Rush was supposed to be my first concert. Back in middle school, my friend Steve’s dad was supposed to get his company’s tickets for the Rush concert at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. Instead, he ended up with tickets for Missing Persons — a band my parents wouldn’t let me see because the singer had pink hair. That odd twist of fate meant I spent decades admiring Rush from afar, hearing endlessly about how incredible they were live in concert, but never actually experiencing it myself.
That finally changed this year when they announced their surprise reunion tour with Fort Worth being one of the original few tour stops.
The Hardest Ticket I’ve Ever Bought
This reunion tour was already unexpected, but getting tickets felt like a quest. The first two shows sold out before I could even get in the queue. When they added additional dates, I managed to snag seats on the side of the stage — last row, Geddy’s side. Not ideal sightlines, but at least we were in the building.
The Fort Worth run itself had already been chaotic. The first show of the stand was postponed due to equipment delays coming back from Mexico City. The second show went on as scheduled. Ours was the third show — also on schedule — and the fourth show after ours ended up postponed when Geddy Lee fell ill. So our night landed right between two disruptions, making it the calm center of a very turbulent week. You could feel the crowd’s gratitude that this particular show was happening exactly as planned.
A Father‑Son Tradition Continues
Seeing Rush in concert with Colton fit perfectly into our theme this year: legendary artists. Fogerty, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick, The Guess Who, Don Felder — and now Rush. Sharing these iconic acts with him has become one of the best parts of going to shows together. He’s a big fan of Moving Pictures (I bought him the deluxe vinyl a couple Christmases ago), so I knew this night would hit him in a special way.
A Hot Texas Evening and Some Killer Merch
It was a hot June Sunday and we arrived early as the parking can sometime be a little squirrely at Dickies. On the way into the arena we encountered the Rush merch trailer. Their merch trailer had Fort Worth‑specific shirts that were too good to pass up: Dickies Arena on the front with a longhorn skull, the Rush pandemic symbol inside it, and the Rush logo above. The back had the Texas outline in flag colors with the 2112 “Starman” logo and the phrase “Y’all the World’s a Stage.” Below that were the original concert dates — a perfect souvenir for a memorable night in Fort Worth.
The Concert Crowd: A Rush Microcosm
Unlike some of the other shows we’ve seen this year, the Rush concert crowd spanned generations. Vintage tour shirts everywhere. Younger fans. Older fans. Families. People who clearly hadn’t missed a Rush tour in decades. The energy was high even before the lights dropped.
The Rush Humor: Mythology Meets Comedy
When the lights finally went down, the place erupted. This was one of the original stops on the reunion tour, and you could feel the excitement.
The intro video was classic Rush: the Xanadude bit with Jason Segel and Paul Rudd, South Park’s Little Rush, and cameos from Geddy and Alex. The crowd absolutely lost it when Geddy appeared in his cameo— a perfect blend of humor and nostalgia that set the tone for the night. Frankly, I didn’t realize one of the kids was Alex Lifeson.
The Music: A Legendary Band Still Delivering
Rush has always been known for varying their setlist from show to show, and we got a strong one. The opening run included Spirit of Radio, Freewill, Subdivisions set the tone immediately.
For me, the highlight was hearing Tom Sawyer live. It’s one of those songs that’s so iconic, so ingrained in rock history, that finally experiencing it in person felt surreal. It was almost as good as the Little Rush version by Cartman and friends in the opening video!
We didn’t get Distant Early Warning, one of my favorites, which they played the night before, but the visuals for The Trees, Limelight (with the owl), Passage to Bangkok (with a psychedelic train), and Red Barchetta were fantastic.
The 2112 suite was a major moment for the crowd. I enjoyed it even though I wasn’t familiar with the music.
Annika Niiles Steps Into an Impossible Role
Being on the side of the stage, we didn’t have the best view of Annika Niiles, but she sounded great. Filling Neal Peart’s shoes is an impossible task, yet she handled it with confidence and precision. She didn’t try to imitate him — she honored the parts while bringing her own feel.
This summer she was on of several women drummers that we have seen with Adam Ant and Franz Ferdinand both featuring women drummers and of course Cherise with Simple Minds last summer was great as well.
Neal Peart: Present Even in His Absence
There were two video tributes to Neal, and both were emotional. Geddy spoke about him from the stage, acknowledging how essential he was to the band’s identity and writing. The crowd responded with huge applause; a shared moment of gratitude for a drummer who changed rock music forever.
During intermission, a Nixie Tube countdown ticked toward 21:12 — a clever, touching nod to Rush mythology.
Geddy and Alex: Joy on Stage
Even from the side, you could see the chemistry. A couple of times they jammed together at center stage, smiling, feeding off each other, clearly enjoying being back in front of fans. Geddy sounded surprisingly strong and still hit the high notes, which was impressive. He was constantly busy — bass, keyboards, vocals — but never looked strained. Alex rotated through guitars and looked like he was having a blast. There was also a touring keyboardist that played on several songs.
The Encore and One Last Laugh
The encore kicked off with Finding My Way and Working Man, two early Rush classics that were a nod to the band’s roots. Even after a long night, the crowd was still fully locked in — singing, shouting, and savoring every last minute.
And just when we thought the night was over, Rush gave us one final treat: another Xanadudes video. It was the perfect capstone — funny, self‑aware, and unmistakably Rush. The crowd roared, and it sent everyone out of Dickies Arena smiling. Frankly, Jason Segal and Paul Rudd need their own movie together.
A Night Worth the Wait
After decades of near‑misses, ticket drama, and watching the first Fort Worth show postponed before ours, finally seeing Rush felt incredibly special. Even better, I got to share it with Colton.
Even though Fort Worth was the third stop of the reunion tour, this particular night felt like its own milestone: a crowd that spanned generations, a band embracing its history, humor, and legacy, a drummer honoring the past while carving her own place, and a father and son checking off one of the greats together. Rush didn’t disappoint. I’m really glad I finally got to see them.
