“Supremely stupid idea – we’re going to be so emotional”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee look on to the opening show of Rush’s reunion tour
Rush’s Fifty Something reunion tour has to be one of the most anticipated rock tours in recent memory, as guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee – with drummer Anika Nilles in tow – head out on the road for the first time in 11 years, and since the tragic death of Neil Peart in 2020.
Speculation has swirled in recent years as to whether Rush would ever head back out on the road, and comments made by Lifeson earlier in 2025 didn’t help, when he said: “I’d rather be remembered for that legacy than return as the top Rush tribute band. Some days I wake up wanting to go out and tour again and some days I don’t.”
But the prog legends sent shockwaves round the rock world in October when they announced plans to head back out on the road once again in 2026. Demand for the shows was so high, in fact, that the band shortly after added 17 more dates.
READ MORE: Rush have performed for the first time since reforming – and you can watch it right now
Rush fans haven’t got long to wait now, either, with the first shows of the trek – not one, not two, but four – at LA’s Kia Forum on 7, 9, 11 and 13 June. As it happens, the venue was where Lee and Lifeson played their last-ever show with Neil Peart in 2015.
And in a new interview with Classic Rock, the pair acknowledge the emotions that will come with performing their first reunited shows at the same venue.
Likening it to “returning to the scene of the crime”, Lifeson says: “Staring at that same clock where it ended, yeah.”
“Supremely stupid idea,” Lee replies. “It’s a massively stupid idea, because we’re going to be so emotional already, that first show without Neil, and then to be in that building. What the fuck was I thinking?” Lifeson concurs: “Yeah, what were we fucking thinking?”
Later in the interview, Lee continues: “Without Neil… I’ll be frank. There are some songs you play where it kind of hits you, it’s bad, and it feels weird. And it’s appropriate that that happens. You know what I mean?
“If we just picked up and went on without feeling any tug of anything, that would be absurd, that would be a whole other thing. And there’ll be moments in both sets where we’ll pay tribute to him. We’re working hard on that, making sure that it’s appropriate.”
Noting the “emotional and logistical aspect” of deciding to reunite as Rush, Lee adds: “There was nothing about this decision that came easily, except when Al looks at me, and I look at him in the studio and we go why the fuck shouldn’t we do this?”
View a full list of dates for the Fifty Something tour at Rush’s official website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
