“That’s when we looked at each other in the studio and went, ‘Yep, we have a real problem, because now we have a drummer and we’re going to make a commitment.'”
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reflected on their last-minute deliberations on whether to return as Rush, noting how recruiting Anika Nilles for the cause had forced them to make a decision.
With the Rush reunion tour now in full swing, the initial reactions are confirming that Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee were right in their decision to return to the stage. In its review of the tour’s second show, Rolling Stone is already calling “Fifty Something” a “rock miracle”; MOJO called it “an epic comeback,” while Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy admitted he couldn’t hold back tears at the sight of Lifeson, Lee, and their new drummer Anika Nilles paying homage to the late and great Neil Peart.
Speaking of Nilles, the Los Angeles Times called the June 7 opening show at LA’s Kia Forum a “coronation of sorts — for 43-year-old German percussionist Anika Nilles, sitting on Peart’s throne.”
Rush On Last-Minute Deliberations Over Staging a Comeback With Anika Nilles: ‘What the Fuck are We Doing?’
Rush’s road to such a triumphant comeback wasn’t smooth. It included “a lot of gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands” over whether to stage a comeback at all, and “twisting [themselves] into a pretzel” in an attempt to come up with a different name (before scrapping that idea), not to mention Anika Nilles’ daunting task of perfecting what one of the best-loved drum repertoires in all of prog.
Another moment of terrifying clarity ensued after the initial rehearsal sessions, when Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee saw there was potential in Nilles but also realized what they were getting themselves into. Lee told Guitar World in a new interview:
“[Alex Lifeson] came over, and I said, ‘What do you think?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know. What do you think?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. What the fuck are we doing?'”
He added:
“There was a sliver of doubt. Her technique was incredible. She nailed the fills, [but] there’s a lot more to playing a Rush song than the fills. It’s the feel. It’s the nuances. Our music is idiosyncratic, and that takes time.”
Alex Lifeson on Anika Nilles: ‘It Wasn’t Until the Last Day That She Blossomed’
In the few years preceding the reunion, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have had the chance to revisit Rush classics via events like the 2022 Taylor Hawkins tribute.
Every time they’d play with a new drummer who wasn’t Neil Peart, there had to be “an adjustment,” Lee noted. Towards the end of their sessions with Anika Nilles, however, Lee noted how it became clear that Nilles was probably the one:
“But we just weren’t sure because this was all new to us. So we went to that last day with an open mind. And song after song, she killed it. She understood all those little things that Alex and I had been telling her all week, processed them, and delivered.”
“That’s when we looked at each other in the studio and went, ‘Yep, we have a real problem, because now we have a drummer and we’re going to make a commitment.'”
Lifeson added:
“There was something that was just not quite there. It wasn’t really until the last day that suddenly she sort of blossomed and understood better what we were kind of looking for or going after.”
You can check out upcoming “Fifty Something” tour dates on Rush’s website