Sons of Apollo singer Jeff Scott Soto shared his thoughts on Rush’s reunion tour debut, reacting to the band’s first performance with new drummer Anika Nilles, as posted on his Instagram.
Soto praised the band’s comeback show at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. He expressed enthusiasm for the overwhelmingly positive fan reception despite some concerns surrounding the reunion.
“I’m still so stoked about Rush’s return, as is much of the World! It just felt great that the outpouring was mostly if not all positive, they just did it right and we approve!” Soto said.
He also drew a personal connection between the moment and his own work with Sons of Apollo, noting a lyrical nod to Rush that took on deeper meaning following the passing of legendary drummer Neil Peart.
“It also reminded me of the last Sons Of Apollo tour we did before the pandemic…on the 2nd album, we have a song called ‘Wither To Black’ where after the solos section, the song comes back in ‘very’ reminiscent to ‘Tom Sawyer,'” he continued. “So much that my next lyrics were a play on TS where I said ‘a modern day where warriors fall, they lose their pride, they lose their stride’…I was so proud to sneak in this nod but didn’t realize we would soon be using it as a tribute to our fallen Neil Peart just 17 days before opening night.”
Soto went on to describe how he turned that connection into a live tribute during Sons of Apollo’s rehearsals.
“At rehearsal, I came up with an idea I was happy the band were receptive to…when coming back into the part of WTB I mentioned that sounded like Tom Sawyer, I told the guys we should pay tribute to Neil and actually go into this Rush classic for a smidge then resume with our own song…it worked great!” he added.
Soto’s reaction is one of many from the rock community. It carries particular weight given how deeply Rush’s music has influenced his own career. His tribute to Peart through Sons of Apollo’s setlist is a reminder of just how far-reaching Peart’s legacy has become since his passing.
Rush’s reunion tour marks the band’s first major live run since Neil Peart retired from touring in 2015. He subsequently passed away in January 2020 from brain cancer. The comeback has been framed not as a replacement of Peart, but as a tribute-oriented return. The band and fans alike have approached the shows with a sense of reverence for what he meant to the group.
Anika Nilles, the German drummer tapped to fill the role, brings a widely respected reputation in the drumming world to the stage. Rather than attempting to replicate Peart’s iconic style, the tour has been positioned as a celebration of Rush’s catalog while acknowledging the irreplaceable nature of the man behind the kit for decades.
The reunion has been structured as a selective, limited run rather than a full-scale restart. This reflects the band’s careful approach to returning without Peart. The deliberate framing has been well-received, with the overwhelmingly positive fan response at the Inglewood show serving as early confirmation that the band made the right call.
For Jeff Scott Soto, the reunion holds a deeply personal dimension. His long-standing connection to Rush’s music through Sons of Apollo — particularly the “Tom Sawyer” influence woven into “Wither To Black” — makes him one of the more uniquely positioned voices reacting to the band’s return. The fact that his lyrical tribute to Rush inadvertently became a tribute to Peart just weeks before his passing adds a layer of poignancy to his enthusiasm for the reunion.
