Anika Nilles will tour with RUSH
 

Not sure how good of drummer she is, probably need to replace those dry cymbals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTcILc7m14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koiX_Wspatw

Rush
 

I can’t wait! Geddy and Alex wouldn’t have chosen a chump. Glad they are back. Trent King

Most of my friends are Rush fans, and kind of got me into it years ago.

I watched a video of her drumming solo music, and she's really good.

Whay struck me the most was that while other musician changes have had comment sections 'debating" the merits or lack of merits of the performers in typical interwebs fashion.... , the comments there were almost entirely positive and from Rush fans welcoming her to the fandom.

Really nice to see them back. Geddy is the man. Prog rock genius and a baseball collector to boot. What other proof do you need.

Long time RUSH fan here and very excited about this news!

It will be interesting to see how ticket sales go, and how much the prices will be. I used to go to concerts all the time, but I've found that not only are prices getting out of hand, but a great many of the tickets initially sell to brokers and their bots, where they then mark up the price and offer them right back up on Ticketmaster.

It is what it is, and the only thing you can do as a consumer is pay up or not go to the show.

I'll probably catch one or two of the upcoming shows with a lifelong friend of many years. We attended our first Rush concert decades ago, so it will be nice to come full circle and rock out with a good friend. I'm sure the crowds will also be quite emotional at these gigs, with even a few tears being wiped away (in between the air drumming).

I think it is a wise choice for Geddy and Alex to go with Anika since she not only is an amazing musician, but being female may help alleviate some of the comparisons fans will try to make with Neil. Her playing will probably win the fans over after the first song, if they had any doubts.

I will have a tough time viewing this as "Rush" without Neil. I understand that they have to tour as Rush for marketing purposes, and it is their band. I think Geddy said it nicely in the recent tour announcement event they held at the Rock HOF in Cleveland:


"Well, our idea was not to try to be Rush 2.0, you know, just to pay homage to our music, pay homage to our lost brother, and represent the songs and celebrate the songs. "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVzeT3lq4KA

There was only one Neil Peart. The real question is, will she measure up to John Rutsey?

Rush
 

Geddy and Alex have vetted her, I’ll put my faith in 50 years of musical integrity:) Trent King

After watching a bunch of videos and looking her up it’s apparent she’s technically bulletproof and very comfortable with odd time signatures

Anyone buy presale tickets? How much did they cost?

HA! It was ridiculous, and I was expecting high prices. I think these early presales were mainly VIP seats which were very high priced. You had to have a Citibank card for the US presales today, and you had to use an AMEX card for the Toronto shows. I think next week "fan" presales will be more reasonable.

I did see some seats for the Cleveland show in the upper sections for just over $100, so that's not bad.

Toronto and Chicago main floor seats were primarily VIP seating offers, as are the lower bowl seats. I think this will change when the fan presale happens and the regular onsale starts.

For example, currently you can find plenty of seats for the 4 Chicago shows. Main floor first 10 rows are VIP experience packages ranging from $2200 per seat to $860. A seat in the 18th row on the floor is $826. Lower bowl up close is $994 to $826. Upper bowl in the back and corner sections is $344 in Chicago.

Sheesh, that is pricey. I guess I'll wait and see how things look next week.