In a new interview with Chile’s Futuro, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy weighed in on the news that Rush’s surviving members, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, recruited fusion drummer Anika Nilles to cover the drum chair for their surprise “Fifty Something” reunion tour.
For Portnoy, it lands on two levels: lifelong fan excitement and a personal connection to Neil Peart, who shaped his playing and later became a friend.
“It’s extremely exciting. I, as a fan, can’t wait to see how they do this and what it’s gonna be like. Neil Peart was not only one of my biggest drum heroes, but he was somebody that I was honored to become friends with in the last decade or so of his life. So, yeah, as a fan of the band and as a friend of Neil’s, I’m very happy to see them doing this, and I can’t wait to hear what they do,” he shared (via Blabbermouth).
He also talked about Nilles specifically. Portnoy said he hasn’t caught her live yet, but he went straight to the clips after the announcement: “I have “never seen” Anika play in person, but like everybody else in the world, as soon as the announcement was made, I started pulling up videos on YouTube and saw her playing with Jeff Beck and doing the jazz fusion kind of stuff she does,”
“She’s obviously a tremendous drummer, so I’m really curious to see how it sounds,” he said.
One thing that’s followed Portnoy around for years is the hypothetical: would he ever step in with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson if they asked? He said that question came up constantly, and he’s relieved the band went another direction, because the weight of expectation would be brutal.
“Before [Lee and Lifeson] announced their return, it was a question that I would get asked in almost every single interview for the last decade: ‘Would you ever play with Geddy and Alex? Would you ever?’ Of course. Those guys are my heroes. But in all honesty, I’m kind of glad that they didn’t even ask me, because that would be way too much pressure, way too much pressure. So, it’s much better this way. I get to enjoy it like a fan,” Portnoy revealed.
The respect behind that answer connects to how Portnoy has talked about Peart for years. In an older interview, he broke down exactly what grabbed him early on, down to obsessing over kit details like other people obsess over something else.
“I spent 20 to 30 years idolizing him and being his biggest fan. And all those years, it was mainly the drum kit — the drum kit was such a fascination for me. He always built such amazing kits and put so much thought into it. I’d always get the tour programs where he’d write about the kit and what the new things were on it, and I would just look at those photos. Most other kids were looking at Playboy centerfolds; I was looking at Neil Peart drum kits. And then, obviously, his playing — it goes without saying. I learned how to really develop parts and orchestrate drum parts to build, change, and develop within the song. So that was the biggest thing for me as a fan. And then later on, once I got to know him, I was so inspired by what a gracious person he was,” he remembered.
And when Portnoy described Peart the person, he didn’t lean on mythology. He talked about boundaries, privacy, and how kind Peart was once you were in his circle.
“He had this reputation that he was sort of quiet and isolated and private, and he was, and it was very important for him to guard that. But once you were somehow allowed into that inner circle, he was always so sweet and kind and generous. He’d always send me holiday e-mails,s and he would always send me his new books and stuff like that. It was a relationship that I’ll always cherish, and I was honored to have.”
