The Rush reunion tour resumed last night right where the last one left off. And it was SPECTACULAR.

On August 1, 2015, Rush just…stopped. It was the final show of the R40 tour at The Forum in Los Angeles. Alex and Geddy were having a good time and wanted to keep going, but the deal with Neil was for X number of shows and that would be it. Arthritis was working through his body and he never wanted to not be able to play all his parts live. It was, he said, time to retire.

So he did and with one last show and without any fanfare, Rush ended. Then came Neil’s fatal glioblastoma, and when he passed away, there was no question that the Rush era was over.

Except it wasn’t. Alex and Geddy got itchy, believing that they still had more to give. And when they announced that Anika Nilles would be part of a reunion tour, there was a little skepticism among the faithful, but not that much. When the 50 Something tour was announced, the first tranche of tickets were sucked up immediately. So was the second and every single ticket since them.

Last night (June 7), Rush returned to The Forum (Now the KIA Forum) to pick up where they left off 10 years, 10 months, and 6 days ago.

And…wow. It started like this.

The band went through about two dozen songs (counting three separate parts of “2112”) of the 38 or so they’ve been rehearsing.

Setlist

SET 1

1. Xanadu. They’ve never used that as an opener before.
2. Limelight. They hadn’t played that since 2013
3. Far Cry. This is when the touring musicians were introduced.
4. Subdivisions
5. Freewill. That hadn’t been played since 2011.
6. Neil Peart Tribute Collage 1
7. Bravado. Dedicated to Neil.
8. Caravan
9. La Villa Strangiato. First time since 2011,
10. Vital Signs
11. The Spirit of Radio

INTERMISSION

SET 2

1. Countdown
2. 2112 Part 1: Overture
3. 2112 Part 2: The Temples of Syrinx
4. 2112 Part 3: Grand Finale
5. Distant Early Warning
6. Red Barchetta
7. Dreamline
8. Bird-dy Lee Sketch
9. Natural Science
10. Neil Peart Tribute Collage 2
11. Time Stand Still. Aimee Mann, who sang on the original recording, showed up to do her part.
12. Red Sector A
13. YYZ
14. The Garden
15. South Park Intro
16. Tom Sawyer

ENCORE

1. By-Tor and the Show Dog
2. Working Man
3. Neil Peart Tribute