Rush rocked the US Capitol this past week, playing a pair of shows at Washington DC's Capital One Arena on Sunday and Tuesday respectively. Rush now heads to New England where they'll play a couple of shows at Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena starting this evening and on Sunday before heading to the southern US where they'll play a total of 4 shows in Florida starting next Thursday; two at Miami's Hard Rock Live and then a pair at Tampa's Benchmark International Arena. After the Mohegan Sun shows, Rush's Fifty Something tour will have surpassed the half-way mark - 46 shows down, 46 to go - the bulk of which will occur next year in South America and Europe. As far as North America goes, there are only A DOZEN (!!) more US shows left after Mohegan Sun over the next month, and then the North American tour closes out with 4 shows back in the homeland of Canada in mid-December. The band continues to alternate between the many variations of their B(ravo) setlist on night 1 (featuring 2112 in full), and just the one C(harlie) setlist on night 2 (featuring Moving Pictures in full) over their 2-show runs in each city. Each 2-show city has seen a different version of the B set performed, while the night 2 crowds have been treated to the same version of the C set. There's also one song that they seem to have dropped completely from the rotation - Leave That Thing Alone. They last played it in Toronto, and have not dusted it off for any show since. The only exceptions to the B-C rotations have been the one-off shows in Houston, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. All of those shows got treated to a version of the special, G(orgo) set that includes BOTH 2112 and Moving Pictures in full. If you want to dig deep into the setlists for the tour, check out rushtourstats.com.

Earlier this week Rolling Stone Canada posted a new video interview with Rush drummer Anika Nilles that was taken from their massive Rush cover story from this past summer. Since the feature was first released, they've posted video interviews with Geddy and Alex together, all three members together, and now it's Anika's turn for a solo interview. In the 20-minute interview, Anika chats with Rolling Stone senior writer Brian Hiatt about conquering the toughest gig in rock; playing drums for Rush. She explains that getting there meant not just learning the late Neil Peart's parts, but digging deep into the essence of his feel. Nilles also looks back at her early days, digs into the details of learning Rush's music, talks about her earliest encounters with Peart's playing, and more. Here she is discussing how she had to change her technique to tackle Rush's drum parts:

... I love to be challenged. So for me, it was just like I wanted to make it right. I was up to let go of what I have studied for so many years to improve my own style and my own character on the drums to make them feel good and feel at home in their own music. And when that means I have to let go of certain things which I trained on for many years to be perfect in that, but it doesn't fit to the music, then that's the task. So I do that. And by that I learned so many things [for] my own playing at the same time, which I can in the end, after this, I can put everything together. I think that makes me an even better musician in the end. ...

You can check out the entire video below or on YouTube, and there's also this print version.

Rush and Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs have an extensive Rush reissue series in the works, where they will be releasing audiophile versions of Rush's Mercury-era catalog over the next few years. The first batch of titles includes Rush's debut album (Hybrid SACD, 2 LP), Fly by Night (Hybrid SACD, 2 LP) and A Farewell to Kings (Hybrid SACD, 2 LP) with all 3 titles now available for purchase on vinyl; only Fly By Night is currently available on SACD. Ecoustics.com got their hands on a copy of the A Farewell to Kings One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set, and posted this review, giving it 5/5 stars. Rush plans to release a total of 11 albums over the next 2 years or so; the first time that the band's complete Mercury catalog has been issued as dedicated standalone audiophile editions. All titles will be available as hybrid SACDs and on vinyl, with many of the latter available in their UltraDisc One-Step format or as double LP sets. Following the first 3 titles, the remaining albums, beginning with 1975's Caress of Steel and concluding with 1985's Power Windows will arrive in 2027 and 2028.

The latest episode of the Something for Nothing podcast features a discussion on the new Neil Peart documentary No One's Disciple. You can listen to the show below or wherever you get your podcasts:

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend and a Happy Halloween everyone!!!