Rush pay tribute to Neil Peart at first of 4 hometown shows

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Rush

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Friday night

Scotiabank Arena

RATING: **** (4 out of four)

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Go big or go home?

Or in the case of Rush go big AT home.

The excitement was palpable even before the Toronto prog-rock legends took the stage for their Fifty Something Tour at Scotiabank Arena on Friday night in the first of four sold-out shows.

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The band, featuring singer-bassist-keyboardist Geddy Lee, 73, and guitarist Alex Lifeson, 72, with touring German drummer Anika Nilles, 43, (filling in for the late great Neil Peart) and keyboardist Loren Gold, 42, already said in advance they were filming the four night stand in their hometown.

So everyone’s air drumming was up to speed for what will most likely become a concert film as a camera swooped over the heads of the crowd and camera operators could also be seen on stage.

Certainly entering the venue amongst a sea of black Rush T-shirts — and one man in a kilt — the bro vibe was strong.

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Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, who play two Rush-loving characters in the 2009 comedy, I Love You, Man, which made ‘Slappa da bass” a catchphrase, showed up in the concert’s comedic opening film titled Xanadudes.

The trek is also the first time Rush have toured under their name since 2015 and without Peart, who died of brain cancer in 2020 at the age of 67. Fans have been losing their minds at their beloved band’s return after 11 years.

The good news is that it felt like a celebration of all things Peart, with no less than two tributes to him during the three-hour show, and Nilles, a composed yet monster player behind the kit who barely broke a sweat as her thundering drumming matched the expert playing of both Lee and Lifeson, seemed to easily win over hometown fans.

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Opening with Xanadu amongst thick white smoke, the band quickly moved into crowd favourites like Limelight, Subdivisions and Free Will.

‘Toronto, Ontario, Canada – the city I was born in!” said Lee. “How are ya? Good? So great to see you. Man, I never thought this would (happen). Thank you so much for coming out here tonight. We have a celebration of over 50 years of music that was written by Mr. Alex Lifeson, myself and, of course, the great Neil Peart. We’re long overdue to pay a solid tribute to that man for so many reasons, we’ll do that tonight.”

Leading into the first Peart tribute, Lee was briefly overcome by emotion and who could blame him?

“Working, living, hanging out with Neil, I feel very blessed,” said Lee. “Not only was he funny, goofy, a pretty good drummer, but we got to watch him develop as a thinker and as a lyricist from the early days writing songs about dogs in space to crossing all kinds of barriers, writing about philosophy, the world as he saw it, about his own tragedy.” (Peart, who lost his 19-year-old daughter Selena to a car accident in 1987 and his first wife Jackie to cancer just 10 months later in 1988, would go on to marry again and have another daughter.)

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Bravado, Headlong Fight, La Villa Strangiato, Vital Signs and The Spirit of Radio followed with the crowd on their feet and going nuts for that final song before a half-hour break.

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After the intermission, 2012 songs opened the second set beginning with Overture and were followed by such highlights as Distant Early Warning, Dreamline, YYZ, The Garden (which saw fans light up their phones) before the big finale, Tom Sawyer (with a false start by South Park’s Lil’ Rush) and the encore of By-Tor & The Snow Dog and Working Man.

There were also impressive visuals, lights, video screens, fire bursts, fireworks, at least two startling explosions and a guest vocalist in the form of Aimee Mann who joined the group for Time Stand Still.

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“You didn’t let us down Toronto!” said Lee at the end of the show: “Amazing!”

The next concerts are Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Also on Sept. 23, CBC’s The Passionate Eye documentary series will premiere Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, which looks at his musicianship through rare archival footage, intimate reflections and live performances with acclaimed drummers Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Stewart Copeland (The Police), and Danny Carey (Tool) joining Lee and Lifeson.

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SET LIST

Xanadu

Limelight

Far Cry

Subdivisions

Freewill

Neil Peart Tribute Collage 1

Bravado

Headlong Flight

La Villa Strangiato

Vital Signs

The Spirit of Radio

BREAK

2112 Part I: Overture

2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx

2112 Part VII: Grand Finale

Distant Early Warning

Red Barchetta

Dreamline

Natural Science

Neil Peart Tribute Collage 11

Time Stand Still (with Aimee Mann)

Red Sector A

YYZ

The Garden

Tom Sawyer

ENCORE

By-Tor & The Snow Dog

Working Man

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