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!