Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson “Still Had Gas in the Tank” and That’s Why They Reunited
Yesterday came with a pretty big shock when the surviving members of Rush, bassist and frotnman Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex LIfeson announced that the legendary prog band would be playing a 50th anniversary tour with German drummer Anika Nilles filling in for the immortal, yet late Neil Peart.
Now, with yesterday’s announcement behind us and the reality of a Rush concert looming in the distance, Lee and Lifeson ran a Q&A session at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s Foster Theater in Cleveland (as transcribed by Blabbermouth) to explain what went into yesterday’s announcement.
For Lifeson, the decision came from knowing they could still pull off the type of concer they want to perform.
“I think Ged and I still had gas in the tank and we still wanted to continue working. But it was what it was, and the further I got away from it, the more I thought, ‘It’s okay. We had 40 years. I’m tired of hanging around a hotel, being away from family and all of that stuff.’ And I felt that way for most of the last 10 years, really. I thought we had a great legacy, and it’s okay.
“Then [Geddy] came along and had some big ideas. And we talked and we started playing. And then I realized that I love it so much — I love playing so much. And I’ve continued, over these last years, doing other projects and still playing a lot. But when we sat down and started playing some of the Rush stuff and I realized how hard it was to play these songs… When you do it every day for 40 years, it’s not a big deal, really, you’re used to it.
“But when you’re away from it and you are a little more objective about the intense complexity of the music and the feel and the nuances and all the things that go into making a Rush song and performance, to be challenged with that again was really, really exciting. And the more we started rehearsing and playing, the more I just fell in love with the idea of playing again.”
Lee continued, explaining how it was hard to even conceive ever playing without Peart. Yet the bug caught them once again after a special tribute event that took place a while ago.
“It was a very difficult decision on many levels, first of all, because what it entails in terms of work, but also what had transpired. Losing a member like Neil, it was devastating and it was a very sad time, and it took time for us to even contemplate it. I mean, this is a relatively recent decision. And I would say it was kind of out of the question for the longest time because of those circumstances. And how do you replace someone who’s irreplaceable?
“So, we would joke about it sometimes, and Al was doing other things, I was writing books and something happened in the last couple of years that brought us back to jamming in the studio. He would come over, drink my coffee, hang around, we would jam and we would laugh. And then one day — I don’t know why — we started playing some Rush songs for fun. And God, we were laughing so hard and we were enjoying it so much. And it was almost like playing those songs dispelled the dark clouds.
“It was not an easy decision to come to, and this is really the first time we’re talking about it out loud in front of other people. So, yeah, it feels right, and we’re gonna do it.”
As for how they went on to choose Nilles as their drummer for this run of dates, Lee said he came across her while talking with someone he trusted.
“I haven’t talked about this before, but… So, my bass tech Skully [John McIntosh] was working with Jeff Beck. He was on tour with him for a few years. And on the last tour he was playing with this drummer named Anika Nilles — an incredible drummer. And he would come home, he would rave about her, what a brilliant player she was and great person, and blah, blah, blah. So I kind of looked her up. And she’s all over YouTube. She’s fairly well known in her own world of music. And then we started talking about playing again.
“I said to Al, I said, ‘Check her out. Maybe that’s an interesting way to go.’ And so one thing led to another, and when we made the decision we wanted to see if it would work, what’s it like to play with another drummer — we’d had that experience, of course, at the Taylor Hawkins tributes [in September 2022]. So we know how difficult it is — no matter who the drummer is, they all have their own perception of what it’s like to play a Rush song, and they may not line up with the way we play Rush songs.
“So whoever we were going to choose was going to be difficult and there’s going to be like a translation. And so we very secretly brought Anika to Canada. And it wasn’t an audition, ’cause at that point we weren’t really sure that we were going to tour. It was all an experiment. Anyway, I’m very happy to say that she is fantastic to play with. And we’ve had now a number of sessions with her and we are going to go on the road with her.
“I think she’s a remarkable story. And she’s much younger than us… And I like that, that she came to Rush music without any preconceptions. It also made it very difficult, ’cause we had to explain nuances and work on subtleties, and she had to really try to get into Neil’s headspace and his feel. A lot of drummers can play Neil’s drum fills, but to combine that with the feel of those songs, so that it feels the way you guys wanna hear those songs, that’s work — that requires work. And so she’s winning.”
