Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson surprised audiences at a Gordon Lightfoot tribute concert on Thursday with a rare and unannounced appearance. The Rush bandmates had not performed together since the South Park 25th anniversary concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in August 2022, also a surprise.
Not even Thursday’s fellow performers at Toronto’s Massey Hall were aware of Lee and Lifeson’s impending appearance at the Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot show. They were billed simply as “L + L” on the internal call sheet and—though the sold-out crowd of 2,750 gathered to honor the late folk singer-songwriter probably weren’t the biggest Rush fans—were greeted with rapturous applause when they joined house band Blue Rodeo onstage. Together, they performed “The Way I Feel”, which first appeared on Lightfoot’s 1966 debut album, Lightfoot! While Lifeson’s contributions on an acoustic guitar were a far cry from the electric prog-rock glory of the Rush catalog, Lee stole the show as he took the lead on both his electric bass and vocals.
“It was important for us to pay tribute to Gordon,” Lee told Variety. “Not being folk or pop artists, Alex and I were looking for one of Gordon’s songs that might better suit our style of play and we found that in ‘The Way I Feel’. Its structure was loose and more open to interpretation than many of his more popular tunes.”
Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Blue Rodeo — “The Way I Feel” (Gordon Lightfoot) — 5/23/24
[Video: Toronto Live Music]
Lee and Lifeson returned to the stage at the end of the show for the all-hands-on-deck cover of “Summer Side of Life”. The tribute concert for the Canadian musician who passed away last May also featured performances by Moon, Burton Cummings, Tom Cochrane, Sylvia Tyson, Allison Russell, Murray McLauchlin, City and Colour, William Prince, The Good Brothers with Travis Good (The Sadies), Serena Ryder, Aysanabee, Tom Wilson, Kathleen Edwards, Julian Taylor, Caroline Wiles, Bob Doidge, and host Damnhait Doyle. Gordon’s backing band for decades, The Lightfoot Band—composed of Rick Haynes, Barry Keane, Mike Heffernan, and Carter Lancaster—served as house band for the first half of the show before ceding the stage to Blue Rodeo.
“After the gig, Gordon’s daughter Meredith [Moon] said to us, ‘Leave it to Rush to make ‘The Way I Feel’ sound prog,’ so I think we succeeded,” Lee added.
Gordon Lightfoot Tribute — “Summer Side Of Life” — 5/23/24
[Video: ShakyShorty]
Thursday’s choice of venue was significant on multiple fronts, as Lightfoot performed at Massey Hall 170 times, more than any artist in the venue’s 129-year history. The house band Blue Rodeo is a distant second at 43 shows. Additionally, Rush recorded its 1976 live album All the World’s a Stage during a three-night run at Massey Hall on the 2112 tour. Prior to Thursday, Lee and Lifeson were last seen onstage at Massey Hall in December when Alex emerged as the surprise interviewer for the Toronto stop on Geddy’s My Effin’ Life book tour.
Rush stopped touring in 2015 followed by drummer Neil Peart‘s death from cancer in 2020. Since Rush ceased touring, Lee and Lifeson have performed live together only four times: at Yes‘ 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction (where they also gave the induction speech), both the London and L.A. tribute concerts for Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins (where they performed with Dave Grohl, Danny Carey, and Chad Smith), and at the South Park anniversary concert with Ween, Primus, and show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Though the two surviving members recently revealed they have been jamming on Rush covers, Lifeson remains adamant that they have no plans to reunite the band.
“There’s no rhyme or reason,” the guitarist told Ultimate Class Rock earlier this month. “We’re not planning on going back on the road, finding a new drummer or anything like that. It’s just fun to [play the songs].”
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