Geddy sounded better singing this than he has other times he’s done it on later tours. but maybe that’s just from having years to rest his voice and he’ll be sounding bad by the end of the tour (I have tickets to see them in december so we’ll see).

Anika plays at a higher tempo and with a much lighter feel than neil (who played really heavy-handed and pounded the shit out of his kit) which could give them a nice kick in the butt in terms of the performance, though it could also make Rush’s classic tunes sound less “rushy” perhaps. If they wanted to pick someone who sounded just like neil then they would have gone with someone else, so maybe this could revitalize them in an unexpected way. I bet (and hope) that she doesnt play neil’s parts note-for-note as drummer hero-worship like some people who desparately wanted the gig would have done (looking at you Mike Portnoy, Dave Grohl and many other drumming celebs clamouring for the gig).

there’s some organ in the background near the end so the keyboard guy did do something. maybe itll open up some fresh arrangement ideas for the tunes, or maybe this guy will have the most thankless gig in rock haha. He previously played for the who, another band famous for not having a keyboard player.