Let's try this again! Rush was supposed to kick off their 4-night stand at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas this past Wednesday night, but the US/Mexico border had other plans:
Due to unforeseen travel and border-related delays impacting our touring production following our recent Mexico City tour dates, tonight's show in Fort Worth at Dickies Arena has been rescheduled for Thursday, July 2. ...
As far as what exactly occurred, the details are still sketchy, with a few conflicting reports online, and a lot of theories. But suffice it to say that it sounds like it was a fairly minor logistical issue, having more to do with increased border security and new protocols rather than any negligence on the part of the band or crew. Tickets for the show are still good for the July 2nd reschedule, and refunds were issued to those who can't make it. The bigger issue was all the fans left in the lurch after spending money on hotels, travel and taking off time from work. They made the best of it though, with many fans gathering at the Fort Worth Stockyards and other local joints to commiserate on the canceled show, share Rush stories and have a few drinks. All that said, the band and their gear are now safely in the US, and tonight's show is on! Outside of the border issues and a couple of late starts due to the World Cup, Rush's long-awaited return to Mexico last week was a huge success. Mexico City fans were treated to the whole of Moving Pictures on the 1st night, and 2112 in its entirety on Saturday night, along with many other highlights, playing around 32 of the 38 songs they had performed over the 4-night stand in LA. One item of note however, was the absence of any tourbooks at the merch stands; apparently they didn't have any available at the shows due to production issues. From what we know, the LA tourbooks include tour rehearsal photos and were a one-off exclusive for LA. The standard tourbooks were supposed to include photos from the LA shows, so I imagine the tight timeframe (and possibly issues at the border) caused the delay, and they should have them available for tonight's show. Despite the lack of tourbooks, they did have some great merch available, including an exclusive World Cup t-shirt available only at the Mexico City shows. The band posted several photos and video clips to social media following the shows:
After the band's 4-night stint in Fort Worth ends next Thursday, the tour machine will take a long, 2-week break before picking things up again in Chicago for yet another 4-night residency. We'll have another open thread for that show later today.
The RushRash podcast aired a show this past week where they reflect on the band's first run of shows in LA, with the help of Rush insiders Jillian Maryonovich (RushCon), Ed Toth (The Doobie Brothers), Greg Russell (Mr. Peart's Friend, Drummer Natural Science, and Xcitelabs Director), and John Patuto (Cygnus-X1.net). You can check out the discussion below or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Something for Nothing podcast also dropped an episode this past week where they reflect on Rush's 4 LA shows with Mark Irwin, who attended all 4 of the shows. You can listen to that episode below or wherever you get your podcasts:
And in other podcast-related news, a new episode of the Why Rush Matters podcast also dropped this past week, where hosts Jeff and Ray discuss the first run of shows, Ray's first-person recollections of nights 1 and 2 in Los Angeles, the incredible grace under pressure exhibited by Anika Nilles, the Xanadu VIP Lounge (Ray was the host for the 1st 2 shows), and the abundant surprises in the setlists so far. You can check out that episode below, or on YouTube.
Just like the band themselves, RushCon is returning for 2026 after a decade-long hiatus. RushCon 2026 will take place in its traditional home of Toronto later this summer over the weekend of August 7-9, coinciding with the band's hometown tour stops. And last week they announced some exciting new guests for the festivities to fill the slot they had for Nick Raskulinecz, who had to cancel. The trio of new guests are the 3 actors that appear in Rush's new Xanadudes tour intro video. Kate, Taylor, and David will be on hand to share their stories and experience of shooting with the band as seen in this Instagram post. The festivities will begin Friday evening with a welcome party and pre-show hangout at The Loose Moose. The main event will take place on Saturday at The El Mocambo with games, contests, guest speakers, and more, along with a Sunset Boat Cruise in the Toronto Harbor in the evening. Sunday will include a closing party and pre-show hangout at Henderson Brewing. You can get all the details and purchase tickets at RushCon.org. This won't be the only RushCon event on the tour however; they'll also be hosting a Madison Square Garden pre-show party on Saturday August 1st - the day of the 3rd of 4 MSG shows - with tickets available here. The event will take place at The Rutherford with exact timing TBD.
As many Rush fans are now aware, in a tragic twist of fate, Neil Peart's good friend and motorcycle riding partner Michael Mosbach has been diagnosed with Glioblastoma - the same type of cancer that took Neil Peart and his younger brother Danny. Michael doesn't have health insurance, so a GoFundMe has been set up to help. Michael had surgery early in the month to remove the tumor and is recovering. Here is the latest update:
MAJOR UPDATE: Michael has been officially diagnosed with a Grade 4 Glioblastoma IDH-Wildtype brain tumor. He made it through the surgery but now the long road to recovery is our main concern. He needs us now more than ever for his treatment and to help him be as comfortable as possible. This unexpected event began while visiting us in New Jersey. The tumor was removed June 2nd at an excellent local hospital. But much more treatment is critically necessary. Michael, as many of you may know, was Neil Peart's longtime friend and head of security for RUSH. Many of you knew him as "Praetorian" on tour. Funds will go towards his full-time care, relocation costs, care for his beloved dog Jones, and a multitude of yet unknown costs. He has given so much to this community. Now he needs us. Please join us in helping Michael at this incredibly difficult time! We thank you in advance for your generosity. FYI, Maureen is Michael's sister and will be coordinating his recovery needs.
The New York Times online game Connections had a Rush-related clue for this past Wednesday's puzzle. The idea of the game is to find connections between 4 of 16 things listed out in a grid of tiles. Four of the tiles were Rush, Genesis, Yes and King Crimson - which when grouped together formed a PROG BANDS connection as seen in the screenshots as described in this lifehacker.com article. They had a similar clue for a puzzle a few years back - where Rush, Genesis, Yes, and Kansas were the connection for CLASSIC ROCK BANDS. This one even got the attention of Rush themselves, who posted it their Instagram story.
That's all for this week. Rush rocks Texas tonight! Enjoy the show everyone!!
