high notes that he hasn't hit since the 80s, particularly the last verse in "Freewill", and there were more of those high vocal moments to come as the night went on. "Spirit Of Radio" closed out the first set, and the band headed backstage for a 25-minute intermission.
After the countdown clock on the skrim hit zero, it was game on for the second set, which began with the standard live version of "2112" the band have been played for years with "Overture", "Temples Of Syrinx" and "Grand Finale". More fan favourites and gems made appearances like "Distant Early Warning", "Red Barchetta", "Dreamline", "Natural Science", "Red Sector A", "YYZ", "The Garden" and "Tom Sawyer". Anika's execution of Neil's fills was always met with thunderous approval, but it's no surprise that the "Tom Sawyer" drum solo got the most deafening applause, all while everyone air-drummed the solo like lunatics. Both sets also featured tribute segments to Neil, each starting off with a video montage of the Professor in action behind the kit, with excerpts of his voice sharing his philosophical comparisons to life and drumming. One was during "Bravado" in the first set, and the other was during "Time Stand Still" in the second set, and there was not a dry eye in the venue during either segment. "Time Stand Still" also featured a rare on-stage appearance from the song's recorded guest star: Aimee Mann, who already made an appearance on the tour's opening night in L.A. and was generous enough to fly all the way up to Toronto and make another special appearance.
If all of the above wasn't enough proof that Rush weren't screwing around, they began the encore with "By-Tor & The Snow Dog", and the drum fills at the end, much like the fills in the other songs, were once again met with gigantic approval from the crowd, and the band closed out the night with the signature setlist closer: "Working Man", which also featured a really nice tribute and acknowledgement to the late John Rutsey, who often tends to get overlooked, so it was nice that John got his moment of remembrance too. After many years of just waving goodbye to the crowd (except for the last show on the R40 tour), it was the first time that the entire band came out front to take a scripted bow. One other detail that made these Toronto shows so special was that they were being recorded and filmed for a future live DVD.
As fans left the building buzzing and riding the high of witnessing one of the greatest comebacks in rock history, everyone is counting the days of when the band make another return. Given how much work and prep has gone into this tour, both musically and health-wise, and as long as Geddy and Alex continue with maintaining good health and still have gas in the tank, it's safe to say that we can expect a return in the not too distant future as part of this incredible victory lap. With Rush now back in the full force, and the amount of joy reverberating amongst the fans and the band, the world seems a lot brighter right now. Now, this is the first time that I'm going to do a review of the same show because I got to see this show twice, but there was some differences in the setlist for the second time, so click here to see my recap of my second chance at seeing this show.
Being a drummer, I knew about Anika and her playing for a while, and didn't even question the boys' decision. However, I love that people were taken aback by it because it was not what they expected. I love how Anika came into Rush by not being a "fan", but very aware of the band and their stature, because Geddy and Alex wanted a fresh approach and not a Neil clone, which I think is a really smart move. Anybody that's a Neil fan is going to try and replicate what Neil did note for note, and that's not what they were going for, and sadly, some people can't accept it. A situation like this is never easy, and it took a lot of careful planning and soul searching, but the outcome is one that exceeded all expectations. What spawned as just 12 shows in a handful of major cities, quickly exploded into a full blown world tour within the course of a couple of months due to high demand for tickets and shows selling out instantly, which was inevitable from the get-go, with every city in North America having two or more shows, followed by further international touring in South America and Europe taking place in 2027. The tour saw the band returning to the format they've done for the last 3 decades, with the 3-hour "Evening With" format including a 30 min intermission in between sets.
Fans of all generations filled the grounds of the Scotiabank Arena to witness the long-awaited return of our hometown heroes on the first of four nights on August 7, with the other three nights being the 9th, 11th and 13th. With an electric atmosphere already buzzing, it escalated even further when those house lights went out, and the deafening applause erupted. In keeping with tradition, a humourous introduction video featuring the members in character played on the skrim that goes up and down. The video gave cameos to some of the band's famous characters in past intro videos, like Gershon, the Scotsman and The Bag. A couple other legendary cameos included the South Park version of the band rehearsing, as well as Paul Rudd and Jason Segel reprising their roles as Peter and Sydney from I Love You, Man. As the video ended with a quick timelapse of Rush throughout the years, the sillhouettes of Geddy and Alex sent fans into a frenzy as the haunting atmospheric intro to "Xanadu", and the main riff sent a bomb of excitement exploding all around the arena. While Anika is getting the lion's share of the attention and praise, and rightfully so, we cannot overlook the contribution of Loren Gold as well, who deserves just as much credit for adding some really cool textures with the additional keyboards and backing vocals, and taking some weight off Geddy's shoulders so he can focus on bass more.
Getting back to business here, the celebration continued with a healthy balance of setlist staples, fan favourites and rarities like "Limelight", "Far Cry", "Subdivisions", "Freewill", "Spirit Of Radio", "La Villa Strangiato", all of which proved that Rush were not screwing around when it came to this tour, and there was more of that proof to come in the second set. Speaking of not screwing around, Geddy clearly has put the work into getting his voice in shape, because he was hitting high notes that he hasn't hit since the 80s, particularly the last verse in "Freewill", and there were more of those high vocal moments to come as the night went on. "Spirit Of Radio" closed out the first set, and the band headed backstage for a 25-minute intermission.
After the countdown clock on the skrim hit zero, it was game on for the second set, which began with the standard live version of "2112" the band have been played for years with "Overture", "Temples Of Syrinx" and "Grand Finale". More fan favourites and gems made appearances like "Distant Early Warning", "Red Barchetta", "Dreamline", "Natural Science", "Red Sector A", "YYZ", "The Garden" and "Tom Sawyer". Anika's execution of Neil's fills was always met with thunderous approval, but it's no surprise that the "Tom Sawyer" drum solo got the most deafening applause, all while everyone air-drummed the solo like lunatics. Both sets also featured tribute segments to Neil, each starting off with a video montage of the Professor in action behind the kit, with excerpts of his voice sharing his philosophical comparisons to life and drumming. One was during "Bravado" in the first set, and the other was during "Time Stand Still" in the second set, and there was not a dry eye in the venue during either segment. "Time Stand Still" also featured a rare on-stage appearance from the song's recorded guest star: Aimee Mann, who already made an appearance on the tour's opening night in L.A. and was generous enough to fly all the way up to Toronto and make another special appearance.
If all of the above wasn't enough proof that Rush weren't screwing around, they began the encore with "By-Tor & The Snow Dog", and the drum fills at the end, much like the fills in the other songs, were once again met with gigantic approval from the crowd, and the band closed out the night with the signature setlist closer: "Working Man", which also featured a really nice tribute and acknowledgement to the late John Rutsey, who often tends to get overlooked, so it was nice that John got his moment of remembrance too. After many years of just waving goodbye to the crowd (except for the last show on the R40 tour), it was the first time that the entire band came out front to take a scripted bow. One other detail that made these Toronto shows so special was that they were being recorded and filmed for a future live DVD.
As fans left the building buzzing and riding the high of witnessing one of the greatest comebacks in rock history, everyone is counting the days of when the band make another return. Given how much work and prep has gone into this tour, both musically and health-wise, and as long as Geddy and Alex continue with maintaining good health and still have gas in the tank, it's safe to say that we can expect a return in the not too distant future as part of this incredible victory lap. With Rush now back in the full force, and the amount of joy reverberating amongst the fans and the band, the world seems a lot brighter right now. Now, this is the first time that I'm going to do a review of the same show because I got to see this show twice, but there was some differences in the setlist for the second time, so click here to see my recap of my second chance at seeing this show.
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