The New York Times published a new article (subscription required) earlier this week on Rush's upcoming Fifty Something tour where they spoke with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson about Rush's reunion, the upcoming Fifty Something tour, how rehearsals are going, and new drummer Anika Nilles, who was also interviewed for the piece. The interviews took place in late March at Toronto's Barberian's steakhouse following one of the band's rehearsal sessions nearby:
... Throughout the afternoon, Rush tore through around 11 of the 38 songs the band is relearning, the titles all a closely guarded secret. Between takes, the musicians prioritized rapid-fire comic banter. ("That song has so many words," Lee mock-groaned after one rendition. "This guitar has so many strings," Alex Lifeson, also 72, and Lee's best friend and bandmate of around 60 years, deadpanned back.) The next day, during an extended sit-down along with Lifeson at Barberian's - a historic steakhouse in the band's Toronto hometown where Lee's favorite booth features a small gold badge bearing his birth name, Gershon Weinrib - Lee summed up Rush's M.O. "The way we work best is to be intense and pay attention to detail," he said, "and then the minute the song is over, get as ridiculous as you can be." ...
Anika Nilles also shares some of her experience on how she became Rush's new drummer:
... Nilles, who found online fame in the early 2010s with tasteful playthroughs of her own jazz-fusion originals, had barely heard Rush before Skully tipped her off that Lee and Lifeson wanted to chat. (Growing up, her drumming hero was Jeff Porcaro, the Toto member and studio legend known for his sleek, hard-grooving style.) She crash-coursed on their music, then jumped on a Zoom while on tour in Germany, staying in a subpar hotel. "I'm having a call with the two most iconic guys in a really trash room," she recalled with a mortified laugh during a separate interview at Barberian's. They invited her to Toronto in the spring of 2025 to play a handful of Rush songs across five days. After the fourth day, Lee said, "There was a sliver of doubt," not about her overall abilities but about her grasp of the tiny nuances of Peart's style - as Lifeson put it, the "stuff in between all those big rolls." But, Lifeson added, "something clicked with her that when we rehearsed on the fifth day, she just nailed it." The official invite came at the end of the trip, but Nilles, 42, said she only really realized the magnitude of what she was stepping into on the flight home. "I had a sip of wine in the airplane," she said. "I flew over Toronto and I saw the skyline and everything. I was like, 'Crazy.'" ...
They also spoke separately with Neil Peart's widow Carrie Nuttall-Peart, who we learn will be writing an essay for the official tour program:
... [Nuttall-Peart] endorsed the run in a joint statement with their daughter, Olivia, and she will contribute an essay to the official program. In a video interview, Nuttall-Peart contrasted Lee and Lifeson's continued verve for live performance with a reluctance on Peart's part that developed near the end of his touring days, when Rush's standard of note-perfect three-hour shows - which Peart once likened to "running a marathon while solving equations" - was "really taking its toll physically," she said. "He was the one that was ready to retire, anyhow, and they really were not," she added. She also mentioned Rush's 1981 classic "Limelight," which frankly addressed Peart's conflicted relationship with fame. "'Limelight,' Olivia and I have always said, is Daddy's theme song," Nuttall-Peart said, "because he really did not enjoy being in the public eye and he was quite an introvert and it was hard on him touring." Speculating on how Peart might have reacted to Lee and Lifeson touring without him, she said she could imagine him asking, with good-natured exasperation, "Why?" "Or, 'You guys are just nuts,'" she said, laughing. "But in a loving way." ...
You can read the piece online here (bypass the paywall here).
Earlier this week, Rickenbacker unveiled a new custom Rickenbacker 4000V Bass that they had specially made for Geddy Lee to use on Rush's upcoming Fifty Something tour. From the Instagram post reveal:
Very special bass we made for Geddy Lee per his specs. Turquoise Blue finish with an unfinished neck and stringer. A true throwback to the earliest of the 4000 Series bass line. Look out for it on the upcoming Rush tour!
No Treble reached out to Rickenbacker and obtained a few more details about the bass, which they reveal in this article:
... "The Rickenbacker 4000V CB TB was handcrafted by Richard Cannata here at the Rickenbacker factory to Geddy Lee's requested specs," they write.
It harkens back to the company's earliest bass models while blending in aspects from throughout the years. The Turquoise Blue finish, originally offered on the late '50s combo series instruments, is accented with checkerboard binding around the body. Another notable throwback is the bridge, which is the 425 style with four saddles as found in the early 4000 and 4005 models. Custom acrylic mounts accommodate the uber cool bridge cover. Rickenbacker also used old-stock knurled knobs found on the 650 and 4004L instruments that were introduced in 1992.
The maple body is matched with a maple-and-walnut neck. Although most Rickenbacker basses would continue the finish from the body to the back of the neck, Lee requested it be unfinished with a stinger finish transition at the base of the neck. Its bound rosewood fingerboard holds 20 frets with Triangle Pearlescent inlays.
The 4000V CB TB is fitted with a Vintage Single Coil Toaster Top and a Bass Horseshoe pickup. Rather than volume and tone controls, Lee requested two volume knobs (one for each pickup) that are wired to a mono output. Other unique features include gold-painted plastics, a 33.25-inch scale, vintage spec ½" neck pickup spacing, and a Vintage spec cloth wiring harness. ...
Beauty influencer Alexis Page was recently interviewed for Fast & Loose as part of their Monday Mixtape feature. When asked, "What song have you listened to more than once this past week?", Page answered with this:
"Closer to the Heart" by Rush. I'm currently at my parents' house & my mom is a huge Rush head. I dug out her old records & it's all Rush this, Rush that ... she's been to like a million shows and I was raised on Rush. Maybe explains a lot, I don't know.
On this day 19 years ago (!!), back on May 1st, 2007, Rush released their 18th studio album - Snakes & Arrows. Six weeks later on June 13th they kicked off their tour in support of the album at Atlanta's HiFi Buys Amphitheatre. They opened the show with Limelight as seen in this fan-shot video, which also includes the opening video. Happy 19th anniversary Snakes & Arrows!!!
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!!
