Review and setlists: Rush celebrates 50 years of music with a rousing three-hour Tampa show
Review and setlists: Rush celebrates 50 years of music with a rousing three-hour Tampa show
Mark Katches Tue, November 10, 2026 at 6:31 AM UTC
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Rush singer-bassist Geddy Lee performs during their “Fifty Something Tour” at Benchmark International Arena on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026 in Tampa. ©Dirk Shadd
Double-neck guitars slung around both their shoulders, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson emerged from clouds of dry ice Monday at Benchmark International Arena as the curtain rose, marking the start of another Rush show.
The Canadian Progressive Rock heroes summoned atmospheric sounds of a different time and place with the opening bars of “Xanadu.”
Are those whales crying in some distant ocean? Or is this the song aliens might sing as they open the hatch door? It doesn’t feel like the music of land-dwelling mortals. That much is certain.
It occurs to me that we’re all arriving at some idyllic, magnificent place together. And there simply is no band better than Rush to take you there.
A jam-packed arena rose in unison and remained standing for most of the two-set, three-plus hour performance.
Lifeson and Lee are master craftsmen who have created unique, complex and ever-interesting soundscapes for more than 50 years. And they can ratchet up the volume with the best of them.
Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, left, and singer-bassist Geddy Lee play their dual neck guitars as they performs on stage during the Rush “Fifty Something Tour” at Benchmark International Arena on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026 in Tampa.
The first of a two-night stand in Tampa was filled with images and memories of their late drummer Neil Peart, a key architect of the band’s signature sound.
Lee wasted no time declaring the evening a tribute to “The great Neil Peart.”
“We will do our best, as we try every night, to pay tribute to that man — long overdue and so well deserved,” Lee said.
Rush has maintained a huge following with its fantastical storytelling, brilliant musicianship and Lee’s patented high-register falsetto. Lee and Lifeson, both 73, met in junior high school in Toronto 60 years ago, a couple of misfits and jokers who shared the same tastes in music.
Later in the show, Lee recalled the band’s introduction to Peart, who arrived for his first audition after the band’s original drummer quit. He pulled up in an ugly brown Pinto, Lee recalled, with short hair. He toted his entire drum kit in garbage bags. Then the magic happened.
Rush drummer Anika Nilles performs on stage during the Rush “Fifty Something Tour” at Benchmark International Arena on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026 in Tampa.
All the stories, mostly relayed by Lee, were warm and touching. But the greatest tribute to Peart the band could offer was the exacting musicianship of German drummer Anika Nilles.
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Rush fans are loyal. Most need a calculator to tell you how many times they’ve seen the band live. (One Tampa fan told me that Monday marked his 44th Rush show.) And Peart will always be worshipped by the faithful. On every credible list, he ranks among the top five drummers of all-time. Recreating his sound is a tall order, and this whole thing could have gone sideways in a really big hurry. (Think Phil Collins filling in disastrously for the late John Bonham during a Led Zeppelin reunion at Live Aid.)
Since the opening night in June, Nilles — mostly obscured behind a massive drum kit — has been embraced by diehard fans because she’s so dang good. She was the picture of concentration, flashing her biggest smile of the night after completing the sweeping machine gun drum fills on “Tom Sawyer” to close the second set.
The band has added Loren Gold on keyboards. In its prime, Rush was famous for its ability to do everything live as a trio. That meant Lee multi-tasked like nobody’s business, singing his trademark vocals while thumping on his bass and using his feet to manipulate synthesizer pedals. He still can do most everything. And he still manages to hit unfathomable notes. But Gold helps complete the Rush sound. Before this year, Rush hadn’t performed as a quartet since the early 1970s before Peart had joined.
I had only two small issues Monday. First, the band didn’t play “Closer to the Heart,” which has been regularly featured on this tour. And second, the vocal mix at times generated just enough echo to make it hard to hear the words Lee was singing. That was particularly evident on the beautiful “The Garden,” which Lee introduced as one of the best songs Peart had ever written.
Peart stepped away in 2015 at the conclusion of Rush’s 40th anniversary tour — the last time the band had played in Tampa. Three years later, Lifeson confirmed what everyone suspected: Rush was finished, at least for now. The band had no desire to continue without their drummer, lyricist and friend. By then Peart was already battling cancer. He died six years ago.
But in the world of entertainment, nothing is over until it’s over for everyone. And Lifeson and Lee decided to go back on the road. Their “Fifty Something” tour started in Los Angeles in June with 44 North American dates. They’ll take it international in 2027 with 48 more announced shows.
Why do it? Because it’s the reason they were put on this earth. They obviously love playing together. And legions of adoring fans pay top dollar to see performances this grand. For Lee and Lifeson, nothing about the evening looked or felt like work.
You should go back and watch the YouTube video of a 17-year-old Lifeson explaining to his parents around the kitchen table that he was dropping out of high school to pursue music. He had gigs lined up to pay $80 a night. “And that’s all right with me,” he tells his disapproving mother and father. “I don’t want to make a bunch of money.”
Glad he didn’t listen to reason.
Set 1
“Xanadu”
“The Spirit of Radio”
“The Analog Kid”
“Freewill”
“Subdivisions”
“Bravado”
“La Villa Strangiato”
“Caravan”
“The Trees”
“Limelight”
Set 2
“2112 Part I: Overture”
2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx”
“2112 Part III: Discovery”
“2112 Part IV: Presentation”
“2112 Part V: Oracle: The Dream”
“2112: Part VI: Soliloquy”
“2112: Part VII: Grand Finale”
“Animate”
“A Passage to Bangkok“
“Time Stand Still”
“YYZ”
“Anthem”
“Red Barchetta”
“The Garden”
“Tom Sawyer”
Encore:
“Finding My Way”
“Working Man”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
