Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson stunned fans by breaking out their entire 1976 mini-rock-opera on night two of their Fifty Something Tour
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson aren’t taking their new lease on life as Rush for granted. They promised to switch up the set list on their Fifty Something Tour, but fans had no idea they’d pull off the stunner they unveiled at night two of the tour at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on Tuesday.
On night one, Rush began their second set with a chunk of 1976’s mini-rock-opera “2112” — on night two, they played the whole thing, all seven parts, for 20 minutes straight, complete with “Pyro.” It was the first time Rush played all of “2112,” which takes up a full side of its titular album, since 1997.
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It was also, of course, new touring drummer Anika Nilles’ first time playing the whole thing, which only emphasized the extraordinary task she’s taken on — not only mastering the endlessly complex, ever-shifting drum parts of one of rock’s greatest drummers, but also needing to memorize hours’ worth of them. “2112” is packed with stop-start bits and rhythmic melding with Lifeson’s riffs, but Nilles made it through flawlessly. The song-suite concluded, inevitably, with the recorded voice of late drummer/lyricist Neil Peart intoning, “Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control.”
The rest of the night more than fulfilled Rush’s promise to vary their set lists, with six tour premieres besides the new parts of “2112.” They busted out “The Analog Kid,” the instrumental “Leave That Thing Alone, “The Trees,” “Headlong Flight,” “Animate,” “Closer to the Heart,” and even returned to the 2112 album for “A Passage to Bangkok.” (A full review from Rolling Stone is on its way.)
