Anika Nilles reveals how she had to change her technique as she learned Neil Peart's drum parts

Drummer Anika Nilles has revealed how she had to transform her technique as she learned to play Neil Peart‘s iconic drum parts in advance of Rush‘s ongoing Fifty Something tour.

“I love to be challenged,” says Nilles, in a video filmed for Rolling Stone Canada. “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.”

Nilles, who rehearsed with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee for a full year before beginning the Fifty Something tour, also talks about the specific challenges of performing Rush’s classic Tom Sawyer.

“That song requires a really specific feel to feel right also to Alex and Geddy,” says Nilles. “What happens playing-wise is doable. You have to get it into your DNA. But the feeling of all of those parts is really special, and it’s also hard because I had to let go some of my technique, which I usually use when I play those sneaky 16th notes.

“And to make the feel right and the sound right, I had to let go of that. I have to play more out of muscle power and less of technique to make that sit right. And that’s a last song in the set on most of those nights! And so I was really like, ‘OK, let’s do that. Let’s focus.'”

The next show on Rush’s Fifty Something tour is this evening (October 27) at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. The tour is currently scheduled to finish in Europe next April.

Anika Nilles on What It Takes to Play in Rush | Rolling Stone Canada – YouTube

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Rush: Fifty Something tour 2026

Oct 27: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 30: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 01: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 05: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 07: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 09: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 11: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 15: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Nov 20: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 22: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 25: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Nov 27: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Dec 01: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 03: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 10: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 12: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 15: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Dec 17: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC

Rush: Fifty Something tour 2027

Jan 15: Buenos Aires Movistar Arena, Argentina
Jan 22: Curitiba Arena da Baixada, Brazil
Jan 24: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 26: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 30: Rio de Janeiro Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. Brazil
Feb 01: Belo Horizonte Estádio Mineirão, Brazil
Feb 04: Brasília Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, Brazil
Feb 19: Paris La Défense Arena, France
Feb 21: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
Feb 23: Amstersam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Feb 25: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Feb 28: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Mar 02: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
Mar 04: Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Germany
Mar 08: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 10: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 12: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 14: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 16: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 18: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 21: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 27: Kraków Arena Kraków, Poland
Mar 30: Milan Unipol Dome, Italy
Apr 01: Basel St. Jakobshalle Basel, Switzerland
Apr 04: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Apr 06: Oslo Unity Arena, Norway
Apr 08: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Apr 10: Helsinki Veikkaus Arena, Finland

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