Anika Nilles Reflects on “Tom Sawyer” Fill at RUSH Kickoff Show: “Don’t F**k It Up”

Anika Nilles has reflected on her experience getting the gig as RUSH’s drummer and playing her first concert with the band in a new Modern Drummer cover story. In the interview, the drum discusses her first time playing the iconic drum fill of “Tom Sawyer” live in front of a RUSH audience at the tour’s June 7th kickoff show at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. Get RUSH Tickets Here She said of the experience, “I was a little bit, like, ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ But, yeah, it felt really good to just bring that one out off the table. That was the most important song, I think, for the fans, and also for me to just nail that. And that was such a relief. Five seconds before the fill, I was, like, ‘Okay, let’s go. Don’t fuck it up. And let’s go.’ [Laughs] Maybe that was the thought to fans, too. I don’t know. [Laughs].” She also discussed working with RUSH’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, as well as the process of learning the late Neil Peart’s drum parts and where she might be able to fit her own personality into the performances: “If you know those two guys, they are so funny and they’re so human. And that made it really easy to connect to each other. So they treated me immediately, f...