Three Rush Fans and Rush's 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar

Three Rush fans — a father, a son, and Spartacus — walk into a podcast. There’s no punchline, just the tape rolling on a conversation that was going to happen anyway, and you get to be the fly on the wall. Two of them just flew home from LA, where they stood in the room and watched Rush kick off the tour nobody was sure would ever come. The third has been taking it all in from a distance, which is its own peculiar thing when you once mixed front of house for the band for years. You’ll get the origin stories — a kite-flying contest in early-seventies St. Louis, an R40 playlist that turned a kid into a lifer — plus enough on the drummer question (yes, Anika Nilles) and show-count stats to earn the Rush-nerd badge none of them will quite cop to.

Then it gets real. This is a band that fans and insiders alike once quietly accepted was finished, now back out there proving otherwise, and that turns the talk toward something bigger than setlists. You get to do this. Whether it’s thousands of people or a Tuesday night for a dozen, that gratitude is the whole game — the reason to Always Be Performing no matter how rough the bus ride was. Stick around for a ten-year-old’s perfectly timed gut check that still lands two decades later. Press play, and join Lucas Hamilton, Robert Scovill, and Dave Hamilton for a tour through the opening of Rush’s comeback — from inside the room, and from afar.

• 00:00:00 Gig Gab 538 – Monday, June 15th, 2026
  • June 15th: British Beer Day
  • Guest co-hosts: Lucas Hamilton and Robert Scovill
• 00:02:46 Rush Stats
  • All three co-hosts have seen Rush live with 2 drummers
  • Lucas and Anika are tied for Rush shows… as of this recording
• 00:04:39 Robert Scovill was living in St. Louis when he saw Rush with Rutsey
  • KC Kite Flying Contest
• 00:07:31 Lucas’s Rush origin story
• 00:08:31 About that whole live concert sound thing
  • Spoiler: Rush always sounded good
• 00:11:02 Favorite Rush heirlooms
• 00:13:55 I want a Red Barchetta for my midlife crisis
  • Rush 2026 Tour started with 12 dates
• 00:16:02 That opening song, that opening night
  • Rick Beato’s Breakdown of Xanadu
• 00:23:40 Anika Nilles’ dropped stick recovery
  • Getting the first mistake out of the way moments into the first song of Rush’s 2026 Reunion tour
• 00:27:21 Time Stand Still for those emotional moments
• 00:33:11 Lights and video for 2112 – in the cave!
• 00:34:00 Singing 2112: Presentation at the tops of our lungs
• 00:38:50 Moving Pictures to open night 3 set 2
• 00:40:13 Loren Gold’s keys and vocal harmonies
  • And Geddy Lee’s voice, too!
• 00:44:29 The composition of YYZ
  • Alex Lifeson is the most underrated guitarist in rock and roll
• 00:45:48 Anika Nilles is just a star
• 00:49:25 Anika grooving during A Passage to Bangkok
• 00:52:22 The physicality of playing Rush music
  • The wisdom of days off in between shows for the entire Rush Fifty Something tour
• 00:57:41 You know what we get to do today? We get to go play music in front of thousands of people!
  • This is the best job on earth
• 01:01:23 Who is Spartacus?
• 01:03:33 Gig Gab 538 Outtro
  • Follow Lucas Hamilton
    • On Instagram
  • Follow Robert Scovill
    • On Facebook
    • On Instagram
    • On LinkedIn
    • RobertScovill.com (where you’ll find The Back Lounge)
  • Contact Gig Gab!
    • @GigGabPodcast on Instagram
    • feedback@giggabpodcast.com
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