Watch Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson Reunite Onstage to Play "Closer to the Heart"

The two were joined by Primus and 'South Park' co-creator Matt Stone

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Aug 11, 2022

We knew that Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were eager to continue making music in a post-Rush world, and between the former's memoir-writing and latter's excursion with Envy of None, the two friends and bandmates found time to do just that in Colorado last night.

On Wednesday (August 10), Lee and Lifeson were special guests at a concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of South Park, held at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO. At the event, the pair joined their close friends in Primus (who recorded South Park's theme song) and show co-creator Matt Stone to perform Rush classic "Closer to the Heart."

As you'll see in fan-shot footage below, Lee and Lifeson were introduced with an animated short featuring their South Park-styled Canadian likenesses — not unlike how the show's characters were part of Rush's live sets for many years.

Stone looked thrilled to be keeping time on drums for two of his musical heroes. As he once told an Ottawa crowd of Rush during the 2012 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards [via the Ottawa Citizen], "I remember buying their cassettes, tearing home on my BMX, running inside and throwing them into my Walkman, and sitting down to my drum set and just destroying my mom's afternoon. Rush was definitely the first band I ever loved."

The South Park 25th Anniversary Concert was taped for broadcast on Saturday, August 13 via Comedy Central, ahead of landing on Paramount+ in the US the day after.

Primus recently completed a North American tribute tour to Rush's 1977 album A Farewell to Kings, which features "Closer to the Heart." Their Toronto stop on that trek earned the Geddy Lee stamp of approval.

Lee and Lifeson will come together again next month in tribute to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.


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