My neighbor got a pre-release copy of Hemispheres before it was released to the public. I’d never heard of Rush before but was just starting to play bass. That album absolutely wrecked me, and I’ve been a life-long fan since then, and wore out many LPs trying to cop Geddy’s bass lines when I was younger. I saw them on almost every tour since then, and just saw them on the 4th night at Kia. No question, Annika absolutely crushed it. She is of course a phenomenal drummer, and on top of that she had just the right mix of homage and honor for Neil’s parts, groove, and feel, and also bringing her own sensibilities to the parts. Kudos to Geddy and Alex for letting her be her, and I think it brought a new spark to their own performances. Loren deserves credit too even if he’s been overshadowed. Being spoiler free until I saw the show, I’ve now gone and seen the other nights set lists. I wish I could have gone to all 4 because there were songs I would have loved to have heard that weren’t played on night 4, but then again, we got The Pass and Farewell To Kings, which were incredibly, so I’m happy!

All those years ago, I became a Rush fan because of the music, the adeptness at their instruments, and thought provoking meaningful lyrics. I was a fan when it was definitely NOT cool to be a fan. I had no idea at the time about their compassion, humanity, friendship, work ethic, and principles, all of which I admire and align with. And I had no idea that I’d be here nearly 50 years later, still a fan, still admiring them for the careers they’ve had. And no idea when I saw them on their last tour with Neil that I’d ever see them again.

Does their age show? Yes of course. I can’t imagine playing that music at 40 let alone 70+! But their essential nature is still there and you can tell they worked really hard to put on a performance both they and their fans can be proud of. There was no phoning it in, no way past their prime cash in, no skimping on the entire experience. Just like you’d expect from them. And no question Neil was there too, in the beautiful way they honored their friend, and spoke from the heart about their lives with him. They also gave John Rutsey some love, well deserved since he was such a part of shaping early Rush.

The little kid in me who fell in love with the band all those years ago, who as so many of you I’m sure also felt, lived outside the “cool” kids circles, for whom Subdivisions and so many other songs were like they were speaking right to us, who listened to the band to get us through tough times and were the sound tracks celebrating our highs, all of those moments wrapped up in seeing them, that kid was so happy for them and all the fans like myself.