Thursday’s Gordon Lightfoot tribute concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall was full of high-profile talent, but one performance stood out among the rest: a surprise reunion of Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.
The duo, who were not announced on the bill ahead of time, joined house band Blue Rodeo to perform “The Way I Feel” in honor of Lightfoot, who died last May at age 84.
You can watch the performance below.
Other fellow Canadian artists gathered to pay tribute to the late singer-songwriter included former Guess Who singer Burton Cummings, “Life Is a Highway” rocker Tom Cochrane, City and Colour frontman Dallas Green, and Lightfoot’s daughter and folk singer Meredith Moon.
After the show, Lee explained the impact Lightfoot left on him and other musicians of his ilk. “Gordon Lightfoot was to musicians of my generation a true Canadian musical hero — and to boot he was a really sweet person,” he told the Canadian Press via text. “Both Alex and I really wanted to pay tribute.”
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When Did Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson Last Play Together?
Lee and Lifeson’s surprise Massey Hall appearance marked their first official public performance since September 2022, when they took part in a pair of tribute concerts for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. However, Lifeson told UCR earlier this month that he and Lee have been recently begun casually jamming to Rush songs together.
“We started that a couple of weeks ago,” the guitarist said. “We get together one day a week over at his place. We just picked some Rush songs and we started playing them and we sound like a really, really bad Rush tribute band.”
Although this development may excite Rush fans, Lifeson said they still shouldn’t expect a Rush reunion without drummer Neil Peart, who died in 2020. “So many people remember us, and there’s sadness amongst our fans that it ended, and they want more, but you can’t go back,” Lifeson told Classic Rock History. “We can’t just go and get another drummer, and go out and play concerts, and make new material. It just would not be the same. It would just be a money ploy.”
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We examine Rush’s 19 studio albums, from 1974’s muscular self-titled release to a series of remarkable late-career triumphs.
Gallery Credit: Eduardo Rivadavia
