Meet Anika Nilles, RUSH's New Drummer

[themechanic]

https://youtube.com/@anykmusic?si=ZYBI340sc4BTIPnw

 

[themechanic]

This is pretty good.

 

[Davefinan]

Neil peart will be a tough act to follow , I hope they pull it off .
They seemed to be one of the few groups where the members truly liked each other.

 

[Ron_M]

Let's hope this supergroup gets the broadcast radio airplay they will deserve.

 

[themechanic]

She toured with one of the few remaining guitar legends a few years ago with Jeff Beck. So, Anika can definitely play progrock. RUSH shouldn't be a problem.

 

[SlingLow]

She's got the chops. As a fellow drummer - at a much lower level - I can say that she's not going to play Neil Peart, she'll be playing Rush. The main goal will be to play their songs at a level that doesn't disappoint her colleagues and the listeners. She's got this!

As an aside, my bands never played Rush songs, not because of the difficulty of the music, but because no one could sing like Geddy. Oh yeah, and the difficulty of the music.

 

[themechanic]

She's got the chops. As a fellow drummer - at a much lower level - I can say that she's not going to play Neil Peart, she'll be playing Rush. The main goal will be to play their songs at a level that doesn't disappoint her colleagues and the listeners. She's got this!

As an aside, my bands never played Rush songs, not because of the difficulty of the music, but because no one could sing like Geddy. Oh yeah, and the difficulty of the music.

Even Geddy can't sing like younger Geddy.

 

[Triplegreen500]

Even Geddy can't sing like younger Geddy.

Very true. I saw them a couple years before Neil died, Geddy's vocals were rough. As a sound guy, they were beyond even what burying them in FX could do to help. They need to step everything down to match his more limited range.

Still a great show...but his vox were distractingly rough.

 

[#41]

Neil peart will be a tough act to follow , I hope they pull it off .
They seemed to be one of the few groups where the members truly liked each other.

Lesser known fact is that they split all royalties and expenses three ways no matter the members contribution. It really was a three-way partnership of friends and never having money come between them probably went a long way in keeping it that way. Plus, of course, they are the typical nice, polite Canadian boys.

As far as Anika goes.... I'v read that some people are upset that Portnoy did not join them (because he is very good, AND a huge Peart disciple), but she looks like a great fit to me. I watched a couple of her vids and she actually reminds me a lot of Peart. I was impressed. Ged and Alex, having worked with the best rock drummer of all time for 40 years.... I don't think questioning their decision has much merit. They know exactly what they are doing.

My only hope at this point is that their old bones hold up and they decide to expand their tour into my neck of the woods. I have seen every tour since Permanent Waves (1980), and it would be a pleasure to see them one last time ... or more!

 

[davek]

The only drummer that I thought came close to Neil Peart was a kid called the Rev from Avenged Sevenfold, Jimmy Sullivan passed 2009

 

[themechanic]

They could have hired the drummer from this cover band to sing the high notes for Geddy. I don’t see how anyone can sing lead and play drums.

 

[themechanic]

This is a good showcase of her talent with a few clips of her talking sprinkled throughout.

 

[davek]

I would like to see her play La Villa Strangiato, that will show me if she can hack it.

​

 

[gtx6970]

This is pretty good.

She better be, She has some huge shoes to fill

 

[gtx6970]

Ive not seen anything from Rush in several years
He has a unique voice that would be hard to cover and sound right

Then again, not many today sound like they did back in the day

On a side note. I saw Tom Keefer a few weeks back
HE ROCKED it bigtime And sure sounded like he did when I saw Cinderella back in the 80s
Saw Steve Miller as opening group for Def Leppard last year.
BOTH bands sounded amazing . I want to see SM again only in a smaller venue

 

[Davefinan]

O

This is a good showcase of her talent with a few clips of her

Yeah she is good. I wonder if anyone else heard of the young lady drummer from Germany by the name of Sina. You can google Sina-drums and see her do covers of many songs. She’s good too.

 

[#41]

They could have hired the drummer from this cover band to sing the high notes for Geddy. I don’t see how anyone can sing lead and play drums.

Wow, they sound great!

Honestly, I think Geddy dropped a key 20 years ago on most songs sung live. Some of his early stuff can be a little shrill even for this ultra-Rush fan. I think he was/is a better singer in the second half of his career than first half.

 

[Sahara]

I was fortunate to see them on the tour for the 2112 album. I wish her all the best but I think Mike Portnoy would have been a better fit.

 

[Sahara]

The only drummer that I thought came close to Neil Peart was a kid called the Rev from Avenged Sevenfold, Jimmy Sullivan passed 2009

*** edit*** I checked, he is in fact the drummer on the song.
I saw Avenged Sevenfold a few years ago and really liked them. I don’t know a lot of their history; was the guy you mentioned the drummer on the song Bat Country? Whoever did the drumming on that was certainly next level. If any of you aren’t familiar with the song check out the drumming on it. And if you’re a Hunter S. Thompson fan you should recognize a lot of the imagery in the video.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Some of his early stuff can be a little shrill even for this ultra-Rush fan. career than first half.

Some?