Outside of the music itself, one of the highlights of any Rush tour in recent years has been the hilarious backdrop videos. From the Tom Sawyer South Park Lil' Rush video (resurrected for this tour as well), Roll the Bones celebrity rap video, Harry Satchel, RASH, and countless others, Rush's tour videos are always fun and entertaining. Rush's Fifty Something tour features a new opening video titled Xanadudes which follows 3 characters who visit a haunted mansion in search of Rush, with all sorts of Rush Easter eggs scattered throughout. The 3 characters all seem to be representations of Geddy, Alex and Anika and are played by Canadian actors David Spence ("Geddy"), Kate Hargrave Murray ("Anika") and Taylor S. Gokyilmaz ("Alex"). The 3 were recently interviewed for MetalTalk.net, where they describe how they got the gig, the secrecy behind it, and how they are handling the newfound fame. From the interview:
... David had only recently started acting when the audition came through. "I started with Strutt Central, and I had auditioned for this role. It was called Project X. It was a very secretive role. My agency told me they couldn't tell me too much about it, but it was going to be a major band, a Canadian band, and it would be live in front of a 50,000-person audience. "So obviously, I was very eager to get involved with it. Jules from Jules Casting and Dale, the director, liked my audition tape enough to put me in there, which I'm so grateful for, and that was kind of how it went about." And when he met the band? "I had to lean on the wall," David laughs, "so I didn't fall over when I shook Alex's hand." ...
You can check out the entire interview online at this location, and if you want to meet David, Kate and Taylor, they were recently announced as new special guests for RushCon, which 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. 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.
